Ohio Bar Exam Forum

[ohnowhattodo]

Thoughts? Didn't notice a thread on here, but was wondering what people thought of the exam in general. I'm hearing a lot of mixed thoughts on what's needed to pass, but generally that we need to do better than 20% of the people taking it.

I missed quite a few issues on the essays, so definitely worried about how this is gonna go over. The 6 essays today were much easier than the first 6 essays though.

[DorothyV]

I didn't think that it was that bad. Last July, 87% of first-time test-takers passed in Ohio. So, it doesn't seem to be very difficult to pass.

Plus, I imagine that a significant portion of the failing 13-odd percent each year includes people like the other student at my table who spent a large portion of her time not reading/writing/giving a damn about the exam.

[frid3v]

I'm a little worried about the essays too. I also think the essays on Thursday were much easier than the ones on Tuesday, but even then I know for sure I messed up on a couple of the essays on Thursday. I thought the MPT's were pretty standard and straight forward and I thought the MBE's were pretty hard in comparison to Barbri. So, not feeling too confident despite studying my butt off and giving it everything I had. But oh well. We'll find out October 31st

[biglawl88]

What did everyone think about the Evidence essay?

[InsecureJD]

I was annoyed that people were still up and walking around to get to their seats when it was past the time for the test to begin. Like seriously? Did you forget that you were taking the bar today? I saw a guy with a Harvard Shirt (grr). I was annoyed that there was the Jesus Freak teen youth convention going on at the same time that we were taking the bar, and I had to watch teens practice during their lunch hour an interpretive dance of the crucifixion. Still can't get that out of my mind.

Evidence question. Wait, there was an evidence questions? JOKE.

I thought the first MPT harder than the second. The first day of essays were rougher than the third day of essays. I thought MBE was super easy but that's because I think Barbri makes their MBEs too dammed hard. But also, I could be suffering from false sense of security.

So, what do I think about the Ohio bar exam? I try not to.

[lifestooquick]

So, what do I think about the Ohio bar exam? I try not to.

so much this.

[InsecureJD]

Bumping. It's bar results release date eve. 4:07 am and I can't sleep. Wishing the other Ohio lurkers out there who frequent this website the best of luck on what will be our scariest Halloween ever!

[frid3v]

I'm starting to get really nervous. It's getting so close now and I'm almost certain I somehow failed it!

[lifestooquick]

Starting to feel the nervousness in my stomach. Fingers crossed for all of us!!!

[InsecureJD]

Results are up! http://www.supremecourtofohio.gov/AttyS ... 302014.pdf
I passed!

[lifestooquick]

Me too! Yayyyyyy

[persistentpea]

I passed too!! I am so relied. Kudos to all my fellow passers. I passed with just 40% completion of Themis. And to everyone who failed: don't let this knock you down. Get back up on the horse!

[AVBucks4239]

Don't know how, but I passed as well. Here's the school-by-school breakdown:

http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/AttySv ... /14jul.pdf

Seems to be the lowest overall pass rate in years (77%), and lowest first-time pass rate in a long, long time (81%).

[AVBucks4239]

Anybody know how/when you can get your score?

[treseme]

I got mine in the mail today. Sent yesterday. But I live in downtown Columbus.

[InsecureJD]

Grats to everyone who passed. The big drop in passing #s nationwide makes me wonder whether the examsoft debacle rattled the pool.

I did barbri.. waited 2 years after law school to take exam. Was working at the same time so I made sure tobstart studying super early with the early review. Think I got through with 75% of the material. The best piece of advice in my opinion from Barbri was on the essays. If you don't know the law--make it up like you do and run with it. And if you don't know the state law use the common law. Seeing model answers released from the examiners that had misstated rules of law was reassuring that the examiners don't expect perfection. Knowing that I could make stuff up was freeing and made me totally zen about the essays.

[biglawl88]

Passed as well!

Has anyone outside downtown Columbus received their results in the mail yet?

[persistentpea]

I received my letter/score report today in Eastern Ohio.

[AVBucks4239]

Got my letter in NE Ohio this morning. Never been so happy to be exactly at median in my life.

[SpaaceMonkee]

Got my letter today. I'm in Wilmington, DE.

[frid3v]

Dose anybody have a particular essay writing strategy that they used and found to be particularly helpful, other than Barbri? I got my scores back and I didn't do as well on the essays as I thought I did immediately after the exam.

[AVBucks4239]

Dose anybody have a particular essay writing strategy that they used and found to be particularly helpful, other than Barbri? I got my scores back and I didn't do as well on the essays as I thought I did immediately after the exam.

(1) Conclusion statement. Be absolute ("The court will rule in favor of X because Y").
(2) "In Ohio, [rule statement]." Do not elaborate. Keep it as simple and concise as possible.
(3) "Here," or "In this case," [application]. Make sure you apply the law to the facts instead of merely restating them (e.g., "X broke and entered into the house when he used a crow bar to open the door," instead of "X used a crow bar to open the door when he broke and entered into the house").
(4) Repeat conclusion.

Three other important things you have to keep in mind:

(1) The 3900 character limit is tough in a lot of questions. Thus, you don't want to do a law school-type analysis on every issue. You just want to state the rule and apply it to the facts and move on. Otherwise, you're not going to hit all the issues.

(2) Keep your answer organized. Start new paragraphs for every issue. Use headings. Make things as easy as possible for the graders.

(3) Do not go over 30 minutes on any question. I know a couple people who thought, "Well, I could do the practice essays in 20 minutes, so I can keep going on this one and improve my score." Well, they ended up getting a 4 and then a 2. They would have been better getting a 3 and then a 4 or 5.

Also, you can gain a ton of headway if you rock the MPTs. Those are scaled by 1.5, so they are effectively worth three essays. More importantly, if you practice them, you'll discover that they are very formulaic and the same thing over and over. If you can get a 5 and a 6 on those, then you're fine.

[frid3v]

Thanks for laying it like that in such detail, AV. That's very helpful and I really appreciate it!

[frid3v]

Anybody on here who took the February Ohio exam and going crazy waiting for results coming out tomorrow?