California Bar Exam (February 2014) thread Forum

[vacations]

not to divert the conversation away from PTs for too long because I myself fear the PTs and it's worth sharing our thoughts but...

I'm surprised I never came across one of these online calculators that predict whether or not you pass. Granted, not much should weight be placed in these things but it looks like if I do fairly well on MBEs and fairly ok on essays, I should pass despite some atrocious PT scores.

I know 65 is passing but what exactly entails a 60?

[AntiHuman]

Which calculator are you using? Are you using the one-timers calculator?

Keep in mind the formulas change...since the july 2013 exam was hard, the curve was huge. I think you could have gotten 60's on all the essays to be on track to pass with a decent mbe score.

[vacations]

Yes, i'm using the onetimers calculator. i'm totally using it with a grain of salt.

i'm just curious whether my answers would be considered a 60. I definitely don't spot all the issues at times but i feel pretty ok about rule statements and analysis.

just wondering what the divide is between a 65 and 60.

[CourtneyElizabeth]

Keep in mind the formulas change...since the july 2013 exam was hard, the curve was huge. I think you could have gotten 60's on all the essays to be on track to pass with a decent mbe score.

Yeah, I got 55-65s on my essays and PTs and if it was just graded on those I would have passed (shocking, I know). The MBE is what killed me.

[vacations]

anybody taking the exam in Ontario?

I checked into my hotel this morning...had to come a few days early in order to focus better...i was about to lose my mind at home...

[CourtneyElizabeth]

anybody taking the exam in Ontario?

I checked into my hotel this morning...had to come a few days early in order to focus better...i was about to lose my mind at home...

Yup. I'm checking in Monday afternoon.

[Anonnymous]

.

[robert1323]

hello,

does anyone with experience with the Oakland site know if there's a place to leave personal items outside the exam room? i'm staying a few blocks away from the hotel and was hoping to bring my bag with me when i go on tuesday morning.

thanks!

[DwightSchruteFarms]

anybody taking the exam in Ontario?

I checked into my hotel this morning...had to come a few days early in order to focus better...i was about to lose my mind at home...

Yup. I'm checking in Monday afternoon.

Same. I couldn't checkin that early tho (Saturday). We still have today, tomorrow, and Monday to review and relax. I feel like doing that would slow the whole process down. By the time I checkin on Monday and blink my eyes, the test will be over. That's the one nice thing about this week. Also, I've heard from many people that passed on the second go that they felt way worse coming out the second time than the first. I thought I murdered the first exam and I even reviewed my claims with anyone I could. Just take a deep breath and when the exam is over, forget about it till May. At that time, we'll all convene here again and freak the f*ck the out, haha.

[AntiHuman]

hello,

does anyone with experience with the Oakland site know if there's a place to leave personal items outside the exam room? i'm staying a few blocks away from the hotel and was hoping to bring my bag with me when i go on tuesday morning.

thanks!

You can leave them outside near the bathrooms under the tables, but dont leave anything valuable...nobody is watching the stuff.

[AntiHuman]

I understand far majority of you wont be on this thread starting Tuesday morning, but I recommend not talking about the exam during next week and even afterwards(probably against TLS policy)...but also because we dont want anyone freaking out over missed issues. Everyone will miss issues. period. SO don't freak out. Just dont miss the BIG issues or your max score will be a 60 on that particular essay.

[Hoggle]

Anyone want to guess the CA topics?

Likely: Corporations, Civ Pro, Professional Responsibility
Maybe: Trusts, Agency, Remedies, Partnerships
Possible: CA Evidence
Not Likely: Community Property, Wills

MBE:

Likely: Property, Crim, Evidence
Maybe: Torts, Con Law
Possible: Contracts

If I had to guess for my life:
Corporations/Partnerships w/ Professional Responsibility, Trusts, Civ Pro, Property w/Remedies, Crim (CL murder, inchoate), Evidence.

[kershawfan]

Interested in your reasons for deeming Wills and Comm property unlikely

[CourtneyElizabeth]

Same. I couldn't checkin that early tho (Saturday). We still have today, tomorrow, and Monday to review and relax. I feel like doing that would slow the whole process down. By the time I checkin on Monday and blink my eyes, the test will be over. That's the one nice thing about this week. Also, I've heard from many people that passed on the second go that they felt way worse coming out the second time than the first. I thought I murdered the first exam and I even reviewed my claims with anyone I could. Just take a deep breath and when the exam is over, forget about it till May. At that time, we'll all convene here again and freak the f*ck the out, haha.

Yeah I'm working on MBEs tonight, reviewed PTs earlier and just laughed. Stupid. I'm averaging about 70% on the MBEs. Could be worse. If I checked into the hotel tonight I'd be freaking out even more than I am, I think. Tonight, tomorrow, monday morning review then….
As for feeling like you passed the first time - me too. I could envision myself seeing my name on the pass list…and NOPE. This time I feel wildly unprepared but who the hell knows. I think it's a crapshoot.
And I TOTALLY second not mentioning a THING about the exam on this thing until May. I might pop in to see what you're all thinking but I'm not putting my two cents in as to what I put, what I might have missed…it'll be what it'll be at that point.

[vacations]

Without sounding too emo, reading this thread in the few days has been very therapeutic for me. It's helped with keeping me better balanced and I desperately needed this type of energy last July. I was a big emotional mess.

I too think we should stay off these boards during the exam. I made the mistake of reading this board during last July test and trust me...it does you absolutely no good. Don't do it. It's going to be hard but this site will not help you.

As of now - I'm having small difficulty letting go of reviewing essays. I know I've gone through a lot but I just keep thinking that the next one might test on some issue or be framed in some way that I should review. Like I said earlier in one of my posts, my biggest problem is letting go of something and moving on to the next topic or outline.

I think now it's best to focus on outlines and MBEs.

Good luck everybody. The last two months have been very hard in every way shape and form. I missed out on my own birthday, thanksgiving, christmas, new years and celebrating valentines with the gf. It's been one holy roller coaster.

[Hoggle]

Interested in your reasons for deeming Wills and Comm property unlikely

Because they were both on the last examination and would likely have to force a topic out that is common and wasn't tested individually last time (corporations, civ pro), or reduce the possibility of a rarer topic showing up (agency, partnerships, trusts).

[Hoggle]

Without sounding too emo, reading this thread in the few days has been very therapeutic for me. It's helped with keeping me better balanced and I desperately needed this type of energy last July. I was a big emotional mess.

I too think we should stay off these boards during the exam. I made the mistake of reading this board during last July test and trust me...it does you absolutely no good. Don't do it. It's going to be hard but this site will not help you.

As of now - I'm having small difficulty letting go of reviewing essays. I know I've gone through a lot but I just keep thinking that the next one might test on some issue or be framed in some way that I should review. Like I said earlier in one of my posts, my biggest problem is letting go of something and moving on to the next topic or outline.

I think now it's best to focus on outlines and MBEs.

Good luck everybody. The last two months have been very hard in every way shape and form. I missed out on my own birthday, thanksgiving, christmas, new years and celebrating valentines with the gf. It's been one holy roller coaster.

If it makes you feel better, I sat last time without preparing for more than 7 or so full days. I hadn't memorized anything besides Conlaw, didn't know CA law really much at all, and am realizing now that I didn't really understand the MBE. I had only taken about 200 practice questions. I am a great multiple choice test taker, but that is about it.

My essays were BSed crap where I spotted the major issues and little elese, and I had never taken a practice PT test, only took about an hour to review what they were.

I missed passing by three MBE questions.

If you are a structured writer that applies the facts to something and identifies the major issues they aren't giving you under 55s and 60s, the PTs will be 60s and 65s, which really makes you have to get like a median MBE.

[CourtneyElizabeth]

Without sounding too emo, reading this thread in the few days has been very therapeutic for me. It's helped with keeping me better balanced and I desperately needed this type of energy last July. I was a big emotional mess.

I too think we should stay off these boards during the exam. I made the mistake of reading this board during last July test and trust me...it does you absolutely no good. Don't do it. It's going to be hard but this site will not help you.

As of now - I'm having small difficulty letting go of reviewing essays. I know I've gone through a lot but I just keep thinking that the next one might test on some issue or be framed in some way that I should review. Like I said earlier in one of my posts, my biggest problem is letting go of something and moving on to the next topic or outline.

I think now it's best to focus on outlines and MBEs.

Good luck everybody. The last two months have been very hard in every way shape and form. I missed out on my own birthday, thanksgiving, christmas, new years and celebrating valentines with the gf. It's been one holy roller coaster.

If it makes you feel better, I sat last time without preparing for more than 7 or so full days. I hadn't memorized anything besides Conlaw, didn't know CA law really much at all, and am realizing now that I didn't really understand the MBE. I had only taken about 200 practice questions. I am a great multiple choice test taker, but that is about it.

My essays were BSed crap where I spotted the major issues and little elese, and I had never taken a practice PT test, only took about an hour to review what they were.

I missed passing by three MBE questions.

If you are a structured writer that applies the facts to something and identifies the major issues they aren't giving you under 55s and 60s, the PTs will be 60s and 65s, which really makes you have to get like a median MBE.

How in the world would that make any of us feel better??

[Hoggle]

Without sounding too emo, reading this thread in the few days has been very therapeutic for me. It's helped with keeping me better balanced and I desperately needed this type of energy last July. I was a big emotional mess.

I too think we should stay off these boards during the exam. I made the mistake of reading this board during last July test and trust me...it does you absolutely no good. Don't do it. It's going to be hard but this site will not help you.

As of now - I'm having small difficulty letting go of reviewing essays. I know I've gone through a lot but I just keep thinking that the next one might test on some issue or be framed in some way that I should review. Like I said earlier in one of my posts, my biggest problem is letting go of something and moving on to the next topic or outline.

I think now it's best to focus on outlines and MBEs.

Good luck everybody. The last two months have been very hard in every way shape and form. I missed out on my own birthday, thanksgiving, christmas, new years and celebrating valentines with the gf. It's been one holy roller coaster.

If it makes you feel better, I sat last time without preparing for more than 7 or so full days. I hadn't memorized anything besides Conlaw, didn't know CA law really much at all, and am realizing now that I didn't really understand the MBE. I had only taken about 200 practice questions. I am a great multiple choice test taker, but that is about it.

My essays were BSed crap where I spotted the major issues and little elese, and I had never taken a practice PT test, only took about an hour to review what they were.

I missed passing by three MBE questions.

If you are a structured writer that applies the facts to something and identifies the major issues they aren't giving you under 55s and 60s, the PTs will be 60s and 65s, which really makes you have to get like a median MBE.

How in the world would that make any of us feel better??

Because you don't need to memorize everything to pass the bar if you have an okay MBE.

[a male human]

I studied for 2 full months and got mostly 55s and an average MBE score (:

Talked to a prof who said I shouldn't put the conclusion in my heading. For example, I put "Valid will? Yes" and similar things for pretty much all the headings. Thought I took the time to be helpful to the grader but apparently you have everything to lose and nothing to gain. The grader probably has his own bias about the "right" conclusion, and summarizing it in the heading uses up time. It kind of explains the harsh results because it seems like I got all the major issues for most of the essays.

[a male human]

Please note:Our hotel is currently under renovation.

Earplugs? Hope they don't make noise after 5 pm.

[CourtneyElizabeth]

amalehuman - I would call the hotel right now and request a room FARTHEST away from the construction. Maybe if you do that ahead of time, you'll be ok. Chances that others know that are slim….And squeaky wheel gets the grease.

[a male human]

I actually called them back in December asking if the renovation would be done by February, and they said yes. I hope the notice is just outdated.

If not, only the type of room is reserved for me and the actual assignment won't be given to me until I check in on Monday. I'll tell them I'm taking a test and request a far room... I can't imagine them making noise at midnight, but you never know. I'm more worried about weird defects in my room or bedbugs or something

[a male human]

By any chance, does anyone know about how many different graders are assigned per essay/PT?

[El Pollito]

Oh good, server is down and I can't print my admission ticket.