Make This Your Last Time | Bar Exam Preparation

July 11, 2025July 12, 2025 - No Comments

UK Attorney Got a 316 on the NY UBE on Her First Try While Working Full Time

Sushmita passed the February 2025 New York Bar Exam on her first attempt:

as a UK-trained attorney
right after taking another exam
while working full time
starting with ZERO prior knowledge of American law
with a score of 316 (!)

💬 “I did not study any US law during my LLM save for a short intro module for international students, i.e., I did not require an LLM to be eligible to take the bar exam.”

💬 “I am delighted to share that I’ve passed the UBE in NY with a score of 316.”

That’s just unnecessarily impressive.

On top of that, she went into prep already knowing she didn’t want to use a big box bar review program.

💬 “I have no wish to purchase bar prep from the big players like Barbri, Themis, JD Advising, Kaplan etc.”

💬 “Given my trauma in dealing with these terrible companies, I was looking for assistance similar to what I found for the [Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE)], from people who genuinely want to help students. I found your website again when looking through my old bookmarks from 2022, and I am glad I did.”

Most first-time bar takers default to using a big course. How did she so confidently decide not to use one?

More importantly, how did she beat this exam without using one on her first try?

July 5, 2025July 5, 2025 - 12 Comments

Predictions for the Bar Exam (What to Focus On for Efficient Study)

No wonder this person posted anonymously because I see at least 3 things I could critique in this comment:

"The worst part about studying ... is that we cannot even properly use predictions."

Before every exam, a handful of people come out of the woodwork and shamelessly ask about which subjects will appear on the upcoming bar exam.

“Does anyone know the essay predictions?”
“What do you think will be tested?”
“I don’t think ____ will appear on the exam.”
“Anyone think ____ will be tested?”
“I know we’re not supposed to listen to predictions, but…”
“What are ____’s predictions?”
“Here are my MEE predictions!”

Whose speculations are you going to listen to?

If you’re like many bar takers, or if you’re a repeater, you say: “Haha of course I’m not going to rely on the predictions. I shall adequately study all the subjects. You should too!”

And then you panic and look at the predictions anyway.

Did you want me to tell you, “Aww poor baby, don’t worry. It’s normal and happens to the best of us 🥺”?

You SHOULD worry if you’re secretly tempted to rely on predictions… because this kind of thinking is entirely predictable and avoidable. Sweating about predictions is NOT a good place to be and requires intervention.

Also, remember when subjects actually leaked for the California exam in 2019 and people got mad over it? Do you want to know the subjects ahead of time or not? Make up your minds!

Maybe you’re too young to remember ancient history. I’ve been dealing with you people for too long.

Here’s why you should look toward essay/MEE predictions for entertainment value and morbid curiosity only:

(and 3 things you can focus on instead to take control over your studies)

July 4, 2025July 13, 2025 - No Comments

Marilynn Winged Bar Prep and Failed. Then She Passed the Bar Exam Doing This

Marilynn passed the February 2025 California Bar Exam on her second attempt. A classic repeater situation.

Right now, you have a massive advantage:

If you’re a repeater, you are starting from experience, not from scratch.

If you’re a first timer, you have a crystal ball into your future. It’s up to you to decide how much of these visions you’ll adopt or let pass as a dream.

If you aren’t confident academically, the good news is your law school grades are meaningless. It took one cycle of mistakes for Marilynn and me to realize that law school and bar prep are separate skills.

💬 “I was feeling so much disappointment, despair, and guilt for not passing the first time, especially as someone who also finished at around a 2.8 GPA in law school.”

Here’s where you’ll once again learn about the pitfalls of first timers you can avoid today.

June 28, 2025June 28, 2025 - 5 Comments

Bar Prep Wisdom from Succulents

I went to a succulents gardening workshop the other day 🌱

I figured succulents wouldn’t wither under my care like the flowers I tried arranging before. There’s a limit to how much talent one person can have, I guess.

But there’s no limit to how much I think about bar prep because that’s what I started thinking about when I was listening to the instructor 🤦🏻‍♂️

4 relevant lessons and also photos of my bald-looking succulent bowl:

(First lesson: “You have to kill a lot of plants to be an expert.” 🤯)

June 27, 2025June 27, 2025 - No Comments

Passing the CA Bar Exam in 3+ Tries: Don’t Define Your Progress by How Much You Torture Yourself

It was a long journey for “SC” who took the California Bar Exam multiple times…

💬 “It wasn’t till my Xth attempt in February ‘22 that I really buckled down and used them and your materials really helped my score jump up, I think I got a 1340 or 1350 that time. Prior attempts, I followed a bar prep company.”

But she always got back up to finish the job.

💬 “I was pretty mad at myself though and at the bar exam process when I didn’t pass and I haven’t touched my bar materials since that attempt or thought about retaking it since until now.”

It wasn’t only that each step took her closer to success. Sometimes you have to prove yourself to the world. What’s your motivation?

💬 “I just got this bee in my bonnet and the job market has been rough without the esquire. Plus it’s been pretty irritating doing law and motion work without that law and motion attorney salary.”

When SC asked whether it was realistic to go for July 2024 while working, I said it was realistic but challenging.

SC didn’t end up passing the July exam but finally passed the February 2025 exam!

💬 “Clearly didn’t pass J24, but it was the closest I had ever gotten, which I thought was pretty incredible considering I had about 9 weeks to study, and I didn’t take any time off of work aside from the week of the bar exam, so that kind of solidified that it was my mental state getting in the way.”

What did she do to finally get over that threshold?