How To Pass As A Bar Exam Repeater In Five Steps

How To Pass As A Bar Exam Repeater In Five Steps

For most graduating law students, studying for the bar is a commitment of at least two months. During that time, you’ll work hard to memorize the law, apply it to a given set of facts, and form your legal conclusions. After you’ve spent all that time and effort preparing for the bar, it can be devastating to learn that you failed the bar exam. However, you should learn from the experience and use it to improve your score on the second take. To help, here are some tips on how to pass as a bar exam repeater.

How To Pass As A Bar Exam Repeater In Five Steps

1. Remember It’s Okay to Feel Frustrated! (Or Disappointed, Upset, Angry…)

When you learn you didn’t pass the bar exam, you’ll feel a range of emotions from frustrated, to disappointed, to everything in between. Not only are those feelings normal and natural, but you’re also not alone in feeling that way. Every year, many smart and well-qualified law students fail the bar exam. Here’s a list of famous people who failed the bar exam. All went on to be incredibly successful, including our former First Lady Michelle Obama.

We also recommend you take a minute to read through these uplifting quotes so that you can keep things in perspective. Remember this is just a momentary sidestep on your journey to becoming a lawyer.

2. Investigate What Went Wrong

Sometimes, it’s easy to figure out what went wrong. Maybe you overslept or had an issue on your way to the exam, or you slept for only five hours over the entire week leading up to the bar.

Other times, you’ll need to do a deeper dive in order to pass as a bar exam repeater. Were your study habits effective? Did you burn out halfway through bar prep? Did you attempt to learn every single area of the law, instead of focusing on the most commonly tested topics? Only after you identify what went wrong can you begin to take steps to fix it the next time you take the bar exam.

3. Use Real MBE Practice Questions

To pass as a bar exam repeater, you’ll need to study more effectively. In most cases, one of the least effective things you could do is to repeat the same bar prep course that you used the first time. Instead, you need to shift your focus. One of the most important changes you can make is to use real MBE practice questions, instead of those invented by a bar prep company. Only the real MBE practice questions prepare you for the style and format you’ll see on test day.

Here are five reasons to use real MBE questions for practice!

4. Take the Bar Exam Essay Seriously

If your state has an MPT and you don’t take it seriously, you’re missing a golden opportunity to improve your score. Unlike with MBE topics, you can improve your MPT score with minimal practice. Don’t leave points on the table — spend some time working on your bar exam essays. Check out our step-by-step guide on how to answer an MPT question!

5. Memorize the Law

A good outline is important, but it’s not enough. To pass the bar exam, you need to learn and memorize the law. There are tons of strategies for memorizing your outlines ranging from color-coding them, using pictures or diagrams, explaining concepts to friends, and more. We recommend trying several different strategies and settling on those that work for you.

If you failed the bar exam during your first attempt, you’re not alone in feeling disappointed. But, don’t lose hope! By investigating what went wrong and making strategic changes to the way you prepare, you can put yourself in the best position to pass next time!

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