Dominating the Essays: Organize Issues and Prioritize Rules to Know on the Bar Exam

Ever wonder how you’re supposed to juggle everything in your head? How do you prioritize the rules to know for the bar exam?

How are you supposed to learn all this when time is tight? How do you tackle the massive body of rules to know?

How do you know you’ve completed the essay in full? Did you even talk about the correct issues? Are the graders going to give you the points? Are they even going to read your prose?!

You’d love to start practicing essays but feel like you just haven’t learned enough law yet. It’s overwhelming to even begin.

At least the answer is right there in MBE questions… If you’re a bar taker struggling with coming up with what to write, essays are the bane of your existence. Your rambling paragraphs start to blur.

Let’s breathe. We can simplify the essays and make them less scary…

Key takeaways:

  • Issues: Learn not just the rules but also how to present and organize the issues (with examples below)
  • Rules: Highest-priority issues and rules are those that have appeared in the past (there are two other priorities)
  • There are efficient and effective ways to hit both of the above at once
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Richard’s Minimalist Bar Prep Without Overwhelm

There’s more than one way to skin a cat. Like I keep saying, bar prep is personal.

Richard passed the 2023 February California Bar Exam on his first try. Anyone can learn from this case study since he also passed the UBE.

Corina’s story about passing the bar exam was about MAXIMIZING her coverage. I couldn’t even sleep trying to scrape all the meat off the bone of her story.

Today, I’ll show you a MINIMALIST approach to getting it done.

You’ll also get the benefit of hindsight from someone who used a traditional bar course for his first exam (UBE) and also on his second exam (CA) and passed both times.

How you use any resource for your benefit is key.

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LLM Passes California Bar Exam on Her FIRST Try by Being Strategically Independent

Tanvi passed the 2023 February California Bar Exam, which had a 32.5% pass rate.

Pass rates don’t mean anything to MTYLT readers (you) because pass rates have no bearing on their own chance of success.

Like many of the other passers you hear about here, this featured passer did it her own way after she realized things were not working for her.

There are many ways you can pass the exam! You are the dean of your own studies. Bar prep is personal.

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How to Pass the California Bar Exam with a Focused Approach of Discipline and Consistency

Got yet another success story, by a reader who shared with me a very detailed and specific recap of her journey to pass the 2020 February California Bar Exam (26.8% pass rate) on her second try.

It was too good not to share.

Jinnyi Pak headshot

Before:

  • Big bar course made her “dumber,” wasted her time, DRAINED her energy and time. She was too wiped out to memorize or practice
  • Did not even know how to START any essay
  • Panic, doubts, insecurities, mind games, pressure

After:

  • Practical and effective approach
  • Used the right tools for her
  • Enjoyed herself because she could see herself getting better

Key takeaways and full story below…

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Classic Repeater Story of Passing the CA Bar Exam on Her Second Try

Stephanie was a classic repeater of the California Bar Exam, who followed a big box course on her first try and then switched to better (more efficient and effective) learning strategies on her second, successful try.

It’s a familiar story you see all the time. Too many stories of repeaters regretting using Barbri and other cookie-cutter programs.

Here’s how she did it and the tools she used to do it:

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