“It would be a miracle if I passed.” I said this to myself no less than a thousand times before the exam, and about a million times after it. And yet… I passed. And yes, it was nothing short of a miracle.

So, if you’re someone who also might be looking for a miracle right about now, here’s my advice:

Meet the miracle halfway.

Be as ready as you can be, whatever that means for you where you are right now. Maybe it means a marathon mock MBE Sunday night. Maybe it means a quick review of your outlines. Or maybe it just means dinner and a movie. Whatever it is, get yourself to that place so you can be present at the exam, physically, mentally, and intellectually. Then,

Show up, and FIGHT for it. This last mile will be the hardest, but the finish is SOOOO close. Every paragraph, every question gets you that much closer to your victory. You just don’t know which question is the one on which your miracle rests, so give each question your all.

I’ll be pulling for each and every one of you on Exam Days, and I’ll be sending TONS of positive vibes your way. I’ll try to check in on Cali’s board as often as possible this coming week. In the meantime, if anyone wants a pep talk or to bounce ideas around or to dish about Project Runway ;), please feel free to email me.

GOOD LUCK!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK and NEVER GIVE UP!

I wish someone would have told me, back in June and especially early July, when I was studying for the bar exam, that:

FEELINGS AREN’T FACTS.

I never felt knowledgeable enough, and I thought that meant I really wasn’t. In fact, it didn’t, and I was.

I never felt prepared enough, and I thought that meant I really wasn’t. In fact, it didn’t, and I was.

I felt so sure I would fail, both before the exam and during it, and I thought that meant I really would fail. In fact, it didn’t, and I passed.

The moral of this story is: Many of us will never feel ready enough, never feel like we did enough, never feel supremely confident that we’ll pass. That’s OK. Feelings aren’t facts.

Feeling a certain way is just an internal guideline, an internal personal reaction to a given set of stimuli. Having a bad couple of days? You might feel like you’ll never pass, that the whole process is hopeless. But that’s just a feeling, it’s not a fact, it’s not your destiny, and it’s not an indicator of what will happen come exam day. The mock MBE questions with which you practiced? Will not show up on exam day, so missing all of them doesn’t mean you’ll miss all the real ones. The mock essay questions you wrote? Will not show up on exam day, so missing every issue doesn’t mean you’ll miss all the real essay issues.

Keep working hard. Acknowledge your feelings, but acknowledge them as feelings, as random synaptic discharges, and not as prophecy or prediction.

As mentioned on Cali’s site, here’s the PR outline I used. CA distinctions are noted in purple. I make no guarantees as to correctness, legibility, coherence, or generally anything. It was the last outline I did last summer, and that fact is painfully obvious.
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As I’m [mysteriously] still on the mailing list for my school’s All Year Long Torture Fest, I mean Early Bar Prep Course, I received an email from the program director today with notes about the school’s upcoming simulated bar exam.

“Make sure to sign up! It’s good practice, and a great way to see what the Bar Exam is really like.”

Not.Even.Close.

No matter how many Saturday mornings you spend timing yourself on MBEs, or writing practice essays with your handy Starbucks cup by your side, nothing will prepare you for what the Bar Exam is really like. Yes, you’ll know what the questions will look like. Yes, you’ll know what it feels like to fall asleep on MBE #151. Yes, you’ll know what it’s like to throw your pen across the room when you finish that last essay. But nothing can really prepare you for that day.

Your own nervousness. The nervous energy of everyone around you. The 15 minutes before the test starts and your mind is suddenly a blank. The utter quiet of the testing room - 500 jittery law students packed into a room and never a sound is made.

Everyone deals with the stress differently. I had an MMD [minor meltdown] in the car on the way over, but then, once at the testing center, I met up with friends and the emotional load was lifted substantially. Until, of course, I opened up the first essay question, and realized I hadn’t really studied that subject. Ooops.

At that point, it’s all about survival mode. Racking one’s brain for any piece of even semi-relevant information, and throwing it onto paper [or screen] in some sort of coherent way.

That’s what no simulated bar exam can ever reproduce. You can try really hard to emulate exam conditions and exam questions and whatnot, but in the back of your mind, you’ll always know that it’s just a sim.

This isn’t to say that practice under similar conditions isn’t a good idea - it is. But is the sim “like” a bar exam? Yes, in the same way that going to lamaze class is like giving birth. As in, not even close.