Bar Prep Is Overwhelming: How to Make Independent Choices for Yourself

You have questions about the bar exam. How to study. When to study. Whether you’re on the right track. Picking the right bar prep supplements out of all the resources out there.

"Yes, it is very overwhelming and the amount of resources out there to help are also overwhelming lol"

Here’s how a lot of questions go on social media:

What’s the BEST program/tutor/outline?

When you say you want the “best” answers to these questions, it makes me wonder:

Is it the feeling of certainty that you’re really looking for? Someone to just tell you what the hell to do? Or do you actually want the objective best answer?

If you crowdsource the answer, by definition, you won’t know which one is best. Advice is autobiography.

How would you even trust which is the one that rules them all?

In fact, the more options you have, the more hesitant you get because there are pros and cons to every option. By saying yes to something, you’re saying no to other things.

But there are no secrets and there are a million ways to pass. You have it in you already. It’s always been up to you.

Sounds scary but also freeing, right?

Sure, sometimes you want to vent and don’t want to consider the pedantic interpretations of what’s “best.” You simply want to get some support from others.

But I want to encourage you to listen to yourself a little more instead of blindly being influenced by what someone else says you “need” to do (not just with bar prep but with everything else in life).

That’s where the danger lies in the landscape of bar prep. You shop around and yet end up where you started. Everyone who passed suddenly has an opinion (and sometimes a tutoring service).

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Repeating (and Passing) the Bar Exam by Choosing Resilience

The bar exam can be an emotionally intense experience.

We all need a witness to our struggles. Don’t keep it locked up inside you. Sharing the ups and downs can be cathartic.

Jonathan took the time to send me a raw, heartfelt story of what it was like to fail…and then PASS the 2024 July CA Bar Exam.

💬 “When I found out I did not pass the bar, I was devastated; I let down myself and seemingly my family, my girlfriend, mentors, and everyone who had invested in me — how would I recover from this professionally and personally?

Repeaters will know about the devastation and the identity crisis that comes with failing the bar exam.

Am I being dramatic?

Maybe. Regardless, if you don’t pass, there’s suddenly a ton of uncertainty and volatility about your future.

Choose resilience, or give up. It’s up to you.

💬 “Over my time re-studying for the exam, two thoughts persisted:

No…no, this is not how my story ends! I am not a failure or a quitter… I’ve never quit and why would I do it now? No…I have more in the tank’; and

the other was, ‘what if this repeats again…is it better to just take the foot off the gas? There are many people who understand how difficult this exam is…maybe I should use my degree for something adjacent.’ And then it hit me . . .

How did he finally overcome the past that haunted him so?

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6 Ways to Reclaim Your Time & Energy While Studying for the Bar Exam (Even If You’re Working Full Time)

Your hair feels gross, the fridge is empty, and you’ve been scraping together whatever free time you can.

Words in front of you are jumbling together into a blurry mess, passing by like a dream and also slipping away like one.

I’ve been where you are. In a way, I’m still there.

Bar prep steeps you in this undercurrent of anxiety because there’s so much to study with so little time and you’re feeling the pressure from the exam getting closer and closer. The worst combination.

But it’s not just time. Time isn’t your scapegoat. “Life is short” is propaganda by people who wasted their time.

“Yeah maybe when I have more time. I’m going to feel motivated someday. Everything happens for a reason.”

Oh, okay.

We like to tell people we “don’t have time” or that “time is the most valuable resource” or that “life is short” (even though we love to procrastinate).

That’s because time is not actually your most valuable resource.

You ALSO need ENERGY and ATTENTION. You need CLARITY so you can be productive. 

You ever see those everyone-has-24-hours “motivational quotes”? Even if you “had the time,” it doesn’t mean jack unless you have the mental energy to do something with it.

Here are 6 rules to take back your time and energy while studying for the bar exam (even if you’re working full time):

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Passive Learning vs. Active Learning: DOING Is the Best Form of Thinking

Dude, I feel you… This shit exhausting.

You don’t want to take this exam or SEE another question EVER again. You want nothing more than to pass this stupid bar so that you can move on with your life.

You can see the One Outcome on the horizon. So close yet so far.

So close yet so far to end of bar prep
(Is this reference outdated? Oh well)

But you can’t escape this endless cycle. You’re not allowed to. Not yet.

Wake up, then crash your face into the pillow. Hope and despair, rinse and repeat. It feels like you’ve been preparing for this bar exam your whole life.

It doesn’t even feel real anymore. But this exam is the realest thing in your life right now.

Maybe you turn to unimportant fiction to distract your mind. All the constant news in bar world about how many questions other people are doing, whether others are feeling just as behind or panicked as you, whether they’ll abolish the bar exam, remote testing issues

Feels great to have some drama in your life. Something OTHER than Civ Pro to vent about!

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Enjoying Bar Prep: 6 Ways to Make Studying for the Bar Exam More Fun and Effective (Visual Guide)

Is it possible to enjoy bar prep?

It’s one of the dryest things a person can do on this planet. (Don’t invite space tourists to try this.) But we retain more and pay more attention when things are enjoyable.

The default, typical, boring approach to bar prep involves sitting still like a statue watching people in a suit drone on as you fantasize about throwing yourself out the window (not your computer though…you already paid the exam laptop fees).

If you’re especially masochistic, you’ll pause the video and make sure to fill in all the lecture notes because you think your Barbri books will be a fine addition to your future library.

This is all surprisingly exhausting.

As a bonus, you’ll also forget 99% of what you listened to. I’d rather watch water boil because at least I’d have something to show for it, like edible pasta.

Something people forget to tell you is that you don’t actually have to follow the default.

“Just complete the course! Do all the things! Play it safe and you’ll be fine!”—The National Association of Barbri (probably)

It feels good because you can’t get anything wrong when you’re just absorbing information. You won’t taste defeat, but you won’t taste victory either.

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