As we get to the final days of the bar exam preparation period, many folks are feeling anxiety and stress increasing at an exponential rate. You might find yourself consumed with worries about what will happen if you fail. This is completely normal. And as law school graduates, at some level most of us are control freaks. But bar exam scores are outside our control—and that is very hard to handle!
So, what can you do?
One exercise that can be helpful is to think, “What is the worst that can happen?” If you take the bar and fail, yes, that would be terrible. Yes, you won’t be able to practice law as soon as you would want to. But you can still become a great lawyer (and would be in good company). You would still be loved by those close to you. You would still be a good person. Would it be bad? Sure. But is it life or death? No.
The result is the same as if you didn’t sit for the exam at all. You wouldn’t be closer to being a lawyer. But in my opinion not taking the exam is a worse option because then you don’t even have a chance of passing.
Giving this exam everything you have is scary.
What if you study as hard as you can, prepare in the best way, and you still don’t pass? Well, that is possible. And you have no control over what happens once you submit your essays. Is it hard for type-A folks like us to be okay with this? Certainly.
You want to make sure you aren’t letting this fear stand in your way.
If you don’t give the exam your all, the only thing you can be sure of is that you may not pass. If you walk out of the exam (yes, I know people who have done this), you will not pass. If you don’t take care of yourself in the next week, you might be too exhausted or even sick and not be at your best on exam day.
You have the power to pass this exam. And even if you don’t pass, it will still be okay.
Now is not the time to focus on what will happen if you fail. But just know that life will still go on even if you do fail. The worst thing that will happen is bad, but not that bad. Many people have lived through it and you will too. But what you want to do now is focus on what you can do to pass. You still can get in quality study and practice time—so that you can find success on the bar exam.
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Did you find this post helpful? Check out some of our other articles for more great study tips!
- Studying for the Bar Exam? Loosen Up!
- Please do NOT Spend All of Your Time Studying the Law!
- 4 Step to Conquering Self-Doubt During Bar Exam Study
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Getting a handle on this question often helps me focus. Yes, it would be disappointing not to pass the bar exam (or lose a case, or have a project flop), but the world will go on spinning. It’s rarely (if ever) the case that you’re the first person to have ever experienced some disappointment, and if other people survived it, you can, too.