TULARE, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – At 17, Sophia Park of California’s Tulare County is the youngest to pass the state’s Bar Exam, having taken the title from her own older brother.
The California General Bar Exam is no easy task. In fact, it has a pass rate of only 51%. But it was no problem for the Parks. Sophia Park’s brother, Peter, passed it last year at 17 years and 11 months old. And now Sophia, at 17 years and 8 months, is the current record-holder in the state.
“I don’t think it was extremely difficult, but I do think there was difficulty in how much you had to put into your brain in a limited period of time,” Sophia Park told Nexstar’s KSEE.
At 13, Sophia Park simultaneously started law school while attending junior high. But halfway through her freshman year of high school, she decided she wanted to pursue law school “only because high school is taking up a lot of my time.”
She then took the California High School Proficiency Exam so she could study law full-time.
Like her brother, Sophia Park has since become a Law Clerk at the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office at the beginning of 2024.
“We’re so excited for her, for her brother, and really the family, it’s quite remarkable,” said Tulare County DA Tim Ward.
Now, Sophia is waiting until she’s 18 so she can be sworn in as a Tulare County Deputy District Attorney.
“People do say like, ‘Wow, you’re so young,’ but sometimes I forget about my age too,” she said. “In my perspective, I’m just a law clerk who passed the bar exam and will become an attorney. I’m really looking forward to working as an attorney.”