So, Do You Think You Passed the Bar? Forum

[mvp99]

General PSA: the bar threads were and are full of posturing neurotic tryhards

Let the crazies stew and obsess but for God's sake don't get sucked in.

Just my two cents.

Last time I took the bar, I read through the threads here with a friend. I disagreed with the majority of MBE discussions and thought they were neurotic tryhards. My friend said they were right. Fast forward several months... my friend passed the bar. I did not.

you disagreed in what sense? that the exam wasn't difficult?

[sublime]

Whether they are neurotic try hards or not doesn't have much to do with whether they are substantively correct.

[mvp99]

Whether they are neurotic try hards or not doesn't have much to do with whether they are substantively correct.

you've been quiet post bar, wanna join us?

[BigZuck]

I thought the afternoon was difficult because there was an inordinate amount of poorly written garbage with no right answer or two right answers. I don't care if you're Raynier himself, you can't convince me that it wasn't horrible, that the NCBE shouldn't be ashamed of themselves, and that the NCBE shouldn't put a little pride in their work because that was an embarrassing effort on their part.

All that said, I still KNOW I passed.

Get on my level.

/thread

(mods plz)

[BigZuck]

I thought the afternoon was difficult because there was an inordinate amount of poorly written garbage with no right answer or two right answers. I don't care if you're Raynier himself, you can't convince me that it wasn't horrible, that the NCBE shouldn't be ashamed of themselves, and that the NCBE shouldn't put a little pride in their work because that was an embarrassing effort on their part.

All that said, I still KNOW I passed.

Get on my level.

/thread

(mods plz)

^titcr

[A. Nony Mouse]

General PSA: the bar threads were and are full of posturing neurotic tryhards

Let the crazies stew and obsess but for God's sake don't get sucked in.

Just my two cents.

Last time I took the bar, I read through the threads here with a friend. I disagreed with the majority of MBE discussions and thought they were neurotic tryhards. My friend said they were right. Fast forward several months... my friend passed the bar. I did not.

There is absolutely no point at all in dissecting answers after the fact. None. It doesn't make passing any more/less likely and it just freaks everyone out.

[MoreCowBellPlease]

.

[BigZuck]

I thought the afternoon was difficult because there was an inordinate amount of poorly written garbage with no right answer or two right answers. I don't care if you're Raynier himself, you can't convince me that it wasn't horrible, that the NCBE shouldn't be ashamed of themselves, and that the NCBE shouldn't put a little pride in their work because that was an embarrassing effort on their part.

All that said, I still KNOW I passed.

Get on my level.

/thread

(mods plz)

^titcr

THIS

[J9ofDiamonds]

I thought the afternoon was difficult because there was an inordinate amount of poorly written garbage with no right answer or two right answers. I don't care if you're Raynier himself, you can't convince me that it wasn't horrible, that the NCBE shouldn't be ashamed of themselves, and that the NCBE shouldn't put a little pride in their work because that was an embarrassing effort on their part.

All that said, I still KNOW I passed.

Get on my level.

/thread

(mods plz)

^titcr

[rcharter1978]

Your gut instinct is usually correct:

Don't tell me this.

I was absolutely sure I failed the bar exam the second time I took it.

Absolutely certain.

When results were released on Friday, May 13 I didn't even check online because I already knew I failed. I just figured that on Monday I would get the score report and I could see if my scored improved. Friends and family were like "you should check, you never know, you never know." And my response was "yes, I do know, I know that I did not pass."

When I saw the tiny letter from the California Committee of Bar Examiners, I honestly thought it was some sort of change of address form or something. I almost had a heart attack when I opened it and saw that I passed. The first word I saw was "delighted" and my mind took at least a minute to put it all together, because I was SO sure I failed. And then I ran around my house whooping and hollering. My neighbors probably thought I was being attacked. I called my mom and she probably thought I was speaking in tongues. I was so shocked.

So.....your gut instinct could be right....or it could be wrong.

[mvp99]

Who here used headings on the essays portion? I only used a general heading that essentially repeated the question but didn't use subheadings.

[mvp99]

Who here used headings and/or subheadings on the essays portion?

[psu2016]

Who here used headings on the essays portion? I only used a general heading that essentially repeated the question but didn't use subheadings.

I did. But midway through I had this sinking feeling that all I was accomplishing was making my glaring omissions even more obvious to the bar examiners.

[MCFC]

On the MEE? I just did 1. Victim v. Hospital 2. Victim v. Manufacturer etc.

[Nebby]

Who here used headings on the essays portion? I only used a general heading that essentially repeated the question but didn't use subheadings.

Subheadings are really only useful on the MPT. I did a heading for each question on the essay. Example: the corps essay had 4 questions so I had four headings

[ironbmike]

Who here used headings on the essays portion? I only used a general heading that essentially repeated the question but didn't use subheadings.

I did. But midway through I had this sinking feeling that all I was accomplishing was making my glaring omissions even more obvious to the bar examiners.

Yeah, headings would have been bad for me. I tried to keep it organized though.

On another note, anyone freaked out that if they fail they won't know what to do? Failing is one thing, if you can fix it. But I honestly don't know what I'd study differently if I fail. That's what scares me. Besides losing my job and the shame of failing.

[SLS_AMG]

Who here used headings on the essays portion? I only used a general heading that essentially repeated the question but didn't use subheadings.

I did. But midway through I had this sinking feeling that all I was accomplishing was making my glaring omissions even more obvious to the bar examiners.

Yeah, headings would have been bad for me. I tried to keep it organized though.

On another note, anyone freaked out that if they fail they won't know what to do? Failing is one thing, if you can fix it. But I honestly don't know what I'd study differently if I fail. That's what scares me. Besides losing my job and the shame of failing.

Was thinking this, but I took NY and am under the impression they tell you what you scored in each section. As for what I'd change: I'd get the BarBri books again and then turn them into kindling, because that's about all their worth. Would also do every single released NCBE question and would get Adaptibar this time. Would probably also memorize things like FRCP and FRE.

[BarTaker]

50/50

+1

[Nebby]

I have no idea if I passed, but I at least felt prepared. That's all I think we can hope for, honestly. Let the chips fall where they may

[mvp99]

Who here used headings on the essays portion? I only used a general heading that essentially repeated the question but didn't use subheadings.

Subheadings are really only useful on the MPT. I did a heading for each question on the essay. Example: the corps essay had 4 questions so I had four headings

Well I didn't use subheadings for any torts questions although in hindsight I think it would have been a plus. I mainly used headings for each IRAC, no subheadings..

[rcharter1978]

I have no idea if I passed, but I at least felt prepared. That's all I think we can hope for, honestly. Let the chips fall where they may

The die is cast....

[Confusedgraduate456]

No, but I don't think I failed by much. I definitely don't feel confident going through the MBE Reaction thread. I prepared a lot, but it's so tough because you need to know so many idiosyncratic rules. It's not enough to know broad concepts and general ideas, you need to know specific exceptions, and some of the questions make it somewhat ambiguous what they're going after. But I'm trying not to stay negative. I'll still have a job, and I've laid a solid foundation of information for next time. It will just be really annoying and embarrassing, but I can come back from this.

[rcharter1978]

No, but I don't think I failed by much. I definitely don't feel confident going through the MBE Reaction thread. I prepared a lot, but it's so tough because you need to know so many idiosyncratic rules. It's not enough to know broad concepts and general ideas, you need to know specific exceptions, and some of the questions make it somewhat ambiguous what they're going after. But I'm trying not to stay negative. I'll still have a job, and I've laid a solid foundation of information for next time. It will just be really annoying and embarrassing, but I can come back from this.

I would take that thread with a grain of salt. People are discussing maybe 10 questions out of 200 questions.

But you have a really good attitude. When I walked out of the CBX the first time, I knew I failed, but I knew that the test was passable.

Michelle Obama, Hilary Clinton, Franklin Roosevelt, and Justice Cordozo all failed the bar exam.....its annoying, and embarrassing, but not the end of the world.

[seancris]

Yes, I think I passed. I'm not guaranteeing it. I think it's a better than even chance.

My Jx is 25% essays, 25% state multiple choice, 50% MBE.

MBE is my strongest, I was testing at apx. 74% overall on adaptibar (80%+ in the last 500 or so questions leading up to the exam). I think I probably got 74% or so on the MBE, equivalent to my adaptibar predictor. That would equate to a 150-155 performance on the MBE. I'd need a 117-122 on the state portion to pass overall. Last time I looked at the MBE scaling, which the state apparently uses for its own scaling, I'd need to beat 15-20% of other test takers on the state portion.

The essays went alright. My word count came out to about the same as the model answers, and volume generally counts for something in law essays. I wrote 2000+ words where I know other competent people wrote 900. It was law diarrhea from the get go as soon as they announced we could start. Kaplan says this is bad but I think Kaplan is bad so idgaf what they think. I know how to write a law essay. I probably passed the essay portion. It's possible I didn't. But I probably did, by a little.

State MCQ was a clusterfuck, but I always knew it would be as Kaplan's state MCQ materials are a joke and I focused on essays and MBE during bar prep to the detriment of my state MCQ studies. It was a strategic choice because you need 55% to get a passing score on MCQs. I have no idea if I got 55%, but if I didn't I was probably just under, like 52%.

So, taken together I would guess that I had a strong MBE performance, average (passing) essays, slightly below average state MCQs. MBE should carry me even if I somehow missed passing Florida by a few points.

That said, this is all pure speculation and just trying to occupy my mind before I get to work. I would give myself a 65% chance of having passed, 25% of having to do this again, and a 10% chance of just saying "fuck it" and becoming a trapeze artist.

[rmhco]

I have no idea if I passed, but I at least felt prepared. That's all I think we can hope for, honestly. Let the chips fall where they may

Honestly I feel the same way ... I did BarBri, and I feel like between that + AdaptiBar + Lean Sheets, I was fairly prepared (BarBri giving me the bulk of the preparation). I did 92-93% of the course (can't remember and can't log back in now). Not sure if I'm being naive about how I should have felt, but like I think I mentioned before, I didn't feel LESS prepared on the actual bar than I felt on any of BarBri's practice stuff where I mostly hit targets.