Tag Archive for: RESULTS

Quotes for those who Failed the Bar Exam

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?

1 Comment/in Bar Exam/by JD Advising

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

Famous People Who Failed the Bar Exam

in Bar Exam/by JD Advising

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 […]

When Will July 2015 Michigan Bar Exam Results be Released? #KnowFirst

in Bar Exam/by JD Advising

When Will July 2015 Michigan Bar Exam Results be Released? #KnowFirst

Curious as to when the July 2015 Michigan bar exam results will be released? (Don’t miss this post on when we predict July 2015 Michigan bar exam results will be released! In that post, we tell you our exact predictions as well as exactly when and how results come out, and where you can find out if you passed the Michigan bar exam!)

If you want to know right away when the July 2015 Michigan bar exam results are out, we understand! We are constantly refreshing the BLE page, and have also developed this strange obsession with a page monitor. Read more

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

in Bar Exam, Working/by JD Advising

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

Should I Study while Waiting for Bar Exam Results?

in Bar Exam/by JD Advising

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

When Will July 2015 Michigan Bar Exam Results be Released?

1 Comment/in Bar Exam/by JD Advising

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

For Those Who Pass the Michigan Bar Exam: How to Design a Your Perfect Michigan Bar Exam Swearing-In Ceremony

1 Comment/in Bar Exam/by JD Advising

For Those Who Pass the Michigan Bar Exam: How to Design a Your Perfect Michigan Bar Exam Swearing-In Ceremony

A picture of the Macomb County Swearing-In Ceremony.

First of all, congratulations on passing the Michigan Bar Exam!

Your final step to becoming a lawyer eligible to practice law is a swearing-in ceremony. A swearing-in ceremony basically marks the transition from law student to lawyer (although you will not be able to practice right away—you still have to wait for your P number, which usually takes about a week to get!). If you are completely unfamiliar with what a swearing-in ceremony is, read this blog post on the basics of a Michigan bar exam swearing-in ceremony. Read more

February 2015 Michigan Bar Exam Results have been Released!

in Bar Exam/by JD Advising

February 2015 Michigan bar exam results have been posted by seat number on the Michigan Board of Law Examiner’s website online.

It appears as though all of the numbers of those who passed the exam are posted (including those who have not passed the MPRE or have not received a character and fitness clearance. We could be wrong since the language isn’t exactly clear, but last July this is what the Board of Law Examiner’s did!)

Official results of the February 2015 Michigan bar exam have been mailed and applicants should expect to receive them in a few days – probably by Friday or Saturday. We always recommend that you wait until you receive official results before publicly announcing whether you passed or failed! So far as we know, Michigan has always accurately posted seat numbers, but it is wiser to wait since posting by seat number is relatively new! (The first time they posted by seat number was last February so this is their third time posting my seat number!) Read more

When are Michigan Bar Exam Results Posted Online?

in Bar Exam/by JD Advising

If you are wondering when the February 2015 Michigan bar exam results will be released, please check out this post for an in-depth review of past February Michigan bar exam results release dates.

If you are the kind of person to neurotically check the Michigan Board of Law Examiner’s website from 8:30 AM until 5:00 PM — (first of all, join the club), but second of all, note that the last couple announcements were made around 12:00 PM or 4:00 PM. Read more

Why is the Average MBE Scaled Score for the February 2015 bar exam so low?

1 Comment/in Bar Exam/by JD Advising

Why is the Average MBE Scaled Score for the February 2015 bar exam so low?

We have received some inquiries regarding multistate bar exam results after Pennsylvania released statistics that stated that the average multistate bar exam (MBE) scaled score for the February 2015 bar exam was 136.17. This may seem low, especially after the mean scaled multistate bar exam score for the July 2014 bar exam dropped a few points from 144.3 to 141.5 and caused a stir in the legal community.

However, upon closer inspection, it appears that a score of 136.17 is statistically in line with typical February bar exam results. In the past ten years, the mean scaled score for the February bar exam ranged from 135.7 to 138.6 with the average being 137.37. Read more

The Art of Waiting for Bar Exam Results…

8 Comments/in Bar Exam/by JD Advising

How do You Wait for Bar Exam Results?

There are many different kinds of waiting for bar exam results that generally fall between two extremes:

Extreme 1: Refresh the State Board’s website every two seconds. Some students check the website of their state board of law examiners’ constantly. They are the kind of students that follow our lead and download this annoying page monitor that automatically checks the website every second, chimes whenever it changes, and causes way too many mini-heart attacks. This type of person also has a propensity to annoy their peers and drive everyone crazy (since they won’t stop talking about results!)…but at the same time, everyone loves them, too, because it is well-known that when bar exam results are released, this person will be the first to notify them. It almost takes the pressure off of others to check the site so often.

What is the new Michigan bar exam grading formula?

4 Comments/in Bar Exam/by JD Advising

Earlier this year, the Michigan Board of Law Examiners disclosed that it would be grading essays according to a new undisclosed grading curve. The curve is supposed to ensure that “essay test scores across administrations reflect the same skill level” and continue to “reflect differences in the difficulty between the multiple choice and essay portion of the exam.”

We assumed that this grading scale was going to be very complicated – maybe points were added to particularly difficult questions or maybe the Board came up with a complex formula based on the exam scores. After reading several essays and looking at several score reports for the July 2014 bar exam, we noticed a pattern in the amount of points awarded.

When Will the February 2015 Michigan Bar Exam Results be Released?

in Bar Exam/by JD Advising

Wondering when the February 2015 Michigan Bar exam results will be released?

So are we! We did some research and discovered the past release dates for February Michigan bar exams. We discovered that the past four release dates have been on Wednesdays. The earliest release date for the past seven February Michigan bar exams has been April 20. The latest has been May 19.

We predict that the release date will be sometime in May due to the high number of applicants (as well as that strange grading formula they started following in July, which seemed to delay the release of results).

Below is the research that we did. To be thorough, we listed the days the results were mailed, as well as the date they were mailed and the number of applicants taking the exam. Read more

I failed the bar exam. When should I start studying for the next bar exam?

in Bar Exam/by JD Advising

If you failed the bar exam, you may be wondering when you should start gearing up for the next exam. Some students want to start studying the day they find out they failed the bar exam. Others start when traditional bar preparation courses start (late December or early January).

We suggest you start studying sooner rather than later.

In this post, we will talk about a good timeline for those that fail the bar exam. This post is tailored to those who just failed the July 2014 bar exam.