Tag: preparation

Bar Exam Essays Part 1: How do they grade the bar exam essays?


You will spend close to two months, take dozens of practice essays, and spend a good two or three days in the bar exam.  That’s a lot of time to put into the exam, and how much time do you think the graders will invest into reading your essays?  About three to five minutes per essay, at most.

At least once before the exam, it’s a good idea to try the exercise of putting yourself in the shoes of the person who will be holding your fate:

1)      Set the timer to five minutes

2)      Click here to go to a sample essay answer on the calbar website

3)      Read an actual essay exam answer

4)      Come back when you’re done

See, it doesn’t actually take that long to read an answer.  Keep in mind, the exam answer you just read is a ‘model passing’ answer, and believe me when I say this, it is an amazingly well-written answer!  You don’t need to be even close to writing like this to pass.  But, hopefully you will see how CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT it is your essays are structured, organized, readable, and use headings (that topic is for a different post, coming soon).  For a grader to get through your essay in this short amount of time, it will need to be very readable.

Now, if you really want to feel like a bar exam grader, repeat the exercise dozens of times at 10:00pm.  You will be in a very similar situation to what the grader has to do, after spending a full day at work, coming home to his family, and is now trying to meet his deadline of reading 100 bar exam essays this week.  He doesn’t have a lot of time and needs to be very efficient and methodical in his reading.  The easier you make it on him, the better.

Process of Bar Exam Grading

Here is a rough review of the process the graders go through when grading your exam.

Bar exam graders are attorneys who have passed the bar and sign-up to be a grader.  They get paid a stipend (which is likely far less than what they make at their jobs).

After the bar exam is taken, a group of graders get together and take the same essay you just took.  They write out a full essay, including all the rules and analysis.  Then the graders meet together, look at what each of them wrote down, and create a ‘model’ answer.

Next, the graders get together with the student answers, and they’ll each grade the same student answer, giving their opinion of what the answer should receive.  They will then compare their opinions, discuss reasons why, and after several run-throughs, give a breakdown of how many points each issue is worth and a score of what they think that exam answer would deserve.

Then, they grade a second essay, running it through the same process and grading model they had created for the first essay, recalibrating any necessary point adjustments.  Eventually they find a model answer and grading system that all the graders can use.  Although, grading may seem subjective for each grader, believe it or not, if fifteen graders grade the same exam using this calibrated point system, each grader will typically fall within five points of each other.  This is to ensure fairness, equality, and eliminate personal subjectivity amongst anyone grading the exams.  Any grader who’s scores are consistently more than five points off from all the other graders is typically removed.

In California, if your total score for the performance test, essays, and MBE is greater than 1440 you pass!  If your score is below a 1390, you don’t pass.  If it falls between these two numbers, your exam is regraded by a different set of graders.  Hopefully, it is given more points as you still will need to hit the 1440 mark to pass.  For more information on the calibration process and regrading system, click here.

I hope this comforts you a little and gives you an idea of what your exam will go through after you finish uploading or turning it in on test day.

Good luck in passing your bar exam!

“This name appears on the pass list”


References:

All info stated in the article was according to a California barbri lecture I attended during my bar prep and the calbar website.

See Bar Exam Essays Part 2: 8 things Every Bar Essay should Have

Top 12 things to get situated before studying for the bar exam



Preparing for the bar is a time of focus and discipline.  The last thing you want are overdraft statements from the bank, “Where the heck are you?!?!?!” text messages from your significant other, or angry growls from your stomach asking you to feed it some real food.  So, before your bar prep begins, let’s take a look at the Top 12 things to get situated in your life.

(12) Family

Time to call mom, pop, Aunt Susie, Little Johnny, and Jenna to tell tham that their daddy/mommy/son/daughter may be more MIA than normal the next couple months.  “It’s nothing personal mom, but I just might not feel like hearing how Aunt Carol’s chocolate cake didn’t quite live up to Cheescake factory standards.”  Just tell them you’ll be working hard and making some sacrifices to create a better future for yourself and family.  They’ll definitely relate to that!  If not, don’t be afraid to put your phone on silent.  Also, tell them you may need to make random, emergency calls to them just to talk and ‘get things out.’  Hopefully you’ve been keeping up on your Christmas cards so the karma will come around now.

(11) Outside schedule

As I stated in my post regarding keeping the same routine, you probably want to keep the same routine you have been before.  So, make sure you have your schedule outside of law school setup.  Know when you’re taking yoga, going to church, what time Tuesday night family night begins, etc.

(10) Food

It might be a good idea to do a quick google search of ‘healthy, energizing foods’ to find out what foods you should eat to keep you going through the bar prep (I’ll be writing a post about this soon).  Professional athletes have a diet plan they follow to make sure their mind and body is sharp, focused, and replenished.  Your mental endurance and body health will be very important the next two months.  Make sure you’re getting lots of fish, almonds, nuts, vegetables, and fruits to keep your mind ready to study.  Maybe hit up mom to do some cooking.  I was lucky enough to have my mother cook me a bunch of Persian food I could freeze and warm up over the two months of bar prep.

(9) Job

Some of you may not have a job lined up and be ‘trippin’ about it.  If you can get one before bar time begins, great.  If not, you may be thinking about it during bar time.  If you must, devote what time you need to find a job; however, try not to allow the ‘worry’ about finding a job mess with you.  You have enough on your plate.  Write out a plan of sending out ‘x’ number of applications every week if you must.

(8) Relationship

If you’re with your same sweetheart you had before you started law school, then getting this part of your life squared away should be a walk in the park for you.  If you have a new love interest, you may want to let her know what this ‘bar’ thing really is about, and how it will be your primary focus the next couple months.  Ask for her understanding in that you may be skipping out on dinners, dessert, and tv time (but of course you’ll be there for the post evening activities!).  Also, let her know you may need her to be there for you if you go through any hard moments.

(7) Music playlist

We all know classical music has a scientific basis for helping our minds learn, and sometimes we just want to take a break or study with our own favorite music.  Either way, get your list of tunes synched to your ipod, and have it ready to go when you need a study break or want to hype yourself up during outline reading.  I recommend having a list of different genres to fulfill you when you’re in different moods.

(6) Get your support group list

There will be a time during bar prep where you simply want to hear, “It’s going to be ok.”  Having close or trusted friends and family can be a BIG help!  Write a list of people you can count on and call during your prep.  You can count on me for any advice or venting as well (ipassedmybarexam@gmail.com).  Creating the list before you dive on in will be beneficial.

(5) Location

What are three important rules about bar prep?  Location.  Location.  Location.  It’s a good idea to have a list of several places you would like to study.  Hopefully, you’ve found some locations you like during your last few years of law school.  They might be the library, living room, coffee shop, park, backyard, etc.  Try and make sure your place of study will be quiet (or bring your headphones).  Make note of construction that might be going on (when I took the bar, there was construction in our library as I studied).  Being in a positive environment can help as well.  If you’re in the library surrounded by hundreds of others students studying, this may encourage you or stress you out.  Just know what is best for you.  If you’re not sure yet (I wasn’t), don’t be afraid to try out new places.  I recommend having a list of several places because sometimes you’ll feel like studying in different area, just to change the scenery and energy of the place you have been going.  My list was my couch, a small room in the library with round tables, and a classroom with no one else in it.

(4) Bar materials in hand

Bar prep programs should be very good in getting materials to you way ahead of time.  Make sure you have all your books and materials, your laptop hasn’t been having any major issues, and you’re all paid on your bar dues.  The sooner you have these in hand, the better.

(3) Exercise

There is nothing quite like exercising to get away from it all during bar prep.  There is a lot of science behind the enormously positive effects of exercise, especially when putting your mind through the mental vigor that is the bar exam.  Have a gym membership or a nearby park ready and waiting for you when you want to ditch the books and hit the ground running (pun intended).  Multiple sources have stated that people need 20 minutes of cardio vascular exercise at least three days a week to keep fresh and healthy.

(2) Finances

Your law school time is over and so is all that leftover loan money.  If you haven’t been doing any work other than work study, you may want to make sure you have enough money to last you the next couple months, through and beyond the bar exam.  Some schools offer bar loans, but they work differently than your normal Perkins and Stafford friends, so check with your financial aid office to get the details.  I knew my bar was coming up, so I maxed out my loans the previous semester to make sure I had some leftovers to feed myself on during bar prep time.  If you need to, borrow some money from mom and dad, and do try to avoid receiving ‘overdraft’ emails from the bank the week before your bar.  It won’t be a lot of fun.

(1) Happy activities & Fun Time

Speaking of fun, it can be a huge help to keep happy, upbeat, energized, and positive during bar time!  For those moments when you get down, it may be nice to have a list of things that can pick you back up.  It might be a favorite book or blog to read, your favorite Netflix show or movies, youtube videos, a trusted friend, a video or board game, painting, or some other activity that you can simply retreat into and have fun.  Having a list and the activities written down and ready before bar prep will make it easier on you if you find yourself lost in a forest during bar prep.

I hope this helps!  Good luck on passing your bar exam!

Get used to reading your name and this: “This name appears on the pass list.”