Update June 11, 2021: Kim Kardashian shared on the Keeping Up With the Kardashians series finale that she failed the "baby bar" exam once again, for the second time.
“I failed! F–k! I failed,” she told her lawyer friends on the phone. “This is really annoying.”
Kardashian, who's attending law school online and failed the test for the first time a few months earlier, revealed that her score this time around was “pretty much the same thing … [but] a little bit worse."
However, after some encouraging words from his sister Khloé Kardashian, in which she reminded Kim that she had taken the test amidst a flurry of stressors in her personal life — namely battling COVID-19, the end of KUWTK, as well as her impending divorce with Kanye West — Kim decided that she would take the test again in July.
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“I feel bummed. Like totally bummed, but it is what it is,” Kim said in a confessional on the series' final episode. “I know I just have to not stress about it. There’s so many other fucking stressful things going on. I just have to do better in the future.”
This article was originally published on May 26, 2021.
When Kim Kardashian first revealed that she was pursuing a career in law, the world wasn’t quite sure how to take her seriously; how easy would it be to pivot from life as a reality star and beauty mogul to a career in criminal law? Not easy at all, hints a new clip from an upcoming episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians — Kim’s hit a wall in her studies after experiencing her first big law-related failure.
After years of mulling over a career pivot, Kim decided to officially start down the path of becoming a lawyer in 2019. Despite not having a four-year undergraduate degree, the reality star was able to get started by working as an apprentice at a law firm and studying under a professional for 18 hours a week. Anyone who’s ever studied law — or even watched an episode of How to Get Away with Murder — knows how rigorous the learning process of the profession is, and Kim has been working hard to reach her goals. However, in a new episode of KUWTK, she comes against her biggest obstacle yet: failing the baby bar.
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What is the baby bar anyway? Officially known as the First-Year Law Students’ Examination (FYLSE), the baby bar is required for people in California, Vermont, Washington, and Virginia who are studying law anywhere other than an accredited four-year university. It’s a lot like the real bar that law graduates must take before they can officially start practicing in any state, testing on contracts, criminal law, and torts. Test takers have three times to pass the test, and getting a passing score within those three efforts will allow them to receive full law school credit.
After months of spending time away from her kids to study for the difficult exam, Kim learned that her first try at the baby bar was unsuccessful.
“You needed a 560, and you got a 474,” Kim's mentor Jessica White informed Kim. “That’s extremely close on a test that most people are not taking in the middle of a pandemic.”
Kim’s defeated reaction to her score is understandable and relatable; who among us hasn’t missed the mark a big test that we thought we’d ace? Adding six weeks of studying 10-12 hours a day for one of the hardest exams in the legal profession — only 21% of test takers pass the baby bar — to her already wild schedule was hard enough because it took away opportunities to hang out with her kids, but the prospect of having to take the baby bar again was daunting enough to make Kim want to quit.
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“I’m a failure,” she said sadly. "The fact that I spent so much time away from my kids...I can't do it again. I don't have time."
Of course, her sisters Kourtney and Khloé were there to support her and cheer her on, telling her that their late father Robert Kardashian would be proud of Kim for following in his footsteps, but they were also concerned about her next move. Should she retake the test again at the earliest opportunity or step back and study some so she can try again months down the line? She had a lot to think about; in addition to raising four kids in the middle of a pandemic, Kim was dealing with marital issues and planning what would turn out to be a controversial 40th birthday trip.
It's yet to be determined which course Kim took regarding her law school aspirations, but like most things KUWTK, only time (and future episodes) will tell. Between you and me, I actually hope Kim gives the baby bar another try. To quote the late great Aaliyah, "If at first you don't succeed, dust yourself off and try again."
New episodes of the final season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians premiere Friday on hayu, then air Sundays on E!.