Failed the West Virginia Bar Exam? Here is What to Do Next

Failed the West Virginia Bar Exam?
Here are the next steps.
A Step-by-Step Guide if you Failed the West Virginia Bar Exam: Bar exam results are out. And the bar exam passage rate has been falling nationwise. You are not alone if you failed the West Virginia bar exam.
If you were one of the many examinees that failed the West Virginia bar exam, you may wonder what the next steps are.
After taking a break to process the news (and we recommend read this note to those who failed the bar exam. on your break), then it is time to come up with a plan to pass the West Virginia Bar Exam the next time you take it. West Virginia requires a score of 270 to pass. This is higher than many Uniform Bar Exam states (such as New York, New Jersey, Missouri, Kansas, among others).
1. The first thing to do if you failed the West Virginia Bar Exam is to look at all of the information you have available.
This means you should examine your score report that was mailed to you on the day results were released. You should also request the written portion of your exam if possible, so you can review your essays and MPT answers.
Remember that West Virginia has adopted the Uniform Bar Exam. Thus, a breakdown of your score is as follows:
- the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) is worth 50%,
- the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE) is worth 30%
- the Multistate Performance Test (MPT) is worth 20%
To see what your score report means, check out this post called “What does my Uniform Bar Exam Score Report mean?” When looking at your score report, analyze what area you fell short on – the MBE, the MEE, the MPTs, or some combination of them. This will help you decide where you need to change your study strategy. (If you need help with this step, feel free to contact us here.) Also look over your essay and MPT answers to find out where you can improve!
2. Make a decision to change your approach.
If you took Barbri the first time, do not take it again and expect a different result. So many students make this mistake then end up taking the bar exam again and again without a successful result. We truly do not recommend you take your commercial course again and you can read more about that here . . .).
Making a decision to change your approach is a small but necessary step. After all, you don’t want to do the exact same thing twice and expect a different result. You have a lot of invaluable information in terms of what went well – and what didn’t. You can use this to your advantage when coming up with a plan to conquer the West Virginia bar exam.
3. Decide what you need to change, then change it.
Where did you fall short? Was it your MBE, essays, MPTs, or a combination? Think about what you learned from analyzing your score report and essays in Step 1.
Also, how did you prepare the last time? Did you take enough practice exams? Were you using real MBE questions? Did you practice enough MPTs? Did you know the law well enough? Be honest with yourself. It is well worth it to take some time to reflect. Reflecting on what you need to change the next time is an important step in figuring out your approach to the next exam. (We are also happy to help you figure out what you should change moving forward – we offer both free and paid consultations, as you can see below.)
4. Consider alternative options moving forward.
Depending on which portion(s) of the bar exam you fell short on, you may want to consider the following options that we list below. We have options that can help you with all portions of the bar exam, as well as courses, products, and services that can help you with just the portion(s) you need to focus on.
Looking to Pass the Bar Exam?
Free or discounted resources
- A five-star UBE course (for as low as $1399.99!) that provides you with the best instruction, outlines, and questions. Preview our course for free here!
- Our new Free Bar Exam Resource Center, which includes our most popular free guides, posts, webinars, and more!
- Free popular bar exam guides (on the MBE, MEE, how to pass the bar exam, and what to do if you failed the bar exam) written by bar exam experts!
- A free Early Bar Prep Course for law students
- Free bar exam webinars taught by top bar exam experts
Other resourcesOur most POPULAR and highly rated bar exam resources are:
- Our On Demand and Premium Bar Exam Courses
- Bar Exam Private Tutoring by bar exam experts
- MBE One-Sheets and MEE One-Sheets, CA One-Sheets—rated five stars! Our customers love these supplements!
- Real MBE questions—the best practice questions available!
- NEW! Mastery Classes for the MBE, MEE, and CA bar exams (these are effective and engaging classes to review the highly tested areas of law!)
We also have several additional MBE, MEE, and MPT products available.