July 2014 Bar Exam results thread Forum

[richis7]

I received my letter Saturday. Passed. I don't know what I did on the MBE, as like others have said we don't get that score unless we fail. With that in mind I thought I bombed the MBE, but knew I did great on at least 10 out of the 12 essays. Since NC is essay heavy (60%) of grade I can only think that helped offset my MBE.

My thought though is that the MBE had a good curve given the fact everyone I talked to about it thought it was very difficult yet most people I know have reported passing.

All I can say with any certainty is that I'm glad the wait is over, and that getting positive news in the letter was one of the best experiences of my life.

Best of luck to all who are still waiting!

[LAWYER2]

Congrats ^^

[TheFactor]

Received NC results today. I passed. Good luck to all still waiting.

Now off to buy a nice scotch.

[brettfavre4]

Congrats to all. Any other states release yet?

[LAWYER2]

For those that passed, what did you fee like when you left the exam, how did you feel when you found out you passed?

[richis7]

For those that passed, what did you fee like when you left the exam, how did you feel when you found out you passed?

Leaving day 1 I felt amazing and that I had crushed the essay portion. I had not planned to talk to anyone about the essays, but ended up doing it anyways. I was relieved when we concluded we spotted the same issues and came to most of the same conclusions.

Leaving day 2 I felt like the MBE crushed me. I was happy to read that many people thought the MBE was tough, not just me. Also I was happy to talk with a few people regarding the MBE and that the consensus was that it felt different from the Barbri questions.

I was scared to death when I saw the letter in my mailbox (I had convinced myself I failed in the 3 days after I learned when results would be mailed). When I opened it and saw the word "congratulations" I was in disbelief. For about 2 hours that was all I could read on the letter, I was just so shocked that the hard work paid off.

[AJS30]

Wisconsin comes out today. Do they release MBE scores?

[jd-mba]

Got the WI bar results, passed! Also included a notice saying the NCBE will no longer report raw MBE scores, strange. WI breaks down the score as essay (even down to individual essay, killed the MPT) and MBE, minimum of 258 combined. Postmarked yesterday (9/2). 75% pass rate this year, 139 average on each portion. Received results in Madison. Good luck everyone else!

[vandalvideo]

Got the WI bar results, passed! Also included a notice saying the NCBE will no longer report raw MBE scores, strange. WI breaks down the score as essay (even down to individual essay, killed the MPT) and MBE, minimum of 258 combined. Postmarked yesterday (9/2). 75% pass rate this year, 139 average on each portion. Received results in Madison. Good luck everyone else!

You sure about that overall passrate? I just looked at the ten year break down for Wisconsin and it was averaging 85-88 up through the last few years. That....is a marked decrease. Does not bode well.

[jd-mba]

You sure about that overall passrate? I just looked at the ten year break down for Wisconsin and it was averaging 85-88 up through the last few years. That....is a marked decrease. Does not bode well.

Yep positive. I'm surprised as well. Nervous for my friends elsewhere. I think it was only this low in like 2000 or something way early.

[AJS30]

Got the WI bar results, passed! Also included a notice saying the NCBE will no longer report raw MBE scores, strange. WI breaks down the score as essay (even down to individual essay, killed the MPT) and MBE, minimum of 258 combined. Postmarked yesterday (9/2). 75% pass rate this year, 139 average on each portion. Received results in Madison. Good luck everyone else!

You sure about that overall passrate? I just looked at the ten year break down for Wisconsin and it was averaging 85-88 up through the last few years. That....is a marked decrease. Does not bode well.

Yeah...that concerns me. Do you mind sharing where you got that info?

Also, there was an increase in NC this year of those attended school in NC: In all, 74.97% of total first-time test takers from North Carolina law schools passed the examination, a 3.43% increase from July 2013.

[vandalvideo]

Yeah...that concerns me. Do you mind sharing where you got that info?

Also, there was an increase in NC this year of those attended school in NC: In all, 74.97% of total first-time test takers from North Carolina law schools passed the examination, a 3.43% increase from July 2013.

NCBE has bar statistics going back quite a few years. The 10 year compilation is in the 2013 statistics. I think the statistical difference between Wisconsin and NC could be explained by minimum score to pass and the shifting of the bell curve, both attributable to a horrific MBE and a poor point curve. That makes me worried for jurisdictions that have higher passing scores like Virginia, Cali, and NY.

[jd-mba]

Yeah...that concerns me. Do you mind sharing where you got that info?

Also, there was an increase in NC this year of those attended school in NC: In all, 74.97% of total first-time test takers from North Carolina law schools passed the examination, a 3.43% increase from July 2013.

All the stats I provided were in the letter WI sent. Basically letter says:

Dear XX, I am happy to inform you that you have passed the July 2014 Wisconsin Bar Examination.... bs about completing my file ... more bs about who to email and contact for swearing in ceremony .... "The overall pass rate was 75%. The average score was 139 on each portion of the examination."

And it has essay score and mbe score at the top of all that.

Separate page breaks down raw score for each essay, but doesn't provide a scale or range. Same page has MBE raws at the bottom, but it just all says 0% now because NCBE doesn't release it anymore.

[jd-mba]

Yeah...that concerns me. Do you mind sharing where you got that info?

Also, there was an increase in NC this year of those attended school in NC: In all, 74.97% of total first-time test takers from North Carolina law schools passed the examination, a 3.43% increase from July 2013.

NCBE has bar statistics going back quite a few years. The 10 year compilation is in the 2013 statistics. I think the statistical difference between Wisconsin and NC could be explained by minimum score to pass and the shifting of the bell curve, both attributable to a horrific MBE and a poor point curve. That makes me worried for jurisdictions that have higher passing scores like Virginia, Cali, and NY.

See, I thought last year (or year before that) they had enforced a minimum 129 on each portion. Now they instead do a 258 combined score. So wouldn't it make more sense that when they had minimum scores few years ago, the pass rate would be lower?

[vandalvideo]

See, I thought last year (or year before that) they had enforced a minimum 129 on each portion. Now they instead do a 258 combined score. So wouldn't it make more sense that when they had minimum scores few years ago, the pass rate would be lower?

Depends on the nature of the curve and how they calculate it. If it is not a mandatory curve that says so many people must pass or so many scores of X are available, then the distribution on the bell curve can shift left or right of the prior median depending on both test taker performance, or how dumb/bright the test takers were.

[ebo]

139 average scaled MBE in Wisconsin? If that's correct, that seems a few points lower than past averages nationwide for July test takers on the MBE:

2012: 143.4
2011: 143.8
2010: 143.6
2009: 144.5
2008: 145.6
2007: 143.7

http://www.ncbex.org/assets/media_files ... istics.pdf (see pg. 33 of the document)

[jd-mba]

139 average scaled MBE in Wisconsin? If that's correct, that seems a few points lower than past averages nationwide for July test takers on the MBE:

2012: 143.4
2011: 143.8
2010: 143.6
2009: 144.5
2008: 145.6
2007: 143.7

http://www.ncbex.org/assets/media_files ... istics.pdf (see pg. 33 of the document)

So basically Wisconsin test takers perform worse than the national average hahah... just glad that I passed

[ebo]

139 average scaled MBE in Wisconsin? If that's correct, that seems a few points lower than past averages nationwide for July test takers on the MBE:

2012: 143.4
2011: 143.8
2010: 143.6
2009: 144.5
2008: 145.6
2007: 143.7

http://www.ncbex.org/assets/media_files ... istics.pdf (see pg. 33 of the document)

So basically Wisconsin test takers perform worse than the national average hahah... just glad that I passed

That's the national averages from 2007-12. For those of us who thought the MBE was more difficult than expected in July, this could mean that MBE scores are down across the board -- unless WI is an anomaly. I believe WI is the only state that's released average MBE scores for July '14 yet.

Congrats on passing, I hope I can say the same in 2+ months

[Georgia Avenue]

If raw scores were down across the board, then the scaled average would still be right in line though by virtue of a higher scale, correct? I was under the impression that the purpose of the scale was to ensure that no MBE ended up being "harder" than any other (in terms of scaled scores).

[ebo]

You're probably right, Georgia Avenue. It will be interesting to see what other states' averages are this time around. Perhaps Wisconsin is an anomaly.

[Georgia Avenue]

25% of WI test-takers couldn't hit 258 combined? There must have been some atrocious MBE-takers, because that...doesn't seem right.

[Saddle Up]

What other states are coming out this month?

[OhScalia]

What other states are coming out this month?

FL is coming out Mid-September.

[A. Nony Mouse]

How many people take the WI exam? Because anyone who graduates from an in-state school doesn't have to take the bar, I wonder if you just get a fairly small sample such that a relatively small increase in failing scores could result in a fairly significant percentage drop. (Admittedly, there's no reason this would be the case this year any more than any of the past years where the pass rate was higher, I just wondered.)

[ebo]

^ I wondered the same. Since all UW (and Marquette) grads automatically gain bar admission upon graduation (must be nice) I wonder how many and what caliber of students take the WI exam? Are the WI average MBEs usually below the national average?

(No offense to anyone who took the exam, I'm genuinely curious. I don't think Milwaukee and Madison are places where T14 grads are flocking for jobs right now)