I remember when one of my law school classmates told me that they had signed up for a bar prep course different from mine. I remember the self-doubt. Did I make the right decision?
I remember when that same person started studying and they told me that they had a study group, was going to take a separate essay writing class and a separate multi-state question class that I had not signed up for. I had only signed up for a comprehensive bar prep class (*Disclosure: I took Bar Bri and passed three bars with it – first time around). I had some self-doubt.
BUT ONLY FOR ONE SINGLE MOMENT. And then I remembered, this:
I picked Bar Bri because my cousin – whom I respect – took Bar Bri and passed New York easily. I remembered why I had signed up and who I was going to believe – someone who had taken the Bar and had passed it OR some fellow classmate who had not yet taken a bar or studied for one. Why did you pick the course you signed up for? I’m betting it was because someone you respect – who passed the bar taking that course – told you to sign up. I was so confident in my cousin that I signed up for Bar Bri the first week of law school to get the savings. She said actually “sign up at that table, keep the receipt and forget about it for three years.” That was precisely what I did. Worked for me well.
If anything, I was over prepared. But better than the other option.
Most people don’t just do the work in front of them. They add other “to dos”, and “other” courses to the courses they signed up for as if all the make work of the “other” stuff is going to help them pass. But they know the truth. There are only two things – that is right TWO things that will make you – permit you to pass:
- Studying the material in front of you. Remember that course you signed up. It will cover everything if it is one of the majors. But you have not started the course yet – and so long as you did sign up for one of the big names – Bar Bri, Piepers, Princeton etc. (Here is an abovethelaw.com post about the various top courses http://abovethelaw.com/2013/05/which-bar-exam-prep-course-is-the-best-2/) but you know which ones they are. They are the courses that the people you know who passed too. That is the best measure of a good course.
- The right mindset. Without a positive, confident, winners mindset, you can’t do as well. By adding work on your mindset while you study, you magnify your chances of passing significantly.
One thing I want you to start to tell yourself, after you have begun to visualize your success is this: It is a BAR exam – something you either trip over or hit your head on. It is designed to filter out those that (a) don’t study; (b) can’t figure out how to study; or (c) those that think they can study 22 subjects the week before the exam (ie, those that don’t study.).