u/Icy_Ad_33

As someone who did not go to a California law school (T3-NYC ABA SCHOOL), I really felt the odds were against me. That feeling only intensified after getting my score in November. However, through hard work and a miracle, I passed in February! I tweaked many things in my study process, but these are the main 3 things that helped me to put myself in the best position going around this time.

1. I signed up with a tutoring program called MBE Tutors. They were absolutely incredible– worth every penny. They gave me a sense of structure that I really needed (especially as someone who was working full time leading up to the exam). I also really benefitted from an interactive class environment as opposed to self teaching through Themis. Diana and Elizabeth were always available to take my phone calls, walk me through repeatedly confusing topics until I built confidence in my weakest subject areas. Most importantly, I really felt like they believed in me and, because of that, they really held me accountable to myself and would not let me get to place mentally where I would freak myself out (which I am prone to as a nervous standardized test taker).
2. I typed this time. I handwrote the essays after hearing about what happened in Feb 25 with all the tech issues. In hindsight, this was probably not a great idea since I soon realized I could type far quicker than I could write– meaning that I could cram in more issues. I am inclined to think this worked because I typed at least 1300 words per essay + 1700 words for the MPT.
3. I did far more practice questions this time around. Leading up to Feb, I think I did 3500, whereas in July I only did somewhere around 2100. I also did not realize there was a difference between a course writing their own questions and the actual MBE sample questions. Focusing on the MBE sample questions exclusively definitely gave me a better sense of what the highly tested issues were. Moreover, MBE tutors’ curriculum goes subject by subject to identify which issues within in each major subject I was struggling with. From there, we built a study plan to focus on those subtopics (e.g., hearsay exceptions, purchase money mortgages).

If anyone is interested in taking their course, please feel free to dm me and I happy to share their contact information.