California Bar Examination Essay Difficulty Forum

[Rap Genius]

Hello,

What are the most difficult essays you have encountered practicing for the exam? What makes them difficult?

What are the easier essays? What makes them easy?

On each administration, does it seem like they give a mixture of easy essays and difficult essays?

[Rap Genius]

Where are all the Guru's at?

[Lucy1978]

I took (and passed!) the Feb 2016 CA Attorneys' Exam. To prepare, I started prep in mid-January. I was working full-time, so I studied for a couple of hours most evenings after work, and for longer stretches (maybe 6 hours on average) on my days off of work (weekends, holidays, and a handful of vacation days). I primarily used access to BarEssays.com and the outline and frequency analysis from SmartBarPrep.com. I recommend both highly, particularly if you aren't doing a prep program that covers the MBE for whatever reason. I spent spending something like $250 total, if I remember correctly. I made flashcards from the big outline, I read essay after essay, and then I practiced outlining and writing essays and practice exams, focusing on the issues that SmartBarPrep indicated had shown up most frequently in the past. I took the advice I'd heard to IRAC everything in the most obvious way, even if it feels like it's not a particularly persuasive or compelling writing style.

I took the Illinois Bar Exam back in 2003. I don't think the CA bar essays were any harder, really, but who knows what tricks my memory would be playing on me now. There are always going to be some subjects that are harder than others. Expect that, just so that you don't panic when you hit an essay that puzzles you. The more that I read the essays that said conflicting/opposing things that were scored similarly well, the more I became convinced that it's not about being right so much as just IRAC'ing your way through it, as best as you can remember the rules. It's really not about being 100% right. If you manage your time well and refuse to get distracted, your stronger essays should carry you through the whole thing, imo.

Good luck!

[rcharter1978]

Hello,

What are the most difficult essays you have encountered practicing for the exam? What makes them difficult?

What are the easier essays? What makes them easy?

On each administration, does it seem like they give a mixture of easy essays and difficult essays?

I have always felt like on one day they give easier essays and a more difficult PT, and on the other day day they give harder essays and an easier PT.

The easier essays to me, are ones that cover bigger concepts/areas of law...or easier concepts. Harder essays are ones that cover more obscure topics, or ones that cross over. So, something about the 4th Amendment is probably an easier essay because its a pretty big area and easier to understand...whereas a cross over of professional responsibility/contracts/torts is a much more difficult question IMO.

But I'm no guru...I'm just a girl who took a test....twice

[Rap Genius]

Wow you guys are both 1978.

Thanks for your answer. I have not practiced much crossovers but I do fear them a bit when I come across them. For me the hardest part about crossovers is allocating sufficient time to the most important issues. More practice.