OT - For those of you who took the Bar Exam

Submitted by Njia on

A few days ago, the Board had an interesting discussion going on about the Bar exam. I'm just curious: now that it's over, was it as bad as expected? Are you feeling pretty good? Have you drunk yourself into a stupor? Are you thinking about long-haul trucking as a second career option?

big10football

July 29th, 2011 at 1:06 PM ^

I took NY and NJ. I didn't think that the state days were very hard, but the MBE was brutal. I think that there is a pretty good chance that I passed both.

ypsituckyboy

July 29th, 2011 at 1:15 PM ^

I took the MI bar. I thought the state essays were quite fair and not all that difficult. The first half of the MBE was pretty fair too, and not all that difficult, but the second half was pretty tough. I think I was able to narrow most of them down to two good options, but just guessed between the two for the most part.

Maize_in_Spartyland

July 29th, 2011 at 1:44 PM ^

Agreed on the MBE.  Second part I flagged a number of questions to review.  No trouble completing the MBE in the time provided, but really some minute areas that were tested on, if you ask me.

 

I took the Ohio bar, so we had 6 essays on Tuesday morning, 2 MPTs in the afternoon, and 6 essays on Thursday morning.  I either feel like I nailed the essays, or did reasonably well.  A couple I was unsure of, but with the extra time I had, I provided some substance to, hopefully, bump up my score.

ypsituckyboy

July 29th, 2011 at 1:16 PM ^

Also, are we not allowed to discuss the actual questions? I don't remember whether we can get in trouble for posting the questions/answers that we had issues with online.

michfan4borw

July 29th, 2011 at 3:20 PM ^

I remember being told numerous times that practicing law is a privilege until you get sworn in at which point it becomes a right.  After you pass the exam and get sworn in (and pay your first set of dues to get your atty number), then I think you can feel free to discuss the exam--by then though you probably won't care to or won't remember the questions you were concerned about.  Congrats though to all who sat for the full exam.

In reply to by michfan4borw

artds

July 29th, 2011 at 3:41 PM ^

It's sort of funny how that works. I graduated with a girl who couldn't get admitted into practice because she had a recent DUI, while a lawyer I know has had 3 of them in 5 years and hasn't had his license revoked.

In reply to by michfan4borw

artds

July 29th, 2011 at 3:41 PM ^

It's sort of funny how that works. I graduated with a girl who couldn't get admitted into practice because she had a recent DUI, while a lawyer I know has had 3 of them in 5 years and hasn't had his license revoked.

BiSB

July 29th, 2011 at 1:53 PM ^

I read that.  I'm pretty sure they just don't want the answers posted anywhere where people (i.e. BarBri and Kaplan) could find them.  So while they probably don't care if you discuss them with people, I'd recommend against discussing them online.

Besides, there's nothing to do now but wait for the results. No good can come from rehashing.

Erik_in_Dayton

July 29th, 2011 at 3:06 PM ^

I highly recommend not going back over the questions.  You'll just drive yourselves nuts.   Hopefully - probably, really - none of you will have to ever go through anything like that again (unless, like me, you make the dubious decision to move to a new state before you can waive into its bar). 

Waters Demos

July 29th, 2011 at 1:50 PM ^

Not nearly as bad as I expected. 

The essays were much more straightforward than those tested in the past 10 years.  I was actually nervous headed into it that I was going to see stuff I had never seen (lots of court rules and narrow things had been tested over the past decade, which I didn't know anything about).  But this year the essays were for the most part very broad.

As for the MBE, if you've done thousands of those questions before, it's fine.  Also, agreed with the poster above about the second half being harder.  The first half of the MBE was quite easy after the first 20 questions.  The second half had about 7-8 that I could not have answered with certainty if I had the rest of my life to do so. 

BiSB

July 29th, 2011 at 1:56 PM ^

They make you provide a "writing sample" for the MBE. In cursive.

It was quite literally the "Rizzuto" scene from Billy Madison.

victorsvaliant01

July 29th, 2011 at 7:31 PM ^

Dude, I can't believe you said that! I took the exam last year and After I finished writing my sample, which contained my seat number and leading zeroes (i.e. Those tough cursive z's), I noticed the cute girl next to me having trouble with them.
<br>
<br>I go to her, "b-u-n-t, bunt. In perfect cursive..."
<br>
<br>And she actually finished the line seamlessly: "Got any more brain busters?"
<br>
<br>I'm convinced that lightening the mood and helping us both laugh and relax in such a way helped us to both pass. I see her in bankruptcy court in the D now and again and we always joke about it.

los barcos

July 29th, 2011 at 2:22 PM ^

the exam i thought the MBE would be the easier half but leaving the exam i felt like it was much harder.  the essays were no big deal but the MBE was pretty brutal IME

artds

July 29th, 2011 at 3:31 PM ^

I took it last year. I was more nervous than I'd ever been in my life right up until the exam started. I remember sitting in my hotel room the night before feeling like I was awaiting my executuion.

But once it started I turned completely calm for some reason, and I left Breslin on day 2 knowing that I killed it.

Keep in mind that this is a minimum competency exam. 80-90 people out of 100 have no problem with it. If you went over all the BarBri practice questions, you'll be fine. And if not, there's always the appeals process.

KSmooth

July 29th, 2011 at 4:01 PM ^

I took the thing last year and it was about what I expected.  I took a lot of practice MBE and essay questions, so I knew what I was in for, and I went in well-prepared but well rested -- took a few days off from work so I could focus on the exam for the last few days without killing myself.  Wound up passing the thing with room to spare.  Essays were subpar but I rocked on the multistate.

If you're smart enough to hack law school you're smart enough to pass as long as you take it seriously and have an ounce of ability to keep cool under pressure.

The FannMan

July 29th, 2011 at 5:55 PM ^

If you thnk the exam was bad, wait until the time for the results to come out approaches.  I remember being unable to focus on anything other than how much it would suck to have to go through it again.  To add difficulty, my wife (at the time my fiancee) and I took it together.  So, I also had to worry about her too.  Just one of us passing would not have been good.

Of course, in my day, we had to wait for the results to be mailed to our places of residence.  There was no set timeline. They came out when they came out.  Could be October, could be November.  I am sure it is all computerized now.  Hell, they probably send you a friend request on facebook.

Good luck to all on the rsults.  

(Yes, i actually used the phrase "In my day.")