California Bar Exam (July 2014) thread Forum

[reasonable troll]

thats cool. i didnt use the one with the number. mine just said that i am less able. #wahwah

[CAWondering86]

Failed. Went for a run. Feel immensely better. On to February. Lets set a curve on that!

[fats provolone]

sorry to everyone who failed. what a garbage fucking exam. 48%pass rate is so retarded. gl next time

[Charles Barkley]

Passed.

Big thanks to 2807 and everyone else who helped me with the essay writing this summer.

[LSATNightmares]

Also passed. Feel immensely relieved. I am shocked there was a 48% pass rate. Whoever predicted that early in this thread based on the 2004 exam was right.

[NYtoCA]

Congrats to all! Sorry to everyone who failed, you'll get them next time. The pass rate is incredibly low, it was a hard exam.

[JJDancer]

Yaayyy!! I'm so relieved.


But also,
Very sorry to all who did not pass this time - it was tough and honestly, I'm not sure what it takes to pass. You'll get it next time!

[Furball]

I passed. I am in utter shock. I was pretty damn sure I failed too. I bombed on both the Corp and Trust essays and pretty sure I didn't do so well on PT-B so I don't know how the hell I passed. I swear bar exam grading is a freaken mystery!!!

[scrowell]

Passed despite working full time while studying. To all future takers that don't want to sacrifice working, don't be scared, it can be done.

[Ashlaw0109]

Same, worked full time, 2 years out of law school, never took a bar prep class, passed.


It can be done.

[Deschutes]

I passed without a bar prep course and worked "full time" (as a summer associate in between graduation and the start of my clerkship). My work schedule allowed me about 3 hours each weekday and most weekends to study. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

In short: I recommend Adaptibar* for the MBE ($400); the most recent used copy of BarBri's Conviser Mini Review (CMR) for essays (~$50); and Leansheets as a rule statement supplement ($40). ~$500 total.

*Don't "upgrade" to the Adaptibar flashcards. They're shit.

[Carryon]

I hear that the Daily journal new lawyer magazine or one of the la newspapers post their own model answers to the exam soon after the results are announced. Does anybody have information about this?

[catechumen]

Thanks I will take it if its all free! If its not all free I am not interested. Sent you a PM.. I need all the help I can get. I just can't believe this was such a brutal exam. All I know is we will get them next time!

I passed without a bar prep course and worked "full time" (as a summer associate in between graduation and the start of my clerkship). My work schedule allowed me about 3 hours each weekday and most weekends to study. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

In short: I recommend Adaptibar* for the MBE ($400); the most recent used copy of BarBri's Conviser Mini Review (CMR) for essays (~$50); and Leansheets as a rule statement supplement ($40). ~$500 total. If anyone wants my materials, PM me your address and I'll ship them to you for free.

*Don't "upgrade" to the Adaptibar flashcards. They're shit.

[2807]

Passed.

Big thanks to 2807 and everyone else who helped me with the essay writing this summer.

Great news Barkley !
Glad I could help in some small way.
Welcome to the Bar my friend.



To those who did not pass: So sorry.
Have a few bad days, get it out of your system.
Then, come back here when you get the exam in the mail.
Get help to focus your approach for the next round.
You can do it.
Never give up.

My buddy just passed on his 3rd try. It can be done.
No doubt.

[reasonable troll]

http://imgur.com/5XPPoHP



Okay so I tried a couple ways of uploading this image, so if anyone can see it and forgive my beating a dead horse -

Is this what the fail screen looks like? No name under the applicants numbers the way they have it for the pass screen? If anyone can confirm, I can move on from denial/bargaining into acceptance. Thanks much.

[Charles Barkley]

I can tell you that that is not what the pass screen looks like.

If you failed, sorry

[2oldfts]

I passed. I am in utter shock. I was pretty damn sure I failed too. I bombed on both the Corp and Trust essays and pretty sure I didn't do so well on PT-B so I don't know how the hell I passed. I swear bar exam grading is a freaken mystery!!!

I missed a number of issues that have been issue spotted for the essays. My answers were also very short...probably around 800 words on average. I didn't write these long answers you see on most "passing" essays at places like baressays.com. I passed.

It is a mystery. And they deliberately keep it that way by not releasing essays and grades for most the people who pass. I still say there is very limited value from looking at graded essays of people who failed. Part of why they failed could be due to the vagaries of grading; so trying to glean some standard with predictive value from those is a dubious proposition.

I also think people should pretty much avoid (after taking the test and before the results come out) all discussions of issues that should have been spotted on the various questions. You will just drive yourself crazy as I did

[injun]

Just wanted to say congrats to all those who passed. For the second time this year, I came up short. Completely devastated because I really thought based on the discussions we had here during our post-mortems that I had a shot. This time hurts the most because I even prepped with a highly recommended tutor who helped me improve how I wrote my essays. It made sense to me and was consistent to the style recommended by those in the Feb thread who were successful. I really thought this would get me over the hump, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Sometimes I want to believe there is some conspiracy that the bar treats repeaters differently, but I know that likely isn't the case.

Anyway, are there any two-timers out there who can help me? I was hoping someone out there had a story like mine (got a tutor and still fell short). I feel so helpless because I thought this time went well. Thanks again to 2807, AMH and friends (too many to list!) who continually help out people even after they passed. Hope I can join the club soon.

[jarofsoup]

Just wanted to say congrats to all those who passed. For the second time this year, I came up short. Completely devastated because I really thought based on the discussions we had here during our post-mortems that I had a shot. This time hurts the most because I even prepped with a highly recommended tutor who helped me improve how I wrote my essays. It made sense to me and was consistent to the style recommended by those in the Feb thread who were successful. I really thought this would get me over the hump, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Sometimes I want to believe there is some conspiracy that the bar treats repeaters differently, but I know that likely isn't the case.

Anyway, are there any two-timers out there who can help me? I was hoping someone out there had a story like mine (got a tutor and still fell short). I feel so helpless because I thought this time went well. Thanks again to 2807, AMH and friends (too many to list!) who continually help out people even after they passed. Hope I can join the club soon.

Honestly, I failed and I am just going to take another jurisdiction. Fuck messing with this crap again.

[adonai]

By the grace of God, I passed. Considering how I was doing in practice, I was not supposed to pass, and I feel devastated for all of you who did not. This exam is BS and is really a crapshoot.

Just for future test takers, you can still miss a lot and still be successful. Just from what I know, here are the errors I made on the exam. I did not do the CP portion of the trusts/CP question (essentially leaving half the essay blank), did not do a trusts analysis (only did duties), missed major issues (2-3) in the remedies question, missed impeachment in crim pro, and did not even state one CA distinction in the PR question. I ran out of time on the first PT and had to hurry a conclusion.

I did not break 100 in my simulated MBE for barbri. During the self-study period after barbri, I did an additional 1500 real MBEs and was barely hitting 65% correct. On test day, I had to bubble straight B's on ~10 MBE questions because I ran out of time. On the PM MBE section, I educated guessed on more than half because I was running out of time. By what has been discussed and what we know about grading and looking at baressays.com essays, I fully expected to fail. Good luck to those who will be retaking this. You have more strength and willpower than I ever will.

[DildaMan]

By the grace of God, I passed. Considering how I was doing in practice, I was not supposed to pass, and I feel devastated for all of you who did not. This exam is BS and is really a crapshoot.

Just for future test takers, you can still miss a lot and still be successful. Just from what I know, here are the errors I made on the exam. I did not do the CP portion of the trusts/CP question (essentially leaving half the essay blank), did not do a trusts analysis (only did duties), missed major issues (2-3) in the remedies question, missed impeachment in crim pro, and did not even state one CA distinction in the PR question. I ran out of time on the first PT and had to hurry a conclusion.

I did not break 100 in my simulated MBE for barbri. During the self-study period after barbri, I did an additional 1500 real MBEs and was barely hitting 65% correct. On test day, I had to bubble straight B's on ~10 MBE questions because I ran out of time. On the PM MBE section, I educated guessed on more than half because I was running out of time. By what has been discussed and what we know about grading and looking at baressays.com essays, I fully expected to fail. Good luck to those who will be retaking this. You have more strength and willpower than I ever will.

FWIW I had a ton of B's in the PM MBE section.

[2807]

Just wanted to say congrats to all those who passed. For the second time this year, I came up short. Completely devastated because I really thought based on the discussions we had here during our post-mortems that I had a shot. This time hurts the most because I even prepped with a highly recommended tutor who helped me improve how I wrote my essays. It made sense to me and was consistent to the style recommended by those in the Feb thread who were successful. I really thought this would get me over the hump, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Sometimes I want to believe there is some conspiracy that the bar treats repeaters differently, but I know that likely isn't the case.

Anyway, are there any two-timers out there who can help me? I was hoping someone out there had a story like mine (got a tutor and still fell short). I feel so helpless because I thought this time went well. Thanks again to 2807, AMH and friends (too many to list!) who continually help out people even after they passed. Hope I can join the club soon.

Ugh. I feel for you friend.

DO NOT GIVE UP.

Know this: My buddy just passed this test, and it was his THIRD try at it.

You can do it.


Yes.
You.
Can.


But, you will NEVER do it if you do not GET BACK UP AND GET BACK OUT THERE.

Iron Effort will win out.

Go be sad, then stop.

Back to work.

It ain't over.

[lisavj]

I WANT TO HUG EVERYONE.

<3 I am actually crying. I think that's also partly due to my 3 glasses of wine I chugged in the last 30 minutes.

Hey fellow hastings crew! So happy to see yalls passed! Let's celebrate winning the cake eating contest with some cake...

To those who failed best of luck on the next test be it cbx, nybx, or some other test.

[a male human]

I didn't get a chance to congratulate everyone personally, but congrats to everyone who did!

Bask in your glory, but be tactful because I guarantee you know someone who didn't pass (perhaps you yourself in the past)—especially this round. Pass rates dropped nationwide...and as you've seen, a whopping 48.6% in CA (almost February level!). An all-around morbid number with a noticeable lack of Facebook celebrations. In any case, you beat the odds, got your black belt, and the real training begins now. Enjoy the relief and have fun climbing more ladders

If not, know that I do not think less of you in any way. Do you feel disgusting? You shouldn't. I doubt you got a 1338 like me last year. Yes, that really happened to me. But February is definitely the time to blow it out of the water. With three months at your disposal, your chances are already looking better.

But try not to freak out and jump into study yet because (1) an emotional burst of motivation will be unsustainable, and (2) you must change your approach if it didn't work before.

You need to first figure out what to do next. To help you with that, I am going to present a four-part series on how to get back in the game. To start, the first part was actually posted on TLS first: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p8187735

Once you've taken the weekend off, I'll share a very personal story and specific ways I repositioned my study strategies. I'll also be posting more about how to find resources, including interviews I did with second timers regarding tutors (I was surprised at what they unanimously agreed on), and the ultimate study tool (and how to make your own).

Don't hesitate to let me know what's on your mind.

[Law-So-Hard]

best of luck to everyone who is retaking, if i've learned anything it's that anxiety can be a horrible thing and staying calm and doing your work can alleviate that somewhat. this board has been very helpful for talking about problem issues on the test. thank you all.