Are you worried about how you did on the bar exam? Are you stressed and anxious because you are concerned that you failed the most important exam of your life? Then, you’ve come to the right place. After I took the bar exam, I had convinced myself that I failed and I didn’t know what I was going to do. In fact, I had a panic attack in the middle of the bar exam and had to convince myself to keep going. The other day, I was on “Law Twitter” and someone had asked current lawyers how they felt immediately after they took the bar exam. This really got me thinking and I reflected back on that time of my life. I recalled all of the feelings I had and wished that I could just reach out to my former self and tell her it is going to be okay. Unfortunately, time travel is currently impossible, but I thought I could still write a letter to my past self to comfort the young professional that was just getting her start three years ago. I hope that this little “letter” to myself helps you and brings you comfort as you are anxiously awaiting for your bar exam results! [Read more…] about A Love Letter to My Bar Prep Self – Encouraging Words From My Post-Bar Self
About Shirlene Brown
Common Mistakes on Bar Exam Essays and How to Fix Them!
You are in the heat of bar prep and diligently studying in order to pass the bar exam. You complete practice essays, and you anxiously await your feedback. When you finally get your graded essays back, you do way worse than you expected. You are frustrated and don’t know where to start in improving your scores. How are you supposed to improve? Are you missing something major or are you making a simple mistake that you don’t realize? In most jurisdictions, the essay portion of the exam is worth half your bar exam score. There are many different topics and areas of law that can potentially be tested. As such, the bar exam essays prove to be very difficult for many students. I remember anxiously studying every possible topic before taking the bar exam. Fortunately, since I have survived the bar exam and successfully passed, I am armed with the knowledge to help correct some common mistakes you may be making on your bar exam essays. I hope this guide will help you gain more valuable points on your bar exam essays! [Read more…] about Common Mistakes on Bar Exam Essays and How to Fix Them!
Tips for Taking the MBE from Someone Who Struggles with Multiple Choice
I am an overthinking, indecisive Libra. I spend my time arguing with myself about simple questions. I enjoy stressing over the finer details of life, afterall, seeing both sides of an argument brings me joy! If you couldn’t tell by this soliloquy, when it comes to school, I am not very confident regarding multiple-choice questions. Throughout my life, anytime I had a multiple-choice exam, I would get extremely anxious because I could make an argument for many of the answers. Give me an essay, I will write you a book. I’ll analyze every angle of a fact pattern. Give me a multiple-choice exam, I struggle, I second-guess myself, and I feel like a complete failure. Despite this weakness of mine, I somehow managed to pass the bar exam and do better on the MBE than I did on the essays. Since I have some experience under my belt in struggling with multiple-choice questions, I wanted to share some things that helped me when I was studying for the bar exam and be successful. I hope these tips help you as much as they were beneficial for me! [Read more…] about Tips for Taking the MBE from Someone Who Struggles with Multiple Choice
Bar Exam Perspective – What to Do if you have a Panic Attack in the Middle of the Bar Exam?
You’ve heard that the bar exam is one of the most challenging and stressful exams that you will take in your career. Many people get anxious leading up to the bar exam and try to manage it the best they can. There is a lot of focus regarding anxiety leading up to the bar exam and during bar prep. However, what about the anxiety and panic that you may experience while you are actually taking the exam? Unfortunately, this is something that happened to me – I had a mini panic attack during the bar exam. So what do you do when that happens?? And how can you survive and manage to pass the bar exam? Fortunately for you, since I have first-hand experience and managed to pass my bar exam on the first try despite it, here are my tips on how to get through a panic attack in the middle of the bar exam. I hope that my experience and advice can help you if the situation presents itself during your bar exam. [Read more…] about Bar Exam Perspective – What to Do if you have a Panic Attack in the Middle of the Bar Exam?
Bar Exam Perspective – I Finished The Bar Exam, Now What?
You’ve done it! You have conquered the hardest exam that you will ever have to take! You spent countless hours studying, preparing, sweating, praying, and crying. You have finally finished the bar exam. Whew! I know what you’re thinking, now what? There is all this built-up momentum leading up this moment and now you are done… You took the bar exam and you will get the results and that’s that, right? Although you have finished the bar exam you are not quite finished yet. You have now entered the waiting period. Here is some advice to help you through the post-bar exam life. [Read more…] about Bar Exam Perspective – I Finished The Bar Exam, Now What?
First Generation Perspective – Bar Exam Advice
I’m a first generation college student, meaning I am the only one in my immediate family (and in my situation, most of my extended family as well) that has gone to college and gotten a degree. I am also the only one in my family who graduated from law school and is a practicing attorney. As a first gen who went through the bar exam process, I have learned some of the challenges that are presented by being a first generation student. Although everyone gets stressed regarding preparing for the bar exam and learning exactly what is tested, I feel like there is extra stress added if you’re a first generation law student. Not only did I not have anyone that I knew who had taken the bar other than my fellow classmates, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into or where to turn. It was a very stressful experience. Fortunately for you, I did successfully pass the bar exam on my first attempt! Although it was a difficult time that I still have nightmares about today, I am hoping that I can use my experience to make your trip to the bar exam a much easier and smoother process. So here is my bar exam advice as a first generation student: [Read more…] about First Generation Perspective – Bar Exam Advice