Top Five Most Annoying Things People Say to Bar Exam Takers
Anyone who has studied for the bar exam can relate to how annoying it is to hear any of these five things. We hear students complain about these statements all the time. So we took the liberty of compiling them into a list. Read more
Failing the bar exam is a terrible feeling. It is hard to recover at first. However, once you have a plan, you will feel better! (Read this Note to those who Failed the Bar Exam if you haven’t already!)
One thing that students tend to do after they find out they failed the bar exam is to cling to just one reason that they failed. “I need to practice more MBEs!” they’ll say. And they’ll make that their focus. Their only focus. Soon, they’ll find their knowledge of the substantive law is fading, their essay score is sliding, and they still don’t get the score they need to pass! Read more
If you failed the bar exam, you are definitely not alone!
Remember that even if you think “all of my classmates passed” — they didn’t! Many state bar exam passage rates are low and getting lower. Further, nobody advertises on Facebook when they fail the bar exam (they only advertise passing the bar exam!). Please keep in mind that you are not alone!
Also remember that even if you failed the bar exam, it does not mean you cannot pass it in the future and become a lawyer. We know that taking the bar exam again is probably the last thing you want to do now. But if you come up with a plan, it will be much more bearable! Read more
Here is a testimonial from a student who took the July 2014 Michigan bar exam using a Kaplan course last year. He failed the bar exam, then hired us to help him pass the following February 2015 bar exam. He was a very intelligent student – one of the brightest that we have met! – but found that the Kaplan course did not help him pass the exam. (Note: This is not to say anything bad about commercial bar review courses – they are simply not for everyone!)
This is his story about how he found that enrolling in private tutoring was what ultimately helped him pass the February 2015 Michigan bar exam. Read more
Failing the bar exam can be a sad, lonely, sick feeling. We understand this deeply and have a note to those who fail the bar exam.
We also know that sometimes a good quote can change a perspective, or reflect one, or, if nothing else, make you feel less alone. A good quote is sometimes motivational. Sometimes understanding. Sometimes it convinces you to move on, or to stay where you are, or to keep fighting. Sometimes it convinces you of nothing but just reflects how you feel in an eloquent way when you cannot exactly wrap words around your feelings.
We have copied a few Rainer Maria Rilke quotes that we love below. Rainer Maria Rilke was a bohemian Austrian novelist and poet who was alive in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.These quotes are, by and large, not motivational one-liners. They are sentences or paragraphs that express hard truths well. They are true and difficult and lifey. And that is why we love them. Although he was not writing to people who didn’t pass the bar exam, many of my bar exam students have found these quotes especially helpful and eye-opening. Some may resonate with you. Some may not. I’ve listed a few of my favorite quotes here and bolded portions I like the best. Read more
If you failed the bar exam, we want to start by saying we’re sorry! We know it can be extremely disappointing and disheartening. (If you have not already, we suggest you read this note to those who failed the bar exam).
If you failed the bar exam, one of the decisions you will have to make is whether you want to take the next bar exam or put off the bar exam until a later time. In general, we recommend taking the following bar exam. So if you failed the July bar exam, take the February bar exam. If you failed February, take July’s. Note that there are times when we truly believe that it is best to skip a bar exam and wait. But generally speaking, the advantages of taking the next bar exam in line are numerous. Read more
If you failed the bar exam, it is okay! There are a lot of famous people who failed the bar exam, overcame it, and still went on to do fantastic things.
We know that failing the bar exam can be an awful feeling. But we recommend that you do not look at failing one exam (a very hard exam, at that!) as a statement about who you are—look at it as something that can (and will) make you better. Please read this note to those who failed the bar exam if you haven’t already.
Now, for our list of famous people who failed the bar exam . . .
Not everybody needs a tutor to pass the bar exam. Not even everybody that has failed the bar exam in the past needs a tutor to pass the bar exam (although they are more likely to benefit from a bar exam tutor).
In this post, we briefly discuss some of the benefits of having a bar exam tutor as well as our general recommendation regarding which factors to consider when deciding whether to retain a tutor for the bar exam. Note that we always make evaluations on a case-by-case basis when students come to us and ask if they need tutoring (and we encourage you to contact us if you are unsure!). However, the factors below should give you a general idea of how likely you are to benefit from a bar exam tutor. Before we discuss the factors to consider, we’ll list the benefits of having a bar exam tutor. Read more
If you failed the bar exam, you may be wondering when you should start gearing up for the next exam. Some students want to start studying the day they find out they failed the bar exam. Others start when traditional bar preparation courses start (late December or early January).
We suggest you start studying sooner rather than later.
In this post, we will talk about a good timeline for those that fail the bar exam. This post is tailored to those who just failed the July 2014 bar exam.
A Note to Those Who Fail the Bar ExamWe just wrote a post for those who pass the bar exam, so here is a note to those who fail the bar exam. Several states have already found out results but many have not yet found out results. It is better to read this post, and the last post before you find out results so that you can consider them more objectively.
Right off the bat, we want to say we are sorry you didn’t pass the bar exam. It can be very hard to handle when something you have worked so hard for does not come to fruition. It certainly can be a difficult and emotional time.
Before I tell you a good plan of attack for conquering the next bar exam, please permit me to say something that you probably won’t believe and give you an honest and different perspective on failing the bar exam. Read more
Check out the new article published by Ashley Heidemann in the National Jurist called “Why Smart People Fail the Bar Exam”.
The article details six common reasons that smart people fail the bar exam.
A brief summary of these reasons is as follows:
For Ashley Heidemann’s article in the National Jurist on how to recover from failing the bar exam, please see the link below:
//www.nationaljurist.com/content/how-recover-failing-bar-exam
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