2018 February CA Bar Forum

[Get-it-done]

how quickly does the CA state bar update the admission status page for passage info? I've been checking everyday for clues hahaha, no changes to report. I even went through the trouble of correcting my missing MPRE score a few weeks ago in preparation. I didn't bother in July.

I have been doing the same exact thing. Looking for clues, but nothing.

[LockBox]

There are no clues. Unfortunately, this is part of the hazing process. I went through it, and so did every other attorney. What I can say is that it was worth it, no matter how much it sucked at the time.

Good luck to all of you. Some will pass and some, inevitably, will fail. If you fail, you fail. You'll mourn, it'll suck, then you'll get a game plan together to figure it out. It is what it is.

There will be challenging times in practice, though none may seem as tough to get over as the bar. But you'll get over it and move on with your life. Though, for what it is worth, those last three days before results came out were some of the worst. Hopefully, that comforts someone out there.

[Mxmasterr]

There are no clues. Unfortunately, this is part of the hazing process. I went through it, and so did every other attorney. What I can say is that it was worth it, no matter how much it sucked at the time.

Good luck to all of you. Some will pass and some, inevitably, will fail. If you fail, you fail. You'll mourn, it'll suck, then you'll get a game plan together to figure it out. It is what it is.

There will be challenging times in practice, though none may seem as tough to get over as the bar. But you'll get over it and move on with your life. Though, for what it is worth, those last three days before results came out were some of the worst. Hopefully, that comforts someone out there.

Is that admissions page with our mpre and.character and fitness what is updated to show we passed or failed or is there another page with a list of names of those who passed?

[Mxmasterr]

There are no clues. Unfortunately, this is part of the hazing process. I went through it, and so did every other attorney. What I can say is that it was worth it, no matter how much it sucked at the time.

Good luck to all of you. Some will pass and some, inevitably, will fail. If you fail, you fail. You'll mourn, it'll suck, then you'll get a game plan together to figure it out. It is what it is.

There will be challenging times in practice, though none may seem as tough to get over as the bar. But you'll get over it and move on with your life. Though, for what it is worth, those last three days before results came out were some of the worst. Hopefully, that comforts someone out there.

is the page we learn if we passed or failed the same one with all the information about our application and c&f and mpre stuff? or is there another page with a pass list of names?

[Bla Bla Bla Blah]

This is endless. I’ve already started 2 months ago with the worst subjects, one by one. Civ pro, contracts and real property. Outlines, reading 10 past essays for each subjects and then a ton of adaptibar. I hope I will be able to stop in a week because the idea of actually having to finish all the subjects makes me wanna vomit. I don’t want to go through it again.

Holy crap, when do you guys have time to work? The only way I was able to prepare like that was when the partners finally gave me a break from it all.

[What'sUP?]

There are no clues. Unfortunately, this is part of the hazing process. I went through it, and so did every other attorney. What I can say is that it was worth it, no matter how much it sucked at the time.

Good luck to all of you. Some will pass and some, inevitably, will fail. If you fail, you fail. You'll mourn, it'll suck, then you'll get a game plan together to figure it out. It is what it is.

There will be challenging times in practice, though none may seem as tough to get over as the bar. But you'll get over it and move on with your life. Though, for what it is worth, those last three days before results came out were some of the worst. Hopefully, that comforts someone out there.

is the page we learn if we passed or failed the same one with all the information about our application and c&f and mpre stuff? or is there another page with a pass list of names?

I just checked my Admission Status page and under the "California Bar Examination" it state "Requirement not satisfied."

[Nightcrawler]

This is endless. I’ve already started 2 months ago with the worst subjects, one by one. Civ pro, contracts and real property. Outlines, reading 10 past essays for each subjects and then a ton of adaptibar. I hope I will be able to stop in a week because the idea of actually having to finish all the subjects makes me wanna vomit. I don’t want to go through it again.

Holy crap, when do you guys have time to work? The only way I was able to prepare like that was when the partners finally gave me a break from it all.

Luckily I’m on a break right now so I’m not working. It must be because I suck at studying, but I don’t understand how people pass the California bar while working full time. Respect.

[maxmartin]

There are no clues. Unfortunately, this is part of the hazing process. I went through it, and so did every other attorney. What I can say is that it was worth it, no matter how much it sucked at the time.

Good luck to all of you. Some will pass and some, inevitably, will fail. If you fail, you fail. You'll mourn, it'll suck, then you'll get a game plan together to figure it out. It is what it is.

There will be challenging times in practice, though none may seem as tough to get over as the bar. But you'll get over it and move on with your life. Though, for what it is worth, those last three days before results came out were some of the worst. Hopefully, that comforts someone out there.

is the page we learn if we passed or failed the same one with all the information about our application and c&f and mpre stuff? or is there another page with a pass list of names?

I just checked my Admission Status page and under the "California Bar Examination" it state "Requirement not satisfied."

Your personal Admission Status page is updated every day before the midnight. After the score is released, your personal admission status will be updated the same night.

Sometimes, CA bar will release the passing statistics either in the morning of the release day or a few hours before the official web release time.

[What'sUP?]

There are no clues. Unfortunately, this is part of the hazing process. I went through it, and so did every other attorney. What I can say is that it was worth it, no matter how much it sucked at the time.

Good luck to all of you. Some will pass and some, inevitably, will fail. If you fail, you fail. You'll mourn, it'll suck, then you'll get a game plan together to figure it out. It is what it is.

There will be challenging times in practice, though none may seem as tough to get over as the bar. But you'll get over it and move on with your life. Though, for what it is worth, those last three days before results came out were some of the worst. Hopefully, that comforts someone out there.

is the page we learn if we passed or failed the same one with all the information about our application and c&f and mpre stuff? or is there another page with a pass list of names?

I just checked my Admission Status page and under the "California Bar Examination" it state "Requirement not satisfied."

I know it is not reflective of resutls, but the visual of that is just a tad bit haunting

[needbreak]

Just for your info: better think twice when it comes to sex and clients. I get the impression the Cal Sumpre Court has to approve the rules governing attorneys. This law was approved this month. Oh, and good luck everyone!

Here is a new law. "Starting in November, even consensual sex between attorneys and clients will be banned unless it preceded the professional relationship or the client is the lawyer's spouse or domestic partner." https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/0 ... x-ban.html

[lawschool11111111]

Out of curiousity, has any re-taker here ever received a score higher than 70 on the PT?

I would imagine that graders are less inclined to give out a score higher than 70 on the PT (as opposed to a score of 70+ on an essay) as the PT is equivalent to two essays.

[Nightcrawler]

Out of curiousity, has any re-taker here ever received a score higher than 70 on the PT?

I would imagine that graders are less inclined to give out a score higher than 70 on the PT (as opposed to a score of 70+ on an essay) as the PT is equivalent to two essays.

I think I read somewhere that only 5% of people get over a 70 on essays, but don't know about PTs. I don't know where I heard this, so I don't know whether it's reliable info at all.

[lawschool11111111]

Out of curiousity, has any re-taker here ever received a score higher than 70 on the PT?

I would imagine that graders are less inclined to give out a score higher than 70 on the PT (as opposed to a score of 70+ on an essay) as the PT is equivalent to two essays.

I think I read somewhere that only 5% of people get over a 70 on essays, but don't know about PTs. I don't know where I heard this, so I don't know whether it's reliable info at all.

Yeah, doubt this is very accurate but just read somewhere that if you get a 75 on an essay, you're around the top 25% of bar exam takers.

[What'sUP?]

Out of curiousity, has any re-taker here ever received a score higher than 70 on the PT?

I would imagine that graders are less inclined to give out a score higher than 70 on the PT (as opposed to a score of 70+ on an essay) as the PT is equivalent to two essays.

I think I read somewhere that only 5% of people get over a 70 on essays, but don't know about PTs. I don't know where I heard this, so I don't know whether it's reliable info at all.

I actually have 'heard' of people getting scores as high as 80 on the PT.

[Nightcrawler]

Out of curiousity, has any re-taker here ever received a score higher than 70 on the PT?

I would imagine that graders are less inclined to give out a score higher than 70 on the PT (as opposed to a score of 70+ on an essay) as the PT is equivalent to two essays.

I think I read somewhere that only 5% of people get over a 70 on essays, but don't know about PTs. I don't know where I heard this, so I don't know whether it's reliable info at all.

I actually have 'heard' of people getting scores as high as 80 on the PT.

That's reassuring! Anyone here with a baressays subscription that can check how many 75+ essays/PTs there are out there?

[YuckNotTheBar]

Does anyone know where the results will be visible on Friday? Do I log into the Admission Status page, or is it something else?

Also at the risk of sounding insane does 6pm mean 6pm exactly or is there a chance it appears earlier?

UGH ONLY 49 HOURS LEFT

[CDNKimberley]

Results will be posted here http://apps.calbar.ca.gov/exam/default.aspx

My understanding is exactly 6pm.

Getting lonely out here. DC got their results today and here we are still waiting.

I will be in Vegas celebrating my husband’s Masters so we will either be adding to the celebration or I will have to be a really good actress until we get back. He doesn’t know the results are coming out.

Good luck everyone! Keep distracted. We are almost there.

[maxmartin]

Does anyone know where the results will be visible on Friday? Do I log into the Admission Status page, or is it something else?

Also at the risk of sounding insane does 6pm mean 6pm exactly or is there a chance it appears earlier?

UGH ONLY 49 HOURS LEFT

Yes, exactly at 6pm. The timer on the webpage will count down to the final seconds. (days-hours-mins-seconds) Your personal admission page will be updated that night after the release of the results. The passing statistics may be released in the morning.

[scard]

anyone else see this?

letter from State Bar of CA regarding exam review

https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/0/201 ... Report.pdf

[scard]

also incase you were wondering how much the state bar makes a year.. approx $150 million... 10% being from exam fees.

https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/0/doc ... Budget.pdf

[redmessengerbag]

Are CA essays normalized/curved among the CA applicant pool before being scaled to the MBE scores? Just wondering...

According to the formula here: http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Admissions/Exa ... on/Scaling

The mean and standard deviation is part of the equation, but I having a hard time understanding this equation.

[What'sUP?]

Sending everyone good vibes! This has been quite a journey. Over the past couple of months the CBX has been a constant on my mind. At times I have felt solid in my performance, and then completely doubted it. I am not sure that I have ever felt "hopeful" as much as I have felt curious, questioning, and contemplative. Ultimately, I think I have fully accepted the reality that . . ."It is what it is. Either I will have done enough, or I will be retaking it in July. So be it!"

Interestingly this last week I found myself again 'questioning', "What the heck did I do on the MBE sections?" I have never felt like the MBE is something I could rely on to get me over the finish line. Its been 3 months since I have even done an MBE. So, I was a bit reassured when I opened a book did some, and by default, found myself automatically relying on the skills I learned to do them, and remember employing on the exam -- or doing my best to employ on the exam. So, it made me feel a bit better knowing that I went into it with some type of strategy as opposed to feeling like I walked in blind and unprepared like the last time. So we'll see.

I have used this past week to carve out and implement a study schedule around my already busy/packed schedule. It's worked out. It will take a lot of discipline to maintain it over the next couple of months if I need to. But again, "So be it."

[Nightcrawler]

also incase you were wondering how much the state bar makes a year.. approx $150 million... 10% being from exam fees.

https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/0/doc ... Budget.pdf

Hiring a couple of extra graders to have the exams corrected earlier would definitely fit there. But who cares, right?

[lawschool11111111]

Does anyone know how graders/examiners determine what a "passing" essay score is?

Certainly not all essays are designed to be of equal difficulty, and there must be a way that they account for this.

Is there a set "passing" score they have in mind for each essay prior to applicants' essays being graded (i.e. they determine all applicants will need a 65 on Essay #1 to pass) or do they wait until all the essays are graded and then determine what a "passing" score for each essay should be based on how the applicants performed overall on each essay?

I would assume it is the latter. But what do I know

[Nightcrawler]

Does anyone know how graders/examiners determine what a "passing" essay score is?

Certainly not all essays are designed to be of equal difficulty, and there must be a way that they account for this.

Is there a set "passing" score they have in mind for each essay prior to applicants' essays being graded (i.e. they determine all applicants will need a 65 on Essay #1 to pass) or do they wait until all the essays are graded and then determine what a "passing" score for each essay should be based on how the applicants performed overall on each essay?

I would assume it is the latter. But what do I know

I know that the graders meet in a "calibration session", talk about which issues should be discussed by applicants in the essays/PT, they go home and grade some (10-15), the meet again to "recalibrate" and decide what else the applicants should have discussed, go home again, more grading, and then they meet again (not sure if they do this 2 or 3 times). Then, after these meetings, I assume they have a point grid and that's what they use to grade essays. I'm not sure they look at whether essays "passed" or not, they just follow the grid and keep adding points for stuff you talked about that is in their grid. Then, again, I remember reading somewhere that they can just look at the essay and say "according to the grid this is a <65 however, I think this essay deserves to pass so I'll give it a 65". This last piece of info is probably speculation, no idea where I read this. In my opinion, the truth is in the middle. They are paid less than $4 to correct a single essay/PT so I doubt that for each essay the stick to their grading grid in a strict manner. They probably skim your essay in 10 seconds and have a first impression (eg: 70). Then they read more "carefully" (maybe 3 minutes?) to confirm their impression and they adjust the grade. All the realiable info I found on the topic is here: http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Admissions/Exa ... a-Bar-Exam
the rest is just opinions. One thing is for sure: you need a little bit of luck for the essays because the grading process is inevitably prone to human error.

I don't know if that answers your questions. In short, I think that in those "calibration sessions" are just where it's decided how many points you can get to get a 65.