Bar topnotcher Rachel Miranda says she wanted to be a doctor at first

At first she thought it was a joke, until she realized it was not.

This was how Rachel Angeli Miranda described the moment she learned from a friend through Facebook that she topped last year's Bar examinations, the results of which were announced by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

"Kala ko niloloko niya lang ako," Miranda, a graduate of the University of the Philippines, said in an interview on "Balitanghali" shortly after the announcement. "Pero totoo pala."

With her 87.4 mark, Miranda topped a list of 1,731 successful examinees.

Although she did not expect to be the top passer, Miranda said she worked hard to prepare for the Bar examinations, believed to be the most difficult of all licensure examinations.

"Yung pag-aaral po talagang every day, like pinipilit ko lang sarili ko na mag-aral kahit na hindi ko gusto or sobrang pagod na ko or tinatamad na ko," she said.

Raised by a family of doctors, Miranda said she briefly considered studying medicine at first until she realized science is not for her.

"Akala ko before gusto ko maging doktor, pero 'di talaga ako magaling sa science, so nag-law na lang ako," she said.

The successful Bar examinees are expected to take their oath on June 16.

A total of  7,146 Bar candidates took the exams at the University of Sto. Tomas in November last year, but only 6,600 managed to finish all four Sundays of the exams that started on November 8, 2015.

The exams covered Political Law, Labor Law, Civil Law, Taxation, Mercantile Law, Criminal Law, Remedial Law, and Legal and Judicial Ethics. —Jessica Bartolome/KBK, GMA News