February 2015 Bar Results Waiting Room Forum

[reasonable troll]

I definitely hear ya re feelings about retaking. For me, lately, I'm more swayed against retaking by the prospect of having ANY job besides lawyer than the awfulness of the test itself. Like if I fail again I have an excuse to abandon ship (and a boatload of loans that I can't repay, but w/e).

I do think my feelings about how the test went are following that research linked above which says that there's a lull in stress as you get further out that then picks up as results day approaches. Should be safe until May, then.

[nvbar2015]

I failed in July 2014, so I recently retook this February. I don't currently have a legal job (I had one but failing effed that up) so I'm working as a personal trainer.

This is the first time that I have visited TLS since retaking and it will be the last until May (hopefully).

One thing I did this time which I sometimes look at to make me feel better, was right after each day of the exam, I rated how I felt about each essay and the MBE out of 1-5 (5 being awesome), with some brief comments about each so that I won't spend months obsessing over how I actually felt about the exam like I did when I took the July 2014 exam.

I think it's best to just not think about the exam results. failing the bar exam sucked but it's not the end of the world. If I have to take it a third, fourth, fifth time I will, not because I want to, but because I have a useless undergraduate degree in sociology and have no other options lol.

[Homiemomma]

I took the bar in Mass after an abysmal performance in July. I went into an awful depression after I got my results in October even though I knew I failed. Seeing all my friends and classmates call themselves esquire and post photos of their letter on Facebook was more than I could handle. I used Themis this time around and supplemented with some of my old BarBri materials. I only got to about 65% (supposedly you have a 98% chance of passing if you get to 75%) but still got a lot of the course. I also liked not having to go to the library or to any classroom to use it. Anyway, I think I did pretty well on the bar but I honestly have no idea. I think I did well on the essays but there's probably a shit-ton of stuff I missed. As for the MBE, who knows really? It's multiple choice and it could go one way or the other. I remember a couple weeks before the test being so worried I would have some disaster on test day. Maybe I'll freeze, maybe I won't sleep the night before, maybe I won't be able to concentrate. It's a miracle I got through it alive! I hope everyone on here passes and we can all move on with our lives.

Ditto... Except for Massachusetts...
I couldn't believe my score when I got it. I didn't have a job yet, but I had a ton of interviews lined up and they were all canceled when the list of new members of the state bar was published on the bar association's website, and my name wasn't on it. I deleted my Facebook account and avoided contact with all of my law school classmates until like a month after swearing in.

So then I actually had a prosecution job lined up midway through studying the second time around, and I got arrested. Obviously the state doesn't want it's prosecutors to also be defendants, so that's not happening now... So I'm making the most of the contacts that I made during my internships and hoping for a job with a firm. I ran into a friend who does criminal defense during an appearance as a defendant & he said his firm might be looking for someone, so who knows - maybe the arrest will result in a job...

But I feel the same way about the exam. I thought the essays were WAY easier than in July, but the MBE is such a damn crap shoot. I did Barbri again and was able to complete most of it, unlike the first time around. If it's any consolation though, every practicing attorney I know says they walked out of the exam with absolutely no idea how it went. So maybe that feeling is an indication of good things to come.

I'm sorry to hear all that...that must have been really rough. When I went into the bar the second time, I felt I had done basically everything I could, unlike the first time. I thought well I studied for three months, I went over the barbri mini reviews for each subject dozens of times, I did about 1,500 MBE questions (which I now think was not enough), and I did a few practice tests that went alright. And the test itself really wasn't bad. But I'm more certain about the essays than I am in the MBE and I just would hate to have to go through it all again. And this being in limbo is such a waste of life. It would be a lot easier to get through this phase in the summer/fall when everyone else had just taken it for the first time but it's a much smaller group now.

Same all around. So many of my classmates are working and I'm just hanging out watching Parks & Rec... Trying to maintain some semblance of an ordinary life while not thinking about the exam!

[waxecstatic]

I took the bar in Mass after an abysmal performance in July. I went into an awful depression after I got my results in October even though I knew I failed. Seeing all my friends and classmates call themselves esquire and post photos of their letter on Facebook was more than I could handle. I used Themis this time around and supplemented with some of my old BarBri materials. I only got to about 65% (supposedly you have a 98% chance of passing if you get to 75%) but still got a lot of the course. I also liked not having to go to the library or to any classroom to use it. Anyway, I think I did pretty well on the bar but I honestly have no idea. I think I did well on the essays but there's probably a shit-ton of stuff I missed. As for the MBE, who knows really? It's multiple choice and it could go one way or the other. I remember a couple weeks before the test being so worried I would have some disaster on test day. Maybe I'll freeze, maybe I won't sleep the night before, maybe I won't be able to concentrate. It's a miracle I got through it alive! I hope everyone on here passes and we can all move on with our lives.

Ditto... Except for Massachusetts...
I couldn't believe my score when I got it. I didn't have a job yet, but I had a ton of interviews lined up and they were all canceled when the list of new members of the state bar was published on the bar association's website, and my name wasn't on it. I deleted my Facebook account and avoided contact with all of my law school classmates until like a month after swearing in.

So then I actually had a prosecution job lined up midway through studying the second time around, and I got arrested. Obviously the state doesn't want it's prosecutors to also be defendants, so that's not happening now... So I'm making the most of the contacts that I made during my internships and hoping for a job with a firm. I ran into a friend who does criminal defense during an appearance as a defendant & he said his firm might be looking for someone, so who knows - maybe the arrest will result in a job...

But I feel the same way about the exam. I thought the essays were WAY easier than in July, but the MBE is such a damn crap shoot. I did Barbri again and was able to complete most of it, unlike the first time around. If it's any consolation though, every practicing attorney I know says they walked out of the exam with absolutely no idea how it went. So maybe that feeling is an indication of good things to come.

I'm sorry to hear all that...that must have been really rough. When I went into the bar the second time, I felt I had done basically everything I could, unlike the first time. I thought well I studied for three months, I went over the barbri mini reviews for each subject dozens of times, I did about 1,500 MBE questions (which I now think was not enough), and I did a few practice tests that went alright. And the test itself really wasn't bad. But I'm more certain about the essays than I am in the MBE and I just would hate to have to go through it all again. And this being in limbo is such a waste of life. It would be a lot easier to get through this phase in the summer/fall when everyone else had just taken it for the first time but it's a much smaller group now.

Same all around. So many of my classmates are working and I'm just hanging out watching Parks & Rec... Trying to maintain some semblance of an ordinary life while not thinking about the exam!

You could be hanging out watching House of Cards....

[numbertwo88]

Any Netflix recommendations? Or Amazon prime instant video recommendations? I have nothing but time as well so I figure ... Might as well watch something interesting while I have the time.

I'll toss "Wentworth" on Netflix out there. Really good show - along the same vein of Orange is the New Black but a bit grittier and more so drama than comedy.

[gaagoots]

Any Netflix recommendations? Or Amazon prime instant video recommendations? I have nothing but time as well so I figure ... Might as well watch something interesting while I have the time.

I'll toss "Wentworth" on Netflix out there. Really good show - along the same vein of Orange is the New Black but a bit grittier and more so drama than comedy.

I really liked Marco Polo. Then I wached the entire first season of Reign on Netflix. Torrence Coombs (Bash) the bastard son of the king is a Canucks fan, met him at a Ducks/Canucks game he's very nice and a fellow Canadian

Watching season 2 this week.

[reasonable troll]

Any Netflix recommendations? Or Amazon prime instant video recommendations? I have nothing but time as well so I figure ... Might as well watch something interesting while I have the time.

I'll toss "Wentworth" on Netflix out there. Really good show - along the same vein of Orange is the New Black but a bit grittier and more so drama than comedy.

If you dive into Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, plz report.

[numbertwo88]

Any Netflix recommendations? Or Amazon prime instant video recommendations? I have nothing but time as well so I figure ... Might as well watch something interesting while I have the time.

I'll toss "Wentworth" on Netflix out there. Really good show - along the same vein of Orange is the New Black but a bit grittier and more so drama than comedy.

If you dive into Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, plz report.

Ha, I already have Finished it over the weekend after a nice binge session - helps that the episodes are in the 20 to 30 minute range. It's pretty good, I'd definitely recommend it.

The first few episodes might move a little slow but eventually it falls into its groove. It isn't as hilarious as some people might have you believe (or maybe it takes more to make me laugh - idk) but it's good.

[SpAcEmAn SpLiFF]

I failed in July 2014, so I recently retook this February. I don't currently have a legal job (I had one but failing effed that up) so I'm working as a personal trainer.

This is the first time that I have visited TLS since retaking and it will be the last until May (hopefully).

One thing I did this time which I sometimes look at to make me feel better, was right after each day of the exam, I rated how I felt about each essay and the MBE out of 1-5 (5 being awesome), with some brief comments about each so that I won't spend months obsessing over how I actually felt about the exam like I did when I took the July 2014 exam.

I think it's best to just not think about the exam results. Failing the bar exam sucked but it's not the end of the world. If I have to take it a third, fourth, fifth time I will, not because I want to, but because I have a useless undergraduate degree in sociology and have no other options lol.

I have a relative that quit his white collar consulting job to become a personal trainer and he says he makes pretty much the same amount of money as he did before. Might not be a bad thing to consider if the whole lawyer thing doesn't work out. I sometimes daydream about doing something like that myself.

[encore1101]

Any Netflix recommendations? Or Amazon prime instant video recommendations? I have nothing but time as well so I figure ... Might as well watch something interesting while I have the time.

I'll toss "Wentworth" on Netflix out there. Really good show - along the same vein of Orange is the New Black but a bit grittier and more so drama than comedy.

I started to watch Peaky Blinders the other night. About an english gangster family after World War I. seems pretty interesting, and it stars the guy who played scarecrow in batman begins.

[JoanSloan]

Edit: made pretty awful Netflix recommendation. Taking it back.

[Jimothy]

Just got a letter from the appellate court...about how I should start putting my application together. I knew it couldn't have been anything to do with results but lord. My heart...ow...I can't do this much longer...

[jarofsoup]

Just got a letter from the appellate court...about how I should start putting my application together. I knew it couldn't have been anything to do with results but lord. My heart...ow...I can't do this much longer...

Second Division?

[Homiemomma]

Any Netflix recommendations? Or Amazon prime instant video recommendations? I have nothing but time as well so I figure ... Might as well watch something interesting while I have the time.

I'll toss "Wentworth" on Netflix out there. Really good show - along the same vein of Orange is the New Black but a bit grittier and more so drama than comedy.

I started to watch Peaky Blinders the other night. About an english gangster family after World War I. seems pretty interesting, and it stars the guy who played scarecrow in batman begins.

I've been bingeing (that looks wrong but so does binging...) on Alias. It's on hulu. 90s technology FTW!!

[reasonable troll]

CA results come out two months from today.

[numbertwo88]

The fact that we have to wait this long is literally a source of emotional distress.

[frid3v]

I'm starting to seriously believe that I failed again. Ugh...I don't want to do this again

[jarofsoup]

Some jurisdictions will start reporting soon. I think WV and NC are very early.

[JoanSloan]

I'm starting to seriously believe that I failed again. Ugh...I don't want to do this again

You're not alone. I've started having nightmares where I'm an overgrown failure. There are moments where I think I'm amazing, followed by moments of crippling insecurity, guilt, and self-loathing. I'm terrified of getting my hopes up, just in case I fail again. I couldn't help the first failure, so it didn't really phase me when the results came in. This one... this one is keeping me up at night, and there are five weeks of waiting left.

The best part: I have to take another one in July, anyways, so I don't even know how to deal.

HIGH FIVE!

[borntorun86]

I failed the July 2014 exam b/c it's not a good idea to get married, have a part-time job, and study for the bar at the same time.

Did things a lot differently this year, including switching from BarBri to Kaplan, and feel a lot better about my chances. I'm in NC so I should hear in the next couple of weeks. I'm definitely starting to get nervous.

[minnbills]

I am really nervous I bombed the essays. There were at least 2-3 that I am pretty sure I bungled the law on.

MBE felt fine, and MPT felt great, so I am hoping those two can pull me through.

[reasonable troll]

Had my first post-exam, test-related nightmare last night. I had unwittingly only completed half of PT2. Nice.

[s1m4]

If Cali offered an option where you could pay $800 to expedite test grading, I would pay that $800.

[JoanSloan]

If Cali offered an option where you could pay $800 to expedite test grading, I would pay that $800.

But I'm so enjoying the anxiety and panic!

[Tomego]

March Madness was a nice distraction today. Here to another day of distraction tomorrow.