180+ Point Jump on the CA Bar Exam While Battling Health Issues

“Babe, wake up! Brian dropped another Fire-up Friday.”

Yes, that’s a real quote (maybe):

When I read Bella’s story, I told her: “Frankly, anyone who will have the privilege of reading this story will have no excuse.”

Now you have the privilege of reading her story.

Bella passed the 2024 February California Bar Exam on her 6^th try. Well, that’s not THAT rare, right…?

WRONG

Bella was going through some shit—literally.

(Descriptions of bodily functions coming up if it makes you squeamish… But Bella was going through that and more, so skip ahead or deal with it.)

💬 “I was also diagnosed with an idiopathic illness (meaning they don’t know the origin and there is no cure) where I could not keep food down, woke up choking on vomit every night, then after an episode of vomiting for about an hour, could not drink any fluids the following day because my stomach was too irritated. I had severe gastroparesis.”

💬 “My symptoms persisted and had travelled down my digestive track and with the combination of vomiting and explosive unpredictable diarrhea (Hello IBS!), not only was my study schedule impossible to stick to, but having the exam remote and not being able to get up for fear of a Chapter 6 violation, I had 2 accidents on myself during the exam, and failed the exam.”

💬 “This was the 7th GI doctor I had seen. However, I decided to go carnivore as it was the only type of food that did not make me vomit (essentially all meat) and the tiniest amount of veggies.”

💬 “It was still a remote administration so I had booked a hotel to take the exam in (my old apartment was so noisy) and rushed out of the screen for all of 34 seconds during the MBE portion to relieve my diarrhea. Certainly not enough time to cheat, right?! Well the State Bar did not think so.”

💬 “Maintaining carnivore was so hard so when I’d eat anything else I just dealt with the consequences of debilitating pain for 6 hours to follow.”

Imagine nature calling during the exam, except you don’t get to choose when you go (or what you eat unless you want to lose 6 hours to a painful food coma).

All this is just from her first two attempts btw. Clearly, she was playing this game on nightmare mode.

Why am I detailing all this? I always say:

• You are capable of passing the bar exam if you’ve graduated from law school.
• You are capable of passing the bar exam with the right strategies for you.
• The bar exam is a learnable, acquirable skill.

You don’t need a high GPA or even a median one.

You could have graduated from an unaccredited law school. You could have a 9% chance of passing. You could have been in prison for 32 years (even if checking for bar results is more stressful than checking on parole status).

You could have demons living in your gastrointestinal system.

Is this making sense? Do you see why I spend sleepless nights to bring these stories and lessons to you?

It’s not: “You’ve got this!!!” (thanks but kindly cease)

It’s: “Forget the thoughtless platitudes that place the burden on you. Here’s unassailable PROOF that you can do this too. Here’s exactly how your predecessors DID IT.”

Let’s see how Bella did it.

Resources she switched to in order to finally pass the California Bar Exam on her 6^th attempt

▶ Magicsheets

💬 “I found [Magicsheets]. These were a game changer. I still had my vomiting episodes in the middle of the night–but Brian’s sheets were there with me when I was afraid to go back to sleep. . . . . Being able to see the big picture of the subjects was so helpful!!!! I have a running joke with my friends that I did not learn Contracts or Civ Pro as in depth as I needed to until my 6th attempt 😭”

▶ UWorld MBE QBank

▶ AdaptiBar Jon Grossman lectures (use code MTYLT10 to get 10% off)

▶ Past exam questions

▶ MTYLT coaching emails (get in here)

💬 “When I felt overwhelmed by studying, I received a ridiculously motivating email (ask Brian, I thanked him in between many profane filled emails after he would send them out saying things like ‘i really needed to fucking hear that’ 😭)”

Bella’s devastating first five attempts

No one would blame you if you lost your confidence after 5 failures.

Bella questioned her competence, God, and even her will to live. She thought she was spiritually cursed.

How did she stay motivated to keep going?

Attempt 1: February 2021

💬 “I had 2 accidents on myself during the exam, and failed the exam. By this time, my confidence was destroyed because I said to myself, if I can’t even have the health to sit for the exam and study, how in the world can I ever become a competent attorney? I was destroyed and broken. I had used Bar Max which was complete trash. It helped with nothing and my first attempt was about a 1230.”

Attempt 2: July 2021

💬 “I had booked a hotel to take the exam in (my old apartment was so noisy) and rushed out of the screen for all of 34 seconds during the MBE portion to relieve my diarrhea. . . . As a result, in my strongest performance to date, my MBE scores were 100% cancelled. Yes, meaning I received a 0 on the MBE score. To make matters worse, my written score was a 1420. . . . At this point, I thought the Heavens were against me. I thought I was cursed spiritually. For the believers out there, I questioned God. How could I be meant to be an attorney when everything is AGAINST ME? 🥺I decided to get a job because at this point, I was exhausted taking this exam and being dead broke.”

Attempt 3: July 2022

💬 “I failed and I had to muster the courage to tell my mentor, who believed in me so much, that I was a FAILURE.”

Attempt 4: February 2023

“I failed. At this point, I had hired a therapist to unpack and deal with my emotional trauma because I was on the verge of suicide.”

Attempt 5: July 2023

💬 “I failed. And not only did I fail, it was the lowest score I had ever received, even lower than my first administration. I got a 1210. I remember on November 9th, I sat in bed and cried for 4 hours while my boyfriend held me and cried with me. I was so certain I has passed this time. Even that really tricky 5th essay on equitable remedies, I thought I had killed it.”

It almost seems like her fate was set in stone and couldn’t be changed.

By this point, Bella had had enough. It was time to look at things differently.

💬 “I didn’t even know how to fix any mistakes but I knew I had to try to self evaluate because CLEARLY I was doing something wrong. My health was declining still but I adopted a motto: ‘if being an attorney is what you really want to do, you have to be willing to be disciplined, consistent, and sacrifice whatever it takes.’”

What did Bella do to defy her fate?

She was willing to do anything for her goal of becoming an attorney. But it actually didn’t have to be drastic or complicated.

1) Notice when your study strategy isn’t working.

Before her sixth attempt, Bella had tried many different prep materials and study methods that didn’t work for her.

💬 “I had used Bar Max which was complete trash. It helped with nothing and my first attempt was about a 1230.”

💬 “I got rid of Adaptibar. All prior 5 attempts I used Adaptibar–seeing the number of times I had taken the exam or answered those questions messed with my psyche so I needed a new system which is why I chose UWorld.”

Look, I like just AdaptiBar as much as the next person, but if it didn’t work for you five times, I’m not going to tell you to “just keep going.”

What did she do instead?

2) Adapt and change your approach (especially) as you go.

Five attempts are more than enough to know what’s not working. She finally swapped her old materials for new ones.

💬 “I threw out all of my old outlines. I signed up for Jon Grossman’s videos on the MBEs and watched each of them TWICE and took notes. Whatever subsection I watched from John Grossman, I chose that subsection of UWorld questions and practiced 6-12 MBEs in that section.”

Notice that Bella used Jon Grossman’s (popular) video lectures even though they’re from AdaptiBar. Just because she decided to stop using one product (the MBE Simulator) didn’t mean she was going to disregard all of AdaptiBar’s offerings. That’s part of being adaptable (not an AdaptiBar-related pun although it does adapt to you too).

She also committed to consistently studying the black letter law and practicing with MBE questions and essay questions.

💬 “My days were divided into 3s: no matter how much my illness flared up, even if I only had 3 hours to study one day or 12 hours, I would always do 1/3rd: black letter law memorization; 1/3 MBE practice; 1/3 Essay practice.”

Even while preparing for her sixth attempt, she found that she was not grasping the material adequately.

💬 “Around January, I was performing MISERABLY. I needed a condensed outline where I could see ALL of the black letter law in one place so I could study the black letter law quickly, NOT TAKE 3 weeks to go through a subject like I would have to with Basick’s book.”

You are allowed to change course in response to how you’re doing RIGHT NOW. Even if it’s a month before the exam.

What suits your learning style?

This could be about your approach to learning and knowledge accrual. This could be about the resources you use.

💬 “I found [Magicsheets]. These were a game changer. I still had my vomiting episodes in the middle of the night–but Brian’s sheets were there with me when I was afraid to go back to sleep. . . . Being able to see the big picture of the subjects was so helpful!!!! I have a running joke with my friends that I did not learn Contracts or Civ Pro as in depth as I needed to until my 6th attempt 😭”

You can and should check the direction you’re going in as you go, and, if necessary, correct it. You don’t have to stubbornly go full speed ahead, torpedoes be damned, if you see an iceberg ahead.

Otherwise, you might end up repeating this experiment in 6 months (or years).

3) Find support all around you.

No one is an island.

Do you have friends who passed the bar? Ask them for help.

Do you have friends who didn’t pass? Commiserate and ally with them.

In case friendship isn’t one of your hobbies, you can seek hidden abundance all around you. Bella found at least two sources.

💬 “I started working as a law clerk from July 2021 to about February 2023. I met my former supervisor/judge who I now call my angel. . . . He knew of my illness . . . so he allowed me to be remote 4 days out of the 5 days of the week. . . . I submitted my work at 3, sometimes 4 am because I always wanted to impress him. He told me, ‘this is the grit it takes to be a California lawyer. Don’t ever give up. I believe in you–you have to believe in yourself.’”

💬 “When I felt overwhelmed by studying, I received a ridiculously motivating email (ask Brian, I thanked him in between many profane filled emails after he would send them out saying things like ‘i really needed to fucking hear that’ 😭)”

Making a jump of at least 180 points on the California Bar Exam (from a score of 1210 to passing)

Bella was sure she had passed on her 5^th attempt. She was not sure about it on her 6^th attempt!

💬 “On March 1, 2024, I asked Brian to start sending the emails early because I was so used to giving it my all and FAILING I was already preparing for July 2024.”

It’s often (not always) that bar takers who feel good coming out of the exam actually don’t pass. They’re smug because they don’t know what they don’t know. Just like my first failure.

The point isn’t to be confident. The point is to pass the exam. That comes from competence (which then leads to confidence).

Bella had unknowingly mastered the skills and knowledge needed through the above process.

💬 “When I took the exam, I left the MBE day 20 minutes early. That had never happened before. I had already checked my questionable answers twice. I was like why am I here? I was also only getting about 3 hours of sleep a night for the past 2 months so I was so beat up. I swear I gave ever last bit of viable energy to that exam 🥺”

But, at this point, Bella had no idea if she was going to pass. Despite that, she maintained solid mental fortitude and a forward-looking attitude. She was dedicated to passing the bar and wasn’t going to give up.

💬 “Miraculously, around April 2024, my health made a drastic turn for the better and I am about 90% better than I have been in 6 years. I think stress was a huge factor..and when I had finally let go and said I dont care how many times it takes to pass this exam, I will not be defeated, I was able to adopt a much more disciplined eating schedule which I think really improved my health. I was still studying everyday, about 6 hours a day.”

Despite many past failures and crippling health challenges, Bella’s persistence and resilience ultimately led to her success. She developed the belief that overcoming obstacles is possible with the right mindset and support.

She was no longer the crying, suicidal mess.

Ironically, it was when she let go of her stress that she ended up passing!

💬 “On May 3, 2024, my rebirth happened. I didn’t even check my results until about 6:15. I was over it. I even have a video of me saying to myself ‘don’t freak out if you failed, approach the essays with CURIOSITY so you can evaluate yourself for improvement.’ I did not want to break down mentally as I did after July 2023. I went from a 1210 in July, to PASSING THE BAR EXAM IN FEBRUARY THAT HAD A PASS RATE OF ONLY 33%. I hyperventilated. I was rechecking it over and over again because I thought I was mistaken. I even paid $30 to get the MBE report because I couldn’t fathom having made a 180 point jump in ONE ADMINISTRATION. The score report came back that I had achieved higher than a 145. Little ole me.”

Eventually, she found success by changing her approach and using tailored resources like Jon Grossman’s videos, UWorld, and Magicsheets, which aided her learning better.

Doors fling open once you pass the bar exam

Now she was the one choosing.

She chose her fate.

She chose herself.

Now she can choose her job and salary. She had job offers lining up for her.

💬 “I am very blessed as I’ve had attorneys basically WAITING to hire me. I have a contract position pending along with about 3 other offers. I am negotiating a starting salary of well above $160K because I fucking deserve it. I no longer define my worth by this exam or how many attempts I had to endure to get here.”

THIS is why you want to get licensed as soon as you can. In other words, to Make This Your Last Time.

Once your name appears on the pass list…

Doors fling open. Suddenly, opportunities flood in from every direction. You don’t know what this is like unless you’ve experienced it.

Your state bar doesn’t treat you like crap. Other attorneys become nice(r) to you. Work gushes in from all around you. Your online dating profile becomes 10x more appealing (or less to some people). Other people get more excited than you about it.

💬 “This is the proudest accomplishment of my life and I am so grateful I was able to do it while the people who I love the most are alive to witness my success.”

That’s what’s at stake with the bar exam. It’s not just a career. Professional abeyance limits your life and relationships from reaching their full potential. You’d be squandering the only things in life you can’t get back: time and relationships.

Scaling this obstacle will mean a world of difference. So endure the temporary discomfort for the lifetime privilege of being an attorney.

💬 “If you are your only competition NOTHING, not health, not feeling like you have a spiritual curse on you, not embarrassment or failure will stop you. I am officially ESQUIRED and no one can take it away from me.”

The sheer perseverance Bella displayed is awe-inspiring. What an incredible journey. 

What are you feeling after reading her story?

If you skimmed it and felt nothing, I’ve utterly failed at storytelling.

Full story