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Does Themis Grade harder than bar examiners?
Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2018 10:48 pm
by Lawworld19
I know Barbri does apparently. Just scored a 3 on a graded essay, feel like I knew the law decently well (torts).
Anyone take themis where they were scoring poorly then do ok on the bar exam?
Re: Does Themis Grade harder than bar examiners?
Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2018 11:07 pm
by Splurgles23
Themis and Barbri both grades the essay portions much more harshly than the actual exam graders, who are lawyers drafted for the purpose temporarily and are not trying to nitpick when they have to grade the hundreds of the exams given to them. The essay portion is much easier than the multiple-choice, partly for that very reason.
Re: Does Themis Grade harder than bar examiners?
Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 1:48 pm
by juliejul
In my experience, yes! I did all of the graded essays, gave them a good amount of effort, and didn't do great. I think I was typically around 50-60th percentile on my practice test percentiles, except on the MPT practice where I was a bit higher. I scored in the 98-99th percentile on essays on the actual bar (Feb '18 UBE).
Re: Does Themis Grade harder than bar examiners?
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:26 am
by barmagot
Similar story with my Barbri prep so far.. I did really well on an essay (knew every answer, felt super confident, matched the model answer in all material ways), and I was graded a 65/100... Couldn't believe it. I considered asking Barbri for another rep to grade it, but never did.
Re: Does Themis Grade harder than bar examiners?
Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 10:51 am
by SilvermanBarPrep
They do, from what I can tell. And the reason is because it really wouldn't be great for either you or for them if you score lowest when it counts. I do think that sometimes this approach of scoring so harshly can be detrimental but on balance it's probably the correct approach.
Sean (Silverman Bar Exam Tutoring)
Re: Does Themis Grade harder than bar examiners?
Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 11:40 pm
by barjamie8
barmagot wrote:Similar story with my Barbri prep so far.. I did really well on an essay (knew every answer, felt super confident, matched the model answer in all material ways), and I was graded a 65/100... Couldn't believe it. I considered asking Barbri for another rep to grade it, but never did.
Are you in California? I ran into the same issue and found it far more helpful to compare my essays to the real ones that scored 65, 70, etc (you can see these on BarEssays.com) to see if the grading is correct. I don't trust the so-called course rep graders at all.
Re: Does Themis Grade harder than bar examiners?
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:17 am
by barmagot
barjamie8 wrote:barmagot wrote:Similar story with my Barbri prep so far.. I did really well on an essay (knew every answer, felt super confident, matched the model answer in all material ways), and I was graded a 65/100... Couldn't believe it. I considered asking Barbri for another rep to grade it, but never did.
Are you in California? I ran into the same issue and found it far more helpful to compare my essays to the real ones that scored 65, 70, etc (you can see these on BarEssays.com) to see if the grading is correct. I don't trust the so-called course rep graders at all.
I'm in NY; but how did your answer compare to BarEssays 65-70 answers? I'm curious