heelate

Have you used a tutor or bar review course for the bar exam? If you have taken the bar exam 4 times, Who do you attribute the increase of your mbe score? Who do you attribute showing you how to get passing essay scores? Is there more than 1 person here. Did someone help with issue spotting and another help you with analysis? Who do you attribute increasing your pt scores? I have a researched and researched, and cannot find a tutor or review course that can help me. All tutors and review courses claim they can help but they are just trying to get your money. The promise me all sorts of things, but after I research and ask around I find out these tutors are not all they claim to be. They will claim their course has a high pass rate, but it's not true. They will claim your legal knowledge will increase with their course, which is not true. They will claim your essay scores will improve dramatically which is not true. I have also asked people who pass what they did to pass, and they don't know how they passed. Is it just luck? Is there anyone out there who can help me?

iaudi

Paul Pfau and Cal Bar Tutorial~~

I was a repeater and randomly came across him. Because I only had a little less than 5 weeks to prepare for the Feb bar, I just gambled it and studied under him. It happened to be the best gamble of my life. The guy is an amazing teacher, motivator, and person. I believe if you stick with his program you will be more confident and pass the bar. He doesn't baby you, but gives you the tools and the encouragement to build your confidence and your analytical skills to really attack the essays instead of passively going through the motions. If you want more info, I suggest you call him directly or drop me an email. Best of luck.

cabartutor

Passing the CA Bar (or any bar exam for that matter) is not a matter of luck. and I am quite intrigued by the fact that people you have spoken to don't know how they passed. Yes, some people are better at exam-taking, however, it basically comes down to learning the substantive law (memorization is important) and having the skills and know-how to apply it in the essays, MBE, and MPT.

There may be something you are missing, have you studied the same way/used the same methods for each exam you prepared for? Did you feel like you were prepared each and every time and were surprised that you failed? think long and hard about these questions and you might find you need a new plan.

I would not put a lot of weight on "pass rates," as who cares if Bob and Sue passed using that program-- what matters is if YOU will pass and the program will help you with that goal... study with someone who challenges you and whom you feel comfortable with and can be honest with about your weaknesses and worries.

and yes, tutors are expensive, but one-on-one tutoring might be what you need, especially at this point. Take what you paid for BarBri-- to watch videos with 90 other students-- and figure out how much an hour that cost you. It is all expensive. But taking the bar over and over is expensive too, just in fees paid to the state of California one could likely use that money toward a nice tutoring package.

Mostly, it seems like you are 1. not confident you will ever pass and 2. possibly making others responsible for your sucess. YOU can do this, and only YOU are responsible for making it happen.

Keep pushing, you will get there!

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CABarTutor
~recent grad ('06), admittee MA/CA, and Tutor in the Los Angeles area.