How I Passed the FL Bar Exam on the First Try - While working full-time and training for a half-marathon.
The FL Bar Exam was not my first bar exam, but it was certainly the hardest. The first time I passed a Bar exam was nearly 10 years ago. I was fresh out of law school and sat for the PA and NJ Bar exams in July 2015. I also passed these on my first try, but I found this time around was much more difficult with the added commitments of a full-time job, family life and training for my first half-marathon. Whether you are planning to sit for the Bar exam or any other big exam, here are 5 tips that helped me pass:
1. Start Early & Plan. From application to the exam, the Bar is an incredibly long process. Starting early and planning everything in advance was an absolute must! Specifically-
* The Application -
From start to finish, I took 1 year from deciding to take the FL Bar exam to sitting for the exam in February 2025. This gave me plenty of time to complete the application (including obtaining all the required documents, such as all transcripts, law school applications and copies of certificates of good standing from other jurisdictions).
* The MPRE - MPRE scores are only good for 25 months. So, if you’re like me and long out of law school, then your scores have likely expired. Starting early gave me time to study for and re-take the MPRE exam well before I needed to begin studying for the bar exam.
* The Logistics - When you are in the thick of studying for the exam while working full-time, the last thing you want to worry about is exam logistics. I highly recommend making your travel arrangements and booking your hotel room before you start studying, ideally months in advance as the rooms will book up quickly and the rates will also likely go up. I stayed at the Embassy Suites- Tampa Downtown for the convenience of it being connected to the Tampa Convention Center. As you cannot bring much of anything into the exam room, it was great to have my hotel room so close. It was also nice to return to my hotel room for lunch.
* Start early - The FL Bar exam covers many topics and the best way to pass the exam is to have a solid handle on the information being tested. For this reason, I do think it is helpful to start as early as possible- keeping in mind, if you start too hard, too fast, you do risk getting burned out. The Bar prep course I used provided an option to start the course almost a month early. Additionally, they also sent out the course books weeks before. In the month before the early start date, I read the MBE outlines to refresh my knowledge of the basics. This averaged out to reviewing about 2 outlines per week for all 8 MBE topics (Con Law, Crim Law, Crim Pro, Evidence, Civil Procedure, Property, Torts and Contracts). This was incredibly helpful! I found a lot of value in fully reading the outlines (not just skimming as the course suggested) and would not have had time to do this had I waited to read them until the course began. In the end, by starting early, and studying morning, nights and weekends, I was able to complete 97% of the prep course.
2. Use a Commercial Prep Course.
A commercial prep course is expensive, but in the grand scheme of your legal career, and in respect of the significant time and financial investment you put into the Bar exam, it is worth every penny!! I used Themis and received a significant discount for booking far in advance (another perk of starting early!). Following this program gave me the knowledge I needed to pass the FL Bar on the first try. For me, the highlights of this program included: being able to start early; the lectures; all outlines- lecture, mini, final review and FL essays; FL multiple choice practice questions and access to MBE Q-bank; and extra content of MBE video series (I re-listened to some of these on my drive to Tampa!).
3. Study All the Time. Study in all your very limited free time. I scheduled blocks on my calendar every day early morning before work, lunch, and afternoon until very late. These breaks were often interrupted, but I dedicated every spare moment to studying. If I was exhausted or feeling burnt-out, I did “easy” studying like reviewing flash cards or doing multiple choice practice questions. I also took outlines everywhere to study (i.e. on dog walks in the backyard and doctor offices).
4. Start Reviewing Outlines ASAP. If I could have done one thing differently, it would have been to start reviewing all of the outlines earlier on. Reviewing outlines is my favorite way to commit the rules to memory. After reviewing an outline, I mark the back to track how many times I have reviewed the outline. This helps me track what topics I have covered, and how many times I have reviewed each outline. The Themis outlines were great, but I wished I had time to have reviewed them all once or twice more.
*My Favorite Study Tools
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Colored Note Cards
These are perfect for organizing note cards by subject.
Organizer Binder
Essential to organizing lecture outlines and final review outlines, essays, notes, etc. by subject.
Gel Pens
Get these to make notecards more fun.
Highlighters
For active reading
The Best Pens
For all the lecture outlines.
5. Self-Care & Motivation. Taking care of yourself while studying for the Bar exam is so important to success. If you don’t feel good, it impacts studying, which will ultimately impacts exam-day performance. I struggled with a lot of anxiety in preparing for this exam and had to find a few things to manage this stress. First, training for my first half-marathon while studying for the Bar may sound psychotic, but having this other target and goal was great to get my focus off the exam and do something healthy. I also thought it was a lot like the Bar exam- neither are a trick- if you follow the training and do the work, you will be successful. Second, listening to positive audiobooks and podcasts while I was driving, grocery shopping or doing chores was great to help maintain my confidence and motivation. My favorite books were Grit, by Angela Duckworth, The Mountain is You, by Briana Wiest, and The Let Them Theory, by Mel Robbins. My favorite podcasts include Bialik Breakdown and Mel Robbins. All of these are great listens and blend research, inspiration and empowering messages reminding us not only that we can do hard things, but also that our worth extends far beyond our accomplishments.
