Brittany L. Raposa
Professor and Associate Director of Bar Support, Roger Williams University School of Law
After receiving failing bar exam results, I always hear students say “I don’t understand why I failed, I did everything my bar review course told me to do.” My response is always the same: “You probably did not do what worked best for you.” Commercial bar preparation courses are a one-size-fits-all approach to bar studying, but law students come in all different sizes. A student who graduated with a 4.0 GPA from law school is getting the same bar exam study plan as a student who graduated with a 2.0 GPA. Due to declining law school application qualifications, many graduates can no longer rely solely on their commercial bar preparation study plan in order to be successful on the bar exam on their first attempt. Further, and unfortunately, many students do not realize this issue until they are on their second, third, or higher attempt taking the exam.