PA BAR EXAM 2017 Forum

[Bimmerfan]

Here's another data set. No supplements; just BarBri.

BarBri midterm: 92/200
Actual scaled MBE: 136

Total score of 271. So very painful and disappointing.

[jjlaw2381]

failed in July by 6 points.

February 2016:
Kaplan Simulated 120/200
Actual MBE 131.1
Essay: 147

Passed thank goodness.

[psm11]

Congrats to everyone who passed. For those who didn't, I know how horrible a feeling it can be. Take some time to get your head straight and push forward to July.. Onwards always. Didn't take the Themis midterm for the mbe but was scoring around 65-70% on the practice sets and ended up with a 147 scaled mbe. Anyone have any idea what that is raw? This was my first time taking PA (passed thank god) after failing CA in July. Debating on taking CA again as I feel studying for a second bar really helped solidify concepts and fine tune things. Does anyone mind posting what their overall score was? (I ended up with a 147 for the mbe and a 166 for the essays for an overall of 312) I'm trying to gague where I fall relative to other test takers and figure out how much time I should put in for CA if I retake in July.

[Bimmerfan]

Congrats to everyone who passed. For those who didn't, I know how horrible a feeling it can be. Take some time to get your head straight and push forward to July.. Onwards always. Didn't take the Themis midterm for the mbe but was scoring around 65-70% on the practice sets and ended up with a 147 scaled mbe. Anyone have any idea what that is raw? This was my first time taking PA (passed thank god) after failing CA in July. Debating on taking CA again as I feel studying for a second bar really helped solidify concepts and fine tune things. Does anyone mind posting what their overall score was? (I ended up with a 147 for the mbe and a 166 for the essays for an overall of 312) I'm trying to gague where I fall relative to other test takers and figure out how much time I should put in for CA if I retake in July.

congrats on your 312. Just look at the PA stats on the website for successful applicants to see where you fall.

[psm11]

Congrats to everyone who passed. For those who didn't, I know how horrible a feeling it can be. Take some time to get your head straight and push forward to July.. Onwards always. Didn't take the Themis midterm for the mbe but was scoring around 65-70% on the practice sets and ended up with a 147 scaled mbe. Anyone have any idea what that is raw? This was my first time taking PA (passed thank god) after failing CA in July. Debating on taking CA again as I feel studying for a second bar really helped solidify concepts and fine tune things. Does anyone mind posting what their overall score was? (I ended up with a 147 for the mbe and a 166 for the essays for an overall of 312) I'm trying to gague where I fall relative to other test takers and figure out how much time I should put in for CA if I retake in July.

congrats on your 312. Just look at the PA stats on the website for successful applicants to see where you fall.

Will do. Thanks.

[lewello]

Congrats to everyone who passed. For those who didn't, I know how horrible a feeling it can be. Take some time to get your head straight and push forward to July.. Onwards always. Didn't take the Themis midterm for the mbe but was scoring around 65-70% on the practice sets and ended up with a 147 scaled mbe. Anyone have any idea what that is raw? This was my first time taking PA (passed thank god) after failing CA in July. Debating on taking CA again as I feel studying for a second bar really helped solidify concepts and fine tune things. Does anyone mind posting what their overall score was? (I ended up with a 147 for the mbe and a 166 for the essays for an overall of 312) I'm trying to gague where I fall relative to other test takers and figure out how much time I should put in for CA if I retake in July.

This (Feb. 2017 PA exam) was my second bar exam and I took the same states as you have - CA & PA. I passed both the first time. I studied much harder for the CA exam than the PA one (I was working almost full time & studying an hour or two at night until the final two weeks before the exam for PA vs. no work & studying basically all day, every day for CA). But then again, as you stated the second time studying really solidifies a lot of concepts. If you plan to practice state law in CA it would be worth taking again. If not, you're wasting a second summer + $450/year to be licensed there (or $200, I believe, if you're inactive - but then what's the point? haha). Best of luck if you decide to take it again!

[Nyjdgirl]

failed in July by 6 points.

February 2016:
Kaplan Simulated 120/200
Actual MBE 131.1
Essay: 147

Passed thank goodness.

Congrats on passing! Its good to know that one does not need a amazing MBE to pass this test. im hoping that my MBE stays the same from July and that I can get more points on the MEE. Did you feel confident with the MEE?

[psm11]

Congrats to everyone who passed. For those who didn't, I know how horrible a feeling it can be. Take some time to get your head straight and push forward to July.. Onwards always. Didn't take the Themis midterm for the mbe but was scoring around 65-70% on the practice sets and ended up with a 147 scaled mbe. Anyone have any idea what that is raw? This was my first time taking PA (passed thank god) after failing CA in July. Debating on taking CA again as I feel studying for a second bar really helped solidify concepts and fine tune things. Does anyone mind posting what their overall score was? (I ended up with a 147 for the mbe and a 166 for the essays for an overall of 312) I'm trying to gague where I fall relative to other test takers and figure out how much time I should put in for CA if I retake in July.

This (Feb. 2017 PA exam) was my second bar exam and I took the same states as you have - CA & PA. I passed both the first time. I studied much harder for the CA exam than the PA one (I was working almost full time & studying an hour or two at night until the final two weeks before the exam for PA vs. no work & studying basically all day, every day for CA). But then again, as you stated the second time studying really solidifies a lot of concepts. If you plan to practice state law in CA it would be worth taking again. If not, you're wasting a second summer + $450/year to be licensed there (or $200, I believe, if you're inactive - but then what's the point? haha). Best of luck if you decide to take it again!

Thanks for the advice. I'm from PA and most of my family and friends are here (that's why I took PA). I spent my law school summers working in LA and after taking CA in July I moved to LA to find a job l, which after 3 months and an unsucceful bar exam I couldn't find one. Fast forward to now and I have two job offers in LA that will require me to eventually take the bar and I feel I should take it sooner, while it's still fresh, than later.

I'm just curious to know if I really have a good understanding of this stuff or if PA is that much "easier" than CA. I was significantly under, points wise, what's needed to pass CA and significantly over what was needed to pass PA.

[maxmartin]

Congrats to everyone who passed. For those who didn't, I know how horrible a feeling it can be. Take some time to get your head straight and push forward to July.. Onwards always. Didn't take the Themis midterm for the mbe but was scoring around 65-70% on the practice sets and ended up with a 147 scaled mbe. Anyone have any idea what that is raw? This was my first time taking PA (passed thank god) after failing CA in July. Debating on taking CA again as I feel studying for a second bar really helped solidify concepts and fine tune things. Does anyone mind posting what their overall score was? (I ended up with a 147 for the mbe and a 166 for the essays for an overall of 312) I'm trying to gague where I fall relative to other test takers and figure out how much time I should put in for CA if I retake in July.

This (Feb. 2017 PA exam) was my second bar exam and I took the same states as you have - CA & PA. I passed both the first time. I studied much harder for the CA exam than the PA one (I was working almost full time & studying an hour or two at night until the final two weeks before the exam for PA vs. no work & studying basically all day, every day for CA). But then again, as you stated the second time studying really solidifies a lot of concepts. If you plan to practice state law in CA it would be worth taking again. If not, you're wasting a second summer + $450/year to be licensed there (or $200, I believe, if you're inactive - but then what's the point? haha). Best of luck if you decide to take it again!

Thanks for the advice. I'm from PA and most of my family and friends are here (that's why I took PA). I spent my law school summers working in LA and after taking CA in July I moved to LA to find a job l, which after 3 months and an unsucceful bar exam I couldn't find one. Fast forward to now and I have two job offers in LA that will require me to eventually take the bar and I feel I should take it sooner, while it's still fresh, than later.

I'm just curious to know if I really have a good understanding of this stuff or if PA is that much "easier" than CA. I was significantly under, points wise, what's needed to pass CA and significantly over what was needed to pass PA.

What is your CBX scale MBE score that you failed? 147 is a pretty decent MBE score. In the coming July, the MBE will increase to 50%. I think you will have a much better chance to pass in the July.

[psm11]

Congrats to everyone who passed. For those who didn't, I know how horrible a feeling it can be. Take some time to get your head straight and push forward to July.. Onwards always. Didn't take the Themis midterm for the mbe but was scoring around 65-70% on the practice sets and ended up with a 147 scaled mbe. Anyone have any idea what that is raw? This was my first time taking PA (passed thank god) after failing CA in July. Debating on taking CA again as I feel studying for a second bar really helped solidify concepts and fine tune things. Does anyone mind posting what their overall score was? (I ended up with a 147 for the mbe and a 166 for the essays for an overall of 312) I'm trying to gague where I fall relative to other test takers and figure out how much time I should put in for CA if I retake in July.

This (Feb. 2017 PA exam) was my second bar exam and I took the same states as you have - CA & PA. I passed both the first time. I studied much harder for the CA exam than the PA one (I was working almost full time & studying an hour or two at night until the final two weeks before the exam for PA vs. no work & studying basically all day, every day for CA). But then again, as you stated the second time studying really solidifies a lot of concepts. If you plan to practice state law in CA it would be worth taking again. If not, you're wasting a second summer + $450/year to be licensed there (or $200, I believe, if you're inactive - but then what's the point? haha). Best of luck if you decide to take it again!

Thanks for the advice. I'm from PA and most of my family and friends are here (that's why I took PA). I spent my law school summers working in LA and after taking CA in July I moved to LA to find a job l, which after 3 months and an unsucceful bar exam I couldn't find one. Fast forward to now and I have two job offers in LA that will require me to eventually take the bar and I feel I should take it sooner, while it's still fresh, than later.

I'm just curious to know if I really have a good understanding of this stuff or if PA is that much "easier" than CA. I was significantly under, points wise, what's needed to pass CA and significantly over what was needed to pass PA.

What is your CBX scale MBE score that you failed? 147 is a pretty decent MBE score. In the coming July, the MBE will increase to 50%. I think you will have a much better chance to pass in the July.

It was a 1364.0 which I'm told is like a 136.4.

[maxmartin]

Congrats to everyone who passed. For those who didn't, I know how horrible a feeling it can be. Take some time to get your head straight and push forward to July.. Onwards always. Didn't take the Themis midterm for the mbe but was scoring around 65-70% on the practice sets and ended up with a 147 scaled mbe. Anyone have any idea what that is raw? This was my first time taking PA (passed thank god) after failing CA in July. Debating on taking CA again as I feel studying for a second bar really helped solidify concepts and fine tune things. Does anyone mind posting what their overall score was? (I ended up with a 147 for the mbe and a 166 for the essays for an overall of 312) I'm trying to gague where I fall relative to other test takers and figure out how much time I should put in for CA if I retake in July.

This (Feb. 2017 PA exam) was my second bar exam and I took the same states as you have - CA & PA. I passed both the first time. I studied much harder for the CA exam than the PA one (I was working almost full time & studying an hour or two at night until the final two weeks before the exam for PA vs. no work & studying basically all day, every day for CA). But then again, as you stated the second time studying really solidifies a lot of concepts. If you plan to practice state law in CA it would be worth taking again. If not, you're wasting a second summer + $450/year to be licensed there (or $200, I believe, if you're inactive - but then what's the point? haha). Best of luck if you decide to take it again!

Thanks for the advice. I'm from PA and most of my family and friends are here (that's why I took PA). I spent my law school summers working in LA and after taking CA in July I moved to LA to find a job l, which after 3 months and an unsucceful bar exam I couldn't find one. Fast forward to now and I have two job offers in LA that will require me to eventually take the bar and I feel I should take it sooner, while it's still fresh, than later.

I'm just curious to know if I really have a good understanding of this stuff or if PA is that much "easier" than CA. I was significantly under, points wise, what's needed to pass CA and significantly over what was needed to pass PA.

What is your CBX scale MBE score that you failed? 147 is a pretty decent MBE score. In the coming July, the MBE will increase to 50%. I think you will have a much better chance to pass in the July.

It was a 1364.0 which I'm told is like a 136.4.

Yep, it looks like you increased your MBE score significantly. Maybe the 25 is working for you If you can maintain 147 and above, the chance of passing CBX in July is pretty good.

[psm11]

Congrats to everyone who passed. For those who didn't, I know how horrible a feeling it can be. Take some time to get your head straight and push forward to July.. Onwards always. Didn't take the Themis midterm for the mbe but was scoring around 65-70% on the practice sets and ended up with a 147 scaled mbe. Anyone have any idea what that is raw? This was my first time taking PA (passed thank god) after failing CA in July. Debating on taking CA again as I feel studying for a second bar really helped solidify concepts and fine tune things. Does anyone mind posting what their overall score was? (I ended up with a 147 for the mbe and a 166 for the essays for an overall of 312) I'm trying to gague where I fall relative to other test takers and figure out how much time I should put in for CA if I retake in July.

This (Feb. 2017 PA exam) was my second bar exam and I took the same states as you have - CA & PA. I passed both the first time. I studied much harder for the CA exam than the PA one (I was working almost full time & studying an hour or two at night until the final two weeks before the exam for PA vs. no work & studying basically all day, every day for CA). But then again, as you stated the second time studying really solidifies a lot of concepts. If you plan to practice state law in CA it would be worth taking again. If not, you're wasting a second summer + $450/year to be licensed there (or $200, I believe, if you're inactive - but then what's the point? haha). Best of luck if you decide to take it again!

Thanks for the advice. I'm from PA and most of my family and friends are here (that's why I took PA). I spent my law school summers working in LA and after taking CA in July I moved to LA to find a job l, which after 3 months and an unsucceful bar exam I couldn't find one. Fast forward to now and I have two job offers in LA that will require me to eventually take the bar and I feel I should take it sooner, while it's still fresh, than later.

I'm just curious to know if I really have a good understanding of this stuff or if PA is that much "easier" than CA. I was significantly under, points wise, what's needed to pass CA and significantly over what was needed to pass PA.

What is your CBX scale MBE score that you failed? 147 is a pretty decent MBE score. In the coming July, the MBE will increase to 50%. I think you will have a much better chance to pass in the July.

It was a 1364.0 which I'm told is like a 136.4.

Yep, it looks like you increased your MBE score significantly. Maybe the 25 is working for you If you can maintain 147 and above, the chance of passing CBX in July is pretty good.

Thanks for the kind words. Haha I like to think I understood things better this time too haha

[jjlaw2381]

failed in July by 6 points.

February 2016:
Kaplan Simulated 120/200
Actual MBE 131.1
Essay: 147

Passed thank goodness.

Congrats on passing! Its good to know that one does not need a amazing MBE to pass this test. im hoping that my MBE stays the same from July and that I can get more points on the MEE. Did you feel confident with the MEE?

I was always pretty confident with the essays in July I missed a couple PA specific issues so made sure I stayed on top of that the second tiem around and made sure that I did a number of performance tests to boost the scores.

[Lawyerinwaiting89]

Hi everyone and congrats to those who passed! I'm taking the July 17 PA Bar exam and am wondering if anyone is selling the Barbri PA materials? I have a lot of MBE materials and also Kaplan materials for PA from a past administration. I'm particularly interested in Barbri's PA essay book because it has past essay questions/answers. I've looked around on eBay and Amazon and can't find exactly what I'm looking for except one really old book... So if anyone is selling the essay book and/or PA materials, PM me! Thanks.