2019 February California Bar Forum

[sala5150]

I got a lot of private messages asking about this so I figured I’d just post it.

I’m an attorney who took the exam this February after I took my home state’s bar in July and passed both on the first try. I worked full time , took no time off to study, and did some LLM work on the side while studying for CA. I used Barbri for the first exam and the attorneys course for the second.

SCHEDULE

the most important thing you can do is set up a study schedule. Having a set time you start studying after work during the week and when you start on the weekends is the only way I was able to stay consistent and get the hours in. Talk to your boss and tell him or her what you’re doing so that they understand and you can be firmer about leaving if you’re able at a certain time. I started at 6:30PM mom-Friday until 9PM. Saturday-Sunday was 9AM to 5 or 6PM with breaks and lunch. During those weeknights I would get something quick for dinner and scarf it down.

You’re putting in a lot of time but you also don’t need to kill you self. When it hits 6PM - STOP! Go do something fun! Give attention to your significant other! Enjoy life for a few hours. Try to separate bar study and the rest of your life so your brain can enjoy something else.

ESSAYS

The best thing you can do essay wise is read model answers and practice. That’s it. Do multiple essays for each subject. One thing I did to help black letter law was use some legal pads and write out black letter law in essays every time they appeared in the model answer. That results in memorizing the stuff that comes up frequently more easily.

MBE

I started every night practicing with doing 15-30 MBE questions and reading all the answers. At some point you realize that the questions have a certain structure to them and there’s only so many ways they can test you on certain rules. Keeping a consistent schedule and doing them over and over again is why MBE was strong on exam day.

PT

I approach the PT similarly to a lot of people. I read the prompt so I know what I’m doing then immediately flip to the back and read the library from most recent to oldest case. One trick that I discovered is that it saves a ton of time (which is the killer on the PT) to type rules of law or important statements from the library into your document as your reading them. I would have them all under the case name and then copy and past them as I started writing the PT in earnest. This saves a lot of time having to flip back and forth and can help contextualize all the law when you see it on your screen together.

HEALTH

Finally, it is super important imo to stay mentally and physically healthy during bar prep. Wake up early and go to the gym or go run. Eat healthy!! A lot of my friends stopped working out and ate like crap because they felt they needed comfort food and it took a toll on them. You end up less sharp and in bad shape when you take the exam and that can be the difference. Make the effort to try and keep your life balanced as much as possible. Your mental state is vital when you’re taking the exam. And as I mentioned above, have some fun!

[Ciedam08]

I wonder when they’re going to post the results letter to our portal today ??!!!

[cherrytee]

Does anyone have articulable recommendations for scoring 70's uniformly on the essays regardless of the subject? Thanks.

Yes. I did one trick on my third try, July 2018, for my CP essay. It was something I noticed that I did that was different from all of my other essays and essays in previous attempts. When I got my results back, I realized that not only was the conclusion of my essay (for the biggest issue) the complete opposite of that of the two model answers, but the analysis was also completely off as well. However, I got a 70 on the first read and the reread. I repeat. I literally wrote the exact opposite essay in analysis and conclusion from that of the model answers and got a 70, twice.

One of those changes was to integrate what I did in the July 2018 CP Essay for 4 of the 6 essays this round.
.

Hi. Just looking for clarification:

"the conclusion of my essay (for the biggest issue) the complete opposite of that of the two model answers, but the analysis was also completely off as well"

This is what you did differently on the CP Q and it worked so you used it to pass the next time? I'm not sure what you did exactly. Do you mean you answered the questions counter intuitively? What do you mean your analysis was off? Meaning it was incorrect as well as your conclusion? How would you know real time if you were right or wrong? Still don't know why either of those would change your score. Am I missing something? Thanks.

I got a bunch of PM's over the weekend and I will happily respond to everyone individually about what I said above, and my overall study plan my 4th try, later this week.

As for your specific clarification request Pema, sorry for not being clear. I literally went back to my July 2018 essay to give you a better answer.
Here's my actual point:
July 2018 Bar Essay question #4 was on CP. It had 3 parts. The third question/part in the essay asked about the allocation of "Personal Injury Settlement Funds". When I took the test in July 2018, I answered the question just how I answered it. As with all the other questions. Nothing to be said here. My point is, when I got my results back, I read both Model Answers, and realized my discussion of the "Personal Injury Settlement Funds" was completely different from that of the model answers. Rule was wrong. Analysis was wrong. Conclusion was half right. But I got a 70 on both reads. (I got 1438 on the bar). This fact kinda blew me away. Then, looking back at my own CP essay, I realized that while I wrote everything wrong, something about how I packaged my answer was very good. I haven't said what it was, which is why I welcomed the PM's. And I used this style of packaging in my answers for the February 2019 bar; multiple times in Q1 (since it works best with the CP-type essay), once in Q2, once in Q4. And I think in the PT as well, but I can't remember.

Again, to reiterate, I probably passed because I finally used Adaptibar, Baressays.com, JD advising, and Magicsheets like a madman. This is clearly in line with everyone else's testimonies.

I just remember when I failed multiple times, I was about ready to give up. And the last thing I wanted to hear from people was blanket encouragement and study strategies. How many essays to write a day, which services to use, etc. Since I felt like I already did all that on my second and third try. I just wanted practical, articulable, advice as well. And this is the one thing I remember.

[cob2018]

I wonder when they’re going to post the results letter to our portal today ??!!!

They did. It's under "exams"

[Ciedam08]

Does anyone know how to figure out our raw score on the MBE?? I got a 1434 on the exam so close, yet so far! I failed the MBE section, but cannot figure out what to make of this scaled MBE score! Thanks in advance!

[cherrytee]

Does anyone know how to figure out our raw score on the MBE?? I got a 1434 on the exam so close, yet so far! I failed the MBE section, but cannot figure out what to make of this scaled MBE score! Thanks in advance!

Email Joe Seperac at: joe@seperac.com

Give him your scaled breakdown of each topic and percentile. And he'll give you your raw score, calculated based on everyone else's scores. The higher the pool, the more accurate. But it is pretty accurate regardless. The raw score will be out of 175 though. So not the *complete* picture.

Done!

[Ciedam08]

Does anyone know how to figure out our raw score on the MBE?? I got a 1434 on the exam so close, yet so far! I failed the MBE section, but cannot figure out what to make of this scaled MBE score! Thanks in advance!

Email Joe Seperac at: joe@seperac.com

Give him your scaled breakdown of each topic and percentile. And he'll give you your raw score, calculated based on everyone else's scores. The higher the pool, the more accurate. But it is pretty accurate regardless. The raw score will be out of 175 though. So not the *complete* picture.

Done!

Thank you!

[maureenwct]

Looking for some insight into what to do with my scores. Had a second read, 430 raw the first time, and 420 the second, average 425. Score ranges from 50 -55) to 70, with most at 65. Total 1404. How to look at these?

[some1uknown]

Went down on my overall score because I got a 70 on the pt in July and didn't replicate that. Mbe section some percentile went up some when down. My con law went from 8.9 percentile in July to 87.4. No idea how and my evidence fell from 25 to 2.3 again no idea how.

Sigh I'm not going to be able to do July since I dont have the time between working full time and trying to deal with my anxiety.

[passed2ndtime19]

Just passed after failing J18 by 60ish points with Barbri. This test is a monster of it's own but you can pass! Don't give up.
Here are my two cents as a repeater:

-I found Mary Basick's Bar Essay Writing book immensely helpful to push my essays above 60. That book was a godsend. It contains almost every issue tested by the bar going back many years. It helps you see how certain facts can trigger certain issues. It also contains outlines and rule statements that I found easy to memorize. One of the best purchases I made for bar prep.

-Doing Adaptibar questions was helpful to familiarize myself with the style of real MBE questions. Although their answer explanations weren't always the greatest, it was still great practice. I completed over 1,300 questions by the end of prep. I don't remember my exact percentage correct, but I don't think it was over 70%. I focused on property, contracts, crim, and con law because I had scored the lowest on those. I studied mortgages in depth so that I felt fairly comfortable when one popped up. An MBE question I encountered and struggled with appeared word for word on F19. Boy did I thank the heavens for that.

-Baressays is a must IMO. Look at real essays that scored 55-70. You can see how many issues you can miss, how many rule statements are completely off, and how those essays still score 65+. I agree grading can be arbitrary sometimes, but there are a few main issues you should discuss for every essay, otherwise it'll be hard to get above 60. I saw that the average essay had at least 7-8 issues. Do not worry yourself too much with 80s, frankly those are not realistic. Remember, an average of 62.5 across all the essays is passing!

-Day of exam, stay cool. You prepared. You're ready. Don't let something you don't know trip you up and ruin the rest of your mental game. When I saw Q1 in F19, I had a 10 second freak out because I had never seen a CP/Trusts/Wills crossover like that (even after reviewing the Basick book). I had no clue what certain facts alluded to nor how I was going to conclude. I was shocked. But I chugged along, tried to sound smart, wrote what I thought was applicable for exactly one hour, and moved the eff on.

-Lastly, please keep your mental/physical help a priority. Burnout is real. Last time I spent every waking moment trying to study and I was not balancing my time. This year, I studied hard but I stuck to a schedule of 8-6, Sundays off, with gym and walks. You need fresh air and physical activity. I alternated my study environments but always sat at a desk or big table to keep me focused.

[Kentshindig]

I’m making my case here that the scaled calculations in Feb 2019 were much tougher than July 2018. For instance my raw essay score was ten points less, but my scaled score was 85 points less. My MBE showed increases in five of seven subjects, some of which were huge, like jumping from 24% to 72%, my civ pro from 3.8 to 18.1, criminal law from 10.3 to 57.2, real estate from 14.1 to 34.4, and contracts from 36.2 to 45.8. To be candid, I dipped in torts from 26.3 to 10.8 and in evidence from 25.0 to 7.1. Despite the substantial increases in five categories outweighing decreases in only two categories, my scaled score only increased by 33 points. I admit I did not study for the MBE in July, believing the essays were a better investment of my time. In Feb 2019, I decided late in my prep to beef up my MBE study, which resulted in huge increases in my percentile locally and nationally but due to the scaled calculation apparently being much more difficult, my MBE increases were diminished.

Ironically, the essay that dominated post bar discussion in Feb 2019 was my highest score with a 65. In light of all other factors, I consider the first essay a win, even though I did not pass overall, my percentile increases and passing score on what was considered to be a very tough community property/Wills/Probate essay, I’ll esteem good kills and continue to march on in the bar exam battle.

[ReasonablePersonSSC]

I’m making my case here that the scaled calculations in Feb 2019 were much tougher than July 2018. For instance my raw essay score was ten points less, but my scaled score was 85 points less. My MBE showed increases in five of seven subjects, some of which were huge, like jumping from 24% to 72%, my civ pro from 3.8 to 18.1, criminal law from 10.3 to 57.2, real estate from 14.1 to 34.4, and contracts from 36.2 to 45.8. To be candid, I dipped in torts from 26.3 to 10.8 and in evidence from 25.0 to 7.1. Despite the substantial increases in five categories outweighing decreases in only two categories, my scaled score only increased by 33 points. I admit I did not study for the MBE in July, believing the essays were a better investment of my time. In Feb 2019, I decided late in my prep to beef up my MBE study, which resulted in huge increases in my percentile locally and nationally but due to the scaled calculation apparently being much more difficult, my MBE increases were diminished.

Ironically, the essay that dominated post bar discussion in Feb 2019 was my highest score with a 65. In light of all other factors, I consider the first essay a win, even though I did not pass overall, my percentile increases and passing score on what was considered to be a very tough community property/Wills/Probate essay, I’ll esteem good kills and continue to march on in the bar exam battle.

The formula that California uses to scale the essays uses the national mean for the MBE, which is usually lower in Feb than July, resulting in lower scaled scores. The national mean MBE for Feb19 was 134.1 and for July18 was 139.5. That could be a factor in the decrease. The full formula is at: http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Admissions/Exa ... on/Scaling

[nappingwolf]

looking back at my own CP essay, I realized that while I wrote everything wrong, something about how I packaged my answer was very good. I haven't said what it was, which is why I welcomed the PM's.

Hi, I don't have a PM option. Would it work if you PM'd me first? Would love to hear your approach! Thanks.

[Blueplanet]

In relation to the MBE portion do you need to a minimum for CA or can it be lower than 144/145 providing your essays are good? i.e. can you get say 140 in the MBE and have a very good essay score to still pass?

[Kentshindig]

Does anyone have articulable recommendations for scoring 70's uniformly on the essays regardless of the subject? Thanks.

You said you wrote the wrong answer and got a 70? Are you saying there’s a right way to write a good wrong answer? Could it be on your fourth attempt you finally encountered a generous grader? We’re all of your essay scores higher?

Yes. I did one trick on my third try, July 2018, for my CP essay. It was something I noticed that I did that was different from all of my other essays and essays in previous attempts. When I got my results back, I realized that not only was the conclusion of my essay (for the biggest issue) the complete opposite of that of the two model answers, but the analysis was also completely off as well. However, I got a 70 on the first read and the reread. I repeat. I literally wrote the exact opposite essay in analysis and conclusion from that of the model answers and got a 70, twice.

One of those changes was to integrate what I did in the July 2018 CP Essay for 4 of the 6 essays this round.
.

Hi. Just looking for clarification:

"the conclusion of my essay (for the biggest issue) the complete opposite of that of the two model answers, but the analysis was also completely off as well"

This is what you did differently on the CP Q and it worked so you used it to pass the next time? I'm not sure what you did exactly. Do you mean you answered the questions counter intuitively? What do you mean your analysis was off? Meaning it was incorrect as well as your conclusion? How would you know real time if you were right or wrong? Still don't know why either of those would change your score. Am I missing something? Thanks.

I got a bunch of PM's over the weekend and I will happily respond to everyone individually about what I said above, and my overall study plan my 4th try, later this week.

As for your specific clarification request Pema, sorry for not being clear. I literally went back to my July 2018 essay to give you a better answer.
Here's my actual point:
July 2018 Bar Essay question #4 was on CP. It had 3 parts. The third question/part in the essay asked about the allocation of "Personal Injury Settlement Funds". When I took the test in July 2018, I answered the question just how I answered it. As with all the other questions. Nothing to be said here. My point is, when I got my results back, I read both Model Answers, and realized my discussion of the "Personal Injury Settlement Funds" was completely different from that of the model answers. Rule was wrong. Analysis was wrong. Conclusion was half right. But I got a 70 on both reads. (I got 1438 on the bar). This fact kinda blew me away. Then, looking back at my own CP essay, I realized that while I wrote everything wrong, something about how I packaged my answer was very good. I haven't said what it was, which is why I welcomed the PM's. And I used this style of packaging in my answers for the February 2019 bar; multiple times in Q1 (since it works best with the CP-type essay), once in Q2, once in Q4. And I think in the PT as well, but I can't remember.

Again, to reiterate, I probably passed because I finally used Adaptibar, Baressays.com, JD advising, and Magicsheets like a madman. This is clearly in line with everyone else's testimonies.

I just remember when I failed multiple times, I was about ready to give up. And the last thing I wanted to hear from people was blanket encouragement and study strategies. How many essays to write a day, which services to use, etc. Since I felt like I already did all that on my second and third try. I just wanted practical, articulable, advice as well. And this is the one thing I remember.

[jptx]

In relation to the MBE portion do you need to a minimum for CA or can it be lower than 144/145 providing your essays are good? i.e. can you get say 140 in the MBE and have a very good essay score to still pass?

Yes. If you take the non-attorney's exam the scores are combined to arrive at a final score. If you take the attorney's exam, the essay portion is doubled to arrive at the final score.

[jptx]

Looking for some insight into what to do with my scores. Had a second read, 430 raw the first time, and 420 the second, average 425. Score ranges from 50 -55) to 70, with most at 65. Total 1404. How to look at these?

Looks like on this administration, you had to have a 440 raw score to pass the attorney exam on first read (First reads are in multiples of five). If on second read the average raw score was 437.5 (averaging scores results in possible 2.5 score increments) or better you passed. My calculation is that based upon California mean of 1370 MBE, the and an estimated scaling effect of 1.65176471 multiple of the essay raw score to calculate the final scaled score essay score. In other words based upon scaling, the final score on the attorney exam is the raw score * 1.65176471 * 2. Passing of course is 1440.

[jptx]

Looking for some insight into what to do with my scores. Had a second read, 430 raw the first time, and 420 the second, average 425. Score ranges from 50 -55) to 70, with most at 65. Total 1404. How to look at these?

Looks like on this administration, you had to have a 440 raw score to pass the attorney exam on first read (First reads are in multiples of five). If on second read the average raw score was 437.5 (averaging scores results in possible 2.5 score increments) or better you passed. My calculation is that based upon California mean of 1370 MBE, the and an estimated scaling effect of 1.65176471 multiple of the essay raw score to calculate the final scaled score essay score. In other words based upon scaling, the final score on the attorney exam is the raw score * 1.65176471 * 2. Passing of course is 1440.

Also note, that if the California mean MBE (a test you did not take as an attorney) had been 144, no scaling would apply and you would have passed with the 430 and 425.

[annej24]

i know i know everyone has their own advice once they pass and it is not always helpful to hear what random things another person has done, but i feel like i studied so differently the time that i passed and maybe it could help someone else never have to take this monstrous exam again!!!

But I took the exam in July 2018 and used barbri and it did not work with my learning style. I ended up not passing that exam. It works for alot of people, i am not one of those people.. i needed more hands on and visual ways to learn (lectures were waste of time as we all now know). For feb 2019 I was worried to do something different than a big name review company because i did not want to fail again and maybe i just wasn't utilizing barbri correctly.. well i listened to my gut and it paid off! For feb 2019 exam i did not use barbri at all i focused on bar essays and adaptibar 100%.

i highly recommend buying the more expensive version of bar essays (only because i dont think its that much more for it) but you get access to these outlines and model answers that list out rules/ rules statements and which rules always appear with one another. I never really outlined in law school, though everyone swore by it, it just did not work for me. Instead i did an alternative thing where i wrote out templates of rule statements/rules for each issue as i would on the exam and left [__] brackets where facts or conclusions would go. Like different options to write depending on which issues you were given. I made these for most subjects or at least the main ones i knew were likely to be tested, and the last two weeks i went through with a white board and wrote these out until i memorized not only rules/rule statements but which triggered other rules to discuss.

a hard part for me with the rules were they were just floating around and i could not pin them down when i needed to use them. doing these templates (flowcharts work too) i was able to put the rules into specific places and recall them a lot better.

also during the last two weeks i used a white board memorizing my rule templates for few hours and then would switch to outlining every single essay available on bar essays for that subject. And by outlining i mean i would read an essay and write out the rules and rule statements i saw on word doc and basically did everything i would for an essay minus the discussion of facts. I know that seems like alot but it actually does not take as long as you think. I would also try to write out a couple as full essays for practice. But i started to see patterns in essays, especially con law, i think i repeated a few versions of that by the end and felt 100% prepared for that subject (of course didn't get a con law one bc i felt prepared lol).

but anyway if you are a visual learner like me, i highly suggest making rule templates, using whiteboard to memorize, and literally outlining as many essays as you can!! i kept blanking on rules or not seeing issues in july but in feb i only felt pressed for time to get issues and rule statements out!

i have my templates saved as word documents too if anyone wants to use them but i think making your own will help with learning/memorization. i used a couple of sources to make mine (barbri outlines and bar essays templates) and wrote it in a way that i would remember.

i guess a summary to my rant is to not throw away things that worked for you your whole life as a student just because everyone else is telling you "YOU HAVE TO DO XYZ" listen to what works for you!

[CALTEX]

Will the California Bar post answers to the essay and PT questions?

[NewYorktoCalifornia]

I am a New York attorney and took the F19 attorney's exam for the first time and passed. Here is my unorthodox method of studying.

When visiting California last summer, my friends suggested I should move there. I gave my standard answer: I am not moving anywhere where I need to take another bar exam. Once I got back and thought about it, I was unsatisfied with this excuse. Why was I afraid to take another bar exam? Then I wondered whether I could pass it. So I decided, partly as a personal challenge, partly to open up new opportunities, that I would take the California Bar Exam. I registered for the attorney's exam. Even though I suspected I might do better with multiple choice questions to boost my score, I really didn't want to spend two days taking the test on my trip to California. Besides, I planned on going to Disneyland on Wednesday with friends.

Since I'm already well into my legal career and have steady job in New York, I was more concerned about losing my financial investment and wasting my time. Maybe because of the lack of vested interest in passing, I bought the cheapest study materials I could find. I ordered the 2018 California Bar Exam Total Preparation Book by CaliforniaBarTutors off Amazon for $50 ($70 minus an Amazon gift card I already had). I got the book and started studying late September. I figured I'd need the lead in time since I hadn't been in law school since 2011 (when I last took the New York bar exam).

Very quickly, it became apparent to me that the prep book was relatively inexpensive for a reason. I found numerous errors in the book and outdated information. (And I'm not just talking about the professional responsibility rules that had just changed.) There were typographical errors that literally inverted the rule (e.g., omitting the word "not" from the rule) and incorrect substantive statements of law. Occasionally, different sections would contain conflicting rules, sometimes because the book might repeat a repealed law in one place while stating the current rule elsewhere.

What I ultimately did was use the book as an outline for the total universe of subjects. I cracked open my old law school textbooks and used Westlaw resources I had access to through work, such as caselaw, Witkins California law, and Restatements to actually correct the substantive law in the prep book. I essentially taught myself the law I would need to know.

About 2-3 weeks before the exam, I still felt that I was missing something or being led down the wrong path by the erroneous rules in the book. So I downloaded the SmartBarPrep outline for California. This outline gives you statistics on how often the material appeared on the last 15 years worth of tests. I really, really liked this outline. The organization made sense, the substantive law seemed mostly correct, and was fully up to date on professional responsibility changed and other subjects. With this outline, you really do capture the big topics that get tested. (I note in passing that it did not include a rule on liability for non-domestic animals. Oops. I guess it doesn't get tested a lot.)

I took the test and walked out of there feeling very unsure of my performance. This is probably because during my study, I neglected practice essays. I think maybe I forced myself to write one or two. If I had to do it all again, I would've written more of them.

Thankfully, I passed. I'm not sure using bad study materials and neglecting practicing is good advice. But it did force me to learn the law in a way that worked for me.

[lexingtonhr]

I got a 1415 overall... I'm so annoyed

[Noobmaster69]

I got a 1415 overall... I'm so annoyed

did you find out your score breakdown?

[rcharter1978]

I got a 1415 overall... I'm so annoyed

Damn. I'm not sure how MBEs are graded, but do you think you'd be close enough to want to request hand scoring? It's a long shot, but geez that really sucks, I'm sorry.

[lexingtonhr]

I got a 1415 overall... I'm so annoyed

Damn. I'm not sure how MBEs are graded, but do you think you'd be close enough to want to request hand scoring? It's a long shot, but geez that really sucks, I'm sorry.

Thanks. I cried for like an hour. I'm not sure if I will, do you think I should?