I was referred to Steven by my sister who had enlisted Steven as a tutor and had passed the Bar on her first try. She was adamant that Steven’s individualized calendar of assignments had kept her on track during the summer when she was not only studying for the Bar but also planning her wedding. Furthermore, she was convinced that Steven’s well-planned week of systematic memorization before the Bar had been crucial to her success in passing the Bar when her computer crashed during the test and she was forced to write her answers by hand. I too only wanted to endure those three months of studying for the Bar once – that is why I chose Steven.
Unlike my sister I had different areas of weaknesses in studying for the Bar. Whereas she used Steven’s calendar to keep up with her work when she was tempted to fly to Vegas for her bachelorette party, I used the calendar as a way to make an overwhelming task seem manageable. Whereas my sister’s Achilles’ heel lie in Performance Tests, mine lie in Essays. Not only did Steven’s feedback tailor to both of our needs, but Steven provided the individualized help that BarBri could not and a hand-selected and manageable calendar of the most pertinent assignments from the gargantuan list which Bar/Bri provided. Furthermore, Steven’s book WINNIN’ TIME!, a collection of short and easy to memorize rules, allowed me to learn the material with time left to do what I felt was most important – practice. Having Steven as a tutor as well as using his book WINNIN’ TIME! were crucial tools to my first time success.
Looking back on my three days of taking the Bar I was fairly calm, cool, and collected. This was because I had been following Steven’s calendar of assignments the three months prior – practicing Essays, Performance Tests and MBE’s, receiving Steven’s individualized feedback, and memorizing WINNIN’ TIME! In those few moments of panic which I did have during the exam, I would take a deep breath or a quick walk to the bathroom (per Steven’s advice), refer back to the outlines which I had memorized the week before, and then be back on track.
I would give the same advice to anyone I know who wants to pass the Bar for the first time that my sister gave to me – call Steven Harris! — Ariel Guggenheim, Esq., Santa Clara alum, passed July 2010, 1st timer