Update: The scholarship deadline has closed for 2016. We have personally spoken with and notified the winner! Thank you to everyone who submitted entries. It was a very difficult decision to decide who should win. We really appreciate all the great entries we received. 

JD Advising Scholarship for Students that Failed the Bar Exam

Did you fail the bar exam? Do you have something happy, sad, inspiring, or depressing to share? We invite you to apply for our JD Advising scholarship!

*Note: You are welcome to apply for this scholarship even if you have since passed the bar exam. So long has you have failed one bar exam, you are eligible to apply!

How to Apply for our JD Advising Scholarship!

You can write a story, a poem, a letter of encouragement, a vignette. It can be about your bar exam experience, your feelings about the bar exam experience or something related to your experience of not passing the bar exam.  It can be encouraging, inspiring, sad, depressing, funny . . . or just an honest reflection.

There is no word limit or requirement.

The due date for submission is: December 1, 2016. *Note: This has closed. We will update the page with the new deadline and rules in 2017.

The scholarship amount of $1,000 is awarded to the winner of the scholarship. There are no conditions on how you spend the money. It can go toward anything – a bar exam course, student debt, a weekend away . . . basically, we don’t care! We will write you a check to use as you see fit!

The Purpose of the JD Advising Scholarship:

The purpose of the JD Advising scholarship is three-fold:

• First, to generate works that will ultimately help others who have failed the bar exam.  We seek to have submissions that can inspire others. Or serve as a source of support for others. Or simply speak truthfully about the feelings that one may experience when failing the bar exam. Failing the bar exam can be a lonely endeavor!  The best source of support, courage, inspiration, or simply understanding for someone who failed the bar exam, comes from someone who has been in their shoes.
• Second, to take some of the stigma out of failing the bar exam. Bar exam passage rates are very low. However, when someone fails the bar exam, they tend to feel like they are the only person that failed. (After all, no one posts Facebook statuses announcing to the world that they failed! Failing the bar exam is a private matter, and many people hide it or keep it private.) However, since not many people publicly share their story, this leads to increased stigmatization and increased feelings of isolation for those who fail. We seek to remove some of this stigma.
  
• Third, to help those who have failed the bar exam. A lot of promising, intelligent, and wonderful people fail the bar exam every single administration! Some of them are in debt. And not working. Or they are studying again. (Or maybe lawyering if they have since passed!) We know that $1,000 isn’t going to make or break anyone. But it will help out at least a little bit! Not to mention, reward the winner for sharing their submission.

Note that by applying, we have a right to publish your submission on our website in full or in part. We will not publish your name without prior consent.

Specific Directions to Apply for the JD Advising Scholarship:

• Include a cover letter with your full name, email address, and phone number on it. Also, state which state bar exam you failed and when you failed it  (i.e. “Michigan, July 2012”).
• Please do not identify yourself by name on the actual submission.
• Email your submission as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf attachment to nick@jdadvising.com. Please state the word “SCHOLARSHIP SUBMISSION” in the subject line.  We will confirm receipt of all scholarship submissions!
• There is no word limit or requirement. The submission can take any form you want (a poem, an essay, an article, a letter, a vignette) and can use any tone you want (it can be happy, sad, encouraging, depressing, honest).
• Entries will be judged by the quality of the writing, the substance, and the originality.

Who Can Apply for the JD Advising Scholarship:  

Anyone who has ever failed the bar exam.

Note: You do not need to have ever passed the bar exam. (But it is fine if you have passed the bar exam so long as you have failed one exam!). Lawyers are welcome to apply the same as non-lawyers.

Important Considerations:  

• By applying and sending us your work, you agree that JD Advising retains a perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive license to publish the work in any format. JD Advising also retains a right to edit a response if it deems necessary. Further, you acknowledge that you waive any and all rights you may have in the submission. (Note: We will only identify you personally if we have your permission to do so. Otherwise, we will publish it anonymously.)
• Your article must be an unpublished, original submission.
• There is a limit of one submission per person.
• By applying and sending us your work, you fully and unconditionally accept the terms of this scholarship.

Deadline to Apply for the JD Advising Scholarship:

You are welcome to make a submission at any time from September 1, 2016 to December 1 at 5:00 PM EST.  All submissions will be read after December 1.

Note, if you win, we will not publicly announce your name without your permission! (We know that failing the bar exam is a personal and private matter! Thus, we will keep it private and personal! And your name will only be published or revealed if you so choose!)

Award Amount for the JD Advising Scholarship:

One gift totaling $1,000 will be awarded to the winner. A check will be made to the winner personally. The winner can use the money however they see fit.

Other notes about the JD Advising Scholarship:

• We have a right to not choose a scholarship recipient if, in our sole discretion, we do not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified applications.
• Taxes are the sole responsibility of scholarship recipients.

Questions about the JD Advising Scholarship?

We are happy to answer them. Please email any questions to info@jdadvising.com. Thank you!

Looking for bar exam tutoring or assistance?

We have so many options! Click on the pages below to see our tutoring options:

•  Uniform Bar Exam tutoring and course options can be found here.
•  Michigan Bar Exam tutoring and course options can be found here.
• California Bar Exam tutoring and course options can be found here.

Ashley Heidemann scored over a 180 on the Michigan Bar Exam in February of 2011. She, as well as a team of tutors offer private one-on-one tutoring for bar exam students nationwide (including tutoring for the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) and Multistate Essay Exam (MEE). She also offers small-group courses and seminars for the Michigan bar exam.  Please click here to contact her company, with any questions or to set up a tutoring session.