Monthly Archives: November 2012

Bar Exam Repeaters: Free Workshops to Demystify the Bar Exam

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Hello All,

If you have just failed the bar exam, you are no doubt trying to figure out what went wrong, what your scores mean, and most importantly you are trying to figure out what to do differently the next time to make sure you pass. The bar exam is not an I.Q. test. It is, simply, a test, and a very difficult one at that. You have found out the hard way that putting in hundreds of hours into studying has not worked, that it takes something else, something more than that. Passing the bar exam takes hard work, everyone knows that. But, it also requires an understanding of what the California Bar Examiners are looking for (both on the written and MBE portions of the exam).

Our “How to Pass the California Bar Exam” workshops not only provide instruction on how to pass the California bar exam, but also provide insight into what your scores really mean and what you can do differently next time to make sure that you pass the California bar exam.

See below for a list of our upcoming workshops. Space is limited, please email us at: pass@barnonereview.com or call (213) 529-0990 or (949) 891-8831 to make a reservation.

I wish you all the very best in your studies.

FREE WORKSHOPS: 

Orange County Workshop
“How to Pass the California Bar Exam”
Date: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm
Instructor: Professor Duncanson
Location: Orange, California (adjacent to the 5 and 57 freeways)

Los Angeles County Workshop
“How to Pass the California Bar Exam & Review of July 2012 Bar Exam”
Date: Saturday, December 1, 2012 from 10:00 am to 1:30 pm
Instructor: Professor Duncanson
Location: Los Angeles, California (adjacent to the 405 freeway)

Workshop attendees will receive free handouts (including free bar exam writing templates and MBE handouts), instruction on how to write for the California bar examiners, test taking strategies and techniques as well as have the opportunity to meet with our course instructor. The above workshops will be taught by Professor Duncanson (Bar None Review Bar Review course founder and author of The Bar Exam Guru Blog).

Space is limited. To make a reservation for one of the upcoming workshops, please contact us via email at: pass@barnonereview.com or you may call us at: (213) 529-0990 or (949) 891-8831.

Bar None Review

(213) 529-0990

(949) 891-8831

February 2013 Bar Exam: Free “How to Pass the Bar Exam Workshops”

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FREE WORKSHOPS: 

Orange County Workshop
“How to Pass the California Bar Exam”
Date: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm
Instructor: Professor Duncanson
Location: Orange, California (adjacent to the 5 and 57 freeways)

Los Angeles County Workshop
“How to Pass the California Bar Exam & Review of July 2012 Bar Exam”
Date: Saturday, December 1, 2012 from 10:00 am to 1:30 pm
Instructor: Professor Duncanson
Location: Los Angeles, California (adjacent to the 405 freeway)

Workshop attendees will receive free handouts (including free bar exam writing templates and MBE handouts), instruction on how to write for the California bar examiners, test taking strategies and techniques as well as have the opportunity to meet with our course instructor. The above workshops will be taught by Professor Duncanson (Bar None Review Bar Review course founder and author of The Bar Exam Guru Blog).

Space is limited. To make a reservation for one of the upcoming workshops, please contact us via email at: pass@barnonereview.com or you may call us at: (213) 529-0990 or (949) 891-8831.

Best regards,

The Bar Exam Guru
Bar None Review
(213) 529-0990
(949) 891-8831

California Bar Exam Tips: Free Score Review & Free Workshops

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Hello All,

If you failed the July 2012 bar exam, you should know that you are not alone. The complete statistics will be available on the California bar website soon. Pass rates for the July bar exams are usually just about 50%  So, if you did not pass, you know that you are among a significant number of people who are in the very same position.

What do I do now?

So what do you do now? Do you take another bar review course? Do you hire a private tutor? Do you study on your own? The answers to those questions will be different for everyone. First, you need to properly evaluate why it is that you failed. Second, consider attending one of our free bar exam workshops.

Free Bar Exam Workshops

We will offer a free bar exam writing workshop during the next week, for more information and to register, contact us at (213) 529-0990 or via email at: pass@barnonereview.com

Free Bar Exam Score Review

We provide, for a limited period of time (as our classes and private tutoring obligations begin and then we are just not available to provide this service) a free review of your past bar scores. In order to participate in this program, you will need to send your scores to pass@barnonereview.com. We only accept scanned in score sheets or faxed scores sheets at this time (we do not accept your typed in scores in an email). We have to be sure that we are dealing with you. In addition, provide a phone number where you can be reached (all score reviews and evaluations are conducted via phone). If you would like to send your score sheet to us via fax, simply send us an email and we will provide you our fax number.

Why should I have my scores reviewed?

As a repeat bar examinee, the first step to passing the next bar exam is to review your bar exam score sheet. This can be a very confusing piece of paper. Partly because it is simply just painful to look at. Here you are, you have just received the terrible news that you have failed the bar exam and now you have to make sense of the scores. In my experience, examinees very often do not understand how the scaling works or what equals a passing “raw” score. So hopefully, what follows below will be of help to you.

Because the scoring of the California Bar Exam is scaled, it is not easy to understand what a given raw score means nor is it clear where you will need to focus from numbers alone. For example, if an examinee scores consistently the same scores on their essays (i.e., all sixties or three fifty-fives and three sixties) it will indicate a different problem than an examinee whose scores have a greater range (i.e., one 45, one 75, two 65s and two 60s etc.).

What is a passing raw score for an essay or performance test?

First of all, the raw score that is passing for the essays, performance tests and the MBEs varies from bar exam to bar exam. Most examinees incorrectly believe that a 70 is always required to pass an essay. However, this is simply not the case. In the past several bar rounds, a passing raw score on the essay has been as low as a 61 and as high as a 63 – not a 70. Of course, a 70 is a much better score to receive and better yet, 80s are really what you should be shooting for – this is the score we do our best to teach our students to be able to achieve consistently.

What is a passing raw score for the MBE?

The passing raw score for the MBE in the past few years has gone down dramatically. Several years ago, to pass the MBE portion of the exam you really needed to achieve at least 70% correct (a raw score of 140). However, in the past couple of years, the raw passing score has been between 62% – 66% (a raw score of 124 to 133). However, your practice scores should be much, much higher to ensure that you will do well enough on the MBE portion on the actual exam day.

Once the California bar releases the full statistics, some of these numbers will become more clear. However, what is most important is where you are – how far away from passing were you really? Most examinees that I speak with are quite off base when they call in to discuss their scores. There is a lot of misinformation out there. I have been following message boards and I am shocked at how little examinees know about how the test is scored. This is the fault of both law schools and bar preparation courses. It can be incredibly helpful to have someone who is knowledgeable about it to help you interpret your scores. This is really the first step in figuring out what you need or don’t need.

Free Downloads & Further Assistance

Also, be sure to visit our bar review course website free downloads of some of our Bar Exam Writing Templates as well as advice for those who are repeating the bar exam. Click here for additional Repeat Taker Information and click here for free downloads of some of The Exam Writing Templates.

Good luck to you and do not give up, this exam is do-able!

Thank you for reading and please feel free to email me directly at: pass@barnonereview.com

Good luck in your studies!

Sincerely,

Lisa Duncanson
Program Director/Founder
Bar None Review
(213) 529-0990
barnonereview.com

July 2012 Bar Results: Common Questions, Getting Sworn In, Workshops

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Hello All,

For those of you who are waiting for bar results, I wish you the very best of luck! In less than 24 hours you will learn whether you have passed the California bar exam!

I want to thank all who have written in and who have made comments on this blog. I am very thankful for your following and appreciate your feedback and support. The blog has received over 270,00 views . . . thank you for reading and for spreading the word.

I want to address some of the common questions and concerns I receive around this time of year.

1. If I fail the bar exam, will I get my scores right away?  (Note, I have written extensively about “what to do if you fail the bar exam” and will do so again. You can search this blog for earlier posts that provide advice on what to do in the event you fail the exam). If you fail the bar exam you will not get your scores immediately. However, the bar examiners will send you your scores via regular mail right away. Most examinees receive their scores by the following Monday or Tuesday after bar results are released. The only information you will receive from the state bar website’s pass list is whether you are on the list or not. If you passed you will know because you will see your name and will be told that your name “appears on the pass list”. If you do not pass the exam, you will essentially only be told that “your name does not appear on the pass list” (this is the message that a person receives on the state bar website at http://www.calbar.org if they have not passed). This leads me to the next commonly asked question . . .

2. If I receive the message: “your name does not appear on the pass list”, could it be a mistake? Well, sure, it is possible. But, not very likely. Rumors that people have been told they failed online and then received letters in the mail that they had in fact actually passed are just that – rumors. In past years, the state bar exam website has crashed (due to high traffic). However, when this has happened examinees were simply delayed in obtaining their results until the site was up and running again. To my knowledge, the crash did not result in anyone receiving incorrect results. So, the short answer is: no, sadly, if you receive the message “your name does not appear on the pass list” then it is pretty certain indicator that you have failed the exam. I get this question quite a bit on the evening of bar results and I always feel so badly that examinees sometimes are left wondering if there could be a mistake. It just goes to prove how difficult this exam is and how you can study incredibly hard and still not pass. So don’t be too hard on yourself if you get bad news. Instead, work on figuring out why you did not pass and then address those issues.

Should you learn that you did not pass, know that you have time to come up with a solution: a game plan, a strategy for passing the next exam. (Don’t let any bar review provider pressure you into committing to a program immediately. There is time. It is important that you take some time to find the right fit for you – don’t allow yourself to be bullied. I hate to use that word, but, quite frankly some bar review providers are pretty aggressive – others are not – trust your instincts and don’t let anyone push you around).

Here’s hoping you are not looking for another bar review course, but instead are looking for where to be sworn in . . . we will provide a list of swearing in locations soon – check back – we will post this information soon.

Also, please spread the word – we will be offering workshops on “How to Pass the California Bar Exam” (See details below).

All the best to all who are waiting for results!

Our next “How to Pass the California Bar Exam” workshop will be held on Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Workshop attendees will receive free handouts (including selected Bar Exam Writing Templates). Space is limited. To reserve your space, contact us at: (949) 891-8831 or via email at: pass@barnonereview.com

Additional workshops to be held on:

Saturday, December 1, 2012  – 10:00 am – 12:30 pm (How to Pass the California Bar Exam Workshop)

December 1, will likely conclude our series of free workshops for this bar round season as we will then need to focus exclusively on our enrolled students.

 

California Bar Exam Tip: California Bar Exam Model Answers Published in Los Angeles Daily Journal

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The Los Angeles Daily Journal will publish our model answer to the Community Property/Professional Responsibility Question (essay number two) from the July 2012 bar exam in their “New Lawyer Supplement” bar exam results issue. The issue is available at all California law schools. We will also be happy to send you a copy of our model answer via email. Good luck to those of you who are waiting for results from the July 2012 California bar exam!

Lisa Duncanson
Program Director/Founder
Bar None Review
(949) 891-8831 or (213) 529-0990

barnonereview.com