CBX -- Attorney's Exam or Regular? Forum

[encore1101]

Hi all,

Currently admitted in NY, and I would like to move to California. I missed the July 2017 deadline, but am planning to sign up for Winter 2018. In regard to the California Bar, has anyone determined whether it's easier to take the attorney's exam or the regular bar exam?

To narrow the question, for those of you who have taken the CA Attorney's Exam (or know people who have), did you find it easier to study for than your initial bar admission, or do you wish you had taken the regular bar exam instead?


Thanks.

[dredd16]

Isn't the attorney exam the same exact thing just minus the MBE day? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[encore1101]

More or less (if not exactly that). Some people say its easier to just take the regular exam because studying for the MBE gives you context to study for the essay topics, as opposed to studying it in a vacuum, and that taking the MBE gives you wiggle room on the essays.

I know it may sound counter-intuitive, but I spoke to one individual who took the attorney's exam (and passed), but he said that he would have rather taken the regular exam in retrospect, so I wanted to hear some other thoughts on the subject.

[MrT]

Isn't the attorney exam the same exact thing just minus the MBE day? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

You're correct. Also, California allows late applications. According to the website June 15th is the final deadline.

ETA: The only reason I can think of it being beneficial is because MBE now accounts for 50% of your score. But, I would gladly focus exclusively on essays and skip the MBE.

[MrT]

Isn't the attorney exam the same exact thing just minus the MBE day? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

You're correct. Also, California allows late applications. According to the website June 15th is the final deadline.

ETA: The only reason I can think of it being beneficial is because MBE now accounts for 50% of your score. But, I would gladly focus exclusively on essays and skip the MBE.

Also, without being too creepy, I peeped your post history and you don't qualify for the attorney's exam in California--you must be admitted for four years. Therefore, the question is moot.

[Slickrick90]

To be honest, I think the Attorney's exam is easier. The reason why is because you don't need to know all the specifics that are required for the MBE.

[ur_hero]

Isn't the attorney exam the same exact thing just minus the MBE day? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

You're correct. Also, California allows late applications. According to the website June 15th is the final deadline.

ETA: The only reason I can think of it being beneficial is because MBE now accounts for 50% of your score. But, I would gladly focus exclusively on essays and skip the MBE.

Also, without being too creepy, I peeped your post history and you don't qualify for the attorney's exam in California--you must be admitted for four years. Therefore, the question is moot.

Diligenced xD

[encore1101]

Isn't the attorney exam the same exact thing just minus the MBE day? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

You're correct. Also, California allows late applications. According to the website June 15th is the final deadline.

ETA: The only reason I can think of it being beneficial is because MBE now accounts for 50% of your score. But, I would gladly focus exclusively on essays and skip the MBE.

Also, without being too creepy, I peeped your post history and you don't qualify for the attorney's exam in California--you must be admitted for four years. Therefore, the question is moot.

Assuming you're referring to me, you're right; I wouldn't qualify for the attorney's exam until 2019. Still, there's no urgency as to whether I take the CBX in 2018 or 2019 so I would still like some input. The answers would be helpful in determining whether I should take the regular bar exam in 2018, or wait until I'm eligible for the Attorney's Exam, for example.

[MrT]

Hey, I was just responding to the post. You stated: "I missed the July 2017 deadline, but am planning to sign up for Winter 2018." Based on this statement, the question was moot because you can only take the full CBX. I also want to point out, if you passed the July 2015 exam in NY, you were admitted in February 2016 or later. That would push you back to February 2020 for the attorney's exam.

Now that we have that out of the way, I will respond the best I can.

First, if you do want to take the exam in July, you can. As I mentioned above, the late-filing deadline is June 15th.

Second, it appears you are seeking anecdotes from attorneys that have sat for the California Attorney's Exam. While I understand your desire to have some idea of what to expect, any anecdotes are probably useless at this point because the CBX is now dramatically different. In fact, there is not one human in this entire universe that has sat for either the new CBX or the new Attorney's Exam.

For example, I know individuals that have sat for both the old CBX and the old Attorney's Exam. Almost unanimously, those individuals that took the old CBX were exhausted come day three. Conversely, those that took the Attorney's Exam really appreciated the middle day off and took it as an opportunity to recharge and review some of the subjects that didn't come up day one. However, now that the CBX is only two days--and one day for the Attorney's exam--those anecdotes aren't at all helpful.

Finally, the real answer to the question you pose is going to come down to your personal preferences and abilities. Now that the CBX is two days, a lot has changed. Most important of the changes is the fact that the MBE now accounts for 50% of your overall score. Therefore, a strong MBE score is going to, to some extent, cancel out a bad essay score more than it did in the past. I see that you scored 150+ on the MBE, so it could potentially help you.

For me, I too scored 150+ on the MBE but did even better on the essays. I also absolutely hated studying for the MBE but I consistently rocked the practice essays. So, in all likelihood, I would prefer the one day of essays and the ability to skip the MBE in its entirety. Ultimately, it's your responsibility to reflect on what you excelled at in NY and make a determination of whether the extra MBE points would assist you or not. Anecdotes from people that haven't taken the exam simply won't help.

[encore1101]

Thanks for the insight (I passed the July 2014 bar exam, and was admitted January 2015, so I'll just calculate those dates accordingly). I don't think I want to sit for the July 2017 exam. Like I said, there's no rush for me to move out to California, and honestly, I haven't mentally prepared myself for studying.

I figured that a lot of this would depend on personal preference, but you're absolutely correct in that the revised bar format changes things. I don't think I fully acknowledged that.