Category: Essays

Posted on - 3 Comments on How to Be the Ultimate Sore Loser (to Pass the Bar Exam Next Time)

How to Be the Ultimate Sore Loser (to Pass the Bar Exam Next Time)

You see that Schroedinger’s bar results are available, where irreconcilable possibilities coexist as long as you don’t look.

  • “Do I really check right now? Should I leave it alone?”
  • “Do I choose purgatory or risk hell?”
  • “I could just wait until Sunday so I could avoid anxiety / have a relaxing weekend!”

Good luck with that, dude.

You waited for this moment for months, maybe years. You can’t handle the anticipation bursting out of the seams of your heart. You check and find that you…

Did not pass…

How frustrated are you?

If you’re the type who hates to lose, who will struggle like an ugly worm, I can show you how you just might pass next time…

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Posted on - No Comments on Answering the Call of Nature (Listening to Yourself When Studying for the Bar)

Answering the Call of Nature (Listening to Yourself When Studying for the Bar)

What? Not potty humor again!

Lol no, this is different, although I can probably try to come up with something if you want… or you can just log out if you don’t want to hear it.

You’re pacing around the bathroom avoiding eye contact with yourself and thinking, “Wouldn’t it be crazy if the bar is coming up in just X weeks, but I’m just drained physically, emotionally and spiritually and I don’t want to think about this anymore?”

Or maybe you got into a routine by now and are feeling complacent with how things are going. Either way, your body is trying to tell you something—nature is calling! We weren’t meant to slave over shitty exams for months.

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Posted on - No Comments on What Should Your Final Preparation Look Like?

What Should Your Final Preparation Look Like?

Oh you terrify me. But you also delight me. Can’t that be said for at least one person in your life?

True story. Last Friday, I was invited by a guitarist to play the keyboard for his band. Oh my! Exhibitionism was just what I needed to enflame a terror-delight in a heart that has been devoid of emotions since I started attending my alma mater (which dipped in ranking ever since, go figure).

Since I knew nothing about what they were playing, nor had I improvised anything in years, I had to regretfully decline. I got to watch them play for free, though.

Regret. Self-doubt. Insufficient preparation.

If last July is any indication, more than 50% of those attempting the CA Bar Exam will feel something like that come November.

I don’t want to tell you “I know for a fact u will pass if u believe in urself !!” because I’m afraid it will overinflate your optimism and also because I have no empathy. That’s what your friends are for, if you haven’t totally estranged yourself from them yet.

It may seem like a ridiculous coin flip at this point, but perhaps it isn’t too bad if you load the coin in your favor (some optimism is good):

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Posted on - 2 Comments on How to Apply Rules with IRAC

How to Apply Rules with IRAC

Essays: Get the “I” and “R” right, and the rest should flow relatively naturally. So these “I” and “R” would be good place to focus on throughout your essay preparation.

Even if you had just a few weeks to prepare for the bar, there’s still time to learn the “A” part of IRAC—applying the rules. Once you learn how to work facts into your answer, you may not need to practice the “A” part as repetitively as you would for issue checking and rule recitation or memorization.

I’ll demonstrate a simple and clean rule application, based on this question I got:

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Posted on - No Comments on How Well Should You Be Doing to Feel Secure with Your Progress?

How Well Should You Be Doing to Feel Secure with Your Progress?

Preparation lowers your risk of non-passage. 

Thank you, Fleet Admiral Obvious! You’re welcome, but have you really thought about how much preparation is needed for an acceptable level of risk?

When there are only a couple more weeks to go, the state of the union inevitably seems to turn to “this is awful i wanna die HELP!”

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