2015 February California Bar Exam Forum

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goku

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2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by goku » Sat Nov 22, 2014 6:49 am

Any other failures like me planning to repeat?

jarofsoup

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by jarofsoup » Sat Nov 22, 2014 6:50 am

Debating taking NY or MD. I live in DC. I am not sure I need to put myself through this again.

goku

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by goku » Sat Nov 22, 2014 5:00 pm

I live in cotdayum Spain but I plan to move back to California in the next year.

If, you know, I can pass this damn exam.. otherwise I'm staying in Europe and becoming a begger.

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reasonable troll

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by reasonable troll » Sat Nov 22, 2014 6:53 pm

checking in. thought i was done with this godforsaken website. alas. :lol:

since i accepted the fact that i've failed, i've done a bit of research re repeating, and you guys may find this useful:

1. deadline for timely filing for repeaters is Dec. 8. after that, there's a $50 late filing fee.

2. if you took barbri and this was your first unsuccessful attempt, you can retake it at no cost, except for the $250 materials deposit and $25 shipping. when you log in to barbri with your old info, it will give you that rate automatically.


sorry bros & broettes. this super sucks. i actually was consoled by this list of our good company: http://www.buzzfeed.com/deenashanker/fa ... -president

goku

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by goku » Sun Nov 23, 2014 5:16 am

reasonable troll wrote:checking in. thought i was done with this godforsaken website. alas. :lol:

since i accepted the fact that i've failed, i've done a bit of research re repeating, and you guys may find this useful:

1. deadline for timely filing for repeaters is Dec. 8. after that, there's a $50 late filing fee.

2. if you took barbri and this was your first unsuccessful attempt, you can retake it at no cost, except for the $250 materials deposit and $25 shipping. when you log in to barbri with your old info, it will give you that rate automatically.


sorry bros & broettes. this super sucks. i actually was consoled by this list of our good company: http://www.buzzfeed.com/deenashanker/fa ... -president
so you're saying my chances of marrying obama are not out the water? that's good to know..

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BarZombie

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by BarZombie » Sun Nov 23, 2014 10:29 am

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Last edited by BarZombie on Thu Mar 02, 2017 1:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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reasonable troll

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by reasonable troll » Sun Nov 23, 2014 4:33 pm

goku wrote:so you're saying my chances of marrying obama are not out the water? that's good to know..
precisely.

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reasonable troll

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by reasonable troll » Sun Nov 23, 2014 4:35 pm

BarZombie wrote: It's good that we will get our essays and scores from CA to know where to focus...just hope it's before mid-December.
my understanding was that the numerical breakdown comes with the fail letter in the mail, but we have to wait longer for our actual essays. right?

edit: confirmed in the CA Bar (July 2014) thread

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drmguy

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by drmguy » Sun Nov 23, 2014 6:22 pm

Anyone want some free critical pass cards? If you cover shipping, they're yours.

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TheQuietStorm86

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by TheQuietStorm86 » Sun Nov 23, 2014 7:16 pm

I'd be happy to take those off your hands. Please let me know. Thanks.

a_ela1

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by a_ela1 » Sun Nov 23, 2014 8:35 pm

Does anyone know of a good resource for essay approaches? Preferably ones that give you the basic rule statements for memorization? I already know that's my weakest area so I want to get a jump on it now. Last time I did Kaplan and I hated having to take notes from their 30 minute essay lectures, while their professors rattled off issues to look for, rather than just having it spelled out on paper for me.

lmr

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by lmr » Sun Nov 23, 2014 10:40 pm

a_ela1 wrote:Does anyone know of a good resource for essay approaches? Preferably ones that give you the basic rule statements for memorization? I already know that's my weakest area so I want to get a jump on it now. Last time I did Kaplan and I hated having to take notes from their 30 minute essay lectures, while their professors rattled off issues to look for, rather than just having it spelled out on paper for me.
the bar code cheat sheets by whitney roberts

CAWondering86

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by CAWondering86 » Mon Nov 24, 2014 2:17 pm

Count me in on the Bar Prep. Looking forward to the score report. Anyone in the LA area?

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a male human

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by a male human » Mon Nov 24, 2014 3:10 pm

BarZombie wrote:Ok...well at least we get a second bite at the apple.

Honestly, I felt good about the exam until the last day...some timing issues with the torts question and the last PT...at the time I didn't think it was fatal...so I honestly don't know if it was the MBE or my last PT or a combination of both.

It's good that we will get our essays and scores from CA to know where to focus...just hope it's before mid-December.

If anyone is interested, I looked at the July 2013 scaling formula and compared it to February 2014 and July 2014...we definitely got kicked in the teeth.

It seems that the MBE messed it up for everyone and removed any degree of cushion for a misstep...if your problem was written...maybe not what you want to hear...but reality...and maybe something to help keep things in perspective as you prep for Feb...this is not minimal competency exam any longer...but a game...and there should be transparency.

For July of 2013 you needed a 60 average on the written portion and a scaled MBE of 137 to pass.

For February of 2014 you needed a 60 average on the written portion and a scaled MBE of 145 to pass.

For July of 2014 you needed a 62 average on the written portion and a scaled MBE of 141 to pass (The national average)... Or a 60 average + 152 scaled MBE) ...this is brutal given how tough the grading is in CA...and that a lot of students use the MBE for cushion.

The above noted were quick calculations...so give or take a point or two.

It seems that the bar candidates for July 2013 got lucky with the scaling...February 2014 candidates...not so bad...but the July 2014 formula is brutal...less liberal than even February 2014.

This exam is definitely doable...but I don't think there will be much room to make more than a few minor bloopers on the written portion...the National Conference has removed any cushion...and any chance of padding the MBE side of the exam...especially with CivPro coming up and the way they are writing the test.

Let's hope February is a little softer in terms of the scaling...although who knows...there will be a lot of us retaking this exam with a good foundation and knowledge of what to expect...I feel sorry for any first time takers come February...the bar will be high and we will all be out for blood this round.

And one more thing...if July 2013 candidates were better qualified, then why did they benefit with such a generous scaling?

Good luck everyone!

February 2014:
X -
3.1584 460.6635



July 2013:
X -
3.6115 684.4297


July 2014:
X -
3.1098 469.44
I hear the MBE was a beast this time around. All, if not most, states had their pass rates drop.

The PTs from July 2013 were extremely difficult and not very straightfoward unlike the typical PT, which may explain the scaling. People were crying after PT-A, and I got 55s on them even though I was confident about PTs.

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2807

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by 2807 » Mon Nov 24, 2014 3:32 pm

a_ela1 wrote:Does anyone know of a good resource for essay approaches? Preferably ones that give you the basic rule statements for memorization? I already know that's my weakest area so I want to get a jump on it now. Last time I did Kaplan and I hated having to take notes from their 30 minute essay lectures, while their professors rattled off issues to look for, rather than just having it spelled out on paper for me.
Find quality practice MBE questions.
The answer/explanations are perfect rule statements.
These are exactly what I used.

And... these will come categorized for you ahead of time.
MBE's on Crim, property, Con, etc... you can make a list of excellent one-line rule statements to study from.

Lucky you.


PennJD83

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by PennJD83 » Mon Nov 24, 2014 3:59 pm

Does anyone have experience with CA bar tutors? I am currently leaning towards hiring John Crossfield because he is a former bar grader and his services are reasonably priced. Has anyone used John and had a good experience? Can anyone comment on their experience with other tutors? Thanks!

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2807

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by 2807 » Mon Nov 24, 2014 4:01 pm

Hey AMH !

Good to see ya, you old dog !

Keep up the good work.

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a male human

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by a male human » Mon Nov 24, 2014 4:07 pm

2807 wrote:Hey AMH !

Good to see ya, you old dog !

Keep up the good work.
Thanks bro. Still lurking around, I see!
PennJD83 wrote:Does anyone have experience with CA bar tutors? I am currently leaning towards hiring John Crossfield because he is a former bar grader and his services are reasonably priced. Has anyone used John and had a good experience? Can anyone comment on their experience with other tutors? Thanks!
I have no direct experience, but I have asked a few repeaters about their thoughts on finding and using tutors. I'll post the Q&A Weds night.

dtl

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by dtl » Mon Nov 24, 2014 6:09 pm

I passed, but made a bunch of stuff that might help those out who are shooting for Feb 2015.

Message me your email in a PM if you want a file of my 600 hand made flashcards. They are in doc and odf format as multiple 5x8 pages. I spent a chunk of sanity making them all, so it would be great if they could help others. Completely gratis. They come from a mix of black letter law from Themis, Leansheets and the Stanford outlines.

Also, I am selling my 2014-2015 Themis books if anyone is interested. Just PM me for that as well.

Good luck guys. This exam is pretty fucking arbitrary, and I am not sure if I am ever going to forgive the Cal State Bar for making us all go through it.

jarofsoup

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by jarofsoup » Mon Nov 24, 2014 7:09 pm

Does someone have an MBE conversion?

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BarZombie

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by BarZombie » Mon Nov 24, 2014 7:45 pm

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Last edited by BarZombie on Thu Mar 02, 2017 1:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

jarofsoup

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by jarofsoup » Mon Nov 24, 2014 7:53 pm

What's a 1429 then?

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a male human

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by a male human » Mon Nov 24, 2014 7:55 pm

BarZombie wrote:For the CA MBE conversion they use a 2000 point scale...

....so if your scaled MBE was 1500 then you averaged 75%...so then figure 75% of 190 or 200 for your scaled score...so 142.5 to 150.

Same for the essays...use the scaled written off of the 2000 point scale and you can see what the curved written percentage is versus the raw written.
The formulae vary every administration. I'm sure there's a pdf somewhere that discloses them.

BarZombie

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Re: 2015 February California Bar Exam

Post by BarZombie » Mon Nov 24, 2014 9:28 pm

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Last edited by BarZombie on Thu Mar 02, 2017 1:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

Now there's a charge.
Just kidding ... it's still FREE!


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