2017 February California Bar Exam Forum

[EyeTwitchAllSummer]

Hey all - do you guys know when we would get back our essay answers? Thanks!

I got mine in the mail Friday June 2.

[kongming1102]

Failed the exam...the PT killed me real good.....
Essay 1: 75
Essay 2: 50
Essay 3: 70
Essay 4: 55
Essay 5: 55
Essay 6: 60

PT A: 50
PT B: 60
Raw Written: 585
Scaled Written: 1309.575

MBE %
CP: 51.5
Con: 77.4
Contract: 67.5
Crim: 94.4
Evidence: 51.7
Real Property: 68.1
Torts: 46.9

Scaled MBE: 1454
Total Scaled Score: 1360.1238

I need some advice...thanks

[LockBox]

Failed the exam...the PT killed me real good.....
Essay 1: 75
Essay 2: 50
Essay 3: 70
Essay 4: 55
Essay 5: 55
Essay 6: 60

PT A: 50
PT B: 60
Raw Written: 585
Scaled Written: 1309.575

MBE %
CP: 51.5
Con: 77.4
Contract: 67.5
Crim: 94.4
Evidence: 51.7
Real Property: 68.1
Torts: 46.9

Scaled MBE: 1454
Total Scaled Score: 1360.1238

I need some advice...thanks

It's not just your PT's - your writing in general was not up to par. I understand essay 2 was tricky/difficult but a 50 won't get it done. Fortunately, the PT's can be remedied rather quickly by working on a few and addressing your flaws. Additionally, it will be weighed less in the upcoming administration. However, knowledge of BLL and writing full essays is going to take work. I'd recommend a former bar grader as a tutor and to get on it asap as it's already June.

How have you been addressing this yourself so far since receiving these scores?

[kongming1102]

I do not have the mean for a private tutor at this point. I am focusing on the writing part meanwhile practicing the MBE with the same method as before. For essays, I am trying to reduce my writing down to a very concise or IRAC formula since I've noticed that I sometimes elaborate the analysis to an unnecessary in-depth which makes no sense for a 1-hour essay and that is my major concern. And I also notice that my high scores essays are shorter in comparing to the less score ones.

Thanks for your help.

[dredd16]

I do not have the mean for a private tutor at this point. I am focusing on the writing part meanwhile practicing the MBE with the same method as before. For essays, I am trying to reduce my writing down to a very concise or IRAC formula since I've noticed that I sometimes elaborate the analysis to an unnecessary in-depth which makes no sense for a 1-hour essay and that is my major concern. And I also notice that my high scores essays are shorter in comparing to the less score ones.

Thanks for your help.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 6#p9987596

Check out my tips/guide and see if it clicks for you. I suspect that it will.

[Zeloney]

I just wanted to share my experience with the February 2017 CA bar exam. I passed this time, but I failed back in July. I scored a 1570 on the MBE, it was the essays that did me in. I failed by 10 points. I was pretty bummed at the time, but I decided to take a different approach this time.

What I did was create a list for each essay subject that consisted of a heading and the rule. I narrowed down the rules to be brief but adequate. I then memorized all of them, it took weeks of wrote memorization, and it was not easy.

I did this, because on the first exam I thought I could just ad lib a rule and be fine, but that actually slowed me down and I missed some issues.

So, for the Feb exam, I opened the essays up, looked to see what subject the first essay was, then proceeded to type out every rule that I had memorized for that subject. This took less than 15 minutes, I don't type all that fast. Then I used the rules as a checklist of issues while reading the question. I simply deleted the rules I did not need and then explained thoroughly how each of the remaining rules applied to the essay. I never went over 1 hour on any essay. I also made sure to spell check each essay as well.

I also made a concerted effort to be creative in my arguments, instead of just simply stating how the rule applied. I also picked a stance on the issue and stuck with it.

On the Performance exams I looked at the task first, and did exactly what it said to do, so, for the one where you had to draft a letter in response, I typed up a letter template, filled in the address and names, and date, to match the format given in the exam. This took just a few minutes, but made the end product look like a letter from an attorney just like they asked.

Further, I never wrote anything on paper, I "outlined" my performance exam right in soft test. After creating the letter format, I just plugged in the sections as I saw them and went from there, so no time wasted typing something that I had already written down.

For the MBE I used adaptibar and completed every single question. I did not do a single practice essay or practice performance exam. By memorizing the rules, I had the Black Letter Law down. I scored above 155 on the MBE, as that is all the NCBE will tell me.

For those that failed, don't give up, you can do it.

[a male human]

Zeloney, interesting. You're saying all you did was memorize the rules cold, and you didn't do a single practice essay or PT (even though you did MBE questions)?

If I'm understanding it right, that was really bold. How did you even think to take that kind of approach? What was your reasoning?

[Zeloney]

I didn't do a single practice essay for the second exam. During the July exam I started off on the wrong foot when that CA Civil Procedure question popped up. I fracked me out and I struggled to regain focus. Also, trying to spot issues proved problematic as I missed a few because I did not have checklist. Lastly, I felt like I did not have enough time to say what I wanted to.

So, I decided to try a different route. I literally memorized every "important" rule. I typed the name of the rule, made it bold and underlined (just the ones I did not delete), the typed the rule.

The performance exams seem pretty straight forward to me, I got a 65 and 70 the first time, but this time I was able to write much more since I did not waste time putting it on paper first. I also made myself be more creative in my arguments here as well.

[Zeloney]

I did study, I managed to find a set of BarBri DVD video lectures on eBay and a set of BarBri books from 2015. I copied the videos to my computer and I had the spines cut off the books so that I could scan them as a PDF. That way I could study at work on my computer or on my iPad.

I played all of the videos a 1.5 speed. That really helped.

[ur_hero]

I just wanted to share my experience with the February 2017 CA bar exam. I passed this time, but I failed back in July. I scored a 1570 on the MBE, it was the essays that did me in. I failed by 10 points. I was pretty bummed at the time, but I decided to take a different approach this time.

What I did was create a list for each essay subject that consisted of a heading and the rule. I narrowed down the rules to be brief but adequate. I then memorized all of them, it took weeks of wrote memorization, and it was not easy.

I did this, because on the first exam I thought I could just ad lib a rule and be fine, but that actually slowed me down and I missed some issues.

So, for the Feb exam, I opened the essays up, looked to see what subject the first essay was, then proceeded to type out every rule that I had memorized for that subject. This took less than 15 minutes, I don't type all that fast. Then I used the rules as a checklist of issues while reading the question. I simply deleted the rules I did not need and then explained thoroughly how each of the remaining rules applied to the essay. I never went over 1 hour on any essay. I also made sure to spell check each essay as well.

I also made a concerted effort to be creative in my arguments, instead of just simply stating how the rule applied. I also picked a stance on the issue and stuck with it.

On the Performance exams I looked at the task first, and did exactly what it said to do, so, for the one where you had to draft a letter in response, I typed up a letter template, filled in the address and names, and date, to match the format given in the exam. This took just a few minutes, but made the end product look like a letter from an attorney just like they asked.

Further, I never wrote anything on paper, I "outlined" my performance exam right in soft test. After creating the letter format, I just plugged in the sections as I saw them and went from there, so no time wasted typing something that I had already written down.

For the MBE I used adaptibar and completed every single question. I did not do a single practice essay or practice performance exam. By memorizing the rules, I had the Black Letter Law down. I scored above 155 on the MBE, as that is all the NCBE will tell me.

For those that failed, don't give up, you can do it.

Your approach actually quite similar to my approach to the essays and PTs. For the essays, I created a template for every conceivable issue/sub-issue based on what showed up since like 1990, then drafted rules for everything which I mostly memorized. All "IRAC" form (minus the "AC"). At the same time, however, I wrote several full-essays and worked with a former-bar grader as a tutor to grade those and gauge my progress.

While essays took me a while at first, once it became second nature (I wrote about 40 full practice essays, and outlined like 200+) I could literally outline an essay with all issues/-sub-issue headings and rules completely written out within about 15-20 minutes. The patterns were so obvious after that. While there are some weird essays, I really felt like I knew most possible combinations of issues that could show up together and could automatically outline with almost only a quick-skim of the questions and facts.

This is a rather simple and mechanical approach, but it took a REALLY LONG TIME (for me at least). Especially at the start when I was constructing comprehensive templates and trying to figure out the best way to organize everything. But I felt very confident I wasn't missing issues at least, and timing became much more manageable.

[Zeloney]

Yes, I took forever to memorize the rules. Once I had a list, I made a mnemonic for each rule, then I memorized each rule.

I think I freaked out the people next to me since I started typing almost immediately for the first 15 minutes.

[ur_hero]

Yes, I took forever to memorize the rules. Once I had a list, I made a mnemonic for each rule, then I memorized each rule.

I think I freaked out the people next to me since I started typing almost immediately for the first 15 minutes.

Likewise, haha. My first-time, I had someone next to me typing furiously like this from the moment she opened the question booklet. I promised myself my next attempt would be like that :]

[dredd16]

I just wanted to share my experience with the February 2017 CA bar exam. I passed this time, but I failed back in July. I scored a 1570 on the MBE, it was the essays that did me in. I failed by 10 points. I was pretty bummed at the time, but I decided to take a different approach this time.

What I did was create a list for each essay subject that consisted of a heading and the rule. I narrowed down the rules to be brief but adequate. I then memorized all of them, it took weeks of wrote memorization, and it was not easy.

I did this, because on the first exam I thought I could just ad lib a rule and be fine, but that actually slowed me down and I missed some issues.

So, for the Feb exam, I opened the essays up, looked to see what subject the first essay was, then proceeded to type out every rule that I had memorized for that subject. This took less than 15 minutes, I don't type all that fast. Then I used the rules as a checklist of issues while reading the question. I simply deleted the rules I did not need and then explained thoroughly how each of the remaining rules applied to the essay. I never went over 1 hour on any essay. I also made sure to spell check each essay as well.

I also made a concerted effort to be creative in my arguments, instead of just simply stating how the rule applied. I also picked a stance on the issue and stuck with it.

On the Performance exams I looked at the task first, and did exactly what it said to do, so, for the one where you had to draft a letter in response, I typed up a letter template, filled in the address and names, and date, to match the format given in the exam. This took just a few minutes, but made the end product look like a letter from an attorney just like they asked.

Further, I never wrote anything on paper, I "outlined" my performance exam right in soft test. After creating the letter format, I just plugged in the sections as I saw them and went from there, so no time wasted typing something that I had already written down.

For the MBE I used adaptibar and completed every single question. I did not do a single practice essay or practice performance exam. By memorizing the rules, I had the Black Letter Law down. I scored above 155 on the MBE, as that is all the NCBE will tell me.

For those that failed, don't give up, you can do it.

Glad it worked out for you, but I would caution others from following your method especially the lack of essay practice. You were only 10 pts away from passing which meant that you didn't do awful on some essays and actually got some 65s.

Essay practice develops consistency and ability to recognize multiple issues that stem from fact patterns. You are the exception to the rule.

[Guchster]

What I did was create a list for each essay subject that consisted of a heading and the rule. I narrowed down the rules to be brief but adequate. I then memorized all of them, it took weeks of wrote memorization, and it was not easy.

I did something similar, and I can understand your approach in general. I focused less on rote memorization and tried to understand the concept underlying the rule, so while the rule may not have been verbatim correct, it still conveyed the correct substantive idea. I did memorize issue openers for a few of the frequently tested topics (e.g., memorizing the famous community property intro, memorizing my "forming a valid will" paragraph, memorize how to validly form a contract, etc.).

So, for the Feb exam, I opened the essays up, looked to see what subject the first essay was, then proceeded to type out every rule that I had memorized for that subject.

This is where you lost me. Unless you type super fast and drill this down to perfection, you are wasting a ton of valuable time typing out 45 minutes worth of things you're ultimately going to delete (15 min. per question per session). I had a mini checklist outline for each subject that I wrote out in the last 2 weeks before the exam that I eventually memorized by practicing that I rattled off mentally as I went through the question. Your approach should come with a caveat that it is very wasteful and potentially risky by cutting into valuable structure and writing time. I encourage everyone to practice this approach enough times well before the exam that you don't need to resort to doing something like this on the actual exam--your knowledge of the rules and the way they're applied should be internalized so well that you shouldn't need to type all possible rule statements for a given subject on an exam-ESPECIALLY if they start doing more cross-over questions as we've been seeing in recent years.

[Zeloney]

My approach worked for me. Everyone is different. Keep in mind that all I had to do was drag and drop the rules to match the question. So, in my case, I felt like I had more time to discuss the issues since the rules were already there. My word count was about 1,800 words on average this time. In July it was about 1,400. My performance exams were both just over 2,500 words.

I did it this way because when I failed in July it was due to missing issues on a few of the essays. Also, some essays took less time to type out the rules than others. But by god, I didn't miss a single issue this time. Knowing that going in made me much more confident and less stressed.

[LockBox]

What I did was create a list for each essay subject that consisted of a heading and the rule. I narrowed down the rules to be brief but adequate. I then memorized all of them, it took weeks of wrote memorization, and it was not easy.

I did something similar, and I can understand your approach in general. I focused less on rote memorization and tried to understand the concept underlying the rule, so while the rule may not have been verbatim correct, it still conveyed the correct substantive idea. I did memorize issue openers for a few of the frequently tested topics (e.g., memorizing the famous community property intro, memorizing my "forming a valid will" paragraph, memorize how to validly form a contract, etc.).

So, for the Feb exam, I opened the essays up, looked to see what subject the first essay was, then proceeded to type out every rule that I had memorized for that subject.

This is where you lost me. Unless you type super fast and drill this down to perfection, you are wasting a ton of valuable time typing out 45 minutes worth of things you're ultimately going to delete (15 min. per question per session). I had a mini checklist outline for each subject that I wrote out in the last 2 weeks before the exam that I eventually memorized by practicing that I rattled off mentally as I went through the question. Your approach should come with a caveat that it is very wasteful and potentially risky by cutting into valuable structure and writing time. I encourage everyone to practice this approach enough times well before the exam that you don't need to resort to doing something like this on the actual exam--your knowledge of the rules and the way they're applied should be internalized so well that you shouldn't need to type all possible rule statements for a given subject on an exam-ESPECIALLY if they start doing more cross-over questions as we've been seeing in recent years.

I'll go one step further and state that this is a poor example of How to Prepare for the Bar Exam. I'm glad it worked for you Zeloney, but if I understand your method, you opened up the exam booklet, noticed that there was a, say, torts question and proceeded to write every rule down? This is a horrible allocation of time.

The bar is not just about writing and discussing what is relevant to the fact pattern (e.g., writing in a lawerly way) but also NOT writing was is not relevant. My guess is that you actually read the fact pattern and proceeded to write the relevant rules applicable to the issues within the fact pattern. Otherwise, this approach makes no sense.

To everyone else, if you breathed a sigh of relief when you saw that Zeloney passed without writing a single practice exam ask yourself why? Is it because writing is difficult? Is it because looking at that blank word document is scary? If so, the only way to get over that is to WRITE MORE. That doesn't mean outlining or flashcard-memorization etc. That means, opening a blank word doc and writing for 60 minutes i.e. writing out a full essay and then critiquing it. It's ok to fail on this - the relevant question is, would you rather fail now or on the bar?

Start writing (if you aren't already).

[EyeTwitchAllSummer]

The sample answers to the Feb 2017 bar exam have FINALLY been posted to the state bar website.

[sittin_pretty]

Finally!

And the answer to #2 was torts + remedies.whew.

One of the model answers did throw in some contract law though. Interesting.