Horror Story...Yet Still Passed? Forum

[mjmjmj]

I just want to give hope to future takers. I thought I totally screwed up my exam. I completely misread an essay question to the point that my response was entirely irrelevant. Some of my other essays were better than others, but I kept seeing on posts that people freaked out if they missed ONE issue in an essay. I missed many issues across most of the essays. On the MPT (NY exam), I did not really follow the instructions properly and wrote more of an objective style memo as opposed to a persuasive brief which was the assignment. TBH, I am a good writer so where I hit the points I probably did compensate for some of the mistakes. What shocked me is not that I just passed the essay portion, but I scored nearly perfect on the essay portion.

I also knew I screwed up so many of the MBE questions. I knew for a fact (bc I looked up the answers after) that I got at least 25 questions wrong. Again, I scored very high on the MBE section. Now I did not know which were experimental, but still. My point is, don't worry, and don't give up your summer months stressing about the exam. I was certain I failed and I passed by so many points.

[OneShot2009]

My horror story now that I know I passed...

First, I almost forgot my laptop the first day. Actually I did forget my laptop, but luckily a family member was able to drive it to me. But this put me in a really freaked out panicky place to start.

I get chronic migraines and I had a horrible migraine the first day of the NY bar. I felt incredibly ill through the whole exam and almost unable to focus entirely for the afternoon session (6 essays). I spent two hours writing them before calling it a day. I left an hour early (meaning I spent 20 minutes on each essay.) I left so early people heard about it in other rooms. I left so early someone recognized me while I was boarding the plane for my post-bar trip to Greece and identified me as the girl who left an hour early.

I passed. I passed by a lot. Keep your chin up, everyone reading this. You'll be okay.

[foxes]

I was so exhausted I LITERALLY fell asleep on Day 2 (i spent twenty mins in the bathroom trying to wake up), and I had stress induced hives in Day 1 and still managed to pass by a lot. I also literally had no clue as to a good percentage of MBE questions bc Barbri hadn't covered those topics and even if they had, I only got to like, 75% completion. Sooo... You can still pass even if a bunch of things go horribly awry haha.

[WVTax21]

On a cold February day, I took the exam for the first time. I had taken two weeks off of work and studied nearly 14 hours a day trying to focus on the MBE and let my elegance of BSing take the wheel for the essays. I focused on what Barbri said you should for the Pennsylvania essays mind you, and I left trusts, partnerships, and those more trivial areas of law for a rainy day because I knew I wouldn't get to them. Needles to say, one partnership, one trust, and a migraine later, I failed the first time. 13 points on Friday the 13th.

So I immediately apply again. I retained a lot from my first battle, so certain areas were coming easier than others in my initial prep way out from the actual exam. I get my ticket for the exam. It says Philadelphia. But wait, I live in Pittsburgh. I signed up for Pittsburgh. Why isn't it Pittsburgh!? I call the office for the bar examiners, and I am told "it filled up, you should have applied earlier." Well I didn't intend on failing the first time, now did I!? So...I start planning for a Philly exam. I get the hotel, get the EZpass for the tolls, and I am feeling pretty good. Another 2 weeks off work, and I recognize again that I know nothing Jon Snow. My girlfriend drives us to Philly as I frantically review every area of law for the essays and even reread old PTs.

I get to the exam and boot up my computer. I try to log into Examsoft, and it says error. But wait, I downloaded this package. Why won't you work, machine!? Come to find out, my old examsoft managed somehow to override my new examsoft. I have a pen. I am now a writer. Kindly grandma proctor says, "It'll be just fine. I had to hand write it when I took it. You'll do great." Alright Granny proctor, you're right! I can do this! The essays aren't bad, and I actually feel good until I get to the PT. I don't know how to draft whatever they wanted me to, and the example isn't great. Best effort forward! The day ends as I wring my hands trying to regain feeling.

The MBE, well it's the MBE. It sucks. It's 200 questions of yeah you can't convict on any of these charges, but what's closest? No one finishes the MBE and says, man that was excellent.

The patience game in progress. Finally, the day comes. They make you wait until 4pm in PA for some reason this time, but I wait at work. I refresh. I refresh. I do this because PA is brutal and lists the passers names and leaves off those who failed. And there it is. My name.

My friends, horror stories are meant to be terrifying. So I will not finish this tale there. I look at my scores when they arrive. Wow. I barely passed. Right on the do....t? Wait. These scores don't add to the requisite score. Oh dear God. A clerical error. They rounded incorrectly. I can do math, math is my friend. THESE ADD TO ONE POINT TOO FEW! Oh the shame. Oh the anguish. But, then I recognize PA weights the scores differently and I actually do pass. By .0009. It's a horror story where I left alive, barely on wounded knee. But if I can study a grand total of basically 4 weeks and pass, then you'll be fine.

[spartan_]

This is not a horror story.

I heard that you had to complete over 75% in *insert whatever bar review*, study 10 hours a day, no days off, blah blah blah. I heard it ALL. I have never been the studious type. I put about 6 hours a day, took at LEAST one full day off/week, completed about 50% of Themis (but just marked full outlines as read without reading them, writing one sentence on most essays), worked out everyday, and so on. Studying for the bar was great because it was completely void of the real world responsibilities that being a lawyer creates.

During the two days of testing, I know I killed the MPT, I felt like I was in Kindergarten with those MEE's, like seriously how could they be asking such simple questions?? Two glasses of wine with dinner that night. Second Day: left Both sections of MBE at least 30 minutes early. Did I pass? Yes, with flying colors for every jurisdiction.

My advise: Keep stress down. Did I have any freak out moments pre/post Bar, uh yeah of course I did, I am human after all. I also looked over Critical Pass more often than Themis because I wasn't learning or remembering anything with Themis, so figure out works best for you and go with it. Don't break you routine, if you workout everyday, keep doing it. I feel as though that 1-2 hour/day not only kept my stress down, but it was the time of day I could interact with other humans, I loved it.

Takeaway: Don't listen to what everyone else is doing, do what works for you, stay calm, and murder the UBE.

[texasattn18]

This thread gave me hope while I was waiting to find out if I passed the bar, so I will share this in hopes it can give someone else peace.

I took the Texas bar in July, and went to a law school in a different state. I used barbri and completed like 70% (I will admit I checked some things off, and I still enjoyed my life somewhat during the summer. I think ultimately this did help me stay sane and keep my stress levels down. I took off the night before the 4th of July, and all of the 4th.). I really didn't focus like I should on essay topics I had never studied at all prior to the summer. I pretty much gave up on secured transactions and commercial paper at the end (literally could not comprehend commercial paper so it was a waste of time anyway), and knew the bare minimum of Texas property law. I finished the morning essays, and one really confused me and I thought it was secured transactions, so I wrote what I knew about secured transactions (knowing it was likely irrelevant). Over lunch I found out that it was actually a Texas property question and not even secured transactions. The really nice guy beside me during the exam told me he could see how I thought it was secured transactions, but I think he was just trying to make me feel better so I could finish the exam lol. This really threw me, and on the real secured transactions question, I panicked and only wrote a few sentences, and then later found out that I could have just written about agency law (a topic I actually knew about). I did feel confident on probably half of the essays that I had at least a passing answer, but this didn't feel like enough to pass to me. SO - given all of that, I was convinced that I failed. When they called time I wanted to cry because I thought thats what it felt like to fail the bar exam and I never wanted to be in that room again. Cried off and on all evening the night before results. I was in shock when I found out I passed. I also really did not have an impressive MBE score at all. So when people tell you that they are really forgiving on essay answers, believe them, because it is true!

[dabigchina]

Checking in.

I took the CA bar. I got 0 (read: none) hours of sleep the night before the MBE because of nerves. I even drank some tequila at 4am to try to put myself to sleep, which did not work. Got to the test center all woozy. Barely stayed awake for the PM session.

I still passed in CA.

[bacillusanthracis]

In July, I was so nervous that I actually did California Evidence, which was the #2 essay first, but typed it in the #1 essay page. I didn't realize the mistake until I'd typed out the Contracts essay where the California evidence essay was supposed to go. So they were both on the wrong page. No big; I'll just do a copy and paste job and move on.

The first time I tried to copy and paste CE onto the other page, it didn't work. Then I tried it again. It still didn't work. Same results the third time. Then I tried it in reverse and it worked. But I'd somehow erased about the lower 1/3 of my Contracts essay in the process, so I had to re-do it.

I don't know how I passed, but I did.

I think it was because I refused to allow myself to get freaked out.

[phonylawyer2017]

In July, I was so nervous that I actually did California Evidence, which was the #2 essay first, but typed it in the #1 essay page. I didn't realize the mistake until I'd typed out the Contracts essay where the California evidence essay was supposed to go. So they were both on the wrong page. No big; I'll just do a copy and paste job and move on.

The first time I tried to copy and paste CE onto the other page, it didn't work. Then I tried it again. It still didn't work. Same results the third time. Then I tried it in reverse and it worked. But I'd somehow erased about the lower 1/3 of my Contracts essay in the process, so I had to re-do it.

I don't know how I passed, but I did.

I think it was because I refused to allow myself to get freaked out.

For future takers: get familiar with ctrl+z (undo function). I didn't have an issue with this on the bar, but in law school it saved me a few times.

[cabartaker92]

Posted this in another thread, but this is more detailed.

I passed the July 2018 CA bar, but DEFINITELY almost failed (proof below). During the PM session of the MBE, we started approx. 20 minutes late, and I forgot to take note of this. I had a clock in front of me keeping time, but it was set to match real world time–not the time we actually started. After 25 questions I look to my clock and realize I am WAY behind on time (which I wasn't, since I didn't account for the 20 minute late start). I figured I needed to increase my pace dramatically, so I just started jotting down first glance answers and guessing. After 50 straight questions I look at my clock again and remember... oh shit. We started late, I'm actually fine. So I tried to go back over a few of those questions at the end but the damage was already done. There was nowhere near enough time to correct those answers. I only got to review 5 of those 50 questions, and didn't even change those answers. After the exam, I felt no relief whatsoever like my classmates seemed to be feeling. Just pure anxiety. After 4 agonizing months of waiting, and weeks of reading this review board, results were posted. I lost my file number to access the official results (which panicked me WAY more than necessary), but I eventually stumbled across the website where I applied to take the bar to see if it was on there and BRIEFLY I saw a little line on my account that I fulfilled the requirement for passing the July 2018 CA bar exam. F*ck. At that moment, I finally felt relief.

Three days and three handles of vodka later, I was curious to see what I actually scored on the MBE. So I requested my MBE score advisory (CA doesn't release exact scores), and apparently I scored between 145 and 150 scaled on the MBE. In California you need to average 144, so I BARELY passed. As a point of reference, I was scoring about 165 in final practice, so I got at least 30 more questions wrong on the MBE than in practice, which is significant. I'm just so glad I did well enough to pass.

If there's any words of wisdom I can give, please read below:

1. ONCE THE PROCTOR SAYS START, SET YOUR CLOCK TO THE ORIGINAL PLANNED START TIME. Don't fail because you made the same dumb mistake I did and didn't know how much time you had left.

2. Your law school grades have no effect whatsoever on bar results. I graduated bottom 25% of my class at a T4 law school. 2.7 GPA. My self confidence about passing the bar was so low after graduating, but that's a different story. The bar is a clean slate, and if you need to wipe it clean after you graduate, then by god wipe it clean. Be a different person if you have to. If you devote your entire life to the bar for 2-3 months, and constantly reevaluate whether you're studying effectively, you're gonna pass. Nothing beats hard work, determination, and obsessively Googling how to pass.

3. You can make large mistakes and still pass.

[Smiddywesson]

As most of us sweat it out, this thread should prove useful, it was exactly what I needed to read.

[LawQueen777]

Has anyone totally bombed the CA PT on the recent 2 day exam and still passed? I have been solely focusing on essays since they have been my worst section, and not so much on the PT this time. I have been getting 10-20 points away from passing every time (1420-1430). This is my 4th time doing CA bar. I'm so frustrated with myself right now. I feel decent about my essays this time around, but totally ran out of time on the PT because I spent too much time outlining and organizing on paper and not on my computer screen. I'm pretty decent on MBEs, as I usually score 156-159. Can I still pass with a PT score of 55?

[ReasonablePersonSSC]

Has anyone totally bombed the CA PT on the recent 2 day exam and still passed? I have been solely focusing on essays since they have been my worst section, and not so much on the PT this time. I have been getting 10-20 points away from passing every time (1420-1430). This is my 4th time doing CA bar. I'm so frustrated with myself right now. I feel decent about my essays this time around, but totally ran out of time on the PT because I spent too much time outlining and organizing on paper and not on my computer screen. I'm pretty decent on MBEs, as I usually score 156-159. Can I still pass with a PT score of 55?

In California, passers do not receive their scores so no one knows for sure if they passed despite bombing on the PT. The PT is worth 2 essays so if you made up the lost points in the other 5 essays for an average of 62.5 - 65, you could still pass assuming your MBEs are sufficiently high.

[fadedgreyx]

Has anyone totally bombed the CA PT on the recent 2 day exam and still passed? I have been solely focusing on essays since they have been my worst section, and not so much on the PT this time. I have been getting 10-20 points away from passing every time (1420-1430). This is my 4th time doing CA bar. I'm so frustrated with myself right now. I feel decent about my essays this time around, but totally ran out of time on the PT because I spent too much time outlining and organizing on paper and not on my computer screen. I'm pretty decent on MBEs, as I usually score 156-159. Can I still pass with a PT score of 55?

Yes, you can. Although I don't know what I actually got on the PT, I am 99% sure I scored a 40-45 on my PT last July 2018. Why I'm so sure? If I remember correctly, there were about two separate issues. For each issue, I wrote one sentence for the issue/intro line, a couple sentences for the rule statement, two sentences for analysis, and a conclusion sentence for both issues. For a portion of the exam that is suppose to take 1.5 hours, my PT was only ~300 words long.

However, for the essays, I felt pretty confident on 4/5 essays, and felt mediocre (60) about the 5th one (Con law). For the MBEs, I was scoring rather high %wise during my bar prep. So I still carried a sliver of hope that I could still pass even though I knew I completely bombed the PT. In the end, I still passed.

[LawQueen777]

Has anyone totally bombed the CA PT on the recent 2 day exam and still passed? I have been solely focusing on essays since they have been my worst section, and not so much on the PT this time. I have been getting 10-20 points away from passing every time (1420-1430). This is my 4th time doing CA bar. I'm so frustrated with myself right now. I feel decent about my essays this time around, but totally ran out of time on the PT because I spent too much time outlining and organizing on paper and not on my computer screen. I'm pretty decent on MBEs, as I usually score 156-159. Can I still pass with a PT score of 55?

Yes, you can. Although I don't know what I actually got on the PT, I am 99% sure I scored a 40-45 on my PT last July 2018. Why I'm so sure? If I remember correctly, there were about two separate issues. For each issue, I wrote one sentence for the issue/intro line, a couple sentences for the rule statement, two sentences for analysis, and a conclusion sentence for both issues. For a portion of the exam that is suppose to take 1.5 hours, my PT was only ~300 words long.

However, for the essays, I felt pretty confident on 4/5 essays, and felt mediocre (60) about the 5th one (Con law). For the MBEs, I was scoring rather high %wise during my bar prep. So I still carried a sliver of hope that I could still pass even though I knew I completely bombed the PT. In the end, I still passed.

Thank you so much. This gives me hope. Now I need to figure out how not to pine about it for the next 4 months. Fingers crossed!

[NonPracticingT1Grad]

I was convinced that I failed last year. Essays 1 and 2 were easy, and I was thinking the bar exam would be a piece of cake. Then, I hit essays 3 and 4. I blanked and had no idea how to answer either one. I'm pretty sure that I thought a property question was secured transactions. I completely bombed those two questions. That was a good time for a break, so I got up to get some water and went back to finish up my hopeless effort. The rest of the exam was ok, not great or terrible.

When I got my scores back, I saw that my poor performance was good enough for a 293--20 points over the passing score. My Day 1 score was almost identical to Day 2.

[dpcjsa]

I haven't taken it yet but plan to take Connecticut in near future, probably February. I heard a couple of horror stories from people in Mass. They prepared adequately, but they weren't confident on Test Day because, really, who is confident? Their test turned into a horror show because of the behavior of another test taker. Some lady in the test spent the first day audibly CRYING as she took the Bar, and then took Day Two while standing up, not seated. My friends said it was a major distraction. They passed, though, so it wasn't enough of a distraction to interfere with their concentration. I've heard other stories of applicants making too much noise and just being disruptive but not removed. To me, that's a horror show. Imagine studying your butt off and then failing because the proctors allowed some selfish tool to make too much noise?

[koala_tea]

Since July 31 2019 this thread has been the only thing that calmed my post-NY bar exam anxiety. I thought I would share my horror story for future takers (especially LL.M.s who may already feel at a disadvantage given the 43% pass rate for foreign bar takers).

I am an LL.M. grad from a top U.S. law school and originally from a Common Law country which does not use standardized testing in order to assess who gets into university, who gets into law school, and who gets admitted as a practicing lawyer. To get admitted to the bar in my country, law graduates typically take a 9 month part-time course with many small tests and assessments during their first year of working. To say I was not prepared for what the bar demands would be an understatement. I also made the horrible mistake of choosing Kaplan as my bar prep course (it assumes a lot of knowledge of U.S. law, doesn't engage with the specific points of law tested, uses ridiculously lengthy videos/outlines, and it also doesn't use real past MBE questions so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone!). I also only gave myself 6 weeks to study because I underestimated how much work studying for the bar would involve. In the first 3 weeks, I was averaging between 80-100 on the MBE with the Kaplan questions and completely freaking out. In the last 3 weeks, I ditched Kaplan and switched to using the "one sheets" and MBE questions from JDadvising.com, Emanuel, and Adaptibar. I studied 12-14 hrs per day and my MBE score average went up to 140-150.

The day before the bar I was still frantically cramming MEE essay topics and MPT answer scaffold structures on the train. I made sure to stop my cramming in the early afternoon and went to the gym that evening to clear my head but I ended up not being able to sleep at all (despite taking every natural sleep aid I could get my hands on). When I got up I was groggy and tired so I had 3 shots of espresso to face the morning session and finished the first MPT but only got through about a third of the second one. I wasn't feeling great so I had another shot of espresso to keep myself going through the MEEs and completed only 5/6 (and missed a ton of issues throughout the ones I did complete). Was not feeling good about day 1 but thought I would just try to get some rest and do my best on day 2. Unfortunately all the caffeine I had to get me through day 1 meant that I couldn't sleep that night (even after trying some melatonin sleep aids) so I rocked up to day 2 without sleep and even more exhausted the day 1. Somehow I managed to get through both the morning and afternoon sessions with more caffeine and heaps of sugary granola bars. I did not think there was any chance I could have passed given the circumstances and I felt really stupid for leaving my studying too late and overdoing the sleep aids/caffeine on the test days.

I was shocked when I received the notice that I had passed this week (not only that I had passed, but that I had passed with an overall score of 289 i.e. an MBE score of 144 and a combined MPT/MEE score of 145). I think the main takeaways from my experience are: 1) LL.M.s don't let the low foreign pass rates spook you into thinking you can't pass; 2) use any bar prep course but Kaplan (would highly recommend JDadvising.com, Emanuel, and Adaptibar); 3) start studying and researching what the bar involves well beforehand; and 4) don't overdo the sleep aids/caffeine on the test days.

[theswisswereright]

Sharing my story so that someone else might benefit from my anxiety.

So I took the bar in New York (and I'm not from there). I studied for two months precisely, about eight hours a day, with a few days off. I used Barbri, if it matters, and did pretty well on their practice MBE. I was reciting MEE facts to my dad on the phone while I was on a layover flying up to Buffalo. In my personal opinion, I was Not Playing Around.

Day one went okay, despite the laptop chargers on my row being out intermittently. I finished the two MPTs with no time left over (I think I did the easier one first, and spent precisely half my time on it). I finished the essays with about twenty minutes remaining, and for about one and a half of them, I had no idea what I was talking about. Barbri told me class actions wouldn't be on the MEE. They lied. That said, I walked out feeling pretty all right.

Day two (MBE) was when things went south. I read very quickly, I always have, but I got through the morning session with maybe forty minutes left. I reviewed every single question again, and even changed a few answers, but I was done with that second review in time to leave the room early for lunch. We were allowed phones at lunch, so I got mine from the belongings room and looked up some of the answers I'd been unsure about. I had gotten them right, so I felt decent.

The afternoon session... I don't know HOW this happened, but I was done answering the questions in about half the time they gave us. I reviewed them all again, and even marked a few questions to give a third look. I went to the bathroom, trying to puzzle out how the hell I was done so quickly. I sat there and contemplated my life. Finally, I raised my hand to get a pass to leave, about an hour before the end of time. I reasoned that staring at the questions longer wouldn't make my score any better. I think I was the first person out, and people were staring at me as I walked by. I felt like I had been in a trance.

I walked out of the test center feeling 100% like I failed, and then had to get in an Uber where the driver refused to turn on the air conditioning (and it was really hot). I flew home and told everyone I probably failed, and not to talk to me about it any more. I planned to retake the bar in February and tried to figure out where I was going to get the money. I agonized for three months. I really didn't want to take the bar again. I kept looking at statistics for first time takers, statistics for people who used Barbri, correlations between law school class quartile and pass rates. I couldn't sleep or eat or think straight. The night results were supposed to drop, I stayed up till 4 in the morning waiting.

I passed.

I passed with a high enough score to transfer anywhere in the country that accepts the UBE, and then some.

I have learned that it is literally impossible to predict how you did when you're walking out, and that if you're a type-A personality, you will think you failed until your passing result is in your hands. Just... do your best, throw everything you have into studying, and you're going to make it.

[Germanatty]

This is to soothe those future bar exam takers' nerves who frantically search the internet for comparable mistakes after their bar exam. However, I really do not think these experiences can be generalized. I was lucky the MBE mean was higher than usual, I am an experienced foreign attorney, so I am used to legal writing and assessing issues, etc. Nevertheless, to whom it may concern:

CalBar July 2019:

- left 2 out of 4 calls of one essay unanswered (though I have got to say that the first two calls seemed to cover a lot of different issues, which I think I mostly got, whereas the last two concerned only two questions really).
- missed the statute of frauds-issue in the contracts essay (still do not know how that could have happened) and therefore extensively discussed rights and remedies for the wrong person. Also, after reading threads here and elsewhere I felt that I moreover did not present other issues sufficiently precisely.
- left six MBEs blank (not even randomly bubbling in B) and had no clue how the first half of the MBE went.
- thought the substance of the PT (objective memo) was good, but I did not have a header that said "Memorandum", "to/ from /Re" or an introduction.

Was very worried until I found out that, somehow, I passed.