I thought I'd share my own 3 Strikes and You Pass story. I took the VA bar exam:
1st Attempt: I went to the
BarBri classes and did all the practice questions. Even during the class I wasn't scoring the needed score on the practice essay questions to pass the bar. I was close but I never got the needed score. When I took the exam, I put the question 5 in the wrong book, realized my mistake at the last minute and didn't have enough time to correct the mistake and it wasn't scored. I missed passing by the bar exam by 4 points.
2nd Attempt: I made my second attempt the followinf February. I was in a very bad place in every way. I was mentally and physically drained by a job I hated and from which I was laid off of 2 weeks before the exam and I was in a pretty bad relationship. Remember the advice they give you about not making any major changes while studying for the bar? Well, they weren't lying. I managed to study every day but I wasn't as devoted to it as I should have been. Looking back, I didn't know the material as well as I should have known it. Again, I missed passing by 4 points.
Well, it's sad not to pass once, but really sad to fail the second time. I was determined not to fail again. I decided to take a break from the bar. I knew I needed to be able to focus on it completely and that meant that I had to be in a better place mentally. The first step was to get rid of the bf. The next step was to find a new job. I did both in pretty rapid succession. I then focused on how to do better on the exam. I spoke to a Bar Examiner and he helped me identify my strengths and weaknesses. He gave me some great advice and I used it during my studying. I actually used my Finz Multistate Method book to practice my MBE questions instead of just owning it (I didn't use my
BarBri book because I had pretty much memorized the quesions). I practiced writing full essays every day. They were pretty bad at first but it helped my identify which areas I needed to review. Closer to the exam date, following the advice of the Bar Examiner, I bought practice questions from the MBE administrators (I forgot the company's name) and that helped me improve my MBE review. Most importantly, this time around, I decided that the studying for the bar exam would be my #1 priority. Once I made that commitment, everything else fell into place.
3rd Attempt: As I posted on here, I blanked on the very first essay question. I had no clue what to say. After reading the other essay questions, I decided that my time would be better spent getting the maximum number points on those questions than wasting time on that one essay that I ws clueless about. Once I made that decision, I didn't look back. I never doubted my decision and I didn't think about it in the afternoon session or the next day. Of course, I freaked out about it after the exam but I realized that I did what I could. I was sure that I had failed yet again and began saving money to take the exam again the bar exam. I mean, who ever hear of anyone completely not answering an essay question and still passing, right? Well, I did pass! I couldn't believe it. Sometimes I still look at the list just to make sure that my name is still on there.
The lessons I learned are: Truly make studying for exam your priority; Practice MBE quesions, practice essays, practice everything, every day (ok not in the beginning but you get my drift); Know your strength and weaknesses; and not matter what,
don't give up even when you think you don't know anything.