If you have to retake the bar, there are some predictors that will let you know if you are close to passing and will succeed the next time, or whether you still have a couple more tries in your future.
Here's what to look for:
I. Did you have relative confidence in your studies?
There will be moments of self-doubt and questioning during bar prep, that's normal. What you want to see is that the majority of the time you were confident in your method of study and you stuck to your plan rather than flip-flopping from one method to another.
You also want to note:
whether you were so disappointed with your progress that you took days off from study,
whether one day off stretched to five days off despite your best efforts to get back on the horse,
whether you avoided practice questions, and
whether you had to fight procrastination most of the time.
If any of these issues plagued you, use the resources here to get to the bottom of them and to prepare for a successful attempt on your next bar exam.
II. Did you see increasing scores as you moved through bar prep?
This is something most people want to see, but get discouraged if they don't see it right away. The point is not to see high scores from the onset, but to see gradually increasing scores as you move through bar prep. This tells you that you are learning from your mistakes, adding knowledge, and retaining it as you go.
Volatile scores are indicators of low self-confidence and self-doubt that cause second-guessing. It's also a strong indicator that there are mindset issues present.
Decreasing scores or scores that stay stagnant are indicators that you're not retaining the material. If you're having trouble with retention, you'll want to check out Bar Exam Ready. It’s a holistic alternative to the overwhelming bar prep method and gives you a study pattern to strengthen your memory. This practically guarantees to retain all the information you study throughout Bar prep.
III. The last predictive factor to consider is whether you were non-attached.
This is the most pivotal factor when it comes to ascertaining current success or future success on your bar exam. People who reported walking into the bar feeling completely okay with the results of the exam, whichever way it went, either passed that exam or passed it on the subsequent try. Attaining this level of emotional non-attachment, (not to be confused with detachment) is key to relaxing enough to perform your best academically.
Not so fast...
There are two things to look out for with this last factor.
Are you truly unattached or are you pretending that you don't care about the exam because you are already convinced that you'll fail?
On the outside, it looks the same. Someone can appear calm about the exam while secretly fearing the worst and putting all their energy into keeping those fears at bay. They would appear to be calm. Alternatively, a bar taker could be putting their best effort into bar prep while not pegging their worth or their future on the exam results. This will also produce calm. It's important, to be honest with yourself about which category you fall into.
The former doesn't bode well. The latter is what you want to shoot for.
The second thing to look out for is whether you are attached to being non-attached.
People who have been in the mindset arena for a while know that the key to achieving practically anything you want in life is to be unattached to the results while giving your all in taking the action. How can you give your all yet not care about the results? I admit this is a delicate balance to achieve. That's why astute bar takers enlist the help of a Mindset Mentor to quickly accomplish this so they can focus on passing.
While doing this mindset work, the focus can sneakily switch from attachment about bar exam results and turn towards attachment about being non-attached. Either way you're attached to results, and the same disappointing consequences will follow.
So if you want to use your most recent exam experience to measure your mindset progress, consider the factors I listed above. If you need help overcoming any one of them, schedule a Confidence Kickstart call with a member of my team and we'll be happy to help you identify the culprits and strategize your way past them.