Category: Law School

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Advice Daily Dose Law School

Learning From Failure: Finally Passing The Bar Exam

Sitting for one bar exam is daunting. Having to work, deal with family issues, and sit through more than one bar exam is beyond brutal. In fact, this entire experience should be added to Dante’s rings.

I sat for the Texas Bar exam 3 times and, before you read any further, let me be very clear: this is my own experience. I’m telling you what I went through and how I overcame it in the hopes that one of you wonderful examinees will make use of this information and ace your own exam. This is not a playbook to get you to pass, it’s merely an account of what I overcame (and what so many of us share) to accomplish this amazing dream.

Failing the exam doesn’t mean you’re going to be a crappy lawyer. It’s not a good measure of what kind of practitioner you’ll be at all. Why? Because the Bar exam doesn’t (and cannot) test your ability to practice the law. Instead, it’s a measure of your competency and understanding of a wide breadth of law. If you failed, pull yourself up and right the ship. Don’t keep dwelling on the failure and wallowing but, by all means, use the setback as ammunition to propel you forward on this journey. You’ll get through this. If you haven’t sat for the exam yet, and are looking for tips, I highly recommend using a few of my own.

After graduating in May of 2019, I immediately started looking for a post-bar position. I was not in the financial state to simply take the bar and then let the chips fall where they may. Landing the job of a lifetime is a major reason for why I had the luxury of sitting for the exam again after missing it by about 3% the first time. [Yeah, I said luxury. The Bar exam is a gate keeper and not a true measure of competency. We all know this, but rarely talk about it. Having the means to pay for a prep course and exam supplements, take time off from work to study, and have the bills paid is nothing short of a luxury.]

Here’s the list of what I changed about my study plan and techniques to give myself every advantage to ace the Bar exam.

Analyze The Scores.

Knowing where I faltered was crucial to my progress. Determining which areas needed more dedication was imperative. I took the time to create an excel spreadsheet with my scores broken down into each subcategory for the exam. This extra step worked wonders when picking apart the subtopics for my own review and Bar prep.

I scored abysmally low on the Property and Evidence sections of the MBE. It was bleak, y’all. As one clerking for an expert real estate attorney, this was a specific slap to my ego and I made sure to deep-dive into these subjects first to work on learning the black letter law. What I’d done wrong, in my opinion, was flying through these questions and thinking in terms of what my boss would do with a client in that situation. But, what we do in practice is not necessarily what the NCBE is questioning. Instead, I needed to take a step back and look the question objectively, recognizing the point of law being tested, and then answering the question. What we end up practicing is not a perfect world scenario. If we honestly tried, each of us could make some sort of argument for each answer on the multiple choice questions. However, that’s not the point of the exam. The point is to read efficiently and answer proficiently; no more, no less.

When combining the score report analysis with my Adaptibar practice exam (cold-turkey 100 questions), it was surprising to see the correlation. In the plainest language possible: I was “doing too much” when I should have slowed my roll and answered the damn question.

Create YOUR Study Plan.

Studying during a pandemic was rough. Worrying about the Board of Law Examiners meetings and whether or not they were going to change the content (which happened), the date of the exam (yep, also happened), and the type (again, yes — this changed, too) took up more of my headspace than I care to admit. Since I’m a type-A creature with the need to assert control over virtually everything, the easiest way for me to handle my study time was to create a study plan.

I think I should also mention that, in addition to dealing with the pandemic, student loan deferment requests, and losing both of my grandparents in a matter of months, my husband and I also found out we (mostly me) were expecting our first kiddo in January. Studying while pregnant? Extra fun.

With the difficulties of nailing down time to study, working in doctor’s visits and pregnancy naps [yeah, those were unexpected and non-negotiable], especially with the change of dates and my hectic work schedule, I decided on a six week timeline. Making the plan was step one. Executing it and working through each topic was another beast entirely. [Remember, the naps?]

The changing framework and timeline in preparing for the exam made studying feel awkward and even more challenging than usual. Plus, all the random pregnancy experiences that I didn’t count on when I initially setup my plan. I was a mess, mentally and physically fatigued, and working like a mad woman to realize my dream.

In total, I utilized over 400 hours of study time. However, I’m pretty sure that was only possible due to the change in date (from July to October), and the fact that I started reviewing my outlines incredibly early [as in, May…a week or so after receiving failing results].

The key is to craft a schedule that works for you. Whatever works for your schedule is the most important aspect for a healthy study and learning experience. There’s also the theory of diminishing returns to consider — it does my brain absolutely no good to study for 13 hours straight. I felt like Barbri videos and reviews, combined with Adaptibar, and Crushendo on a daily basis was just too much for me to handle.

Instead, I made time to study, workout, and spend allotted time with my family. Up until month 5 of my pregnancy, I was walk-jogging 5 miles a day and enjoyed a standing Sunday brunch with my family (this is still very much a weekly ritual, too). This time I was determined to find a happy balance between studying law and living my life and, in my opinion, I was all the better for setting (and keeping) this goal.

Chunking up my time and studying in smaller increments was incredibly helpful to my success this time around. That’s the benefit of starting early and spacing out your study sessions. By setting up this schedule, I didn’t feel like I was cramming information during the final week or two leading up to the exam. I knew I’d put in the required effort and was much more confident walking into this examination. In fact, with closer to 13 weeks of study time, I ended up using my study plan and then dedicating time to more essays leading up to the exam date. I worked through approximately 1500 MBE questions on Adaptibar (and about 200 more using Emmanuel’s and practice with my tutor), 8 MPTs (I re-worked several of the same ones at the recommendation of my Bar Readiness professor), and more than 60 essays questions.

Use the NCBE Topics List.

The first time I sat for the Bar, I followed the Barbri plan. I read through the entire outline for each subject and honestly thought I was “getting it.” But what was actually happening is that I was reading it and not actually taking it in and sitting with the material.

This time around? I took the NCBE outline and matched it up with my Barbri book outline. Then, I scratched out every single topic in the book that was not on the NCBE topics list. I refused to fill my mind with excess information. There’s already too much to review, no need to add extra crap.

After removing the topics that weren’t going to be tested, I read through the table of contents and the outline itself. Making notes here and there in terms of how the outline was organized, as well as highlighting exceptions or minute rules that I didn’t know or remember.

Once I read through each outline fully, I started in on practice MBE questions. No more than 33 per day, typically (see the schedule, above). While working through each question, I read through the answer choices, picked the one I felt was best, and then would flip to the section in the outline where that answer should be and confirm my choice. If I were wrong, I took the time to write the proper rule of down on a notepad and make a note of the page number where I sourced that rule.

I spent 1/3 of my MBE time practicing the questions and 2/3 reviewing outlines and the actual law behind the answers. I highly recommend this method. It came in handy when I worked with my tutor, who would consistently change facts and ask me whether a slight change in circumstance would end in a different result, making another answer choice more likely. Taking the time to really sit with the rules made my approach to the MBE that much stronger.

Hire a Tutor.

That job of a lifetime I mentioned…well, this is where it came in clutch. My boss also happens to be an amazing mentor and he really kept me centered and grounded through this stressful year. When I failed in February he let me know that he didn’t want to start over with another clerk, and that he believed I could pass this exam. I felt entirely crushed after receiving those results, but he helped me keep my head above water and I will be forever grateful. He also convinced me to utilize a tutor for Bar prep. If he hadn’t set this up and made the introduction for me, I’m not sure I would have considered it a viable option.

Working with Keith made the biggest difference in my Bar prep. I had a weekly check-in with him, where I was expected to have reviewed the material and work through practice MBE questions. Keith was my accountability partner, in a matter of speaking, which was exactly what I didn’t know I needed. I asked him to not only help prep me with question review, but also to create study aids to help me work through subject areas, particularly those more nuanced exceptions in the NCBE topic list.

Unlike working through questions with friends and other examinees, Keith kept me on my toes and forced me to analyze questions from multiple perspectives, constantly changing the fact patterns and asking me to explain my rationale. He helped me improve my MBE score by more than 15 points, and ultimately helped me improve my overall exam score by more than 50 points, which made all the difference in overcoming this career hurdle.

Block Out Virtually Everything & Everyone.

My biggest impediment studying for the Bar exam also happened to be my loudest fans and support system. My family went through a whole helluvalot this past year. We lost both of my grandparents to cancer, months apart. Their treatments were harsh and witnessing them slip away was awful for each one of us. Losing them nearly broke me, but studying for the Bar exam and making them proud was the singular focus of my Bar prep life. At least, it was until I found out I was pregnant — then I knew I just had to pass to support this little nugget.

With all the worldly chaos, I had to set boundaries with my family members. I was explicit with my time and autonomy, even going so far as to demand that no one visited our home unless invited. I drew a line in the sand and explained exactly what I needed from them. Thankfully, despite the harsh step I took, they listened. I was granted the space to study, free from the constant messages and calls from them at all hours.

My brain appreciated the time to step away from the family drama and concerns, just for a few weeks. They probably didn’t find the ice-out comical, but…it was necessary.

Focus on the Effort, Not the Time.

The amount of time you study does not matter. Time is relative. I can say I studied for 13 hours and make someone else feel like crap when they only got 9 hours in. How insane does that sound? What you do has no real bearing on what Cindy does to prepare for the exam. She can smoke you on exam day and the amount of time she put in does not necessarily correlate with her likelihood to pass or fail. Sure, there’s always someone who says they only studied for 2 weeks and passed, but the likelihood is that most people put in about 10 weeks of prep time to get through this exam. None of that time matters though if you’re just going through the motions or checking off a box.

The effort you put into the study is what truly matters. I got more out of effective, short-burst studying than I ever did with the marathon sessions using Barbri. I found myself actually sleeping through the night, experiencing fewer night terrors (maybe two or three, where I overslept and missed the exam entirely), and feeling less overwhelmed about taking the exam. I was literally growing a human and focusing on my health first, this exam second. I hadn’t prioritized myself that way before and gosh did I notice the change.

I focused on getting through what needed to be reviewed, sat and took the time to understand the material, and refused to shovel down as many questions as I could handle. That militant study style simply does not work for my study habits, and why I attempted to do that previously is a testament to what I was willing to buy into (stupid bar prep companies) without any regard for how I handled my study time in law school.

Getting the material down, truly understanding it, is key to passing this exam. You’re shooting for minimum competency, which doesn’t sound so hard, but it’s much more difficult than one might think.

Focusing on improvement is much better than setting a goal of 80% or better in each subject for Adaptibar or whatever other Bar Prep course you’re using. I set my sights on achieving a comfortable balance with my health and my study efforts. I think I placed too much emphasis on the idea of studying the first time I took the exam, without any regard to what my actual take-away was. This time around, I made sure to speak about what I learned to my husband, out loud to myself and the bebe, and then again to my tutor. The effort was incorporated across multiple avenues and the material really stuck in my mind. I cannot tell you exactly how many hours I studied, but I can sure as hell tell you I used those hours to my advantage and made each one of them count.

Review & Practice!

I think the key to succeeding on this exam is to keep reviewing and churning through the material in different ways. Look at the MBE questions from different angles and think through the problems. Don’t simply try to memorize the fact patterns, you’ll just end up pissed off and dizzy.

There is a way over the hurdle, but it takes patience and a metric ton of hard work. Don’t let anyone stand in your way. Focus on yourself, your needs and, more importantly, this goal. Set your sights high, friends. You can pass the Bar! I look forward to welcoming you into this amazing profession.

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Advice Daily Dose Law School

Pressuring the Pursuit of the ‘J.D.’

When I was little, my mom told me I was smart.  She told me I was going to be the first female in the family to go to a university.  And I was. As my college years passed, I began to feel lost. I’d always had a plan.  A plan to go to college. But what was the plan for after college?  No one ever told me what I was supposed to do next.  If I was so smart, how could I possibly settle for “just” a Bachelor’s degree? If I was so smart, how could I possibly settle for “just” an ordinary job? 

While I didn’t know what I wanted, I knew what I didn’t want.  I didn’t want a “basic” job. I didn’t want to go to med school (blood – yuck!).  I didn’t want to go to grad school as I felt like it would leave me just as directionless as I already was.  So that left law school! It was perfect! A choice that led to a career path. Done! My whole life planned out.  And it was my idea, right?  

Well, after many years as a lawyer and many years of self-reflection, I’ve come to realize that law school was NOT my idea.  It was something I may have thought of, but once I mentioned the idea, my parents would not let go of it.  As a result, I felt like I could not let go of it either.  

I told them I was taking a gap year.  “OK, but you don’t want to lose your momentum…” (pressure, pressure, pressure).  Ultimately, I took two years off. But I think my parents were secretly relieved when I went after that.   Unfortunately, none of us had any idea what I was in for. Most law students graduate with mountains of debt and are stuck working in a field not of their choosing because of that debt.  Most lawyers end up with anxiety and a high percentage have depression and/or addiction issues. How do we lawyers end up this way? Pressure.  

For the students whose entire family is full of lawyers, those families hear their college student say, “maybe law school” and they immediately say:

“Welcome to the family!!!!” 

“Be one of us!!!”

It’s kinda hard to back down from that. You would essentially be saying, “No, I don’t want to be one of you.”

For the students who are one of the first in their family to seek higher education, law school is not just icing on the cake, it’s like the entire candy store on top.  Parents are so proud. And again, once the words are said, you can’t take them back. To the proud parent, it’s a done deal!  

Then there is the self-created pressure.  You’ve always been the overachiever. The one who never gives up.  Are you really going to stop at a Bachelor’s degree? It’s so ordinary, isn’t it?  You want to be extraordinary! But you don’t know how. It’s hard to imagine becoming extraordinary by accepting an ordinary job out of college.  

That’s the problem.  Most of us never allow ourselves to try.  You don’t need more education to become extraordinary.  You need experience. An extraordinary person can turn an ordinary job into an extraordinary one.  Or they can rise through the ranks and reach the extraordinary position.   

Most students don’t even realize they have placed this pressure upon themselves.  Or, they think of it as a positive push to greatness. But often, the result is counter to what they actually want out of life.  Of course, at age 20, most people don’t actually know what they want out of life. And once those law loans are in place, there’s no money left to explore what you want out of life. You have too many bills to pay.

So what’s the answer?  How do you escape this pressure cycle?  It’s simple. Take some time to figure out who you are!  Take time off before going to law school. Even if you are determined to go to law school — a little rest, a little work experience, can enhance your resume.  If you take time off from school, you can save up some of your tuition and reduce the cost of attendance. You can rest your brain for a bit so you can handle all that studying that will come your way.  And if that time off takes you on a new path, that’s OK! Law school will always be there.

I know what you are thinking; you already told people you were going, right?  Well, pull up a few of those scary statistics from the American Bar Association on depression, anxiety, and addiction.  Share those numbers. Tell people you are going to explore a career path that doesn’t have those numbers while you figure out how to not become one of those statistics.  If you express concern for your mental health, backed by real numbers, some of that pressure is going to go away. And once again, you are looking pretty smart!  

From my observations, the happiest lawyers are those who have less debt (and therefore more flexibility on whether they remain a lawyer and what area of law they practice) and attend law school after a break.  I encourage you to be cautious before jumping into such an expensive path. It’s perfectly OK to say I had this thought, but after further research, I determined it was not the best path right now. You have years to attend law school; there’s no rush. But once you attend, that debt will keep you on that path, whether you still want it or not.  So slow down! This is your life!  Make it a happy one. 

About Jolene:
Jolene Blackbourn, Esq. is an attorney who left her senior-level position at a Fortune almost-100 company (106 to be exact) to become a full-time life counselor to pre-law students.  She has been advising law students since she was one herself. She gives speeches to pre-law organizations whenever possible. If interested in having Jolene speak at your school or to take advantage of her free resources, feel free to visit her website: www.JoleneBlackbourn.com/prelaw

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Daily Dose Law School

Things You Should Tell Yourself Before Taking the Bar Exam

Pondering my first go-around with the Texas Bar exam, I thought these tidbits might be useful to others. Right now, you’re gearing up for what feels like your brain’s most intense battle. If you’ve never taken this exam, just know – it may be worse than you think. If you’ve taken it once before – you already have what it takes to make it through the week. Trust yourself and your abilities.

Leave the Phone.

In prepping for the exam days, you should know that your support system wants you to win, but their encouragement may be too much for you to handle at 7am. Leave your phone – turned off – in your vehicle or at the hotel. Their messages will be much better received at the end of each day, rather than the beginning. Go into the exam with a clear head and heart. Trust me, you’ll need both of these things to fight your way through each day. I say this to you while desperately trying to heed my own advice.

This is one exam. It will NOT break you.

You made it through law school and can handle this one exam. I’m not sure how many times I’ve said this to myself over the past few months. Everything felt harder this time around, from gearing up to study, making it through the practice problems, and getting to sleep. The stressors that accompany this exam manifest themselves in physical form and that’s a heavier burden than I expected.

A wonderful friend of mine sent me this message and it’s spot on:
Remember this is just a test. You’ve taken 1000 tests before. And you have got this. Just see each part of the exam as a separate test instead of one big one. You have my support and you will be an attorney. But also this test does not define who you are. You have people around you who love and care about you regardless of what this next week brings.

So, be kind to yourself and remind your inner awesomeness that you can handle this rodeo.

Failure can happen.
Just remember to fail forward.

The worst thing that can happen is you fail. That’s it though. You study again and come back for the exam a second (or third) time. But, the worst thing is that you don’t pass. In the grand scheme of it all – failure is just an opportunity to do better next time. It’s not as big of a catastrophe as you think (or, as you thought it would be when you were a fresh law grad, saying this wouldn’t happen to you the first time you took it). If you fail, you will still be ok. You will get through it. It’ll suck, but you’ll be alright.

Sleep is overrated.
Pass List is Forever.

Yes, you’re exhausted. Hell, you’ve seen better days – of this I’m sure. You haven’t worn makeup in weeks, your wardrobe has pretty much existed of yoga pants and oversized sweatshirts. None of this matters. Just keep pushing yourself through these next few days.

You can deep sleep when it’s over.

For what it’s worth, just remember that you’re phenomenal. You’ve studied. You’ve got this. You’re a bad boss babe and you know. your. shit.

Good luck on the Bar exam!

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Daily Dose Law School

Law School Orientation: What to Expect & How To Prepare

You’re gearing up for law school orientation. First, let me congratulate you for getting here. You are a certified badass and all your hard work resulted in this freakout overwhelming feeling to prepare before classes begin. Don’t fret. You will be amazing. You’re probably trying to figure out what to wear, what to pack, and if you need to print anything or read something before Day 1 of Orientation.

Take a breath. Re-read the instructions sent to you by admissions, or the professors running orientation, and follow them to the letter. Add some snacks to your backpack, gum or mints, a notepad, and make sure to carry two pens, two highlighters, and your laptop + charger.

Wear something business casual. Landing somewhere in the middle of professional and casual is the best option. You won’t feel overdressed and won’t feel like a schlub. It may sounds silly, but dressing confidently goes quite a long way. Trust me on this.

Depending on your orientation schedule, you may have a quick few hours or a long week with your classmates. UNTDCOL (my alma mater) hosts a week-long orientation for students. There’s a long list of tasks to complete, including preparing your laptop, signing into research sites, and lessons on how to brief cases, as well as a prep class for torts or contracts. It’s our school’s take on gently introducing students to the law school experience.

These first few days of orientation can feel tense, mostly because the type-A group (which is pretty much everyone in your class) is trying to size each person up. I highly recommend being kind. The people in your class will become your family. You will spend an inordinate amount of time with your law school classmates. So, do yourself a favor and play nice.

Orientation will speed past you and the nerves you’re feeling now will likely ramp up before your first actual class. Take the time this week, if you haven’t already, to start your first week reading assignments. Don’t put this off. You need to brief your assignments and prepare for class. Don’t get ahead of the syllabus though. You aren’t even a baby lawyer yet. Getting too far ahead will cost you, dearly. Wait to get a foundation in each class before jumping too far forward in your reading. It seems odd, and goes against everything your overachieving self believes, but don’t do that!
You’ll thank me later.

Need advice on how to brief your cases for class? READ THIS.

Good luck and have fun!

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Daily Dose Law School

Surviving Day Three of the Texas Bar Exam

This monster of an exam is nothing short of a hat trick. Truly. Day one lulls you in, and if you feel good about your performance, it’s almost like the Bar tees you up for a spectacular tumble downhill on Day numero dos. But Day three? Friends, Day 3 of the Texas Bar exam is the State’s Legal pièce de résistance

Day three is the Texas essays. If you’re not afraid, you should be. The sheer amount of law covered on these 12 (yes, twelve) essays is behemoth. I worried about this part of the exam. I kept thinking I wasn’t prepared, and there was just no way I would ever feel prepared. Without an eidetic memory, there’s just no way to guarantee you’ll memorize everything on each essay. Plus, sometimes your brain just freezes. Mine stuttered in the middle of typing a Business Associations essay and – I swear to you – I knew what I wanted to say, but suddenly experienced this Broca’s aphasia of sorts and typed “It’s a special suit, only a shareholder can file…” and that was it. I got frustrated and wasted several precious seconds just praying I would remember the freaking legal term. By the time I got through the last subpart of this particular question, I remembered the term: derivative.

I’m not going to lie. In the midst of my freakout, I prayed. Full on Our Father + Hail Mary because I couldn’t think of anything else to do and the image of my grandparents praying over me via face time on Monday was the only calming thing I could think of. If you’re prepping for the Bar in February, I strongly encourage you to have one thing, just one, that will instantly calm you. This exam pushes your brain to the brink of its limits, and then teases you to push yourself just a bit further. There are exceptions that I laughed about knowing because my brain was saying, “yes girl. Type that answer.” But really, my inner voice was questioning where the hell that knowledge was coming from. Turns out – because, yes, I sure as hell checked my answers when I went back to my hotel after submitting the exam – those ‘shots in the dark’ I thought I was taking, were 100% accurate. It’s amazing how much knowledge your brain can store in three years + 8 weeks of busting ass and studying.

Day three was stressful, but not nearly as terrible as Day 2. Multiple choice questions, especially on legal topics, are the shittiest way to test your knowledge of the law. I absolutely loathed giving multiple choice questions when I was teaching, and I detest them even more as a student. Give me a chance to apply myself any day. I felt much more in my element on day 3 and, if you’re a stronger writer, I imagine you’d be in the same boat.

In addition to making it through the Bar exam, I witnessed someone begin the process of tanking her legal career. Let me tell you – the Board of Law Examiners is not here to deal with your bullshit. They are tasked with ensuring that people who pass the Bar are, in fact, able to competently serve the legal community. So, when they tell you not to bring in study materials, effectively violating the honor pledge, they REALLY mean it. After three years of law school, on top of the undergraduate (and possibly master’s degree) you’ve earned, you should be well versed in exam etiquette. A student broke the rules and likely lost her Bar card in the process. Word to the wise: don’t be that student. Put the time in and study, hard. There’s no reason to attempt to cheat your way through this test. Like I said, there’s just too much damn material. Study it and do your absolute best. Don’t be the idiot who tries to cheat and loses their chance at a Bar card.

Just don’t do that.

Now that the Bar is over — as I write this advice from my airplane seat, a mere 3 hours after finishing my exam — do your best to stop thinking about the exam. I know, it’s really hard to do. But, try nonetheless. Enjoy spending a few days doing something you love. Take a trip (I wrangled 10 friends and we’re headed to New Orleans for the weekend), or lounge by the pool. Hell, spend time with your family and all the individuals you ignored this summer to study. Check in on those who encouraged you and supported you these past ten weeks. Do something that makes you happy.

You’ve earned this time. You can get back to working, clerking, or whatever you plan to do while waiting for results (which, ever so rudely do not get released until November). Let’s hope for passing scores and the opportunity to clink champagne flutes in a few months, friends!

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Daily Dose Law School

Getting Through Day 2 of the Texas Bar Exam

Holy smokes. Today was…

We got wrecked. Anyone who says otherwise is [I’m fairly certain of this] lying. Those six hours were brutal and I know I must have looked like crap walking back into the hotel because, without saying a single word to her, one of my classmates said “yeah, girl. we all feel that way.”

Seriously, if you know someone taking the Bar Exam this week, please, for the love of all things holy, send them some love. This test really effs with your mind. It’s so easy to talk yourself into the wrong answer because yeah – the Board of Law Examiners likes to test the finer points of law and wants to try and trip you up. I caught myself arguing my way into a certain answer and then, after bubbling in the response, realizing I’d read the fact pattern too fast and the answer was actually something entirely different.

I walked out feeling like I’d been hit by a freight train…and that was only after the first half of the day! I opted to grab lunch and eat in my hotel room while sifting through a few more criminal law topics and torts issues that I felt I didn’t know quite like I should. I didn’t decompress. There was no time to prattle on or chat with my guy (who I kindly told to leave me alone so I could review). Maybe I should have — but I chose to run through my outlines again, just to refresh my brain. A choice I’m sure I will repeat again tomorrow.

There was so much reading. 100 questions in the morning and another 100 in the afternoon. The BLE was not playing, y’all. Those fact patterns were lengthy. I read pretty damn fast and found it difficult to get through them all. Ugh. The migraine resulting from today was spectacular. But you know what? We made it through Day 2!

I’m incredibly proud, albeit a few inches smaller.

Overall, I expected Day 2 to be harder than Day 1. As hard as it actually was? No. I didn’t think it would be that bad. If I fail the Bar, it will be because of this day. Let me be real honest here. The MBE section was tough, and I’m feeling properly blundered. Thankfully, the MBE section is scaled. So, let’s hope for that good ol’ curve!

Tomorrow is the last day of the Bar Exam.
My advice to you (and me) is this:
Thinking about how you did so far, is fruitless. Study up, rest up, and then have a damn good breakfast and show that Bar who’s boss tomorrow! You’re gonna write amazing things!

Do great work! I’m rooting for each one of you. <3

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Daily Dose Law School

Day One of the Texas Bar Exam

Well folks. Day one is complete. I don’t feel like hurling, so I’m going to mark this down as a win. Check-in went relatively smooth, except for the palpable stress levels among the students and the Board staff. There were a few students trying to quiz each other while checking in and someone kindly said “there will be none of that here.” I couldn’t help but smile and silently thank them.

The exam room was freezing! I was so happy I opted to bring my Alpha Phi sweater. There was enough outlet space to plug in my laptop and I was directed to sit near one of my law school classmates (solidarity, yo!). This convention center is giant and, the frustrating bit is we aren’t allowed to have even a casual “hello” or small chat at any point in time. So, here I am wanting to give as much emotional support as I can to my friends, who I saw a couple of times when walking in or out of the restroom, and I couldn’t even give them more than half a smile. I mentally high-fived them and sent all the best vibes I could muster.

If you’re reading this – I love you. I’m rooting for you. You’ve got this!

Despite the fact that I’ve worked on multiple MPT exams and Procedure & Evidence questions in less than the allowed time frame, I still managed to run right up against the clock. I went back to double-check my P&E answers, mostly because I had a fleeting moment of sheer panic at the thought of accidentally inputting the answer for the wrong question number. It seems moronic, and much akin to a straight-up first world problem, but my heart stopped racing when I browsed through them to ensure each statement rested safely within the confines of its proper question slot.

I was really worried the software would glitch.
Thankfully, it didn’t.

The morning started off early, with a Belgian waffle and a vanilla latte because – let me tell you – if I was going down, it wasn’t going to be because I was hungry and uncaffeinated. I’ll be damned. Typically, I don’t eat a big breakfast on an exam day. I was nervous and excited and I just didn’t want to press my luck. I mean…did anyone know how far away the bathrooms would be?

Yes, these are things I think about. Don’t you?

As soon as I finished the exam today, I was feeling good. But then all the things I could have done better, or should have included, hit me like a ton of bricks. It’s a law student sickness. I am sure you suffer from it, too.

Did I really just delete that?! FFS.

Not one to wallow, I allowed myself 3 minutes to think on it, internalize, and then…I let that shit GO! There’s two days left and there is no time to fall apart. Please, don’t torture yourself. Today is done. Tomorrow is going to be better and Thursday will be the best day yet! #TexasEssays

Why so effing chipper? Well, being a gloomy-Gus doesn’t really help matters here. I’d rather be in a good mood, ready to tackle the day, than pissy about something that didn’t work out. Or worse – angry at myself for failing to do something in the last section of the exam because, my dear, there simply isn’t a damn thing you can do to change that. Keep moving FORWARD!

I can state, unequivocally, that I am so elated to have attended a law school that focused on bar readiness and application of the law. The drills and constant progress checks made so much sense today. I forgot a civil procedure question – in the middle of typing my answer – and I closed my eyes and [swear to you] heard Professor Tamer scolding me about missing it on a quiz.

Must deliver thank-yous to the epic profs who got me this far.
Seriously, clutch.

Prepping for Day One is a bit odd, because the style is part quick-fire (the P&E) and part extended logic (for which you cannot actually use much of your attained law school knowledge, as it’s a closed-universe task). I’ve got to tip my hat to the Board of Law Examiners for easing us into the fray.

After the three hours today, I came back to the hotel to eat lunch and nap. I needed to re-charge the batteries. Unfortunately, I ended up having a nap-nightmare involving rogue vegetables, a kind police officer, and a street race while in a vehicle with the brake lines cut. So, I guess that gives you an idea of where my headspace is; make of it what you will.

I’ll be spending the next couple of hours reading through sample essays and decided I wasn’t going to subject my brain to any more practice problems for the MBE (I think 1500+ is just going to have to do). My biggest complaint today lies with the fact that this hotel room is not conducive to studying. However, I managed to make friends with the spa staff and found myself a great little hidey-hole to increase my own productivity.

Here’s hoping your Bar Exam experience is a good one!

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Advice Daily Dose Law School

Thoughts Before I Take The Texas Bar Exam

I’m not sure how to feel right now. The Bar exam begins in 2 days and I honestly don’t feel calm, but I’m also not in a full-blown panic. I’m antsy. I can’t quite put into words the exact feeling coursing through me right now, but I can tell you that I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders tonight. Definitely questioning if I know-know everything, or if I just know everything. Because, I’m not entirely sure it’s ever enough.

There are 37 subjects on this exam. Did you know that? Someone asked me today “do you feel ready?” And my only response to her was, “well, there’s 37 subjects on this test.” But that’s all I needed to say because she responded with “well, damn.” Yes, girl. Damn indeed.

There’s exceptions to exceptions and we’re required to recognize laws at the drop of a hat. It seems easy enough in practice, when you can just tell your client that you’ll look into the matter and get back to them. But under a time-pressured exam, it’s entirely different. I have to figure out a way to let my examiner know that I truly understand the law, with around 600 words per essay (of which, there are 12). And the best advice I was given is something along the lines of “Just keep moving forward and fake it if you have to because you simply will not know it all.”

I’m trying to figure out how to tackle this experience, hoping to convey these emotions and internal monologue. Before I even walk into this exam, I’m doing all I can to clear my mind of the stress and concern caused by the hundreds (yes, hundreds) of hours of preparation I’ve put into gearing up for this three-day test. At this point, I want you to know that there’s still time to review, but there’s nothing left to learn. I promise you, I’m racking my brain trying to figure out what else I can do, but I’m drawing a blank. You’ve put in the time. You feel bruised and battered, brain a little worse for wear, but it will get you through this.

This exam is just that – a test. At this point in your education, you’ve taken hundreds of exams. Each hurdle got you here. You’ve dreamt for this opportunity. Don’t shy from it; go forth and conquer! It’s only three days, in the span of thousands. This experience will not break you. Lay everything you’ve got into this exam because knowing you put the aggregate of your energy and effort into it is all you can truly ask of yourself.

Good luck to you all and may the curve be ever in our favor!

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Advice Daily Dose Law School

Crash-Course Study Methods

I’ve realized that I loathe Barbri’s Property outline. I actually graduated from law school and yet, reading their property outline confuses the ever-loving hell out of me. The condensed version spans more than 60 freaking pages. yes, the CONDENSED version. I searched high and low for other options, including re-reading my own course notes and textbook from 1L year. That helped, but it was still too much to review. Luckily for me, a really helpful guy happened to read my blog and kindly suggested I use a new study tool.

Enter – CRUSHENDO.

I must tell you that I do not consider myself an auditory learner, at least not one that can simply listen to a lecture and nothing else. I’m a multiple-modality learner, which requires me to doodle or write along to what I’m listening. Sometimes, when the audio is too long or not engaging, I find myself drifting. So, I wasn’t too sure Crushendo would offer me anything worthwhile. But this is the freaking BAR EXAM, so there was absolutely no way I was going to avoid trying it out. Here’s my honest review, folks:

This program combines a written outline with a series of audio files. You can read the outline, which is considerably shorter than the Barbri work, and then listen to the playlist for each outline. The playlist includes audio files which are broken into digestible lengths (approximately 4 minutes each). I can listen to them while running at the gym, or while cooking; both scenarios offer me the chance to focus on moving, while also using neurons to work through concepts. Another aspect I love about the outlines are the pictures and mnemonics they incorporate. They’re pretty funny and memorable, albeit really corny or weird. But hey, they suit their purpose!

I had a chance to speak with Adam, creator of Crushendo, and he told me about the history of the company and why they started. These outlines, several times edited and improved, were what he created to get through the Bar Exam himself. He aced it on the first try and scored in the top 5% nationally. [In case you needed to know whether his study tools are useful, they are].

I’m really thankful he had the foresight to create these outlines because I’ve found them invaluable in preparing myself for the Texas Bar Exam. If you’re a law student, especially a 1L, I highly recommend you purchase these MBE, MPT, and MEE (for those states using the UBE) outlines and essay tools. This program allows you to prepare with MBE multiple choice questions, as well as MPT and essay exams (for the UBE only). They include point sheets and you can self-grade to see where you still need improvement. SO USEFUL!

This is a sample piece from Crushendo

I can’t tell you how much I wish I’d found Crushendo during my 1L year. I’m just thrilled these outlines found their way to me. If you need a crash-course for the MBE, these outlines might be just the ticket for you. If you’re barely beginning your law school career, do yourself the favor of purchasing this course content. Once purchased, you have lifetime access to the program; whenever they update with more MBE questions or essays from the NCBE, you have instant access to the content. How great is that?!

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Advice Law School

The Ugly Truth About Bar Prep

Preparing for the Bar exam is unbelievably lonely. I’m not sure what I expected this to feel like, but whatever those preconceived notions may have been were shattered after a few weeks into seriously prepping for this exam. Admittedly, I put off studying for a while. My brain just felt like it couldn’t deal after graduation.

This summer has been the most mentally fatiguing experience of my life and I’ve found myself trying to explain this emotion, or series of feelings, multiple times to many different people. So, here’s the ugly truth about bar prep – it sucks and feels like a hazing ritual. When no one in your immediate family has gone through this experience, it can feel like you’re an island and there’s not even a dinghy to help you escape. But you’ve got to get through it, and you will. Build the damn boat, friend.

The funny thing is, studying isn’t the difficult part. It’s getting myself into study mode. Every day. For hours. Several hours. Like nine hours a day and then time spent for review, and the gym (where I’ve been listening to audio outlines from Crushendo), feeding myself, and getting the dogs to the park for some play time. Aside from the gym, I tend to do a majority of these events alone. Despite what others might think, I am not lounging around at home, eating bonbons, and watching movies. I’m studying, working, working out, stress-baking, or sleeping. Glamorous, huh?

But hey, I bake cookies and send them to friends — that’s a good thing, I think.

I did make sure to maintain my weekly brunches with family because there’s no way this girl was giving up waffles and coffee on a Sunday morning. Also, I stress-bake. And frankly, I don’t give a damn if you think it sounds stupid. It’s how I cope and take needed mental breaks. Stay in your lane, peeps.

I’ve given it plenty of thought and honestly feel like I’ve put in the time this exam requires. There’s still about 100 hours of review left, which sounds ridiculous, but there’s plenty of time left to go over the law I need. Thinking about that time means more minutes alone spent working on essays, P&E practice questions, and MBE questions. It’s a lonely business, y’all. If your brain and personality don’t handle being alone well, then I strongly suggest figuring out a way to study and meet your social needs. [Everything in moderation, folks…including time with your friends and family. Little spurts seem to work best for me.]

In addition to the loneliness, studying for the Bar is also a suffocating experience. I used the Barbri program and, once I get results, I’ll be sure to let you know how things turned out. What I know right now is that I feel so overwhelmed with the breadth of law this program includes. From what I ascertained, it’s more than necessary, compared to other programs. Which is probably why I feel like I’m drowning all the time. Some of the condensed outlines are 70 pages. Let that sink in. SEVENTY. PAGES.

So now, you’re secluded. You’re losing yourself in a pile of books that basically require glue to keep your eyes open, under an amount of law you’re pretty sure there’s no way a single person can know all of, wishing for the chance to just use the degree you already earned. Not allowed.

Plus, there’s the relationships that will – without a doubt – suffer for your failure to be present in the lives of others. Oh, and if that’s not enough stress, there’s the added concern of the countless other things going on in the dark depths of your mind. Everyone has worries. You don’t want to disappoint your family, friends, or yourself. There’s so much riding on this exam and everything in your life at this very moment feels like it’s being held together by balsa wood and papier-mâché. Trust me — you are not alone in this. It may feel that way, but we’re going through it together. You can reach out and vent and talk through your concerns. Every attorney before you has been in exactly this same position.

Every lawyer I’ve spoken to about this process said a variation of the same thing – “this is the worst of it. Get yourself past this roadblock and you’ll be fine.” But no one told me how they did it. Not a single person. Because the only real answer to “how can I get through this?” is simple: everyone does it differently. And no single experience will align with another. Everyone learns differently, studies differently, and works differently. There is no formula for getting through it with flying colors. You just do what you can, give prepping everything you’ve got, and then walk into the exam days with confidence to spare.

There’s 2 weeks left until game day. Keep it up. You’ve got this. Keep going. Little by little, you’ll get yourself there. Plus, in 17 days – you can go back to reading things for fun!