Is the CA bar that much harder than other states? Forum

ConfusedL1 · Post by **ConfusedL1** » Sat Nov 04, 2017 10:09 am

I know the passage rate is terrible, but is that because of the bar's difficulty or the crazy amount of people who take it (especially from failing law schools)?

de5igual · Post by **de5igual** » Sat Nov 04, 2017 11:15 am

Both--you have a bunch of unaccredited students taking the bar, but also the necessary passing score is a good 9-10 points higher (MBE-wise) than most jurisdictions. I think there was a study done where they found that if CA lowered its criteria to NY levels, 50% of those that failed would have passed.

InterAlia1961 · Post by **InterAlia1961** » Sat Nov 04, 2017 12:46 pm

Yes. It is much harder than every other state.

Anonymous Bar · Post by **Anonymous Bar** » Sat Nov 04, 2017 1:00 pm

Read somewhere Delaware is the hardest with Cali coming in at 2nd.

SilvermanBarPrep · Post by **SilvermanBarPrep** » Sun Nov 05, 2017 11:25 am

It's not the test itself. In fact, in reviewing the test (even though I don't teach it) it seems to me that it tests fewer non-MBE subjects that most others which would actually make studying easier since by preparing for the MBE you're preparing for a good percentage of the material that can appear on the California-specific portion of the exam.

But the grading is very rough. And that's what puts it at or near the top in terms of difficulty.

Sean (Silverman Bar Exam Tutoring)

L_William_W · Post by **L_William_W** » Sun Nov 05, 2017 2:07 pm

It seems like the level of difficulty of a bar exam is commensurate to the population of the state (with a few outliers like Alaska. I passed NY with a 278 UBE. I would've failed Alaska since they require a 280).

The California bar is harder than the MCAT.

a male human · Post by **a male human** » Tue Nov 07, 2017 4:22 pm

If I'm not mistaken, the majority of states use the UBE, which includes the MEE. California has its own beast of a written portion. It used to be that CA had two 3-hour performance tests across three days. It had an element of mental stamina. This is no longer the case now with one 90-minute PT and two days of testing. But a lot of California bar takers get screwed nonetheless on the essays in comparison to those in MEE jurisdictions.

For example, an MEE question might be narrow enough that the issue is practically identified for you: "Is Defendant guilty of burglary?"

Compare with a prompt on the CA bar: "What crimes did D, E and F commit? Explain."

You only get 60 minutes to answer the latter. And if you miss a major issue, you’re toast. No issue = no IRAC = no points.

Is the CA bar that much harder than other states? Forum

Is the CA bar that much harder than other states?

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