Negative Bar Exam Results: Disoriented to Resolve
Paulina Bandy, Esq.Share
Who This is Written For
This was written for you if you felt sick to your stomach before checking results. Then once your name did not come up, you repeatedly checked to see if the numbers you inserted were correct hoping you had made a mistake.
I can categorize my help here into two classifications: 1) Sharing my thoughts about getting you through this and 2) Helping you plan for success next time.
Results Day - The Snatching & Regaining of Hope
Hope. A necessary driving force which channels willpower into waypower (the hope theory).
The cruelest reality of Results Day is the snatching of your hope. It feels like without your approval someone took your dream.
Once your hope returns, so will your desire and your will to plan your improvements.
In my experience with getting bar candidates to grab this exam by its ovaries, it begins with compassion for yourself.
Below, I set forth a Table of Contents so you can find what you need, when you need it. Fresh off seeing the results, you may not be ready for every section yet.
Table of Contents
- The Mourning Process - Recouping Your Resolve
- To Continue or Not to Continue
- Your Significant Other, Family, and Friends
- “Unsuccessful” and “Failure” Labels
- Did My Practice Fail the Bar Exam?
- It is a Tough Exam
- The Understanding Ear
- Where to Go From Here
1. The Mourning Process: Recouping Your Resolve
As with any area of expertise, patterns arise. In my experience getting multi-repeaters of the CA Bar Exam to pass the next bar exam, it was important to see where they were in their grieving process.
Recovering from “unsuccessful” bar notices is similar to the Stages of Grieving, developed by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. Similar to what psychologists observe in their patients, I observed with bar candidates over the years. They need to progress through stages before the healing can begin.
- Shock, followed by initial denial — Hoping the bar letter will reflect a computer mistake
- Anger, blame, rage, resentment — At bar reviews, the bar, tutors
- Bargaining with God — Usually beforehand
- Depression, frustration, self pity, mourning the loss of hopes and dreams and plans for the future — It is depressing
- Acceptance — This is where I believe positive changes can take place
When results are fresh, don’t be hard on yourself. Give yourself time to be sad. It is a sad time. However, I don’t want you stunting your growth by dwelling too long in any given stage.
Although individuals go through these stages at a different pace, bar candidates who choose to take the exam again need to get to the Acceptance Stage in order to progress.
You can’t change this result; however, you can control your reactions to it and recoup your resolve.
Once you take control over this exam, you will feel better. Get your result letter. Schedule and plan. Correct the areas that need to be corrected. Your willpower will return and you will move forward.
No one robbed you of your hope, they just suspended it. No one robbed you of your dream, they just delayed it.
Smiling at the Bar Exam™ was created specifically to help repeaters rebuild in order to progress in their studies and visualize the desired outcome through subconscious training.
2. To Continue or Not to Continue?
Before you decide anything, ask yourself this: If someone told you that you couldn’t sit for the next bar exam, how would you react? Would you fight for it or feel relieved?
Deciding to Continue…
You persevering juggernaut you. Good for you. I advise you to keep proper balance in your life. If you are a candidate that says “I put my life on hold”, STOP IT. Live your life which includes this exam preparation. If you properly prepare, then there is no need to put your life on hold.
Keep in mind how good it will feel to reap the benefits of this studying. How good it will feel to pass. It is more productive to feel the positive results building than to feel like you are under house arrest.
If you decide to go on, to achieve what you set out to do, then please don’t sacrifice your life, your relationships, and your freedom. Some candidates study 14 hours a day for months, no kids, no job, no showering, and fail. Some study 4-6 hours at night, with toddlers, and a job, and pass. It’s not about hours logged. It’s about what you’re doing in those hours. Proper preparation means targeted, strategic work, and striking balance, not just time served.
I am excited that you are working towards your goal. You are unstoppable. Your triumph will be so much sweeter because of these hardships you overcame.
Need guidance? GOT THEM TO PASS: Here, Candor and Conformity walks you through the preparation system that helped my tutorial multi-repeaters succeed on their next try.
Deciding Not To Continue…
I believe the period of time around Results Day is a time to contemplate what you want. Weigh the pros and cons.
Do you want to cut your losses? It’s expensive, time-consuming, and hasn’t paid off yet.
Or do you enjoy this pursuit? You want to be an attorney. You’d be a good attorney. This is a necessary step. Look at all you’ve accomplished. This will be another accomplishment.
Make your argument. Which side wins?
If someone told you that you could not sit for the next bar exam, how would you react? If you would fight for it, then you need to continue. If you are relieved, then move on.
3. Your Significant Other, Family, and Friends
Your partner, family, and friends are suffering too. They care about you and they feel helpless. When I was tutoring, I was contacted by bar candidates’ attorney relatives, boyfriends, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sisters (no brothers but I did hear they passed along my name) and mother-in-laws, all having a difficult time reconciling why their bright, accomplished, hard-working, loved ones can not pass this exam.
I received an email from a mother who told me that her son had taken the exam numerous times and failed in spite of being extremely smart and accomplished. She told me that passing the California Bar Exam was a matter of “winning the lottery”. She was convinced that the bar exam was merely a gamble. Watching someone you love struggle is agonizing. But anger won’t help your person pass. Support will.
People do pass this exam. It is highly competitive and involves bar exam conformity.
I recommend including your spouse or significant other in your bar taking plans…for your own good. Let them know that you are doing this to better your lives together. Let them know that you want to celebrate with them at the end of all this. If your partner feels like the bar is more important to you than them, you will pay the consequences. Make dates. Tell them you love and appreciate them. Maybe they can even be included in your studies.
4. “Unsuccessful” and “Failed” Labels
If you worked hard, showed up and fought hard, then you should feel good about yourself.
The exam did not measure your worth, it measured how well you communicated to the grader in their language. This is a skill you can learn.
Remember your accomplishments. Dwell on how good you really are.
Being a rookie is overrated. Use your experience to gain insight into changes you need to make. Take advantage of the data you have.
- If all your essay scores are similar, this indicates a technique problem.
- If certain subjects did not go well, it’s a content gap.
- What are your lowest scoring multiple choice subjects? This is an opportunity to gain points.
- Is there room to improve on your PT? Did you feel comfortable with your outline and timing?
Your bar exam experience is intel.
Do you hate a subject? Lean into it. Getting an approach to tackle an area which was once weak becomes a strength.
You are not the only one who did not pass the bar exam. You are in good company.
5. Was it My Practice That Failed?
The question is did you know how to properly prepare and present the exam? If not, you didn’t know how to compete.
Or, were you beat, and need to get better?
Many candidates reinvest money in bar reviews or tutors that did not work for them. Here is some help to determine if you want to proceed under their instruction.
If you did not pass the bar exam after hiring someone, ask them why you did not pass. If their approach was a good one, you will feel it and they should help direct your present practice for passing the exam next time.
Look for areas of improvement which are not always transparent at a quick painful glance at your scores. For instance, you may see some higher essay scores in certain subjects now showing presentation improvement.
If you felt progress, and you just fell short, your system may be a keeper. Get stronger!
If you need help assessing your practice or need a tried and true plan, I disclose how I helped my multi-repeaters pass their next exam in: GOT THEM TO PASS: Here, Candor and Conformity.
6. It is a Tough Exam
It’s a tough exam. It takes more than being smart, more than hard work. It demands proper, consistent preparation and strategic application. Hard work without proven strategy is just spinning your wheels.
Show yourself some compassion. The exam is challenging. If it wasn’t, more would be doing it.
7. The Understanding Ear
If you are not a Repeater, I mean a die-hard Repeater, you just can’t relate.
Some sympathetic souls try to understand and listen as you provide insight into the Calbar. However, right when you think you are making head-way into their understanding, they compare the bar exam to passing their notary, hair stylist, or accounting exam.
All they have is their own frame of reference to compute what you are telling them. Bless their hearts, they try to understand.
8. Where To Go From Here
Effectively study for the next bar exam. You need consistent and proper preparation. Learn how to do it right...now. Get aggressive with your studies!
Ready to reclaim control? Here is some help:
GOT THEM TO PASS: Here, Candor and Conformity
A guidance memoir which shares my 9-10 week system which got my students to pass the next CA Bar Exam.
Smiling at the Bar Exam
Subconscious training to rebuild confidence, channel stress, and visualize your success at the bar exam.
Esquire Aspire Attire™
Discreet support of your goal in practice.
I’m excited for you. Let’s get your confidence back and turn this around. What a sweet victory it will be.
Make it your turn.
Best of Luck to you!
Built on Reality & Results℠
Disclaimer: This article is written from my viewpoint as an expert in bar exam preparation for Repeaters. I am not a psychologist and my opinions should not replace needed psychological advice or counseling.