What To Know About The Low Pass Rate for Repeat Takers

What To Know About The Low Pass Rate for Repeat Takers

The pass rate for repeat takers is generally much lower than either the pass rate for first-time takers or the overall pass rate for the bar exam.  In this post, we discuss why you should not worry too much about this low pass rate as a repeat taker!

What To Know About The Low Pass Rate for Repeat Takers

In February 2020, the results of the New York Bar Exam show that repeat takers had a pass rate of 28%, while the overall pass rate was 40%.  For Michigan bar exam results, 51% of repeat takers passed, while the overall pass rate was 60%.  For California bar exam results, 22% of repeat takers passed the exam, while 26.8% passed overall.

You should not let these statistics scare you into thinking that you will not pass the exam as a repeat taker!  JD Advising has helped many repeat takers pass the bar exam on the second, third, fourth, etc. try!

The statistics do not tell the whole story

The first thing to be aware of is that these pass rates do not provide any indication of how close to passing a repeat taker was on their first attempt.  For instance, someone who is a few points away from passing is much more likely to pass the second time than someone who was 40 points away from passing.  If most of the repeat takers were exceptionally far away from a passing score on their first attempt, this could lead to a much lower repeat-taker pass rate!

You have to be willing to change

If your score is significantly below passing, repeating your bar prep course and doing the exact same thing the second time around is not going to lead to different results.  You have to be willing to spend some time self-reflecting on what went wrong and, once you diagnose the problem, adjusting so that you don’t encounter the same problems the next time.  If you need help diagnosing the problem, check out our Bar Exam Consultation services!

We hear many stories of students who do not pass, repeat their commercial bar prep course (particularly if the company offers the course for free), and then see the same results on the next administration of the bar exam.  There is very little chance that simply repeating exactly what you did the last time will change your outcome.

If your jurisdiction allows it, request copies of your essay answers.  Spend time reviewing your answers and carefully comparing them to the Examiners’ Analysis.  Does it seem like you didn’t state the rules correctly (in which case, you did not spend enough time memorizing)?  Or did you not address the issues correctly (in which case you might not have completed enough practice essays).  Even though you cannot review the multiple-choice questions after the exam, the essays can often provide helpful insight into what went wrong.

Consider other resources

Even if you are reusing the materials from your commercial bar prep course, consider supplementing those materials with additional resources.  For instance, you may want to consider private tutoring for the subjects that you never firmly grasped (check out our private tutoring services).  Additionally, you should consider using real questions rather than questions written by your bar prep company as you practice (check out JD Advising’s MBE questions).  Incorporating some new resources into your study routine might be the key to obtaining different results.

Anticipate different results!

If you implement some of the aforementioned changes, you are more likely to see different results on the next bar exam.  Therefore, you should not worry too much about the low pass rate for repeat takers.   You have no idea whether those repeat takers are implementing any of these changes, or whether they are simply re-doing their commercial course again.  Focus on the things you can change, make improvements where you can, and visualize yourself obtaining better results on the next exam!

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