I hope GG won't mind my stealing a comment from her blog, and then my reply to it (which she has not yet approved.) However, an anonymous commenter wrote:

Congratulations. And many kudos for the informative, well-designed blog.

I feel compelled to write, however, that all these tip/coping sites contribute to testing anxiety. Keep on treating it like Doomsday and it'll seem more than it is. Bar/Bri would be proud.

I, along with most of my closer law school friends, spent most of the summer enjoying ourselves, hanging on to as much of our last summer before entering the work force as possible. Some of us partied in eastern europe all June, others part-timed at firms or volunteered at non-profits. One friend learned how to play the guitar. Most of us never attended Bar/Bri lectures after the first week, and certainly didn't sacrifice more interesting classes and professors during law school to get a jump on the bar. And we all passed. Given the hours I'm working now, I'd be downright upset if I over-invested in my bar preparation.

I comment no to gloat, but rather to present a balanced picture of bar prep, and I hope you fit it in somewhere in your blog. There are those who'll inevitably stress and feel compelled to make every sacrifice to increase their passing odds. And that's fine. But there are many law students who, realizing they generally test well, would prefer to do whatever they need to feel adequately prepared and no more. And future readers of your blog so inclined to follow suit shouldn't feel like they're condemning themselves to failure for doing so.

Well, that's nice. To which, yours truly replied:

Partying in eastern Europe all through June?

Learning to play guitar?

Well, look, if you did that and it worked out for you, great. Of course, I'm sure you spent some nervous time wondering whether the leaving BarBri after the first week was REALLY a brilliant idea. And, as GG said, maybe y'all are from North Dakota, where the pass rate is 93.9%. Congratulatins, dawg, you're an attorney in bleepin North Dakota.

Hey, even in Ohio, which had a 75% pass rate this year, I studied all summer long. And am very glad I did.

No, wait. I think I know what you want. *sighs* OK

Oh, you're just so brilliant you didn't NEED to study! We, who had to actually cram knowledge into our head, would be grovelling and licking your feet (if in fact you ever had the guts enough to show your name.) In fact, we'd be on a plane to North Dakota right now, if planes ever went there.

Seriously...obsessive bar studying may not be the sanest route to becoming a lawyer, but it IS the safest. And, if you have enough money to spend June partying in eastern Europe, to what degree is being a lawyer REALLY that important?