BVest wrote:In regards to the secured/non secured area - what's the situation with bringing backpacks and things like that? Say you bring your backpack down with your lunch and everything in it, obviously you can't bring that into the secured area. Is there a place inside the center that we can leave our bags and not have to worry about them getting taken?
The facility is basically one giant exhibit hall with a 10-12 foot wide hallway that surrounds it. (See Floor Plan.) In July we were in hall 1 with nothing happening in hall 2. For February, with no other locations for the exam, there will be about 70-80% more people than in July, so I expect you will be in both hall 1 and 2 (there's a giant airwall between the two that will probably be open).
In July, they designated the southwest corner (upper left on the floor plan) of the hallway as the drop zone for personal belongings. People left their lunches, backpacks, and some study materials there and I didn't hear of any issues arising from that. I don't know what level of security there actually is in the non-secured area (I think basically none), but the Bar Exam will be the only event going on in Palmer Auditorium, and the site is far removed from the street on both sides and does not attract passers through. It would seem that no one taking the bar is going to screw with your stuff because they wouldn't want to screw everything up over something like that. I mean, I wouldn't leave my cell phone there or anything else of value -- lock those in your car.
BVest wrote:I brought lunch and left it in the car. There's also a drop zone (in Austin at least) outside the secure area. It's completely honor system, so don't leave anything of value there, but it's sufficient for leaving notes/lunch. A lot of people testing at Austin walked to Whataburger, McDonalds, or the food trailers (Short Bus Subs, etc). across the street as well. Some people who drove somewhere for lunch too.Anyone know what the drill is on lunch? Are we supposed to rush to a nearby restaurant, or do people normally just leave something in their car?
Also, for studying during the 1-hour break on the MPT/PE day (reviewing outlines/sample essays during the lunch break), are we allowed to do that on our laptops, or will our laptops be stuck in the exam software?
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There's no lunch break between MPT and PE. They pause just long enough to collect all the MPT materials and distribute the PE materials. There will be no opportunity to study during this time as (1) You will not be allowed to leave your seat, and (2) You may not have anything open on your computer except examsoft at any time in the secure area.
On essay day, you cannot take your laptop out of the room during lunch, so don't count on that for studying.