“L” graduated from law school 20 years ago. He finally passed the New York Bar Exam with a 271, enough to waive into any UBE jurisdiction.
Wow!
💬 “I’ve been waiting years to write an email like this.”
You don’t need to be a legal rockstar. It’s possible to pass the bar exam even if you’re a C student.
💬 “I graduated with a C average and was told that statistically, passing the bar exam would be very difficult for me.”
💬 “I am happy, proud, and relieved.”
Here’s how L made it happen.
💬 “I had all but given up on passing the NY bar exam, but there was something inside me that would not let go of that goal.”
Resources L used to pass the NY Bar Exam
💬 “Having a concise resource in Magicsheets was a lifesaver for me.”
Barmax UBE review course and a few hours of tutoring through Barmax
Self-motivation to pass the bar exam
Imagine going to law school and taking the bar exam 15 times. I can’t imagine the psychic damage that would inflict.
💬 “I think it was upwards of 15 times [of attempts], but I was so beaten down by failing I didn’t always give it the effort it deserved.”
💬 “I had all but given up on passing the NY bar exam, but that there was something inside me that would not let go of that goal.”
💬 “I was uncertain whether my coverage was sufficient. I didn’t study more than 7 hours per day. I felt really insecure about those MEEs. And of course, I hadn’t forgotten all my previous experiences. I was even mentally preparing to take the exam again in February.”
One bar exam failure was enough to humble me and never post a sassy update on Facebook again. It’s only natural to feel so defeated after that many attempts.
💬 “There were many times I would make a start and just get trapped in the notion that I could never make a good coverage of the volume of material. I had unconsciously taken on the identity of a ‘repeater.’ I was so stuck. That is why the first mention I made was mental/emotional, because the change really had to start there.”
Make this your last time as soon as possible (MTYLT ASAP)
I’ve seen it too many times ever since I started MTYLT over 10 years ago…
If someone doesn’t pass enough times, their initial enthusiasm wanes and you never hear from them again. It’s a shame, but it’s also OK to move on if the law isn’t for you.
That’s why I emphasize getting out of this “repeater” state ASAP. And it’s something I always keep in mind when I advise someone.
Here’s one of the first things I wrote in the “Big Playbook” portion of Passer’s Playbook:
The Big Playbook is a comprehensive guide (a small part of what’s offered in the Playbook) that went from 160 pages to more than 400 over several years of revision, but I still haven’t changed this part.
Getting unstuck after years of bar prep
Despite those 20 years of feeling defeated, L still had the self-motivation to continue, which is one of the three key things you really need for bar prep.
If you’re stuck, different is better than doing the wrong thing better and singing offkey louder. It was when L changed what he was doing that he found success.
💬 “Reflecting on what I did differently, the very first piece was letting go of a lot of mental baggage I had been holding on to. Therapy really helped me with that. I clung fast to God, gave myself some credit for having grown and changed, and made the decision to try one final time.”
Specifically, L changed two things for his final attempt—how he practiced and which materials he used.
💬 “My biggest issue through the years was information overload so most of my materials this time were streamlined in nature.”
💬 “I knew I needed to do something different so when -thank God- I came across the open book study method, which was so radically different from my other approaches, I leapt at the opportunity to change something. I’d say Magicsheets helped me in finding the irreducible minimum of what I needed for the test to combat overwhelm. And the combo seem to have knocked the stone loose from my head.”
More on the open book study method…
You can (and should) do things open book at first
Don’t try to be ready before you’re ready.
Even if the bar exam were open book, you still have to know how to USE the information. It’s not just about having access to information—but whether you can use it properly.
L changed his study strategy by having his notes open during practice sessions:
💬 “My big change of approach was adopting Barmax’s open book study methodology: to use the outlines to both answer the questions and eliminate the wrong answers and only then check the answers. This was a way of learning the law that had the benefit of simultaneous close examination of the practice questions. Before this, I either spent hours watching lectures or reading outlines and remembering nothing, or practicing questions with very little context and not coming close to the mark.”
💬 “The open book methodology worked wonders for me in remembering rules, and having the Barmax tutor to bounce questions off of helped me realize that I was remembering things better than I ever had in the past.”
In the beginning, optimize for learning. Then optimize for performance.
💬 “Using the outlines to slowly review the questions took a very long time, and I had to quicken my pace as the exam date approached. This is where I turned to my Magicsheets and used them as my resource to practice the law and questions. I annotated my Magicsheets heavily with very fine tipped pens as I proceeded with my practice. They were my main resource in the last two months of study.”
Once you know how to write an essay (optimize for learning), you may already find that you remember the issues and rules.
At that point, it just becomes a matter of honing your memory (rote memorization of elements, closed-book practice) and timing at that point (optimizing for performance).
💬 “I annotated my Magicsheets heavily with very fine tipped pens as I proceeded with my practice. They were my main resource in the last two months of study. My study was so slow that I did not have much time to make a full review of my annotated outlines, but the mere act of open book study and annotating seems to have been enough to put the info in my head.”
Give yourself enough time
Everyone progresses at a different pace. You never see a marathon where everyone is at exactly the same pace like a conveyor line.
It’s important to understand what you’re learning. L focused more on understanding regardless of the time it took.
💬 “This may sound general, but I found myself unable to adhere to an arbitrary schedule, so I decided instead on moving through efficient coverage of the material in the time it took me. I didn’t move on from a question, essay, or MBE, unless I fully understood the concept being tested.”
It took L a long time to review. So he gave himself more time.
💬 “I started preparing very early this time. Normally I could not stomach starting until 3 or maybe 4 months till the exam. This time, I made a start in March for the July exam.”
Fortunately for L, he was in a situation where he could give himself the luxury of time. But it was L who organized his responsibilities in a way that allowed study time to fit.
💬 “I am in currently in a situation where I can study during my peak hours which are in the middle of the day. I studied at home and in my local library. I got as much sleep as I could and exercised 5 days out of the week, which is more than I normally do, but I found really helped me with the study process.”
💬 “I was able to organize my responsibilities so I could do my studying in the middle of the day and be done by the evening. I was able to walk to a local public library whenever I could not concentrate at home. This situation really helped me.”
This isn’t always possible for everyone. You may not have 5 months to study like L.
But you may not NEED 5 months. Most people don’t.
Just because L had the luxury of time, it wasn’t all roses and rainbows mentally either, as you saw above.
Also, it had been 3 years since L’s last attempt. So it wasn’t that he passed because he had been studying for 20 years straight.
💬 “The very last time I took the bar exam was the 2021 remote bar exam.”
In fact, too much study time can lead to burnout, and I recommend a maximum of 4-5 months of full-time study.
So use the time you do have. What you need to do expands and shrinks to fill the time available.
Work backward from the exam date and consider what you can fit into that time. It isn’t the length of time, but rather, what you get out of the time you have. (Passer’s Playbook can help you design a study plan.)
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Passing after 20 years must be such a personal weight lifted off his shoulders!
What did you learn from L’s 20-year journey?
