Author: victor [21813]
02 Nov 2011 02:30 PM
i took the bar more times than you baraddict on finally passed. you have to realize that passing this test is really more about faith in your ability to apply the knowledge & skills in order to pass - you have to believe in yourself in order to pass. People underestimate the morale component of passing, bu in reality passing this test is far more about your psychology than the number of rules you've memorized or how much you have practiced applying them.
People might argue that the having the most positive mindset in the world will not help you pass if you havent studied enough. Yes, of course, you do need a minimum level of competency to pass, sure. However, i would guarantee you that if you dont make a conscious choice to believe that you can pass, you will continue to fail no matter how much you study. However, I believe that once you "release" your faith that it is possible for you to pass, then you will.
I would take the power of that belief further - I believe that once I began to believe that it was actually possible for me to pass, I subconsciously began to study more efficiently and effectively and made better judgments, both while studying and in the test itself. My belief that I could finally pass after failing so many times became so powerful, without me even realizing it, that it became a self-fulfilling prophesy.
I guarantee you that even if you consciously think you can pass now, you unconsciously doubt that, and so you are, at least on the subconscious level, sabotaging yourself. There are two things you need to do now to pass in the future:
1) DECIDE to pass: Write out your intention to pass. Write down why you want to pass the NY bar, & why you deserve to. Decide that you will pass no matter how many tries it takes, but decide to believe that you can absolutely pass on the next try, and that you are open to that possibility. Expect to pass now, and then "let go" of that intention, by not thinking about whether you will pass or not the next time you take it, because you know you CAN pass now & will pass when the time is right, because your will & intention has made your passing an inevitability.
2) ACT on your decision to pass: Forget about your past attempts, with the exception of study techniques and materials that were particularly useful & helpful. Take what was useful from your past experiences and then move on, focusing on what you need to do now to pass in he present moment. Dont worry about what other people do, but focus on what works for you. I never could do hundreds of MBEs like other people - i got bored and overwhelmed and could forced myself to get through them. On my last attempt when I passed, i decided to do just one MBE and review the test thoroughly, & it was really helpful this time (quality over quantity - Emanuel's Strategies and Tactics is very helpful). I never could learn standard bar exam outlines (BARBRI, etc), which I find are skeletal and incomplete in some places and way too long and overwhelming in others. So, I found really good "mini outlines" and studied off those but added some info where I needed it.
3) BUILD your faith in yourself: you need to change your image of yourself from a muliple taker and "failer" to a succesful passer. Affirmations are a powerful way to challenge and improve your self-image. You need success to build on - look for success in your studying - you mastering the concepts of each subject and getting practice questions right and focus on your successes. Do not dwell on negative feedback - i used to torture myself because no matter what I did, i would always get mediocre or poor scores on my practice essays. Then the last time before i passed, i started interning for an attorney who complimented my legal writing and analysis, and that built up my faith in myself alot. I realized that the "feedback" i was getting from tutors was unfair and unrealistic for test conditions, and i the next time, when i passed, i just focused on budgeting my time on the essays really well and making sure i wrote a sufficient answer in the "Under-Here-Therefore" style for each essay (this is a great, easy to use format i learned from Mary Gallagher's essay course). I had enough faith to write a short, complete answers for each part of each essay, instead of running out of time on some essays because I overdid it on others.
You can and will pass this test, whether you ever want to practice law in NY or not. You just have to make the decision and everything else will, one way or another, fall into place. Dont worry so much about the "how", just focus on the end result you want.
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