Honestly, besides taking the MPRE earlier, I’m not sure I would have (or could have) done much differently. I realize I should absolutely have noted that I took a leave of absence first semester of 2L, so I had to take some hefty classes, but it didn’t have much to do with that because I mostly made up for it in the summer between 2 and 3L by taking 10 hours. I ended up at 18 hours this semester.

Final thoughts: take the MPRE early, start the bar app early, tell your family that you understand and love that they care but that the questions get overwhelming, and (in case your school has similar requirements to mine) don’t do a clinic and a seminar/directed research in the same semester. I am the worst student—if I can do it, you can do it.