Quick stats

• Attempts: California Bar Exam 1 time
• Weakness: Memorizing the law in a meaningful way
• Unique challenge: Foreign attorney, little time to prepare

“I actually was able to retain a lot of what I learned through the Barbri videos, but the issue was that there wasn't an easy way for me to ‘memorize’ the specifics of the law in a meaningful way.”

Resources used:

▶▶ Magicsheets

▶▶ UWorld [AdaptiBar would also work]

▶▶ Barbri

Notice that while there are many choices out there, you don't need all of them to pass the bar exam. 

I always say you only need 3 things for bar prep: source materials (outlines, practice questions, etc.), how-to-study knowledge (covered if you stick with me), and the will to act (self-motivation that you cover).

Summary of Junhyung's approach

I asked for his specific study approach. Here's what he said + my summary below:

Some interesting takeaways for me:

✅ There was a difference between being familiar with the material (via Barbri lectures) and being able to recite things from scratch.

💬 "So while I understood the different subjects at a conceptual level . . . I was not in a position where I could write out the law from scratch."


✅ Using model answers for essay practice

Junhyung used Barbri's model answers to learn how to set up issues. Great use of the model answers tbh. It's the same thing I did, as the full model answers by Barbri are quite long.

💬 "As I memorized the Magicsheets, I outlined about 2-3 practice Barbri essay questions for each subject to practice my issue spotting. And then I went through each of the remaining essay questions for each topic doing a quick mental issue spotting + focused more on reading the actual full Barbri model answers to see where I could scrape up easy points and to figure out patterns for the type of questions, types of topics that were combined, etc."

People say not to emulate the lengthy model answers, but why wouldn't you shoot for the moon? Are you OK with scraping by with the bare minimum?

“We don’t rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training.”—Archilochus


✅ Meaningful memorization

There are resources out there that have streamlined for you the information you need to know on the bar exam. This is helpful and especially so if you're working with little time.

Junhyung used Magicsheets to triage the time he had, by memorizing the Magicsheets for CA-only topics. Magicsheets helped Junhyung with memorization, but what you memorize with is a personal choice. I'm biased, of course.

💬 "The Magicsheets were organized in a very logical/meaningful way so it also helped me see the bigger picture of how the various concepts could be pieced together."

💬 "I could separate out each of the Magicsheets into 'blocks' of info that might come up as a topic or subtopic on the essay writing portion, which in turn helps the memorization process." 

It's good that he paid more attention to the MBE subjects (by working on past essays and not just rote memorizing Magicsheets) because most of the essay topics in California will be on MBE subjects.

💬 "For the California topics, since I didn't have time to watch/read the Barbri materials, I just memorized the Magicsheet summaries word for word and went through all of the Barbri model essay answers to see how the law was applied in different circumstances."


✅ MBE practice: Junhyung used an MBE platform like UWorld in conjunction with Magicsheets to learn the MBE concepts.

I think he did everything right given the time he had, and it obviously paid off for him!

Recommended Study Tools

🎯 Magicsheets (condensed attack outlines)
Not enough time? Overwhelmed? Save time on practice and memorization with these condensed rule outlines organized in logical groups of issues and sub-issues.

🎯 Approsheets (essay attack checklists and flowcharts)
Got blank-page syndrome? Go from blank page to finished essay/outline. Identify all the relevant issues with these attack sheets so you don't leave any points on the table.

[Most popular option] Save and get a bonus pocket guide with the Magicsheets + Approsheets bundle.

🎯 Passer’s Playbook 2.0 (self-study toolkit)
Step-by-step blueprint, study schedules, cheat sheets, guides, and other tools designed to help you orient yourself and propel you toward improvement. Passing is inevitable if you continue to improve.

🎯 Mental Engines (mental management course)
Organize your emotions and deal with the mental barriers of bar preparation. Go from overwhelmed to focused, unmotivated to productive, and anxious to calm.

Promo Codes

👉🏻 $30 off AdaptiBar: Use code MTYLT30 (no need if you're re-enrolling—your account will qualify for a discount).

👉🏻 $25 off BarEssays (California only): Use code MTYLT25 (use a different email address to reuse this code)