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ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by HiOCEAN » Thu Feb 23, 2017 12:43 pm

I just took the February 2017 bar exam and thought it would be a good idea to share some things about the venue and other miscellaneous items to ease the nerves or curiosity of others who are planning to take the exam. Others, please feel free to add your thoughts about ANYTHING Illinois bar exam related.

My exam was at the UIC Forum, which is in a fairly trendy college neighborhood, with some eateries and coffee shops a very short walk away.

Can I bring my stuff to the exam?
-Yes, there is a "secure area" to store bags and coats. It's a medium size room with conference tables and garment racks to hang coats. I don't think there is any security there, you keep stuff there at your own risk, but it seems no one gets anything stolen. People also use the area to review outlines before the exam, and eat their packed lunches.

What's the bathroom situation?
-So the bathrooms are just outside the testing room, but you have to sign in and out with your name and time, with proctors looking over you. Usually right before a testing session and right after, there is a long line for the bathrooms, but there are plenty of stalls and the line moves pretty fast. There are no paper towels, and only 2 hand dryers that are not superefficient, so it might be a good idea to have some tissues/paper towels on hand. The faucets and soap dispensers are all motion sensored. However the flush is not.

Setup of the tables
- There are long thin tables set up, with about 18 people per row. Everyone faces the front. There is not that much space in between examinees. The temperature of the room started off nicely, but there was a draft and it got colder. I would definitely bring a sweater/hoodie, even if it's summer (with the AC). You do NOT want to be uncomfortable at this point.

Room
-It's not bad. There was carpeting and good lighting and had a "warm" feeling compared to some other bar exam venues. When you walk out of the testing room, there are large clear glass windows where you can see the street and Sears Tower and the skyline, so it feels nice to look outside.

Hangout areas:


Proctors:
Proctors are really nice and wish you good luck! Seems like they genuinely want you to pass, which I appreciated on a day where everyone is so nervous.

LUNCHTIME:
You can bring a packed lunch and eat in the secure storage area room. If the weather is nice you can also eat right outside the forum where they have a large open gathering area with benches etc. There's also a Subway across the street (but the line can get long). Also a Peet's coffee. Lines were long but moved VERY fast. I felt they were prepared to serve the bar examinees! And examinees are thoughtful and just order a coffee instead of some convoluted espresso drink that would hold up the line. I felt walking to and from lunch was a great way to relax and feel refreshed again before the afternoon session. Even if you bring your lunch from home, go outside, get some fresh air, and walk if you can.

Anything else you want to know about? Ask.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by unidentifiable » Thu Feb 23, 2017 1:49 pm

I also took this exam.

There are nearby hotels, but (I think) all are over a 15 minute walk. Do your own risk assessment. Is it worth walking downtown carrying a laptop out in the open/in the rain (if you don't bring a bag)? Ubers were plenty, but it took some time to grab one at the end of the day because of traffic.

Proctors will not open the doors until 7am, so if you get there early, you'll be waiting outside.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by HiOCEAN » Thu Feb 23, 2017 2:26 pm

Does anyone know how harshly Illinois grades the essays (both IEE and the MEE)?

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by ndbigdave » Thu Feb 23, 2017 6:29 pm

I also just sat for the 2017 February Illinois Exam.

The overall assesment above is accurate.

I have also taken the Michigan (2015) July exam and I did notice a few differences that I thought I would mention and some general thoughts.

#1 - You do not bring your own writing utensils.
Michigan made it a point to bring a few pencils, pens and to even bring a sharpener. In Illinois you cannot bring any such items in. You are provided a pen for writing (if you write) and a mechanical pencil for the MBE. They even taken the mechanical pencils from the AM session and provide a different colored mechanical pencil in the PM. I thought it was odd and unnecessary, but a truly "standardized" environment.

#2 - Food. Obviously this depends on what you have available (if you are flying in to take the test I am dubious youll go buy groceries to make a lunch), but my suggestion is to bring food, place it in a cooler bag and then eat at/near the UIC. In the event the weather is bad I wouldnt want to have to walk outside and then wait in a line at Subway or Popeyes. You will have an hour (and likely less) keep things simple, control the food youll eat and avoid having to go out in the rain/cold (depending on when you sit for the test).

#3 - Walking is an option. Depending on where you get a hotel (or where you live) I would give serious thought to walking to the UIC. The area is safe, its during the day and for the most part you are on/near a college campus. I live about 1.8 miles away from the test site, I pre-ordered a Lyft for each morning and the afternoon on Tuesday, but actually walked home on Wednesday. If my girlfriend had not dug her heels into taking a car I would have likely walked in the morning as well (weather permitting).

#4 - The staff at the UIC was wonderful. Every person I spoke to was pleasant and willing to help. That being said, they also seemed to take their jobs seriously. Checking my clear plastic bag thoroughly, ensuring examinees had their badges on at all times etc. The proctors were quick to respond to concerns, supplied new pens/pencils when necessary and appeared to be very vigilant while watching examinees taking the test. There were also proctors outside the door requiring sign-in/sign-out and a proctor near the restroom.

#5 - Things ran on time...usually even fast. What do I mean? You will be told to be "at your seat" by 8:00 or 8:30 for the AM session, however due to the NCBE the tests cant technically start until 8:30 or 9:00 - examinees were in their seats promptly and instructions started promptly. In fact, instructions and the passing out of materials was so efficient the entire room had to sit for almost 6 whole minutes before we could officially "start."

#6 - There is one large room (as described) for students to hang coats, leave books, lunches and personal effects, from what I could tell the room was never "locked" or officially secured, but with so many proctors wandering around and UIC staff/security I felt pretty comfortable leaving my lunch + cell phone tucked inside. That being said, you are told many, many times that the room isnt secured and the Illinois Bar will not be held responsible.

#7 - The seats were actually comfortable. I am a big guy and I definitely remember being uncomfortable at the Michigan bar because they used the more traditional "folding chairs." However for the IL bar they used padded chairs, perhaps something more similar to a conference room, I thought they were very comfortable and I had zero issues throughout both days.

#8 - In Illinois (not true in Michigan) there is a character cap for each individual essay (4600 "characters") and for the MPT it is 92000 characters. I actually hit the character cap on 2 essays and on the MPT which annoyed me. As far as how the equates to "words" I would say 4600 characters is about 780 words (give or take a few) which is not a ton in my opinion. Then again, you should take solace in the fact that you can get an "average" score by utilizing far less than the max. Its worth keeping this in mind and if you do practice essays getting a rough idea for how long your answers happen to be.

# - From what I understand for the July Bar the UIC is utilized along with another location, I would imagine much of my thoughts would be the same.

My overall experience was positive. It is clear that the Illinois Bar Examiners have worked out a system that works for them, things went smoothly.
Last edited by ndbigdave on Thu Feb 23, 2017 7:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by ndbigdave » Thu Feb 23, 2017 7:02 pm

HiOCEAN wrote:Does anyone know how harshly Illinois grades the essays (both IEE and the MEE)?
This is tough to say exactly. But I took solace in reviewing the last two breakdowns of the scores and their respective "percentile equivalents."

Some basic math:

To pass the Illinois Bar Exam in 2017 an examinee will need to score a total of 266 "scaled points." The Illinois bar consists of 3 components that have respective weights of:

MPT = 10%
IEE + MEE = 40%
MBE = 50%
(An easier way to look at it would be that the writing is 50% and the MBE is 50%)

Therefore a student would need to score 133 on the writing portion and then 133 on the MBE to pass (or some mixture between the two that reaches or exceeds 266 points).

In July 2016:
a 135 would place you at the 36th percentile for the MBE and the 35th percentile for the Essays. This would be a total of 270 (4 more points than necessary to pass)

a 130 would place you at the 26th percentile for the MBE and the 25th percentile for the Essays. This would be a total of 260 (6 points short of passing)

Obviously you dont technically need a 135 and you dont really want a 130. You would need to score somewhere in the middle of those two, from looking at how the numbers break down, a 5 point scaled score difference amounted to a difference of 10 points for the "percentile" meaning roughly for every one scaled point a student would raise up 2 points in percentile.

Where does that leave us?

Scoring a 133 (just enough to score) would place a student at the 32nd percentile for the MBE and the 31st percentile for the Essays. In my mind that is not a high threshold.

From the same Illinois chart from July 2016 a total scaled score of 260 = the 24th percentile, meanwhile a 270 = the 34th percentile, again an examinee really just need so be in the middle. As there is both a 10 point difference in scale and percentile rank (meaning for every 1 point in scale there is a direct - or close to it - 1 point raise in percentile), an examinee would have to score at the 30th percentile to pass.

Using my own math and knowing what I had scored in Michigan in July 2015 (MBE = 141 not a great score by a long shot but more than enough to pass Michigan and for Illinois) I knew if I could replicate (or stay close) to the 141 that I would only need to score around 125 on the essay portion (266 - 141 = 125). A 125 in July was equal to the 17th percentile for the essays - again, a very low threshold as my essay/writing score was actually higher than my MBE score in Michigan and I didnt have the benefit of the closed universe MPT to help raise my score).

So all in all, one must achieve a total of 266 which places examinee at the 30th percentile - not a high bar (no pun intended) further, because things are basically split 50/50 with MBE/Writing if you have a particular strength you can help drag yourself across the finish line by crushing one part or the other.

For me, that was a focus on the MBE in an attempt to keep my 141 (or raise it) while knowing at least a couple of the essays would be on MBE subjects and while feeling supremely confident that the MPT was basically "gimmie points." That isnt to say I didnt review outlines or study at all for the essay subjects (I did, for like 2 days right before the bar to make the concepts fresh in my mind) but I knew that if I scored at higher than a 141 I wouldnt have to do very much on the essays to pass.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by ndbigdave » Thu Feb 23, 2017 7:04 pm

unidentifiable wrote:I also took this exam.

There are nearby hotels, but (I think) all are over a 15 minute walk. Do your own risk assessment. Is it worth walking downtown carrying a laptop out in the open/in the rain (if you don't bring a bag)? Ubers were plenty, but it took some time to grab one at the end of the day because of traffic.

Proctors will not open the doors until 7am, so if you get there early, you'll be waiting outside.
If you get to the test site before 7am you have made a terrible life decision. Ill be the first to admit I didnt sleep well before day one of either of my two exams (passed in Michigan, now waiting here for IL) but if you are up, moving around and waiting at the test site over an HOUR before it starts...yikes. Plan your route, pre-book a taxi/uber/lyft and get there a bit before hand. The tension at the building is high enough, and youll spend more time at the site then youd ever want - being there an extra hour or more is punishment that is totally unnecessary.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by unidentifiable » Thu Feb 23, 2017 10:02 pm

ndbigdave wrote:
unidentifiable wrote:I also took this exam.

There are nearby hotels, but (I think) all are over a 15 minute walk. Do your own risk assessment. Is it worth walking downtown carrying a laptop out in the open/in the rain (if you don't bring a bag)? Ubers were plenty, but it took some time to grab one at the end of the day because of traffic.

Proctors will not open the doors until 7am, so if you get there early, you'll be waiting outside.
If you get to the test site before 7am you have made a terrible life decision. Ill be the first to admit I didnt sleep well before day one of either of my two exams (passed in Michigan, now waiting here for IL) but if you are up, moving around and waiting at the test site over an HOUR before it starts...yikes. Plan your route, pre-book a taxi/uber/lyft and get there a bit before hand. The tension at the building is high enough, and youll spend more time at the site then youd ever want - being there an extra hour or more is punishment that is totally unnecessary.

i slept like a baby the night before. i was up at 5am eating breakfast and relaxing. i was at the testing site at 6:45. i like to be prepared. i like to be early. i dont like to risk being late. my life decision wasn't that bad. choosing this profession is punishment that is totally unnecessary.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by HiOCEAN » Fri Feb 24, 2017 11:51 am

I felt the check in process was VERY quick, so there's really no reason to be there too early. Even if you show up 15 minutes before you have to be in your seat, you should have enough time to get your badge, put your stuff away in the secure area, use the bathroom and then take a seat.

And yes, the chairs were VERY comfortable compared to other bar exam venues where I've seen the metal folding chairs (ouch!).

I also found the announcer, who was the president of the Illinois Bar or something like that, to be pretty funny. Some of his jokes were corny, but I didn't mind, because it was kind of relaxing to take the edge off.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by ndbigdave » Fri Feb 24, 2017 12:17 pm

HiOCEAN wrote:I felt the check in process was VERY quick, so there's really no reason to be there too early. Even if you show up 15 minutes before you have to be in your seat, you should have enough time to get your badge, put your stuff away in the secure area, use the bathroom and then take a seat.

And yes, the chairs were VERY comfortable compared to other bar exam venues where I've seen the metal folding chairs (ouch!).

I also found the announcer, who was the president of the Illinois Bar or something like that, to be pretty funny. Some of his jokes were corny, but I didn't mind, because it was kind of relaxing to take the edge off.
I agree. For the other poster who showed up before 7am in the argument of "not wanting to be stressed." I get your point, but that takes an otherwise good idea way too far. I wouldnt want to risk being late, but I also wouldnt want to show up before 7am, wait outside, then check in and...wait for an hour and a half before the test! Yikes.

I do agree, the formal announcer, the president of the Illinois Bar Examiners was funny, corny in many respects, but funny. He could have been all business (and that would be fine), but the little jokes were often times well timed and did help to relax the mood a bit.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by HiOCEAN » Fri Feb 24, 2017 12:23 pm

Thanks for this info! Fingers crossed, cuz you just never know with the MBE :(

ndbigdave wrote:
HiOCEAN wrote:Does anyone know how harshly Illinois grades the essays (both IEE and the MEE)?
This is tough to say exactly. But I took solace in reviewing the last two breakdowns of the scores and their respective "percentile equivalents."

Some basic math:

To pass the Illinois Bar Exam in 2017 an examinee will need to score a total of 266 "scaled points." The Illinois bar consists of 3 components that have respective weights of:

MPT = 10%
IEE + MEE = 40%
MBE = 50%
(An easier way to look at it would be that the writing is 50% and the MBE is 50%)

Therefore a student would need to score 133 on the writing portion and then 133 on the MBE to pass (or some mixture between the two that reaches or exceeds 266 points).

In July 2016:
a 135 would place you at the 36th percentile for the MBE and the 35th percentile for the Essays. This would be a total of 270 (4 more points than necessary to pass)

a 130 would place you at the 26th percentile for the MBE and the 25th percentile for the Essays. This would be a total of 260 (6 points short of passing)

Obviously you dont technically need a 135 and you dont really want a 130. You would need to score somewhere in the middle of those two, from looking at how the numbers break down, a 5 point scaled score difference amounted to a difference of 10 points for the "percentile" meaning roughly for every one scaled point a student would raise up 2 points in percentile.

Where does that leave us?

Scoring a 133 (just enough to score) would place a student at the 32nd percentile for the MBE and the 31st percentile for the Essays. In my mind that is not a high threshold.

From the same Illinois chart from July 2016 a total scaled score of 260 = the 24th percentile, meanwhile a 270 = the 34th percentile, again an examinee really just need so be in the middle. As there is both a 10 point difference in scale and percentile rank (meaning for every 1 point in scale there is a direct - or close to it - 1 point raise in percentile), an examinee would have to score at the 30th percentile to pass.

Using my own math and knowing what I had scored in Michigan in July 2015 (MBE = 141 not a great score by a long shot but more than enough to pass Michigan and for Illinois) I knew if I could replicate (or stay close) to the 141 that I would only need to score around 125 on the essay portion (266 - 141 = 125). A 125 in July was equal to the 17th percentile for the essays - again, a very low threshold as my essay/writing score was actually higher than my MBE score in Michigan and I didnt have the benefit of the closed universe MPT to help raise my score).

So all in all, one must achieve a total of 266 which places examinee at the 30th percentile - not a high bar (no pun intended) further, because things are basically split 50/50 with MBE/Writing if you have a particular strength you can help drag yourself across the finish line by crushing one part or the other.

For me, that was a focus on the MBE in an attempt to keep my 141 (or raise it) while knowing at least a couple of the essays would be on MBE subjects and while feeling supremely confident that the MPT was basically "gimmie points." That isnt to say I didnt review outlines or study at all for the essay subjects (I did, for like 2 days right before the bar to make the concepts fresh in my mind) but I knew that if I scored at higher than a 141 I wouldnt have to do very much on the essays to pass.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by ndbigdave » Fri Feb 24, 2017 12:45 pm

HiOCEAN wrote:Thanks for this info! Fingers crossed, cuz you just never know with the MBE :(
I agree, if there any "concern" that I have following the test it is the fact that I lack any way of "knowing" how I did on the MBE. I had absolutely no guess how I did for the Michigan MBE and that was after doing barely 200 practice questions. For me, I knew my timing was fine (actually probably too fast) but it was a matter of just knowing the material so I focused on getting through all of the lectures and then re-listening to them. It worked because I scored a 141 (not a strong score in the slightest, but a decent amount over what is necessary for Michigan, 135).

I definitely did more practice questions this time around, I found myself scoring a little bit higher during my practice sets. First time around I usually score in the low 60%s, but sometimes hit 70 and had a few 50s sprinkled in. This time I was no less than 66% and was usually into the low 70s with some 80s sprinkled in. So I feel that I should score CLOSE to my original 141 (with the hope of actually raising it a bit), but knowing even if I do WORSE there should be a strong bet to be at/near the 133 meaning that I could rely on my essays to drag me over the finish line.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by HiOCEAN » Tue Feb 28, 2017 10:58 am

I was wondering if anyone's bar materials mentioned the Illinois Worker's Compensation Law. I don't remember seeing it anywhere in my materials.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by umichman » Tue Feb 28, 2017 11:48 am

HiOCEAN wrote:I was wondering if anyone's bar materials mentioned the Illinois Worker's Compensation Law. I don't remember seeing it anywhere in my materials.
Definitely not

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by HiOCEAN » Tue Feb 28, 2017 3:18 pm

umichman wrote:
HiOCEAN wrote:I was wondering if anyone's bar materials mentioned the Illinois Worker's Compensation Law. I don't remember seeing it anywhere in my materials.
Definitely not
Great. I'm sure it was not worth that many points anyway. Plus, I think I made a pretty good guess on what it would say :)

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by virgoyum » Tue Feb 28, 2017 5:05 pm

I took July's bar and failed after being a couple of years removed from law school and working full time and sat again this past February. I bombed the essays in July by simply not having enough time and tanking out focus wise during the MEE. There is something to be said for law school stamina and a support system right out of law school, however I am unsure if the results would have been any different since my heart was not in becoming a licensed attorney after graduation. Anyways, I digress.

Per IL: I found both testing locations to be pleasant although I preferred July's. I was at the Pavilion in July and I liked that you could have your belongings close to you if you plopped them in the areas near your seat assignment, i.e. you did not have to walk far for lunch and read outlines during break. I wasn't too fond of the mass exodus out of the testing room because it reduced personal time but it wasn't so horrible given the amount of test takers.

I will say I am nervous about the reduction of graded questions from 190 to 175. On one hand correct answers are worth more, but if you spent a lot of time on those now 25 pretest questions that could have been better used for other tested questions that will suck. At least the wait is shorter.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by virgoyum » Tue Feb 28, 2017 5:10 pm

HiOCEAN wrote:I felt the check in process was VERY quick, so there's really no reason to be there too early. Even if you show up 15 minutes before you have to be in your seat, you should have enough time to get your badge, put your stuff away in the secure area, use the bathroom and then take a seat.

And yes, the chairs were VERY comfortable compared to other bar exam venues where I've seen the metal folding chairs (ouch!).

I also found the announcer, who was the president of the Illinois Bar or something like that, to be pretty funny. Some of his jokes were corny, but I didn't mind, because it was kind of relaxing to take the edge off.
Lol I found most if not all his jokes to be the epitome of corny. However, it was much needed distraction from testing anxiety and/or lowered adrenaline levels.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by virgoyum » Tue Feb 28, 2017 5:24 pm

ndbigdave wrote:
HiOCEAN wrote:I felt the check in process was VERY quick, so there's really no reason to be there too early. Even if you show up 15 minutes before you have to be in your seat, you should have enough time to get your badge, put your stuff away in the secure area, use the bathroom and then take a seat.

And yes, the chairs were VERY comfortable compared to other bar exam venues where I've seen the metal folding chairs (ouch!).

I also found the announcer, who was the president of the Illinois Bar or something like that, to be pretty funny. Some of his jokes were corny, but I didn't mind, because it was kind of relaxing to take the edge off.
I agree. For the other poster who showed up before 7am in the argument of "not wanting to be stressed." I get your point, but that takes an otherwise good idea way too far. I wouldnt want to risk being late, but I also wouldnt want to show up before 7am, wait outside, then check in and...wait for an hour and a half before the test! Yikes.

I do agree, the formal announcer, the president of the Illinois Bar Examiners was funny, corny in many respects, but funny. He could have been all business (and that would be fine), but the little jokes were often times well timed and did help to relax the mood a bit.
Unless you oversleep I felt it was pretty hard to be late. I arrived a little before 8 and 8:30 each day (seat time) and was fine. You have until 8:30 the 1st day, and 9:30, the 2nd day, to be able to still sit for the Illinois Bar, which is roughly 30 minutes into the exam. Lol not that I am recommending anyone plan to get there after the test begins, because suicide. But if you're an energy sensitive person like me, you can avoid the drama by timing your arrival accordingly. Hearing people yammer on about studying, test prep, or giving ill-advised tips just messed with my testing equilibrium so I wasn't going to expose myself to it at my most nervous.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by ndbigdave » Tue Feb 28, 2017 7:25 pm

virgoyum wrote:
ndbigdave wrote:
HiOCEAN wrote:I felt the check in process was VERY quick, so there's really no reason to be there too early. Even if you show up 15 minutes before you have to be in your seat, you should have enough time to get your badge, put your stuff away in the secure area, use the bathroom and then take a seat.

And yes, the chairs were VERY comfortable compared to other bar exam venues where I've seen the metal folding chairs (ouch!).

I also found the announcer, who was the president of the Illinois Bar or something like that, to be pretty funny. Some of his jokes were corny, but I didn't mind, because it was kind of relaxing to take the edge off.
I agree. For the other poster who showed up before 7am in the argument of "not wanting to be stressed." I get your point, but that takes an otherwise good idea way too far. I wouldnt want to risk being late, but I also wouldnt want to show up before 7am, wait outside, then check in and...wait for an hour and a half before the test! Yikes.

I do agree, the formal announcer, the president of the Illinois Bar Examiners was funny, corny in many respects, but funny. He could have been all business (and that would be fine), but the little jokes were often times well timed and did help to relax the mood a bit.
Unless you oversleep I felt it was pretty hard to be late. I arrived a little before 8 and 8:30 each day (seat time) and was fine. You have until 8:30 the 1st day, and 9:30, the 2nd day, to be able to still sit for the Illinois Bar, which is roughly 30 minutes into the exam. Lol not that I am recommending anyone plan to get there after the test begins, because suicide. But if you're an energy sensitive person like me, you can avoid the drama by timing your arrival accordingly. Hearing people yammer on about studying, test prep, or giving ill-advised tips just messed with my testing equilibrium so I wasn't going to expose myself to it at my most nervous.
Totally agree.

Like most things in life the truth is somewhere in between and moderation is good.

The bar is stressful enough, do you really want to add to the stress RIGHT BEFORE the test by running late? Hell no. Figure out how you are getting to the location, perhaps even do a test run the day before if you are worried about traffic and you just want to see where you are going exactly. But when you are told to be in your seat by 8:00am or 8:30, then plan to be there a few min before.

You are absolutely right, with how IL explicitly states you may arrive 30 min after the test "begins" which really means the long instructions THEN the test, you are perfectly fine showing up near the posted time.

I am one who always likes to be 10 or 15 min early (again lowers the stress and I don't mind having to pace around a parking lot or wait to go in for an interview or meeting) but I see no point in potentially depriving myself of sleep to show up some place an hour or two ahead of time just to sit and be surrounded by other test-takers. No thank you.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by HiOCEAN » Sun Mar 05, 2017 2:38 am

Two people in my section came in about 2 minutes before the test started. I find that to be egregious. The only reason I could think of being late to something like this is if they were not from Chicago and were not familiar with traffic.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by KirbyKager » Mon Mar 06, 2017 6:52 pm

Just wanted to add my two cents in for anyone taking the Bar at the Pavilion. Unless you have other friends taking the bar to talk with, I would get there early, sign in and hang out somewhere else. I didn't have any concern about my stuff being stolen, butthe coat room was very hi stress and just being in there stressed me out. Lots of people sprawled out cramming( which is probably what I should have done.) One thing folks may want to consider is that University of Illinois-Chicago's campus is literally across the street and their forum, which has lots of places to eat and get coffee is open at 7 AM. Although being back there kind of made me jealous and longing for my undergraduate days.Anyways, one question I had is....Has anyone heard if Illinois is switching to the UBE???

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ndbigdave

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by ndbigdave » Mon Mar 06, 2017 7:02 pm

KirbyKager wrote:Anyways, one question I had is....Has anyone heard if Illinois is switching to the UBE???

I had heard it as a rumor and frankly they are almost there anyways, all it would take is eliminating the IEE and replacing it with another MPT. That is literally the only difference, one less MPT and they do their one small Illinois specific section. They just recently (relatively so) upped the score to pass and I had heard about UBE being possible, but nothing specific or concrete.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by HiOCEAN » Fri Mar 10, 2017 12:38 am

did anyone get a letter stating their application has been recommended for certification by the commitee on character or fitness. they make it sound as if its a done deal and that the oath must be taken within 9 months of this letter ... OK but what about the bar results?! does anyone think theyve already been secretly graded and they are only sending these letters to people who passed? im getting sick ... i mean ill be estatic if i pass, but theyre throwing a twist into the process. any thoughts?

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by Anderson88 » Fri Mar 10, 2017 11:43 am

HiOCEAN wrote:did anyone get a letter stating their application has been recommended for certification by the commitee on character or fitness. they make it sound as if its a done deal and that the oath must be taken within 9 months of this letter ... OK but what about the bar results?! does anyone think theyve already been secretly graded and they are only sending these letters to people who passed? im getting sick ... i mean ill be estatic if i pass, but theyre throwing a twist into the process. any thoughts?
Character & Fitness is completely separate from the test results. I got the same certification letter a few weeks after registering/over a month before the exam. It only means your C&F is complete, not your results. So no, it doesn't mean you passed.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by NonTradHealthLaw » Fri Mar 10, 2017 12:23 pm

Anderson88 wrote:
HiOCEAN wrote:did anyone get a letter stating their application has been recommended for certification by the commitee on character or fitness. they make it sound as if its a done deal and that the oath must be taken within 9 months of this letter ... OK but what about the bar results?! does anyone think theyve already been secretly graded and they are only sending these letters to people who passed? im getting sick ... i mean ill be estatic if i pass, but theyre throwing a twist into the process. any thoughts?
Character & Fitness is completely separate from the test results. I got the same certification letter a few weeks after registering/over a month before the exam. It only means your C&F is complete, not your results. So no, it doesn't mean you passed.
It also means that from the time you get that certification to the time you are sworn in, that you must supplement your C&F application to disclose any untoward occurrences (DUI, collections actions, public urination). A friend in a different jurisdiction had his certification suspended for one year despite passing the exam due to a score-release day bad decision.

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Re: ALL THINGS ILLINOIS BAR EXAM

Post by HiOCEAN » Wed Mar 22, 2017 12:48 pm

Could the results be posted before April 1?

Ugh, I'm starting to feel sick :( How has it been a month already?!

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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