MD February 2016 Exam Forum

[BWill23]

How is everyone holding up? I hate to even mention this, but does anyone know if the "glitch" was ever fixed for the MD portal announcement? Mine still shows green and "original" petition, so that gives me a little hope!

But lets be serious, I constantly go from, "I rocked it and passed", to "I have no hope". And this is from a guy who is already barred in Virginia. So I feel for all you first and second timers.

How is everyone spending their afternoon? Anyone like me, and thinking that maybe I'll wait til Sunday to check the results??

[akcheat]

As nice as it would be to have some sign of your results at this point, I do not believe that character and fitness is associated with it at all. I am a retaker, and my C+F report was returned on March 7th. They would not have known my results in either direction at that point. To add, there were friends of mine who passed the July exam who did not have their C+F interviews until after results had come out. All we can do now is endure the over 24 hour torture that is waiting for the results tomorrow.

[akcheat]

does anyone know if the "glitch" was ever fixed for the MD portal announcement? Mine still shows green and "original" petition, so that gives me a little hope!

So as I understand it, we won't know if the glitch works until midnight tonight, when the system updates. I hope they fixed it, because I'd prefer not to find out that way again.

But lets be serious, I constantly go from, "I rocked it and passed", to "I have no hope".

Feeling totally the same way. I studied way better this time around, did not feel horrified by the MBE, answered most of the essay questions well, but all my dumb brain can do is tell me that I failed because I messed up that awful grandma question.

[Em_Banc]

akcheat--glad you said all of that.

I'm feeling pretty robotic and pretending not to care to the point where I'm starting to believe that I actually don't care. #losingit

[Em_Banc]

does anyone know if the "glitch" was ever fixed for the MD portal announcement? Mine still shows green and "original" petition, so that gives me a little hope!

So as I understand it, we won't know if the glitch works until midnight tonight, when the system updates. I hope they fixed it, because I'd prefer not to find out that way again.

But lets be serious, I constantly go from, "I rocked it and passed", to "I have no hope".

Feeling totally the same way. I studied way better this time around, did not feel horrified by the MBE, answered most of the essay questions well, but all my dumb brain can do is tell me that I failed because I messed up that awful grandma question.

I 100% screwed up the grandma question. Like, my legal analysis was all over the place and I think my agency rule statement was backwards and concluded with the opposite of what is correct.

[akcheat]

akcheat--glad you said all of that.

I'm feeling pretty robotic and pretending not to care to the point where I'm starting to believe that I actually don't care. #losingit

Wish I could do that. I'm having so much trouble focusing on work, I feel like a crazy person. I keep doing math in my head on whether one poor essay question can doom you in this exam or not. Then I remember that we can't even do estimates with the formula, because the formula is so completely dependent on the MBE and essay average.

I am also concerned, because based on July's drop, I am predicting a pass rate somewhere in the mid 40%.

[Em_Banc]

akcheat--glad you said all of that.

I'm feeling pretty robotic and pretending not to care to the point where I'm starting to believe that I actually don't care. #losingit

Wish I could do that. I'm having so much trouble focusing on work, I feel like a crazy person. I keep doing math in my head on whether one poor essay question can doom you in this exam or not. Then I remember that we can't even do estimates with the formula, because the formula is so completely dependent on the MBE and essay average.

I am also concerned, because based on July's drop, I am predicting a pass rate somewhere in the mid 40%.

I know. I also think it's gonna be around 45%. I ran so many numbers with that formula...I finally stopped doing that like three weeks ago.

[Em_Banc]

How is everyone holding up? I hate to even mention this, but does anyone know if the "glitch" was ever fixed for the MD portal announcement? Mine still shows green and "original" petition, so that gives me a little hope!

But lets be serious, I constantly go from, "I rocked it and passed", to "I have no hope". And this is from a guy who is already barred in Virginia. So I feel for all you first and second timers.

How is everyone spending their afternoon? Anyone like me, and thinking that maybe I'll wait til Sunday to check the results??

I have no info on that glitch other than that when it happened last, Above The Law called SBLE about it. I bet they at least tried to fix that issue since then. I've thought about waiting for my letter in the mail to check my results, but I just don't think I'll be able to.

[akcheat]

I have no info on that glitch other than that when it happened last, Above The Law called SBLE about it. I bet they at least tried to fix that issue since then. I've thought about waiting for my letter in the mail to check my results, but I just don't think I'll be able to.

Oh yea there is no chance I am waiting for the letter, no matter what I will be refreshing the SBLE page starting at 4:28 until there are results. As far as them being contacted about the glitch, I think they've been aware of it since 2013, and it doesn't seem to have changed its accuracy.

[Em_Banc]

I have no info on that glitch other than that when it happened last, Above The Law called SBLE about it. I bet they at least tried to fix that issue since then. I've thought about waiting for my letter in the mail to check my results, but I just don't think I'll be able to.

Oh yea there is no chance I am waiting for the letter, no matter what I will be refreshing the SBLE page starting at 4:28 until there are results. As far as them being contacted about the glitch, I think they've been aware of it since 2013, and it doesn't seem to have changed its accuracy.

Oh I'm just now seeing that you said you experienced the red x last time. Was that in July? Sorry about that. I'm obviously interested to know whether anyone sees a red x or anything about the retake petition on their portal.

[akcheat]

Oh I'm just now seeing that you said you experienced the red x last time. Was that in July? Sorry about that. I'm obviously interested to know whether anyone sees a red x or anything about the retake petition on their portal.

Yes, I got the red x in July. It did not appear until after 12AM the day that results are supposed to come out. The window to check for the glitch also closes somewhere around 8 or 9AM and the system reverts back to normal. I am definitely not guaranteeing that the glitch will happen again, but if it does then I imagine it will happen in the same way.

[BWill23]

does anyone know if the "glitch" was ever fixed for the MD portal announcement? Mine still shows green and "original" petition, so that gives me a little hope!

So as I understand it, we won't know if the glitch works until midnight tonight, when the system updates. I hope they fixed it, because I'd prefer not to find out that way again.

But lets be serious, I constantly go from, "I rocked it and passed", to "I have no hope".

Feeling totally the same way. I studied way better this time around, did not feel horrified by the MBE, answered most of the essay questions well, but all my dumb brain can do is tell me that I failed because I messed up that awful grandma question.

I 100% screwed up the grandma question. Like, my legal analysis was all over the place and I think my agency rule statement was backwards and concluded with the opposite of what is correct.

One essay won't screw you up. You get a 1 if you have ANYTHING pertaining to the essay on the paper. A 2 can't be too difficult to achieve as long as you touch on legal topics relating towards the right answer. So I'm confident you're fine there. The grading system is so convoluted.

[BWill23]

akcheat--glad you said all of that.

I'm feeling pretty robotic and pretending not to care to the point where I'm starting to believe that I actually don't care. #losingit

Wish I could do that. I'm having so much trouble focusing on work, I feel like a crazy person. I keep doing math in my head on whether one poor essay question can doom you in this exam or not. Then I remember that we can't even do estimates with the formula, because the formula is so completely dependent on the MBE and essay average.

I am also concerned, because based on July's drop, I am predicting a pass rate somewhere in the mid 40%.

I know. I also think it's gonna be around 45%. I ran so many numbers with that formula...I finally stopped doing that like three weeks ago.

45% passing rate seems astonishing low for a test that had 70% passage rate a few years ago! I think they have to be concerned that if its too low, no one will want to take the MD bar. I'd expect a similar rate in the low 60's, but only time will tell.

[akcheat]

45% passing rate seems astonishing low for a test that had 70% passage rate a few years ago! I think they have to be concerned that if its too low, no one will want to take the MD bar. I'd expect a similar rate in the low 60's, but only time will tell.

It definitely seems low, but I don't think it's that improbable. Other states are having record lows, and the MBE average is very low this year. Fortunately, MD doesn't weigh the MBE quite as heavily, but I wouldn't be surprised to see low passing rates.

As an aside, are there any retakers who are very confused by the low average MBE? I felt that it was difficult but much more straightforward than July's nightmare.

[Em_Banc]

45% passing rate seems astonishing low for a test that had 70% passage rate a few years ago! I think they have to be concerned that if its too low, no one will want to take the MD bar. I'd expect a similar rate in the low 60's, but only time will tell.

It definitely seems low, but I don't think it's that improbable. Other states are having record lows, and the MBE average is very low this year. Fortunately, MD doesn't weigh the MBE quite as heavily, but I wouldn't be surprised to see low passing rates.

As an aside, are there any retakers who are very confused by the low average MBE? I felt that it was difficult but much more straightforward than July's nightmare.

I'm not that surprised because the averages have been dropping for a while. But I agree, this MBE was much more straightforward than July's. I don't know if that's just from repeating and studying again...but July was brutal.

[akcheat]

I'm not that surprised because the averages have been dropping for a while. But I agree, this MBE was much more straightforward than July's. I don't know if that's just from repeating and studying again...but July was brutal.

Yea, it could be better preparation. You're right though, July's totally caught me off guard. It might as well have been in another language. Maybe February's felt better because we were expecting and preparing for similar nonsense.

[BWill23]

I'm not that surprised because the averages have been dropping for a while. But I agree, this MBE was much more straightforward than July's. I don't know if that's just from repeating and studying again...but July was brutal.

Yea, it could be better preparation. You're right though, July's totally caught me off guard. It might as well have been in another language. Maybe February's felt better because we were expecting and preparing for similar nonsense.

I looked at Virginia's numbers and they seem to hold pretty steady between the historic average, recent declines, and how February 2016 stats turned out. But Virginia is full of really good law schools... those kids are smart!

[akcheat]

I looked at Virginia's numbers and they seem to hold pretty steady between the historic average, recent declines, and how February 2016 stats turned out. But Virginia is full of really good law schools... those kids are smart!

Those kids are smart! I really don't know. I mean I was completely surprised by the huge pass rate drop in July, so I think I'm gearing up for another big drop as a coping tool. I don't really understand the math on the grading. How does a low MBE average effect our scores? Does it mean more scaling points or less?

[waitingonresults]

I looked at Virginia's numbers and they seem to hold pretty steady between the historic average, recent declines, and how February 2016 stats turned out. But Virginia is full of really good law schools... those kids are smart!

Those kids are smart! I really don't know. I mean I was completely surprised by the huge pass rate drop in July, so I think I'm gearing up for another big drop as a coping tool. I don't really understand the math on the grading. How does a low MBE average effect our scores? Does it mean more scaling points or less?

Maryland's grading scale favors essays obviously (2/3) so I have heard of people getting relatively low MBE scores and passing MD due to their essays scores, as opposed to other states where people have to do well on the MBE to pass because it's weighed more than their essays.

[akcheat]

Maryland's grading scale favors essays obviously (2/3) so I have heard of people getting relatively low MBE scores and passing MD due to their essays scores, as opposed to other states where people have to do well on the MBE to pass because it's weighed more than their essays.

Yea, you can definitely have a lower MBE score in MD compared to most states, but I would certainly prefer a high one and not let it be a question!

[BWill23]

If you pass will Maryland share your scores with you? I realize you can get your MBE score if you wanted it, but what about essays?

[akcheat]

If you pass will Maryland share your scores with you? I realize you can get your MBE score if you wanted it, but what about essays?

You will not get your essay scores if you pass.

[Em_Banc]

If you pass will Maryland share your scores with you? I realize you can get your MBE score if you wanted it, but what about essays?

You will not get your essay scores if you pass.

Also, don't pay NCBE for your MBE score. MD will provide it to you in the physical letter they send you, even if you pass.

[waitingonresults]

Maryland's grading scale favors essays obviously (2/3) so I have heard of people getting relatively low MBE scores and passing MD due to their essays scores, as opposed to other states where people have to do well on the MBE to pass because it's weighed more than their essays.

Yea, you can definitely have a lower MBE score in MD compared to most states, but I would certainly prefer a high one and not let it be a question!

True...however I feel better about the essays than the MBE! I seriously have no idea how I did on the MBE.

[akcheat]

Maryland's grading scale favors essays obviously (2/3) so I have heard of people getting relatively low MBE scores and passing MD due to their essays scores, as opposed to other states where people have to do well on the MBE to pass because it's weighed more than their essays.

Yea, you can definitely have a lower MBE score in MD compared to most states, but I would certainly prefer a high one and not let it be a question!

True...however I feel better about the essays than the MBE! I seriously have no idea how I did on the MBE.

Agreed. I just hope we have reasonable graders. It was a real crapshoot last time, and I felt like the grading on my essays was really arbitrary, especially after I compared them to the model answers.