Retaking the bar exam in February? It won’t be that bad!
Retaking the bar exam in February? It won’t be that bad!
We have heard from many bar exam takers who have failed the July bar exam and find themselves retaking the bar exam in February. There is nobody on this planet who looks forward to retaking the bar exam. However, the February bar exam will be a different experience from July’s. And it won’t be that bad! Here, we list some advantages of taking the February bar exam.
Retaking the bar exam in February? It won’t be that bad!
Here are a few positive differences you can expect if you are retaking the bar exam in February.
The February bar exam has more repeat takers.
Instead of competing with examinees that have graduated at the top of their law school class after completing a traditional three years of law school, you will be competing with repeat takers as well as nontraditional law students (e.g., those that took longer than three years to complete law school). This makes the experience a little less daunting. And while the February bar exam pass rate in most states is lower than July’s, for this reason, we believe it can even be a little easier to pass the February bar exam.
The February bar exam has less bar exam takers.
Your testing center may have less examinees or be smaller. This makes it a little less intimidating to take the bar exam. Further, since you are with a lot of repeat takers, you may find that people are less anxious or neurotic than first-time takers. This can make the actual bar exam experience more pleasant.
It is easier to study for the February bar exam.
There are fewer holidays in January and February. There also tend to be fewer weddings, baby showers, and parties. And, depending on where you are, the weather may make it very easy to stay inside. You will be less tempted to go out with friends if it is freezing cold! This makes drinking hot chocolate and looking over a bar exam outline not sound so bad.
You are not starting from scratch.
When you studied for the July bar exam, you were essentially starting from scratch if you were a first-time taker. You had a lot to learn and the bar exam was a completely new experience. But you do not have to start from scratch when you study for the February bar exam. You have learned a lot – not only about the law, but about the bar exam experience itself, and what was effective for you (and what wasn’t) when you studied. You are not starting over. You have less ground to make up before the February bar exam.
You do not have to (and should not!) repeat your July bar exam experience.
Some students absolutely dread watching commercial course lectures (and in fact, we don’t recommend you re-watch the same lectures if you didn’t find them helpful!). Others dread the thought of looking at the same outlines again. Or going through the same MBE books.
We recommend you change your bar exam experience for February. Not only are you more likely to pass if you do something different, but you may be more motivated to get started. Consider private tutoring. Or getting some new outlines. And new MBE books. You may also even find it helpful to pick up some new highlighters, markers, pens, or notebooks. Sometimes the small things make a big difference.
We offer several products and services which you can review below if you are interested in prepping for the February bar exam in a new and improved way!
Looking to Pass the Uniform Bar Exam?
Free or discounted resources
- A five-star UBE course (for as low as $1399.99!) that provides you with the best instruction, outlines, and questions. Preview our course for free here!
- Our new Free Bar Exam Resource Center, which includes our most popular free guides, posts, webinars, and more!
- Free popular bar exam guides (on the MBE, MEE, how to pass the bar exam, and what to do if you failed the bar exam) written by bar exam experts!
- A free Early Bar Prep Course for law students
Other resources
Our most POPULAR and highly rated bar exam resources are:
- Our On Demand and Premium Bar Exam Courses
- Bar Exam Private Tutoring by bar exam experts
- MBE One-Sheets and MEE One-Sheets—rated five stars! Our customers love these supplements!
- Real MBE questions—the best practice questions available!
We also have several additional MBE, MEE, and MPT products available.
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!