My February 2008 bar prep strategy

For the February 2008 bar exam, I used most of the same strategies I used for the July 2007 CO bar exam that I ended up passing. I posted my study strategies last fall after CO bar results came out – the links are below:

How I studied for the MBE

How I studied for the MPT

How I studied for the Colorado bar essays

This time around, I kept my MBE strategy more simple. I religiously used my Strategies and Tactics for the MBE book by Kimm Walton and Steve Emanuel (as in the Emanuel outlines from law school). I CANNOT say enough about how wonderful and invaluable this book is. I ordered it before the July 2007 CO bar exam and I honestly and sincerely believe this book played a large part on my ability to pass that bar exam as well as the February 2008 bar exam. If you only buy one bar prep book, buy this one. I’m not kidding. Screw the BarBri, MicroMash, and PMBR books. I had all those books, but I ignored them and exclusively used the S&T book. I stuck Post-It notes in the practice question sections with the question numbers written on the Post-its so I could just write my answers on them without having to drag out a notebook (and going back and forth between the S&T book and a notebook). I need to take a picture of my S&T book sometime to illustrate my point.

I also used my Study Group MBE software and BarBri StudySmart MBE software. I also have MicroMash, but I did maybe a total of five questions on that software before abandoning it in favor of BarBri and Study Group. My favorite MBE software is Study Group, hands down. It’s much easier to use, and even better it does not require any installation so you can put the software on a flash USB drive and plug it into your work computer, then run the software off there. There are also internet-based MBE software such as AdaptiBar but I can’t vouch for how effective they are. AdaptiBar uses actual, released MBE questions but so does the S&T book, so if you’re buying that book I probably wouldn’t get AdaptiBar. I used NCBE’s MBE Annotated Preview 2006 and I would recommend it – it’s only $26.00.

I also used Google Documents (through my gmail.com account) to type out the answer explanations to each MBE questions as I discussed in my “How I studied for the MBE” post above. This has proved to be VERY helpful and I strongly recommend that you either write or type out the answer explanations to your practice MBE questions. I saw a huge difference the next time I took the MBE after doing this. I would not even have finished reading the MBE question before law points and elements and such were already popping into my head, and I already knew the answer before I even read the answer choices. The first two times I took the MBE I was absolutely lost and clueless. I did not feel that way on the last two MBEs. Yes, they were still hard and difficult, but I think the difficulty for me was trying to remember exactly what the law was, or what the elements were.

I aimed for at least 25 practice MBE questions a day but didn’t always succeed. However I always focused on the answer explanations. I found that those were the most important part of each practice MBE question. You definitely have to understand WHY a specific answer is the correct (or wrong) answer. Don’t make the same mistake I did before my second bar exam failure of focusing on quantity over quality – I had aimed for 100 questions per day or around that, mindlessly answering questions thinking that practice made perfect, even though I was not focusing on the law or the answer explanations behind the question. BIG mistake. My MBE went down TEN points from my first attempt. If I hadn’t made that mistake, I believe I could have passed on my second attempt.

I focused on my MBE outlines as well. I ignored the Convisers this time around because I’d already incorporated most of the Convisers into my MBE outlines. They are not overly long or complicated. To me, they were short, to the point, and easy to understand and follow. I would refer to those outlines if I was stumped on a practice MBE question. I received these outlines from a friend, and I liked the format and layout of the outlines so much I made my own, using those outlines and verifying them with Convisers, as well as plugging in new stuff. I was going to post them on here, but Google Documents kept screwing up the format, so you can e-mail me at frustratedbarexaminee@gmail.com to get the outlines. You can use the same format of these outlines to make your own state-specific outlines like I did for the essay portion of the last bar exam.

As for the MPT, despite my vowing to pay more attention to the MPT this time around, I still didn’t spend much time on it. I didn’t review past MPTs and scoresheets like I’d planned. I like to think that I’m a pretty good writer, and it doesn’t hurt that I write memos and draft orders in my job almost every single day, so I felt I had a good handle on the MPT. I re-read my favorite MPT link, How to Format Legal Memos on the MPT by Dr. Mary Campbell Gallagher of BarWrite Blog. I also read BarBri’s MPT Workbook but it didn’t really seem all that helpful to me. Too many complicated formats such as wills, et cetera. It seems that most of my MPTs except one were in memo format, and I think that the one non-memo MPT was a brief? My personal MPT motto was when in doubt, IRAC.

As for the essays – if you’re taking CO, refer to my “How I studied for the Colorado bar essays” post above. I don’t think my study strategy for the essay portion of the February bar exam here was that great. I just obtained released bar essays from the bar association and practiced over and over. It was hard to put together boilerplates or cheat sheets because the essays here are analytical rather than checklist-style like Colorado. I also made my own state-specific outlines using the same format as the MBE outlines, and that helped me learn the state material. I guess I didn’t exactly bomb the essays if I passed, but I also don’t feel that I should offer advice on this front. I truly got lucky on this part. I can only tell you what I did.

In short, here is my MBE strategy:
1) Use the ENTIRE S&T book. Use Post-It notes throughout the practice question and simulated MBE sections of the S&T book.

2) Use MBE software.

3) Use NCBE’s MBE Annotated Preview 2006.

4) Use Google Documents to type out answer explanations to practice MBE questions.

5) Shoot for 25 practice MBE questions a day. Focus on QUALITY over quantity (i.e. don’t just mindlessly answer 100 MBE questions a day). Do a couple of full-length (or even half-length) practice MBEs in the last couple of weeks before the bar exam.

6) Use my own MBE outlines. You can either just use them or type them out yourself. I found that typing out my outlines again really helped me to remember the material better than if I’d just skimmed them.

MBE score

Thank you to my readers who posted comments to congratulate me on passing the bar!! Hopefully I can return the favor when the remaining states release their results!! Especially California.

I finally received my scaled MBE score. I scored a 144 in February 2008 – 5 points above my last (and previous best) score of 139. Not bad! At least I know my MBE strategy wasn’t a one-time fluke; it really does work.

I know I mentioned taking the Texas bar exam, but I think I’m going to retire from taking any bar exams ever again. I would rather just take a federal attorney job in Texas and then waive into the Texas bar when I become eligible for reciprocity. I used to live in Texas and I have family still living there, so that was my reason for considering the Texas bar. However, after the stress and agony of taking four bar exams in a row and waiting several months at a time for results to be released, fully convinced I’d failed, I’ve definitely had enough.

There are lots of things I want to do with my life now. I want to travel and I want to snowboard (almost) every weekend this coming winter. I want to go fishing, hiking, backpacking, and camping in the summers. I want to swim in long-distance open-water races again. I want to participate in my favorite activities and hobbies, pursue new interests, and try new things. I feel like I’ve given up so much and put so many things on hold the last two years as I took bar exam after bar exam, and I’m tired of that. It’s not worth taking yet another bar exam. It was SUCH a relief to find out that I passed this bar exam, because if I hadn’t, I’d probably have to take it again next February if I couldn’t find a federal attorney job or move back to Colorado. Plus, my sister and I are planning a backpacking trip to Europe next year and that would have been completely wrecked if I hadn’t passed. I feel like I haven’t seen as much of my family and close friends in the last two years because I was always busy studying for the bar. I miss them and I plan to see them much more often now. In fact I am planning to take at least one week off between my jobs to go visit my family. It’s things like that which I don’t want to give up for the bar exam. There is more to life than the stupid bar exam, and I feel that I lost sight of that along the way.

For those of you who must continue this cruel dance, you have my complete sympathy. I have been in your same exact shoes, but there IS a light at the end of the tunnel. You will be on the “other side” someday. Just don’t give up. Change your strategy, even change states. All you need is your license in ONE state. Then you can become a federal attorney and practice in your home state. There are tons of federal attorney jobs out there. Check out http://www.usajobs.opm.gov. Sign up for the e-mail job alerts to learn about federal attorney opportunities. Consider becoming a Paralegal Specialist for the federal government – I understand it is just like being an attorney, but without the license.

As for this blog, I’m still going to leave it up, and I’m sure I’ll post on here every now and then. My next step for now is to go through my entire blog and clean it up, reorganizing some parts. Then I will try to post most if not all of my bar prep materials on here. Some materials will be MBE-related, but others will be CO-specific. I don’t think I have much to offer for this state’s essay portion because I totally winged that. I don’t really know how I passed that portion, so I’m definitely not in a position to offer advice.

I’ll try to do all the above within the next couple of weeks, just in time for the next round. In the meanwhile, please always feel free to e-mail me at frustratedbarexaminee@gmail.com!

Slogging along

I’ve been working on mostly essays today as well as working through the MBE practice questions in the S&T book. I’m probably going to do the simulated MBE in the book later this week. I’m so sick of looking at MBE questions though. This is the first night I’ve been able to stay up really late to study thanks to my old friend Diet Mountain Dew. I tried to swear off caffeine this time around, but I ended up falling asleep early the last several nights, so I caved in and bought a 12-pack of Diet Dew. I’m usually a night owl anyway, and I seem to focus better at night than early in the morning.

I really wish this state would have scoresheets like Colorado does, but nooo I have to write analytical essays. So I have no idea how I will do essay-wise but I’ve been focusing on MBE a lot so hopefully it doesn’t blow up in my face.

I’m planning to do some more S&T MBE questions tomorrow as well as review my MBE and state essay topic outlines to refresh my memory. I really need to memorize the hearsay exceptions requiring unavailability, and the hearsay exceptions where unavailability isn’t required. I always forget which exceptions require the declarant to be unavailable. I need to make flashcards or something.

So tired…

I went home for a few days last weekend to visit my family. It was great to see them, but I barely got any studying done if at all. That’s ok though, as long as I crack down from here on out. I flew back on Monday night, go to work on Tuesday morning and I’ve been sleepy all week. I’d been tired lately from working full-time and studying full-time, and now it appears the trip really tired me out.

I think I’m going to take a sick day on Monday so I can stay home and study, and also rest! I’ve been considering taking the 2 weeks before the bar off from work instead of the 1 week I had planned. Now I think I may take Monday off and then take the week and half before the bar off from work. I’m not sure if my boss will go for that, so I’ll just take Monday off and then ask him.

I’m working through the Strategies & Tactics book through the practice question sections, but I’m saving the full-length simulated MBE for later. I’m also practicing on MBE software and still writing out explanations although I’m finding that I don’t need to write such lengthy explanations anymore.

I want to make flashcards for the important things I have a hard time remembering, such as hearsay exceptions requiring unavailability, and those exceptions that don’t require it. I’m hoping to work on that this weekend.

MBE question breakdown

Courtesy of the NCBE outlines and my beloved S&T book, here’s the approximate breakdown of MBE questions:

Constitutional Law

• 33 questions total
• 50% (16-17 questions) on Individual Rights (Due Process, Equal Protection, 1st Amendment, etc.)
• 50% (16-17 questions) on Judicial Review, Separation of Powers, and Federal/State Powers

Contracts

• 34 questions total
• 25% (6-7 questions) of ALL questions will be based on UCC/Sales of Goods
• 60% (20-21 questions) on Formation of Contracts, Conditions, and Remedies
• 40% (13-14 questions) on Consideration, 3rd Party Beneficiaries, Assignment & Delegation, Statutes of Fraud, Parol Evidence Rule, Impossibility of Performance, Frustration of Purpose, and Discharge

Criminal Law and Procedure

• 33 questions total
• 40% (13-14 questions) on Criminal Procedure (Search and Seizure, Arrest, Privilege against Self-Incrimination, Confessions, Lineups, Right to Counsel, etc.)
• 60% (19-20 questions) on Criminal Law (Homicide, Other Crimes, Inchoate Crimes and Parties, State of Mind, Justification and Excuse, etc.)

Evidence

• 33 questions total
• 33% (11 questions) on Presentation of Evidence (Lay and Expert Testimony, Witness Competency, Impeachment, etc.)
• 33% (11 questions) on Hearsay
• 33% (11 questions) on Relevancy, Privileges, Writings/Recordings/Photographs

Real Property

• 33 questions total
• 75% (24-25 questions) on Ownership (Future Interests, Landlord-Tenant, etc), Rights in Lands (Covenants, Easements, Profits, Licenses, Fixtures, etc.), and Titles (Adverse Possession, Converyances, Recording Acts, etc.)
• 25% (9 questions) on Real Property Contracts and Mortgages

Torts

• 34 questions total
• 50% (17 questions) on Negligence
• 50% (17 questions) on Intentional Torts, Strict Liability, Products Liability, Other Torts (i.e. Nuisance, Defamation, Invasion of Privacy, etc.)

Busy as a bee

I’ve been really busy at work, and also studying whenever possible, but my motivation has been flagging lately. I have a ton of e-mails that I need to answer, and hopefully I can do that this weekend. Thank god for MBE software, I love being able to sit my ass on the couch running through MBE practice questions on my laptop and typing explanations in my Google documents. No matter how tired I am, it’s much easier being able to study on my laptop instead of having to lug out the books and sit at a table. I still haven’t gone through the S&T book yet, but I hope to do so very shortly. Hopefully tomorrow. In the meanwhile, I feel brain dead. At least things should be slowing down next week. I can’t wait. I seriously need a break. I haven’t taken a single day off since I started working at this job four months ago, and I think I’m getting burned out. I’m taking a couple of days off and going home over the holiday weekend in January, so I’m looking forward to that.

I know I said I wasn’t going to waste any more leave than necessary on the bar exam, but I’m going to take the week before the bar exam off in February to study. I might take more time off, depending on how much leave I have available. I know myself too well, and I know I will get extremely stressed out if I try to work (and study at work) right up until the bar exam, quite possibly self-inducing a nervous breakdown, so I’m taking more time off than planned. Plus I’m not taking any bar exams ever again after February 2008 if I can help it. I can’t tell you how much it sucks to have to take the bar exam again after I’ve already passed it, but at least I can fall back on that license and hopefully land a federal attorney job.

I completed my state essay topic outlines and also printed out my MBE outlines from before, and I’ve printed out all the released essays I could get my hands on. I have 2 binders, one for the outlines and one for the released essays so I can practice writing essays. So all that appears to be left is practice, practice, and practice. That and reading the S&T book. I suppose my strategy is rather simple.

I hope everyone is making good progress in their studies!

How I studied for the MBE

I know 139 isn’t that impressive a MBE score, but I did improve it 20 points from my February 2007 MBE score of 119. That might not be saying much though, seeing as how I got a 129 on the July 2006 MBE, but I know my revamped study strategy had a lot to do with my 139 this time around. Because I will be taking another state’s bar exam in February 2008, I will be sticking with my MBE study strategy again and won’t be changing it.

After failing the CO bar each time, I changed my study strategy. My July 2006 strategy consisted of spending too much time studying the law and not enough time doing practice MBE questions. Failed. My February 2007 strategy was basically quantity over quality – I did as many practice MBE questions as possible, but I didn’t focus on the explanations behind each answer choices. I just did as many as I could. I was doing 75-100 questions a day. I didn’t do a new and thorough review of the law. I figured practice would make perfect. That strategy completely backfired on me, causing my MBE to drop 10 points. I was at a loss afterwards of how to succeed on the MBE, but then I started this blog and got excellent advice from several people (including several readers who commented on my blog). I couldn’t have passed the bar if it weren’t for several of my readers. They helped form my July 2007 MBE study strategy as follows.

First of all, buy the Strategies & Tactics for the MBE by Kimm Walton and Steve Emanuel (yes, as in the Emanuel outlines from law school). I cannot emphasize enough how incredibly helpful that book was to me. It was my bible, and I did every single page in the book. Also with this book you don’t need to buy the released MBEs off NCBE’s website, because most if not all of them are used in the books, and even better they have explanations behind each answer, something you wouldn’t get with the released MBEs. Don’t buy the S&T book used, spend the extra money and buy it brand new. Several people have complained about buying used versions that were written in, highlighted, and the like, so it was detrimental and distracting to them. So I would definitely recommend buying this book brand new. I will be tackling this book again and first thing for February 2008.

Last time around, I made my own MBE outlines instead of using other outlines. However, someone gave me a GREAT set of MBE outlines that were formatted so well I used it to make my MBE outlines. It followed the Convisers very closely and I also plugged in some extra stuff from the Convisers that weren’t already there. I found it really helped me to learn and study the material when I typed it all out. For July 2006 I just went over the Convisers with highlighters and pens but didn’t make my own outlines. For February 2007 I didn’t do a thorough review of the law and that really bit me in the @$$. For July 2007 as you can see I made my own outlines and reviewed the law, and I felt it helped me tremendously. I used the NCBE’s MBE outlines as a starting point for my outlines and went from there. The NCBE outlines are definitely worth checking out as they tell you exactly which areas will be on the MBE, as well as how many questions will be given on specific areas.

I also used the BarBri StudySmart software and the Study Group MBE software to practice MBE questions. I also created 6 documents on Google Documents, 1 for each MBE topic, and every time I answered a MBE question I would type out the explanations/rules behind some (if not all) of the answers to help me understand the law behind the MBE questions and answers. This really helped me a lot with the July 2007 MBE and I could tell the difference because I’d read a MBE question and be able to repeat the specific law or elements to myself. Plus, the Google documents were always available to me whether I was at home or work, particularly because I have the MBE software installed on both my home laptop and work computer. I am using the Study Group MBE software at home and the BarBri StudySmart MBE software at work so I don’t end up repeating the same questions. I also have the MicroMash MBE software which I’ll probably use when/if I run out of Study Group questions.

I have the BarBri Simulated MBE book as well as other books with MBE practice questions, but I prefer the MBE software because I can instant feedback instead of having to flip back and forth between pages. However, I did use a couple of MBE books, especially the S&T book. I bought lined post-it notes (bigger than your average post-it notes) and wrote columns of question numbers down the margin so that I could stick the post-it note on the corresponding page and just move the post-it note every time I turned a page until I ran out of question numbers on the post-it note, then I’d start a new post-it note for the next set of questions. This also helped me when I checked the answer key so I could cross out whatever question I got wrong and write in the correct answer next to it, then I could go back and look at the question, then go to the explanations section and type out the rules/explanations behind the answers in the MBE Google documents.

I took the advice from one of my commenters that was incredibly helpful in revamping my MBE study strategy. Needless to say, his advice worked so I’ve posted his comment below:

JT said:
I failed the bar in July 06 and just passed in Feb 07 in Arizona. In AZ, 2/3rds of the total score comes from the essays, so I decided to focus my studying on essays. However, even though I spent a significantly less amount of time studying MBE questions, my score was higher the second time (only 4 points higher). I did two main things differently the second time around. During my first attempt I did all of the introduction and some of the intermediate MBE problems on the BAR/BRI Study Smart Software, and two weeks before the exam I did 50 questions (From the Red PMBR book, buy it off of Ebay, don’t bother with the class)on a single subject each day.

As for this time, I did the introduction level questions just to warm up, then focused solely on the advanced questions. The second thing I did was sit down and take the full 200 question PMBR practice exam. That PMBR practice exam and the advanced questions were much harder than 90% of the question I saw on this last (Feb) MBE. During both of these things (even the practice exam) I would write out the answer if got the question wrong or if I got it write for the wrong reason. I filled 2 and half legal pads by the time I was done. Using the StudySmart software is particularly helpful because it will give you the answer in between questions (and you can keep resetting it if you want to start over, which I did).
Don’t feel like you have to go over the answers you have written out, that wastes too much time. By just writing them out then moving on, you will have learned 100% more than if you just skimmed the answer.

When I walked out of the July MBE I felt terrible, I felt like a majority of the questions were the hardest questions I had seen (and they were). When I walked out of Feb MBE I felt much more confident even though I had practiced only about half the number I did in July. A lot of people will tell you that it is important to do thousands of MBE questions, and while it is important to do alot, it is not how many you do that counts but the quality of your learning. You will learn a lot more doing 800 MBE questions and writing out answers to everything you didn’t get, than you will by just completing 3000 MBE questions.

I had the PMBR red book, but unfortunately most of the pages were written in and most of the answers to the MBE practice questions were circled. After trying to block out the answers with an index card, I gave up and threw the book away. I might try to buy another, CLEAN copy but I think I have more than enough MBE materials to work with now.

In the last three weeks or so before the July 2007 bar, I tried to take simulated MBEs but usually did only about 50-100 at a time instead of the whole 200-question shebang. I thought 50-100 was more reasonable because if I got a lot of answers wrong, I could go back and review the material without wasting an entire day on 200 MBE questions.

One last thing, I signed up for the NCBE’s 2006 MBE Annotated Preview which is basically a 100-question practice MBE consisting of questions from recent MBEs. I signed up for it before the February 2007 bar, and again before the July 2007 bar. I’ll probably sign up for it again – the practice is helpful after all. And $26 isn’t much.

I didn’t take any bar prep classes, not even PMBR’s 3-day MBE workshop. I was told it was a waste of time and not to bother. I’ve never done well with just sitting in a classroom with lectures – I’ve always been a self-studier. All my life, I’ve taught myself material from my classes, from elementary school through college. I also tried to do the same in law school. I’m the type to try and figure something out for myself. I’m not by any means advocating not taking any bar prep classes. It really depends on what works best for you in learning and studying the material. If you work best in a lecture/classroom environment then by all means go for it. Because I’ve never taken bar prep classes, I really can’t give you any advice on which bar prep courses are good or bad, but you can read people’s opinions of different bar prep providers by reading the comments in my archived posts.

Well, I think that is all for now, although I feel like I probably left something out and can’t remember what it is. However, please feel free to post any MBE advice of your own that you may have to offer, in the comments. I’m always looking for ways to improve my MBE score!

No such luck

So I’ve been trying to get a copy of my MBE breakdowns so I can see how well I did on each MBE topic. I contacted NCBE to ask how I could obtain those breakdowns, and they told me they only release the scaled score, and to contact Colorado. So I contacted Colorado, and they told me that they are no longer releasing MBE breakdowns as requested by NCBE, who had told them to have us contact NCBE instead. I feel like I’m getting the runaround now. Hopefully I hear something new from NCBE tomorrow but somehow I doubt it. Oh well, I’ll just keep hyperfocusing on Torts and Contracts MBE practice questions since those have been my worst subjects on the MBE.

In other news, I’ve finally been sworn in, and the paperwork is en route to Colorado right now. I’ll call them in several days to get my attorney number. Then I guess that’s it?

I promised myself I’d post at least one post on my bar prep strategies tonight, so here goes…

My scores

My scores finally arrived in the mail today. Here goes:

MBE – 139
(129 in July 2006, 119 in February 2007)

Essays/PT – 156
(141 in July 2006, 151 in February 2007)

I raised my old score by 25 points for a total score of 295, 19 points above the passing score of 276. I’m glad to learn that I passed by a good margin, and didn’t scrape by with only 1 point above the passing score or something.

Now I can write a post about my MBE study strategy although 139 isn’t exactly earthshattering, especially if one of my readers got a 152 on the MBE and still failed the Colorado Bar Exam (unbelievable, by the way). It’ll be a long post, so it may take me awhile.

My bar exam reflections

Now that the bar exam is over and now that I’ve finally had a proper night’s sleep, I can reflect on the bar.

Why do some people get all trussed up for the bar?? I saw several women wearing dresses or dressy clothes, full makeup, hair done, and even high heels. Why? I showed up in my comfy sweats and forget about makeup. I showered each morning but that’s about the extent of it. I can’t believe anyone would actually be comfortable taking the bar in full makeup, tight clothes and uncomfortable shoes. The only reason I would have worn heels to the bar would be to have a spiked heel handy to drive into my jugular if something catastrophic happened, such as my laptop crashing during the essay/MPT portion.

The essay topics were totally random. At least my guess that Wills was going to be on the bar turned out to be correct. I was blindsided by the Admin Law topic but it was pretty similar to the February Admin Law question so I was able to answer it. Corporations really confused me. A lot of the essay questions were very open-ended and annoyingly vague. I wanted more details!!! They didn’t have Torts or Criminal Law, so I was disappointed at that considering I was only 2 points away from getting perfect scores on both topics on the last bar. Also, since they tested Criminal Procedure in the morning, I was so sure they would test Secured Transactions in the afternoon, but no such luck. I had sent Cyber Janitor my bar essay topic breakdown of all the topics tested on the CO bar for the last 4-5 years, and he pointed out that Crim Pro and Secured Transactions seemed to always be tested together, so I was looking for Secured Transactions. No dice.

I had a slightly panic-inducing moment after the afternoon essays and MPT on Day 1 when time was called. I glanced over at my seatmate’s laptop screen and noticed he only had three or four sentences on his ExamSoft essay screen. His essay was very brief, while all my essays averaged between 2,000 and 3,000 character (near the limit of 4,000 characters allowed per essay). I too had gone into brain dumping mode, as Cyber Janitor put it. It’s funny, normally if you saw that someone had written a very short essay, you’d probably think he had done badly, but my confidence is at such a low point because of my two bar exam failures that I actually started to panic, wondering if my essays were too long (if there’s such a thing!). Even if he had bubbled in a giant smiley face on his MBE scoresheet, I probably still would’ve freaked out too, wondering if I should have bubbled in a giant smiley face on mine as well.

Speaking of the MBE, I thought that the PM one was more difficult than the AM one. I didn’t fill in all my answers at once. I only answered the questions that I knew and the ones that I had to really think about, I left those for the second run through the MBE booklet. The really difficult questions were saved for last so I could focus on them with the time I had left. I finished the first run-through in about an hour with 53 answers. Then I did two or three more run-throughs until all the questions were answered. I really have no clue how I did on the MBE though.

I can’t even say if I did better than previously. I don’t feel GOOD or BAD about my performance. I just feel indifferent. I have zero confidence in myself at this point. It’s been a difficult year with having my ego stomped flat twice by the Colorado Board of Law Examiners. I’m pretty sure I failed the bar. I don’t want to get my hopes up only to have them crushed yet again when the results are released.