July 2015 California Bar Exam Forum

[Zaizei]

Received my scoresheet in the mail today, would appreciate some feedback on how to interpret this and what weaknesses I should focus on.

Essay 1: 65
Essay 2: 65
Essay 3: 60 (one grader says 65, the other 55)
Essay 4: 57.5
Essay 5: 55
Essay 6: 57.5

PT A: 57.5
PT B: 65

I totally thought I killed thhe essays, or at least did enough to satisfy minimum competence, but that doesn't look like the case. I am planning to get bar essays to supplement Themis for my second go around in Feb.

Really? I thought that we were supposed to receive that in 4 more weeks!!

[robinhoodOO]

Received my scoresheet in the mail today, would appreciate some feedback on how to interpret this and what weaknesses I should focus on.

Essay 1: 65
Essay 2: 65
Essay 3: 60 (one grader says 65, the other 55)
Essay 4: 57.5
Essay 5: 55
Essay 6: 57.5

PT A: 57.5
PT B: 65

I totally thought I killed thhe essays, or at least did enough to satisfy minimum competence, but that doesn't look like the case. I am planning to get bar essays to supplement Themis for my second go around in Feb.

Really? I thought that we were supposed to receive that in 4 more weeks!!

Score breakdown was mailed Friday. The actual essays and PT's you wrote will be received in a few weeks.

[Biotech]

Missouri. I'm going to take the Missouri bar exam in February hope I keep my current job until 2017 when the ca exam might become sorta legit.

[Zaizei]

Received my scoresheet in the mail today, would appreciate some feedback on how to interpret this and what weaknesses I should focus on.

Essay 1: 65
Essay 2: 65
Essay 3: 60 (one grader says 65, the other 55)
Essay 4: 57.5
Essay 5: 55
Essay 6: 57.5

PT A: 57.5
PT B: 65

I totally thought I killed thhe essays, or at least did enough to satisfy minimum competence, but that doesn't look like the case. I am planning to get bar essays to supplement Themis for my second go around in Feb.

Really? I thought that we were supposed to receive that in 4 more weeks!!

Score breakdown was mailed Friday. The actual essays and PT's you wrote will be received in a few weeks.

Oh ok! Thanks for clarifying! I thought that they sent just a letter saying if you passed or not.

[robinhoodOO]

Received my scoresheet in the mail today, would appreciate some feedback on how to interpret this and what weaknesses I should focus on.

Essay 1: 65
Essay 2: 65
Essay 3: 60 (one grader says 65, the other 55)
Essay 4: 57.5
Essay 5: 55
Essay 6: 57.5

PT A: 57.5
PT B: 65

I totally thought I killed thhe essays, or at least did enough to satisfy minimum competence, but that doesn't look like the case. I am planning to get bar essays to supplement Themis for my second go around in Feb.

What was your MBE, Raiden?

The short of it is, regardless of who you are, you'll want to more or less start your studying from scratch and be inclusive of all the material to make absolutely sure you don't overlook something. Don't skimp on MBE's because you did 2K the first time. Don't skimp on writing essays because you wrote 50 the first time. Don't forgo real property essay stuff because it was just tested. Etc. My guess is people fail twice for that very reason.

In my opinion, working on your prior weaknesses is something that will come during the final few weeks of fine tuning.

[ss90]

Hi, everyone! I am looking for tutor recommendations. I definitely do not want to fail the bar again in February. If you know of any good tutors, please send me the tutor's contact information! Thank you !

[hotsummer]

Hi, everyone! I am looking for tutor recommendations. I definitely do not want to fail the bar again in February. If you know of any good tutors, please send me the tutor's contact information! Thank you !

I would like the same information too! Thank you!

[Raiden]

Received my scoresheet in the mail today, would appreciate some feedback on how to interpret this and what weaknesses I should focus on.

Essay 1: 65
Essay 2: 65
Essay 3: 60 (one grader says 65, the other 55)
Essay 4: 57.5
Essay 5: 55
Essay 6: 57.5

PT A: 57.5
PT B: 65

I totally thought I killed thhe essays, or at least did enough to satisfy minimum competence, but that doesn't look like the case. I am planning to get bar essays to supplement Themis for my second go around in Feb.

What was your MBE, Raiden?

The short of it is, regardless of who you are, you'll want to more or less start your studying from scratch and be inclusive of all the material to make absolutely sure you don't overlook something. Don't skimp on MBE's because you did 2K the first time. Don't skimp on writing essays because you wrote 50 the first time. Don't forgo real property essay stuff because it was just tested. Etc. My guess is people fail twice for that very reason.

In my opinion, working on your prior weaknesses is something that will come during the final few weeks of fine tuning.

Thanks for the solid feedback Robinhood, I don't know my exact MBE, my score report just had my scaled MBE, I am not sure how to interpret it to get my raw score.

[ivygirl08]

Long time lurker here...

I was also unsuccessful on the July exam (1st time) but have already applied and committed to sitting for the February examination. Like many others, I am looking for tutor recommendations! Please PM me details, especially if they don't require in-person meetings as I will be studying (and working full-time) on the east coast. Many thanks!

[catechumen]

Got my scores in the mail. Failed yet again.

I got a 70 on one essay, but a 45 on another. How is that even possible? These graders are so subjective!

I score in the 85% range in practice on MBE's, but score below a 65% on the bar. What is happening here? I guess I need to do large sets of MBE's to practice for the exam.

I repeat we need to lobby the state government! Particularly the governor who failed the CA bar exam. (In addition I want to say a former big city mayor failed the exam 4 times.) There has got to be people in state government that will do something about this. People who have failed the exam and can understand. We need to find these people and lobby them to do something about this. The Bar is not going to change on their own. They have no incentive to...

A pass rate in the low 40's is not acceptable for a July exam. CA students do better on the MBE than the national average, yet still have the lowest pass rate in the nation. Why is that... Something is going on here. We need to get them to change this test now, not 2 years from now. Especially since the word is the test will not be any easier when the changes do occur in 2017. There is no excuse for their failing so many people on a test of 'minimum competence.' This needs to end now!

Does anyone want to help start an online petition, a letter writing campaign, something... We need to organize yesterday!!!!

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

Got my scores in the mail. Failed yet again.

I got a 70 on one essay, but a 45 on another. How is that even possible? These graders are so subjective!

I score in the 85% range in practice on MBE's, but score below a 65% on the bar. What is happening here? I guess I need to do large sets of MBE's to practice for the exam.

I repeat we need to lobby the state government! Particularly the governor who failed the CA bar exam. (In addition I want to say a former big city mayor failed the exam 4 times.) There has got to be people in state government that will do something about this. People who have failed the exam and can understand. We need to find these people and lobby them to do something about this. The Bar is not going to change on their own. They have no incentive to...

A pass rate in the low 40's is not acceptable for a July exam. CA students do better on the MBE than the national average, yet still have the lowest pass rate in the nation. Why is that... Something is going on here. We need to get them to change this test now, not 2 years from now. Especially since the word is the test will not be any easier when the changes do occur in 2017. There is no excuse for their failing so many people on a test of 'minimum competence.' This needs to end now!

Does anyone want to help start an online petition, a letter writing campaign, something... We need to organize yesterday!!!!

Having failed the CA bar 6 times since 2001, I can certainly relate to the frustration. But I also think successfully lobbying state gov to make it easier would be even harder than actually passing the exam. I imagine that all the previous successful applicants from previous decades would be up in arms against such a proposal.

[robinhoodOO]

Thanks for the solid feedback Robinhood, I don't know my exact MBE, my score report just had my scaled MBE, I am not sure how to interpret it to get my raw score.

One timers redid their calculator, and it helps you get an estimate. I'd start there.

[Worker and Parasite]

I got my scores and I got annihilated on the essays. But the MBE was where I shined. I was also 4 points away from passing so COME ON THROW ME A BONE HERE

[Zaizei]

I got my scores and I got annihilated on the essays. But the MBE was where I shined. I was also 4 points away from passing so COME ON THROW ME A BONE HERE

4 points? OMG... How could they let that happen? I'm hoping to receive mine soon so I can post here and get some advice. I wish I was as close as you to pass, because that would make my second time studying a little easier.

[Worker and Parasite]

I got my scores and I got annihilated on the essays. But the MBE was where I shined. I was also 4 points away from passing so COME ON THROW ME A BONE HERE

4 points? OMG... How could they let that happen? I'm hoping to receive mine soon so I can post here and get some advice. I wish I was as close as you to pass, because that would make my second time studying a little easier.

be careful, the letter is rage inducing. I thought I went thru the 5 stages of grief already but I'm regressing

[Zaizei]

I guess I did it very very bad:

Essay 1: 55
Essay 2: 65
Essay 3: 60
Essay 4: 60
Essay 5: 55
Essay 6: 50
PT A: 55
PT B: 55

Scaled MBE: 1437

Mi total scaled score was 1338.8117. Guess is pretty low, right? Someone can help me with some advice? I thought I did pretty well on the first and fourth essays, I really don't understand why I got a 55 and 60... Is 1437 scaled MBE really bad? I can't access the one timers calculator.

[Underoath]

Essay 1: 65
Essay 2: 55
Essay 3: 60
Essay 4: 50
Essay 5: 55
Essay 6: 50
PT A: 60
PT B: 65

Scaled MBE: 1384

I suck!

[Underoath]

Essay 1: 65
Essay 2: 55
Essay 3: 60
Essay 4: 50
Essay 5: 55
Essay 6: 50
PT A: 60
PT B: 65

Scaled MBE: 1384

I suck!
The irony of all of this is Essay 3 is my strongest subject, yet I score higher on Essay 1. A topic I struggled with all of bar prep. Makes me question the grading.

[KatieSpades]

I got my scores and I got annihilated on the essays. But the MBE was where I shined. I was also 4 points away from passing so COME ON THROW ME A BONE HERE

4 points? OMG... How could they let that happen? I'm hoping to receive mine soon so I can post here and get some advice. I wish I was as close as you to pass, because that would make my second time studying a little easier.

4 points? Noooo. That just hurts my heart.

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

I got my scores and I got annihilated on the essays. But the MBE was where I shined. I was also 4 points away from passing so COME ON THROW ME A BONE HERE

In my opinion they should not fail you if you just came 4 points short. That is cruel.

I thought for "close calls", the bar will evaluate all the answers as a "whole" to determine if the applicant should pass (the whole being more than the sum of its parts). Is that not done anymore?

[Worker and Parasite]

I got my scores and I got annihilated on the essays. But the MBE was where I shined. I was also 4 points away from passing so COME ON THROW ME A BONE HERE

In my opinion they should not fail you if you just came 4 points short. That is cruel.

I thought for "close calls", the bar will evaluate all the answers as a "whole" to determine if the applicant should pass (the whole being more than the sum of its parts). Is that not done anymore?

I was re-evaluated by my essays but it didn't help. I know of someone who didn't pass in another state by 2 points and there was no appeals process.

[BrokenMouse]

.

[BrokenMouse]

.

[BrokenMouse]

.

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

I was re-evaluated and got WILDLY fluctuating scores 3 of which were lower, 3 of which were higher all evening out. One of them went from 75 to 60. Like literally HIGH PASS to FAIL. What the flying fuck is this.

That's totally bizarre. I did not know they can give lower grades on re-evaluation.