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Hey guys/gals,

I have a bit of a dilemma here. I will make a long story short. In law school I was afforded time and a half for finals because I experienced a compound fracture my 1L year, and have severe nerve damage. This impacts my ability to type or write quick enough to get a passing score on the essays and MPT. My graded Themis essays were consistently 3's due to a lack of adequate analysis. The AZ Supreme Court denied my disability claim so I took the AZ bar knowing I would fail. I hand wrote feb 2016, thinking I could write quicker than I could type.

I scored above average on the MBE but flopped the written. After reading this forum I know I hit the major issues on the essays, but certainly missed the sub issues due to lack of time. My MPTs lacked analysis.

So I figure I have a few options: 1. Practice my typing speed until February of next year when I retest. 2. Apply for accommodations in a different state and take the test there. 3. I could type instead of write the exam. 4. Improve not only my written portion of the test, but up my MBE. 5. Break down my scores and see where I went astray.

Any ideas I'm missing would be appreciated.

Thanks

Kalani111 wrote:Hey guys/gals,

I have a bit of a dilemma here. I will make a long story short. In law school I was afforded time and a half for finals because I experienced a compound fracture my 1L year, and have severe nerve damage. This impacts my ability to type or write quick enough to get a passing score on the essays and MPT. My graded Themis essays were consistently 3's due to a lack of adequate analysis. The AZ Supreme Court denied my disability claim so I took the AZ bar knowing I would fail. I hand wrote feb 2016, thinking I could write quicker than I could type.

I scored above average on the MBE but flopped the written. After reading this forum I know I hit the major issues on the essays, but certainly missed the sub issues due to lack of time. My MPTs lacked analysis.

So I figure I have a few options: 1. Practice my typing speed until February of next year when I retest. 2. Apply for accommodations in a different state and take the test there. 3. I could type instead of write the exam. 4. Improve not only my written portion of the test, but up my MBE. 5. Break down my scores and see where I went astray.

Any ideas I'm missing would be appreciated.

Thanks

I would say all of those things except number 2. You don't want to be seen as gaming the accommodations system, as that probably works against you in getting accommodations (I'm pretty sure part of seeking accommodations requires that you disclose everywhere that you've been given or been denied accommodations).


Two things:
(1) Are you sure you don't type faster than you write? Have you ever tested it? Try typing and writing two different passages of similar length (words and characters) and language.

(2) When a bar denies accommodations, I'm pretty sure they have to give reasons. I assume their reasons were more like "our experts think you'll do fine" than they were like "our experts don't believe you actually have nerve damage that causes problems." Either way, re-apply for accommodations. You've already got at least one other data point (your performance). Meanwhile get additional testing to further document the issue (whether that issue is whether the nerve damage causes slowness in writing/typing or the baseline issue of whether there is lasting nerve damage). You probably want a referral to an OT if your physician hasn't already provided one.

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