ProfessorTommy.Tips

For years, the Uniform Bar Examination portability pitch was simple: take the exam in one UBE jurisdiction place, transfer an eligible score to another UBE jurisdiction. The NextGen UBE transition is turning that simple idea into a more complicated planning problem, especially during the July 2026 through February 2028 window when some jurisdictions will be administering the NextGen UBE and others will still be offering the Legacy UBE. Recently, the landscape has started to c

Mike Tomlin is the longtime head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers , and he’s famous for delivering short, memorable one-liners in press conferences. (Steelers fans call them “ Tomlinisms .”) After the Steelers and Ravens played a chaotic, down-to-the-wire game that ended on a missed last-second field goal that sent the Steelers into the playoffs and ended the Ravens' season, a reporter asked Tomlin to put into words how razor-thin the margin was between season over and kee

As we say farewell to 2025, let's take a look at the Top 10 most visited blog posts over the past year: 1. Early Signals from July 2025 Bar Exam Results (Sept. 9, 2025) Excerpt: “The National Conference of Bar Examiners has begun releasing first-time bar passage rates for jurisdictions that have reported July 2025 results, and the early numbers provide an interesting—if incomplete—snapshot. We now have data from seven jurisdictions, and the picture is ... mixed .” 2. Moonw

A lot of applicants are coming from workplaces where “dress down” is normal. Business casual is common. Sneakers are normal. Jeans might be acceptable most days. Some places have no real dress standard at all. However, the Virginia Bar Exam does. And the Virginia Board of Bar Examiners' rule is explicit: There is no “dress down” or “casual dress” policy. Applicants are expected to dress in court-appropriate attire. This isn't a suggestion. It's a condition of entry. Source:..

Oxford University Press just selected “ rage bait ” as its 2025 Oxford Word of the Year . That alone feels like, well, a little bit of rage bait. But once you get past the eye-roll, it’s actually a useful concept for bar prep. Oxford defines "rage bait" as online content deliberately designed to make you angry or offended so you’ll click, comment, and share. Usage of the term has tripled this year, which tells you how common this stuff has become. If you’re studying for the b

Sour candy and the bar exam don’t exactly scream “perfect pair.” But there is a growing brain science that says sour candy can help dial down anxiety in the moment. And that’s something every bar taker should care about. Let’s talk about what’s going on, how you can responsibly use it during bar prep, and what to do on exam day when you can’t plop a bag of Warheads on your exam table. How Sour Candy for Anxiety Actually Works Yep. This isn’t just TikTok magic. Therapists and

This morning, a Peloton instructor shouted out 1,272 walks. Not 1,250. Not 1,275. One . Two . Seven . Two . For those who aren’t deep in the Peloton universe: Peloton is a fitness platform with live and on-demand classes where you ride, run, walk, row, or lift with instructors. When you take a live class, your username appears on the leaderboard alongside thousands of others. Instructors can see milestone numbers next to your name, like your 50th ride, 100th run, 500th walk

Yesterday I took a live Peloton ride from home with Camila Ramon . It was a 30-minute 2010s ride that turned into a masterclass on what to do when things don’t go according to plan. About a third of the way through, it looked like her bike completely betrayed her. The resistance seemed stuck on the highest setting. No matter what she did, the pedals wouldn’t cooperate. It looked like she was cycling through mud. So what did she do? She jumped off the bike. She moved to the fl

Cambridge Dictionary has officially named “parasocial” as its 2025 Word of the Year , defined as a one-sided connection that someone feels with a person they don't actually know, often a celebrity, influencer, or online personality. Most of the coverage focuses on celebrities, fandoms, and even AI chatbots. But I think law students and bar examinees have their own version of “parasocial,” and you can see it play out every day on Reddit. You know the pattern. You log onto r/L

From ABA Law Student Division's Student Lawyer , November 18, 2025: At its core, KPop Demon Hunters is about learning to harmonize strength and vulnerability. The Honmoon—a barrier woven from music, memory, and courage—remains strong only when its keepers accept every part of themselves, even the pieces they fear. Rumi’s journey shows that peace isn’t found in suppressing demons, but in singing through them. Law students face a similar challenge. The pressures of exams, per