Tag Archive for: bar exam

A Story about How We Can Help Students who Have Failed the Bar Exam

Here is a testimonial from a student who took the July 2014 Michigan bar exam using a Kaplan course last year. He failed the bar exam, then hired us to help him pass the following February 2015 bar exam. He was a very intelligent student – one of the brightest that we have met! – but found that the Kaplan course did not help him pass the exam. (Note: This is not to say anything bad about commercial bar review courses – they are simply not for everyone!)

This is his story about how he found that enrolling in private tutoring was what ultimately helped him pass the February 2015 Michigan bar exam. Read more

When Will July 2015 New York Bar Exam Results be Released?

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When will July 2015 New York Bar Exam Results be Released?

We are counting down the days until July 2015 New York bar exam results are released. July 2015 New York bar exam results should be released around the last week of October or first week of November. (Our formal prediction is November 3 but it could really be anytime at the end of October or beginning of November!)

Note that the New York State Board of Law Examiners seems to like releasing results on Wednesday or Fridays! Like many state boards, they tend to avoid releasing results on Mondays.

You can judge for yourself when you think July 2015 New York bar exam results will be released. Here are the last seven results dates for the New York bar exam, including the day of the week they have been released: Read more

Quotes for those who Failed the Bar Exam

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Failing the bar exam can be a sad, lonely, sick feeling. We understand this deeply and have a note to those who fail the bar exam.

We also know that sometimes a good quote can change a perspective, or reflect one, or, if nothing else, make you feel less alone. A good quote is sometimes motivational. Sometimes understanding. Sometimes it convinces you to move on, or to stay where you are, or to keep fighting. Sometimes it convinces you of nothing but just reflects how you feel in an eloquent way when you cannot exactly wrap words around your feelings.

We have copied a few Rainer Maria Rilke quotes that we love below. Rainer Maria Rilke was a bohemian Austrian novelist and poet who was alive in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.These quotes are, by and large, not motivational one-liners. They are sentences or paragraphs that express hard truths well. They are true and difficult and lifey. And that is why we love them. Although he was not writing to people who didn’t pass the bar exam, many of my bar exam students have found these quotes especially helpful and eye-opening. Some may resonate with you. Some may not. I’ve listed a few of my favorite quotes here and bolded portions I like the best. Read more

I failed the bar exam. Should I wait to take the bar exam or take the next one offered?

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If you failed the bar exam, we want to start by saying we’re sorry! We know it can be extremely disappointing and disheartening. (If you have not already, we suggest you read this note to those who failed the bar exam).

If you failed the bar exam, one of the decisions you will have to make is whether you want to take the next bar exam or put off the bar exam until a later time. In general, we recommend taking the following bar exam. So if you failed the July bar exam, take the February bar exam. If you failed February, take July’s. Note that there are times when we truly believe that it is best to skip a bar exam and wait. But generally speaking, the advantages of taking the next bar exam in line are numerous. Read more

Somm: A Movie I Recommend to Bar Exam Takers!

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Somm is an excellent documentary about four Master Sommelier candidates who try to pass the Master Sommelier exam.

The Master Sommelier exam is an extremely difficult exam − similar to the bar exam except with an even lower passage rate. Anyone who has taken the bar exam will appreciate the enormous pressure that Master Sommelier (MS) candidates are under. Read more

Famous People Who Failed the Bar Exam

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Famous People Who Failed the Bar Exam If you failed the bar exam, it is okay! There are a lot of famous people who failed the bar exam, overcame it, and still went on to do fantastic things. We know that failing the bar exam can be an awful feeling. But we recommend that you […]

Should I Apply for Jobs While Waiting for Bar Exam Results?

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Should I Apply for Jobs While Waiting for Bar Exam Results?

It is tough to get a job when you are in the “in between” space of taking the bar exam and waiting for bar exam results. The economy is already not at its best, and having a JD (with a question mark as to whether that will turn to “Esq.” in the next couple of months) is an additional hurdle.

Many employers will not hire you as a paralegal or a clerk because they are afraid that you will leave as soon as you pass the bar exam. (Note: we have known students who do not list their law degree on their resume in an attempt to get hired — we do not recommend this! Employers will ask what the prospective employee did for those years that are unaccounted for, and feel deceived when finding out that the person attended law school!)

Further, many law firms are too afraid to hire you as a prospective lawyer, just in case you do not pass the bar exam.

That can make this in-between period difficult (you don’t know your future, you don’t know if you passed, you don’t have a lot to do besides think about these things!). However, it can also provide you with a great opportunity to relax, reflect, and plan for a career moving forward. Read more

What is the Baby Bar (a.k.a. the FYLSE)?

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Topic 1: What is the baby bar exam?

The baby bar is another name for the First-Year Law Students’ Examination (FYLSE). It is administered by the State Bar of California in both June and October each year. Not everyone has to take the baby bar exam! It is primarily administered to those who study law at unaccredited law schools (including online law schools). Others who have to take it are those that work through the Law Office Study Program (i.e., those that hope to become lawyers not through law school but through working with a lawyer or judge), and those without two years of college and attending a Committee of Bar Examiners or an ABA-accredited law school. Students are allowed to take the exam after their first year of study.

How is the California Bar Exam Scored?

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How is the California Bar Exam Scored?

Effective as of July 2017, the California bar exam is composed of three parts: the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), which consists of 200 multiple choice questions; one 90-minute performance test; and five, hour-long essays. On the first day, exam takers complete five one-hour essays and one 90-minute performance test. On the second day, examinees take the MBE.
The California bar exam has 2000 possible points.

On July 16, 2020, the California Supreme Court announced that it was permanently reducing the passing score from 1440 to 1390. On August 10, 2020, the California Supreme Court issued an order stating that the 1390 passing score would not be applied retroactively to past exam takers. Thus, effective as of October 2020, you need 1390 points to pass the California Bar Exam.

UPDATE: California passed an order on January 28, 2021 that allows examinees who narrowly passed the California Bar Exam between February 2020 and July 2015 to be admitted to the state bar after completing 300 hours of supervised law work (no second bar exam is required).

Should I Study while Waiting for Bar Exam Results?

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Should I Study While I am Waiting for Bar Exam Results? Are you worried that you failed the bar exam? Feeling anxious to get back to studying already?

1. First, calm down. Read this note of encouragement to those who failed the bar exam as well as this note to those who pass the bar exam. We always advise that people read these two notes before they find out results since it helps everyone to keep a very open mind and see the bar exam from both perspectives. Even if you fail the bar exam, it is, in the long run, a bump in the road rather than an experience to define your life by.

2. Second, remember that feelings about the bar exam are not at all correlated with a passing score! I distinctly remember one bar exam where I had a student tell me he “was absolutely positive” that he failed and another student tell me that she “was absolutely positive” she passed. In the end, they both got the same just-over-passing score! Things like this happen every single bar exam. It is a true indicator that, for the most part, feelings are not indicative of your final score! Read more

Law School Classes that Will Prepare You For the Bar Exam: What to Take and What Not to Take!

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Law School Classes that Will Prepare You For the Bar Exam: What to Take and What Not to Take!

If you are signing up for your 2L or 3L classes, you may be wondering what law school classes will prepare you for the bar exam. It is wise to take classes that will prepare you for the bar exam as it maximizes your chances of passing the bar exam the first time you take it.

Our advice is as follows: first, try to take any law school class that will prepare you for the MBE, that is, the Multistate Bar Exam, or multiple-choice portion of the bar exam. Many of these are related to your 1L classes. (Consequently, studying for the MBE will also likely help you on the essay portion of the bar exam, since many times the subjects are double-tested on the MBE and the essay portion.)

When Will July 2015 Michigan Bar Exam Results be Released?

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Already wondering when the July 2015 Michigan Bar Exam Results will be released? Us too! The Michigan Board of Law Examiners likes to tell people that Michigan Bar Exam results are released mid-November. But they are usually released closer to the end of October. The earliest results release date for the Michigan July bar exam in the last seven years was October 12 (in 2011). The latest was last July, when Michigan bar exam results were released online on November 6th.

We predict that the release date will be sometime in late October due to the high number of applicants (as well as that strange grading formula that they started following last July, which seemed to delay the release of results). Below is the research that we did. To be thorough, we listed the days that results were mailed (mostly because people have this erroneous notion that they are only released on Thursdays!), as well as the date they were mailed and the number of applicants taking the exam.

(Can you tell we have some extra time on our hands now that the bar exam is over?) Read more

The Day Before the Bar Exam: Six Mental Exercises to Keep you Calm and Focused!

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It is the day before the bar exam begins. You have been working hard and studying a lot The last thing you want to do is enter panic mode and not be able to sleep the day before the bar exam!

The good news is, if you spend a few minutes making a conscious effort to relax, you can conquer any panic attacks or sleepless nights well ahead of time.

We recommend that you try some of the below exercises. Some may help you a lot ; others may not help you at all. However, these are six strategies that have helped many of our students in the past. Choose the ones that work best for you. They will help you calm your nerves and feel better before the bar exam begins tomorrow! Read more

Last Minute Bar Exam Tips!

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The bar exam is just around the corner! Here are some last-minute bar exam tips to help you. We’ve divided them up into last-minute essay tips, last-minute tips for the multiple choice section, and general tips.

Last Minute Bar Exam Tips for Essays:

Here are some last-minute tips for getting the most points on the essay portion of the bar exam:

Spell it out for the grader. For example, on a Criminal Procedure question, don’t just say: “it was an impermissible search of the defendant’s car.” Instead, start by talking about the Fourth Amendment. Then talk about how it applies to searches by a government agent. Then talk about the search at hand as well as any exceptions. Doing this will help you with the next point . . .
Write long essay answers. You cannot get points for something that is not there. Write complete answers that state the rules, apply them to the facts, and conclude. If you write a half-page answer do not expect full points.
Use paragraph breaks and headings. Make it easy for the grader to see that you know what you are talking about. Do not write one huge long paragraph. No grader will want to filter through. Instead, make it easy for the grader to give you points.
Underline and bold key words. Graders want it to be easy to find the rule statements, analysis, and conclusion. Bold or underline anything you know is correct. (If you are not sure you are correct, though, don’t bold anything!) This will draw attention to what you know.
When you are done writing your essays, review the fact pattern again. It is a good idea to always look back to the fact pattern and ask yourself: “Are there any arguments the parties made that I did not address?” and “Are there any important facts in the fact pattern that I did not address?” If a party makes an argument that you did not address, address it! If there is, say, an entire paragraph that you said nothing about, go back and say something about it! This can get you a lot of points!

Multiple Choice:

Here are last-minute multiple choice tips for picking the right answer:

What to Do the Week Before the Bar Exam (And What NOT to do…)

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What to Do the Week Before the Bar Exam

This is the final week of studying for the bar exam! Your priorities this week should be reviewing (and memorizing the law you do not yet know), taking some timed exams, and also physically and mentally preparing for the bar exam in another week.

Below we suggest some things you should do the week before the bar exam—we also have some suggestions for what you should not do the week before the bar exam! We hope that these checklists help you maximize the use of your time this final week of bar exam preparation. Read more