Help: Looking to hire CA Bar Exam tutor/essay grader but have a limited budget Forum

[simplycyn789-]

Hi,

I've signed up to take the CA bar exam for the third time.

I failed the July 2017 exam but I expected to fail because I had exceptionally difficult personal events going on at the time that made it incredibly difficult to prep; I ended up only doing about half of the Barbri lectures, the MBE simulated exam, and that was it.

The second time around, (Feb 2018) I completed all of the lectures with the accompanying essay prep and the multiple choice quizzes. I didn't complete the schedule but did at least 85%. After the exam, I left the exam feeling nervous but thinking I had enough rules for every essay; despite my software not launching and having to write all of Day 1. I was mostly worried about the MBE because I let myself get stuck on a question and had to blind guess the last 7 or so questions. The MBE PM session felt comparable to my prep and I was able to complete all of the questions without blind guessing.

I felt much better about my performance and thought I had enough. I didn't.

I don't want to take this exam a fourth time. I'm giving it one more chance before I take my chances in another state. A friend of mine suggested I get a tutor. I'd like to hire one but I have living expenses (rent, food, car insurance etc), credit card expenses, and beginning next month, student loans that I will have to start repaying.

I can probably allocate a total of $700 for a tutor but I would feel better about working with a $500 budget. I was wondering if anyone knows of someone who has proven to be effective and could work with my budget. I'd like to get help with both the written portion and MBE.

Things that may be useful to know:
-My law school used CRuPAC, so IRAC doesn't come naturally to me
-I went to law school in the midwest (third tier); who has had bad passing rates
-I never scored higher than 72% right on Barbri's MBE practice questions
-I live in downtown LA but can also meet with a tutor in the Valley area (I work in the Valley and my BF lives in the valley)
-I work part-time (usually done by 2:30p)

The reason I'm willing to hire a tutor is because I don't know how to approach the prep differently. I think a tutor might be able to tell me what I'm doing wrong, in ways that I can't see.

Any advice/input would be greatly appreciated. If someone has tips on how to better prep on my own, those would be appreciated too!

Thanks!