2018 July California Bar Forum

[JakeTappers]

So if it says does not match information with pass list, I failed?

[chicoalto0649]

Today the State Bar of California released the results of the July 2018 California Bar Exam, and announced that 3,284 people (40.7 percent of applicants) passed the General Bar Exam. The pass rate for first-time applicants was 55 percent. If those applicants satisfy all other requirements for admission, they will be eligible to be licensed by the State Bar to practice law in California. The mean scaled Multistate Bar Examination score on the July 2018 Bar Exam in California was 1404 compared with the national average of 1395.

The latest results mirror a national downward trend in scores from the July 2018 bar exams.

The National Conference of Bar Examiners reported that the pass rate for the Multistate Bar Examination fell to a 34-year low in 2018.
The pass rate in Texas fell over 7 percentage points from July 2017 to July 2018.
The New York state pass rate fell by 5 percentage points from July 2017 to July 2018.
The California pass rate fell by 8.9 percentage points from July 2017 to July 2018.
"I want to congratulate the thousands of applicants who passed the July 2018 California Bar Exam. We’re also troubled by a low pass rate, and are working to better understand the reasons behind this national trend," said Leah T. Wilson, Executive Director of the State Bar of California. "Over the last 18 months we have conducted four distinct studies on the California Bar Exam designed to determine if the passing score is appropriate and the content valid. While these studies did not suggest that changes to either should be made at this time, the State Bar takes seriously its commitment to ensuring integrity and fairness in the admissions process. We have just launched a California attorney job Analysis Study to collect information about the knowledge and skills that entry level attorneys need. This job analysis will form the basis of a new review of the exam itself to ensure that the Bar Exam is relevant and actually testing what’s needed."

The first meeting of the working group for the Job Analysis Study will be held on December 10, 2018, at the State Bar’s San Francisco office. The study is currently expected to be published in December 2019.

The State Bar is also looking forward to the evaluation of the Productive Mindset Study, which may assist the State Bar and California law schools in developing mechanisms to help students better position themselves for success on the Bar Exam.

Preliminary statistical analyses from the July 2018 General Bar Exam:

8,071 applicants completed the exam
5,132 (63.6 percent) were first-time applicants
The passing rate for first-time applicants was 55.0 percent overall
2,939 were repeat applicants
The passing rate for repeat applicants was 16.0 percent overall
Pass rate (rounded to whole numbers) by law school type:

School Type

First-Timers

Repeaters

California ABA

64%

22%

Out-of-State ABA

58%

12%

California Accredited (but not ABA)

16%

9%

Unaccredited: Fixed-Facility

12%

6%

Unaccredited: Correspondence

11%

8%

Unaccredited Distance Learning

23%

10%

All Others

31%

16%

All Applicants

55%

16%

The General Bar Exam is administered in February and July each year.

The exam consists of three sections: a multiple-choice Multistate Bar Examination, five essay questions and one performance test that are designed to assess an applicant’s ability to apply legal knowledge to practical tests. The written portion of the exam (essay and performance test questions) and the multiple choice portion were weighted equally.

The Attorneys’ Examination consists of the essay and performance test sections of the General Bar Exam and is open to attorneys who have been admitted to the active practice of law and are in good standing for at least four years in another U.S. jurisdiction.

Of the 522 attorneys who completed the Attorneys’ Examination, 169 (32.4 percent) passed.

Following the initial results release, a pass list from the exam will be published on the State Bar’s website on November 18 at 6:00 a.m. More detailed statistics about examination results will be available in approximately 4-6 weeks on the State Bar website.

Successful applicants who satisfy all other requirements for admission may take the Attorney’s Oath individually or participate in admissions ceremonies held throughout the state in December 2018.

After applicants have taken the Attorney Oath and submitted their oath card to the State Bar, they are eligible to practice law in California. Approximately two weeks after forwarding the oath card to the State Bar, their names will appear on the State Bar roll of licensed of attorneys accessible on the State Bar website.

[barprepforca]

oh my god I passed! I knew walking out after day 2 I failed

[chicoalto0649]

So if it says does not match information with pass list, I failed?

Correct, unless you entered the wrong info. Sorry, if true.

[MBernard]

PASSED! So grateful, felt like my heart was going to explode. Huge congrats to those who nailed it! To those who didn't, you will pass next! This test is beatable. I was abominable law school student and just passed two back to back exams for completely different jurisdictions (TX and CA). I'll definitely be active in the Ca bar exam thread as I am with the Texas thread. God Bless, best to everyone. I'll still be around!

[Auxilio]

I passed!!!

I can't believe only 40% pass rate. That's almost a 20% cut from the normal July results

[estefanchanning]

PASSED! So grateful, felt like my heart was going to explode. Huge congrats to those who nailed it! To those who didn't, you will pass next! This test is beatable. I was abominable law school student and just passed two back to back exams for completely different jurisdictions (TX and CA). I'll definitely be active in the Ca bar exam thread as I am with the Texas thread. God Bless, best to everyone. I'll still be around!

Congrats my friend!!

[justanotheruser]

For those that passed -- congrats! Having just passed the Feb 2018 exam, I know exactly how you feel.

For those that did not get the good news -- take the weekend off, hang w/ loved ones, and get back at it. It took my 5 failures until I finally passed the Feb 2018 exam. Currently job hunting (public interest) and I've already had 5-10 interviews. Things do and will get better. Hang in there!

[MBernard]

PASSED! So grateful, felt like my heart was going to explode. Huge congrats to those who nailed it! To those who didn't, you will pass next! This test is beatable. I was abominable law school student and just passed two back to back exams for completely different jurisdictions (TX and CA). I'll definitely be active in the Ca bar exam thread as I am with the Texas thread. God Bless, best to everyone. I'll still be around!

Congrats my friend!!

Huge congrats to you as well!

[estefanchanning]

I passed!!!

I can't believe only 40% pass rate. That's almost a 20% cut from the normal July results

Congrats amigo!!!

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

Stats are up. 40.7% pass rate.

http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/0/docu ... y.0718.pdf

I can't believe they've done this. This is a February-level number.

That has to be close to all time low right? I don't think it dips below 40 but we're getting close. Although, the MBE was a record low, so we could have seen this coming.

I believe this could be one of the the lowest.

The column that reads "total number completing exam" is inaccurate for the numbers prior to 2/2017. Take a look at the notice at the bottom of the chart. Prior to 2/2017, the numbers in that column correspond to "total numbers examined".

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

I passed!!

YES! Congrats!

[justanotheruser]

Preliminary statistical analyses from the July 2018 General Bar Exam:

8,071 applicants completed the exam
2,939 were repeat applicants
The passing rate for repeat applicants was 16.0 percent overall

Holy shit.

[estefanchanning]

I passed!!

YES! Congrats!

thank you!!! what a roller coaster ride of emotions

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

PASSED! So grateful, felt like my heart was going to explode. Huge congrats to those who nailed it! To those who didn't, you will pass next! This test is beatable. I was abominable law school student and just passed two back to back exams for completely different jurisdictions (TX and CA). I'll definitely be active in the Ca bar exam thread as I am with the Texas thread. God Bless, best to everyone. I'll still be around!

I passed!!!

I can't believe only 40% pass rate. That's almost a 20% cut from the normal July results

Congrats to both of you, and all those who passed!

For those that didn't pass, don't give up. There is no shame whatsoever in not passing this ridiculous test.

[scard]

Passed on my sixth try!!

[slowned]

PASSED! and I still puked.

[justanotheruser]

Passed on my sixth try!!

Same here. Passed on my sixth try with the Feb. 2018 exam!

[a male human]

Congrats to the 40%

To everyone else, this was extremely tough. Lowest July pass rate. Take a moment to grieve, but all your experiences will add up. You will get better. Your future self will be better than your present self.

[GoldenPuppy]

Does anyone know when the MBE score will be available on ncbex.org?

[JakeTappers]

Took the attorneys exam after studying 3 weeks and failed. Will be interested to see how close I came. Tough part is not knowing what to do differently, except MORE. Which sucks (will be trying cases by 2019). 32%. Amazing!

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

Does anyone know when the MBE score will be available on ncbex.org?

MBE score is never released for CBX examinees who pass. The closest you can get to an MBE score is to order a "score advisory" report for $25. The report will tell you if your score meets the minimum threshold for waiving into DC and some other jurisdictions.

[MBernard]

Passed on my sixth try!!

Dude!!! That’s awesome, hope all you guys go to the swearing-in ceremony. Haven’t looked at the info yet at dinner with my folks.

[GoldenPuppy]

Does anyone know when the MBE score will be available on ncbex.org?

MBE score is never released for CBX examinees who pass. The closest you can get to an MBE score is to order a "score advisory" report for $25. The report will tell you if your score meets the minimum threshold for waiving into DC and some other jurisdictions.

Got it. Do you think get the score advisory and transfer the score tonight or wait?

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

Took the attorneys exam after studying 3 weeks and failed. Will be interested to see how close I came. Tough part is not knowing what to do differently, except MORE. Which sucks (will be trying cases by 2019). 32%. Amazing!

Sorry to hear that,

You'll get a score breakdown in the mail next week. From there, you can assess whether it's better to take the full exam, or continue with the atty exam.