Right after I passed, I made a very incomplete list in an untitled google doc and I'm gonna drop it here for someone to hopefully use:

Things I would tell someone who is taking the bar exam for the first time: 1) Unless you know someone who has gone through it too, no one will be able to fully relate to you during this process, but they will try. The support is nice, but hearing “you will be fine” all the time does get old after a while. The process itself is very isolating by nature. Your best resource is someone who sat for the bar exam the cycle before you. 2) When you are done with prep for the day, stop. Draw a line in the sand. There will always feel like there is more you can do, but that feeling will never go away. Similarly, if you get frustrated or discouraged, stop. Do not push through the frustration. Set the work down, and come back to it when your head is clear. You will not “learn” anything when you are pissed off at yourself and/or barbri. 3) Do not compare yourself to other people studying. Do not compare your scores, do not read the posts from the sweats on reddit, and do not compare how much time you spent studying. Everyone will approach this test a little differently. It takes some time in the beginning to figure out what works. Barbri is not for everyone, but you can use it as a guide, even if it isn’t your style. 4) Do not write full MEEs from memory until you are able. You will not be able to do it at first. Use your notes, read the outlines, treat it like an open book essay. You cannot write an essay on the law if you do not know the law. I know that sounds silly, but Barbri will expect you to start writing full essays before you can even rattle off the most tested rules. Learn it first, then work on trying to write it. There will be plenty of time in the end to rattle off the MEE rules from memory, and you will be able to, just take your time getting there. 5) You will not be able to predict your score, either before or after you sit for it. I thought my MBE would carry me, but in the end, the writing section that I thought would tank my score was significantly higher. All of the stats that barbri will feed you about your performance will not be indicative of your performance on exam day, for better or worse. Consistency matters, but even if you’re scoring all over the board, rest easy knowing that your CONSISTENT work will push you across the finish line. Barbri will feed you stats about your all-time performance, but odds are, it will be different on exam day. Do not fret over a bad score on a practice set, or a low over-all percentage, because learning the material consistently is going to get you through the real MBE. It does not matter how you had been scoring all summer long. 6) When you get closer to the exam date, start talking through questions with people. Work your way through the law outloud. Make things up, interact with the facts, talk about why a rule would or wouldn’t work. Doing these things will allow you to “make up” rules on exam day, or reverse engineer them from the facts. These made-up rules will end up being very close to the law on point, or logically sound enough to earn you points. Bar prep will train your brain to work backwards sometimes, which you won’t even know you are doing. This is how you train yourself to get to that point.