“It speaks volumes that I felt confident enough in the exam—to not feel like the essays took me down, or the multiple choice took me down, or the PT took me down. I felt like I was ready.”
Law school: University of San Diego School of Law
Grad year: 2024
Exam: July 2024 (CA)
Profile snapshot
Law school: University of San Diego School of Law
Grad year: 2024
Exam: July 2024 (CA)
Course schedule: Part-time
Biggest challenge: Working full-time while studying
How Quimbee Bar Review helped: Flexible, part-time schedule option
Brittany Smolarski's background
Brittany will be working full-time while she prepares for the bar exam, so she’s looking for a flexible bar review course that will allow her to study without experiencing burnout. Although she’s well organized and used to having many responsibilities to juggle at once, Brittany knows the vast amount of information she’ll need to absorb presents an entirely different challenge. The activation energy to start studying is present and daunting, but she plans on sticking to her CrossFit routine to stay mentally and physically balanced while studying.
Follow Brittany Smolarski's bar review journey
From choosing the right course to finding out their results, experience every important milestone from Brittany Smolarski’s bar review journey.
Picking the right bar prep provider
Brittany was already leaning toward trusting Quimbee Bar Review+ to help prepare her for the July bar exam, but the no-cost, part-time schedule helped solidify her choice. In addition to the 6-month schedule option, she wanted Quimbee Bar Review+'s familiar platform she'd used in law school with Quimbee Study Aids to save her from having to learn a new bar review platform before studying.
Getting started
Using the same home office setup she’s relied on to work throughout law school, Brittany effortlessly takes notes while watching Quimbee videos thanks to her 3 screens and ample desk space. She’s already making the most of the course’s NCBE-licensed content by previewing questions from past bar exams—allowing her to become familiar with the types of questions she’ll face on exam day.
Finishing strong
To get a jumpstart on the day and make the most of her time, Brittany wakes up at 5 a.m. and divides her studying into two sessions—one in the morning and one in the afternoon. In addition to the course’s practice essays, Brittany has found the essay attack guides to be especially helpful. The guides allow her to organize and structure information from more complex subjects onto flashcards, which she can study on the go.
Entering the home stretch
Brittany is feeling confident as she approaches the final week before the bar exam. The extensive practice with multiple-choice questions she's completed and reviewed has sharpened her ability to analyze and tackle each question quickly. She credits her confidence to the Quimbee Bar Review+ quizzes, which require her to navigate through detailed explanations and key takeaways after each question. This approach has not only clarified the reasoning behind her mistakes but also reinforced the correct answers, enhancing her readiness for the exam.
Waiting to hear back
As Brittany walked out of the bar exam, she felt reassured about her performance. Other examinees who had prepared with different bar prep providers expressed concerns about feeling underprepared for the essay portion—but not Brittany. By carefully reviewing every essay question in the course, she was able to identify key trends that the NCBE often tests. When she faced similarly structured questions on exam day, Brittany felt completely prepared and ready to tackle them with confidence.
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