From Tom 2018 UBE

In February, I sat for the Colorado Bar Exam. I had passed the Minnesota bar 20 years ago and I never thought I would ever take a bar exam again. However life happens, and I found myself in Colorado and unable to "waive-in" to the Colorado bar because I had detoured from law practice for several years. While reactivating my Minnesota license was not difficult, becoming licensed to practice in Colorado meant taking the bar exam again. I thought I could prepare on my own. I was wrong. I spent way too much time trying to learn and memorize the law across the many bar subjects, and way too little time drilling on practice questions. In May I learned that I failed Colorado’s February bar exam. I missed success by 7 points. Mind you, I would have passed Minnesota again, easily. But not Colorado and their higher 276 passing UBE score requirement. After a week of feeling sorry for myself, I regrouped and resolved to pass the July exam, which was only 10 weeks away. At first, I thought my mistake was not enrolling in a traditional BarBri or Kaplan prep course. But then it hit me--what about a tutor? My google search took me to Wyzant's website where I came across Deborah Sanders as a bar prep tutor. I read many of her reviews. Very, very positive. I emailed her. She promptly responded and we had a phone call shortly thereafter. She made it clear that her approach was different. She is very big on practice, practice, practice. Using specific materials, at specific times, in increasing volumes. Deb cares so much about her students' success and the approach, that our sessions were always high-energy, don't-look-back, move-forward, achieve-this-goal mentality. Her passion, her long experience as a bar tutor, and her detailed approach really helped me trust the process! We generally met by Skype once every other week over the 9-10 week period. I knew that I needed to accomplish the goals Deb gave me by our next session. She kept me on pace. If I was confused or had questions, she promptly texted or phoned or skyped--despite her full plate of other students. Deb assured me that my daily and weekly work would pay off. I just had to trust the process. By early July I started getting substantially higher MBE scores on the official NCBE practice tests. And that continued through the exam. From the earliest engagement, I felt a high degree of trust with Deb. I simply couldn't bear the idea of failing again, so I put all my faith in Deb and her process. Not only was she a great tutor, but she held me accountable each session, and her energy and confidence really helped carry me through the long hard hours of prep. Did I feel better about my performance after the July exam? I definitely felt more comfortable on the MBE—but honestly, how can you ever really know whether you did well on an MBE? The only thing I really knew were my practice test results (using actual past exam questions) prior to the bar were consistently much better than the last time. I did feel better about the essay portion of the exam. But less so for the MPTs. I always struggle with spending much time prepping for those. It’s now October and I just learned that I passed the bar! In the months of waiting self-doubt gradually took over and convinced me that I probably hadn't done very well again. But my scores on the Colorado bar exam results letter didn't lie. I didn’t just pass, I crushed it! A 303! Way up from my failing 269 in February. I owe this success to Deb's passion, energy, process, follow-up, and overall commitment to her students. She doesn't boast or puff up her success. But she will tell you that the students that don't pass usually admit that they simply didn't do the work. But if you commit and do the work, she does all she can to help you successfully cross that finish line. So if you're looking for a bar tutor, contact Deb early! She's the best. And she fills up fast! Thanks Deb!