How do you upload a picture to your profile? I keep getting the error code...

First to say I'm going to fail the bar!

First to POTTY!

If you ace the MPT, they don't even look at the rest of the exam.

As long as you are not HANDWRITING, you will be fine. Those people are screwed. Bar exam takes no points off for wrong answers, so just type as fast as you can and throw in everything you remember.

To those HANDWRITING, I'm sorry. NY should do separate curves but it doesn't.

3 - you may be the first to say it, but you damn sure aint the first to think it.

See you in February.

DOW IS UP. WE ARE ALL SAVED

Frank Sinatra didn't prefer Orville Redenbacher.

I assume Elie passed the bar. After reading his work yesterday, I think we should all be more confident.

Update: Thio staying in Singapore!

6 - Apparently you haven't heard of the time that NY BOLE literally LOST a few hundred typed exams that weren't properly uploaded?

Handwriting = failsafe, same reason why 1L legal research classes still teach how to use the books.

The only fires that go on at Van Winkle are the matches that light my J at 4:20 every afternoon.

I handwrote my exam and thought it was actually easier to be more precise. Plus you weren't frantically reediting every two seconds, so time was never an issue for me. And..I passed with flying colors.

Winners handwrite the bar exam

Pencils and pens always work. Computers do not.

Columbia students obviously set the fire.

Have all you kids basically given up at this point? I keep seeing people who are taking the exam out at bars on random weeknights...

this is truly the "lost summer" of my life

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

- Future Retaker

Update: Thio still in Singapore.

19-you haven't seen anything yet. Just wait until you pass and start practicing law. Your misery is only beginning.

I have to hand-write; that's all my state allows. So I'm at no more of a disadvantage than anybody else. At least, not because of the handwriting issue...

first to say I wish I had failed the bar and gotten a teching certificate instead

Time passes, and so will you... at least on your second or third try...

2,

I have the same problem. Specifically, the error is:

Error writing upload to '/var/www/html/domains/abovethelaw.com/avatars/username_12.jpg': Opening local file '/var/www/html/domains/abovethelaw.com/avatars/username_12.jpg' failed: Permission denied

... where "username" is my username.

Help. Please.

Louisiana has already started the bar. tomorrow is day three and our last 7.5 hours of testing... worst summer ever. better not be worst mardi gras ever if i fail!

Actually, an asian student spontanteously combusted in the law library.

12 - They have you save your answers on a USB memory device at the test site now, which they keep as a backup so that doesn't happen again.

26 - exact same error. Stupid computers.

28 - Racist. Just like that Cambridge police officer.

Big news coming from Binder & Binder, the recession has imposed that power will only be turned on for two hours a day. For those who have to make calls outside of this time period, a pay phone is only two blocks away, quarters will not be provided.

Holy crap, what a bunch of whiners. The bar exam is not that effing difficult, people. Just take it and shut the hell up about it.

All you people complaining out this being the "worst summer" need to get real. You're studying and reading all day. Big freakin' deal. But I suppose after all this "hard work" and all the debt you incurred, you really "deserve" a 160k/year job, right? You earned it! Memorizing the elements of a covenant that runs with the land is just too grueling...

Massachusetts (5th or 6th most-taken bar exam), among other states, doesn't have a computer option. Everyone writes by hand.

Good luck everybody; once you pass, you can spend a year sitting on the couch while desperately and fruitlessly applying to every job, internship, volunteer opportunity, and non-legal position under the sun.

COUCH SECURE

NYLS > NYUSL

So does this mean that NYU will drop in the US News Rankings next year seeing that library volumes is a factor....

NYUSL > NYLS > NUSL

@ 35

pass the guac

I find myself wondering how PE studied for the bar. In any event I'm certain he would have some sage advice for those about to sit for it...

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD CAN THIS BE THE LAST TIME ANYONE MENTIONS THIS STUPID DR. THIO NON-STORY?!!

Thanks much.

PE is a 2L at a TTT.

old news.

If you fail the bar exam, you can travel the Gaean Reach and critique the various weirdnesses that planetary cultures exhibit.

Find your Lurulu.

OK guys, I've been studying for 2 straight months, long days.

I am so worn out now I can barely maintain my train of thought. There's not a lot left to learn...at this point I'm just trying to maintain. How much cramming should I do over these last few days -- should I just relax a bit and get mentally focused? What about the day before the exam? I'm thinking calling it quits by mid-afternoon and seeing a movie.

I agree, laptop users have a significant advantage.

@ 44

you are going to fail anyway so it doesn't matter

i hope you all fail. there are too many bloodsucking lawyers

stop fretting.

study for a good few hours a day for the next few days, and at 5, go have a few beers and relax....

from Barely Legal: The Blog
http://barelylegalblog.blogspot.com/

The Bar is Over...
...and now all I'm left with is the thought, 'Did I get 60% of the questions right needed to pass?'

Actually, I've found the best way to reassure yourself is to remember that only 20% of people fail. The trick is to count that 20% out and realize you're not one of them.

Here are my calculations based on my classroom of 50 bar exam takers:

* 5 people sweating freakishly who's skin broke out during the 6 hour test. I'll assume they freaked out and failed. That's 10%

* Two people didn't show up, and are counted as fails. That's 4%

* One girl's phone went off and got kicked out and counted as a fail. Another 2%.

* Guy with a ponytail obviously has very poor judgment which I'm sure will be reflected on the bar. Another 2%.

* Southerner who I'm sure will miss all the cosanguinity questions on the Family Law portion. We'll give him 50/50 odds so that's 1%.

* Idiot, who after hearing the instructions that he was to have nothing in front of him except pencils and his ID, asked "My wallet's in my pocket. Is that OK?"...Wait a minute, that was me.

some people actually prefer working to studying...

I'd like to thank whoever wrote this Haiku yesterday, it bears repeating:

"Fat Elie Mystal
Cheeseburger Cheeseburger Shake
Tasty in his mouth"

-Thank you for this sir, EPIC WIN.

If there's a fire alarm in the library while you're studying for the bar, just take it as a sign from upstairs and close the books. Washington Square Park is lovely this time of year. Go relax and enjoy life for once.

If you let a fire alarm ruin your bar preparation, then you don't have what it takes to succeed in biglaw, especially in this economy.

Fuck NYU! They don't even let non-NYU students get into their libraries.

And the coffee in Vanderbilt Hall sucks....FYI.

Now if only Elie had managed to pass a bar exam...

Glorified regents exam

Shorty's fire burnin' on the dance floor.

Armadillos from Texas play rap, eating tacos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B91wki_jQf0

Guys in my high school used to fail bar exams all the time. It was no big deal.

Does your Greenwich correspondent live in CT?

24, I hope you weren't wanting to "tech" spelling.

I like how the tipster complained that the fire happened a week before the bar. like NYU did that on purpose. Law students are the most entitled assholes in the world; they think that even GOD needs to bow down to them now

I must get an A on the bar exam. Wait. It is pass/fail? And only 20% fail? To the bar.

I must get an A on the bar exam. Wait. It is pass/fail? And only 20% fail? To the bar.

62, 63, - FAIL

Just to clarify --

I (and 11,000 just like me in NY) am spending $3000 (or my firm is) to study for an exam for ten weeks or so to enter a profession that is contracting and can't figure out how to manage its people after spending $150k on a law degree.

This just seems so irrational.

(and no, I'm not going to fail and I'm not all that miserable)

um, so when BarBri says your goal should be X number of correct answers on a practice quiz - how many people actually hit that goal?

Studying for the bar is super easy, way easier than law school and especially law school exams. Enough with the whining. You have to study... WAH.

Real question re: MPQ2.

Is it just me or is the full-day exam harder than the simulated one?

I'm sure I'll be passing the bar exam, with all the studying and practicing I've been doing.

For instance, I finally got making a martini down (I kept putting a pickle in it instead of an olive). And I'm not even going to tell you what I used to put into a fuzzy navel!

64 - Ha! I already took the bar and passed, easily. Just making fun of you idiots who are freaking out.

-62,63

I Saw U Fuck MAID Marian's Pussy Cunt.

Defenses to K formation. About the only thing I know. So I'm totally ready for Tuesday and February.

68: its not just you.

The Bar really isn't all that hard. The NY essays were cake; NJ's essays were even easier. You can easily anticipate 6 or more of the 10+ issues they ask you about.

The MPT literally requires no preparation if the following is true: (1) you can read and write in English and (2) at any point during law school, you figured out how to argue persuasively.

The MBE is the only part of the exam that is even remotely difficult, and that is only due to the wildly nonsensical answers. However, you can almost always exclude two answers on an MBE question.

All in all, you'll be fine. There is nothing to panic about.

Damn I thought all states allowed computers. I can type much faster than I write and my handwriting is pretty bad so I'm thankful to be in Georgia where I have the option.

LOL @ 74 "Thankful to be in Georgia."

OH MY GOD WE'RE HAVING A FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sale

74, at least they have summer down in Georgia this year.

-Sick of it being sixty degrees with rain every fucking day in Boston. It's like the weather took a trip across I-90 from Seattle.

76: amazing.

76: I was gonna say it if you hadn't. Nice.

Has anyone who actually did more or less the entirety of the barbri program failed?

We got told a story at our BarBri about some girl who did 4500 practice MBE questions and still failed the MBE.

Not sure what the point of that was.

Take this layoff as a blessing in disguise.

Why in sam **** did you want to be a biglaw associate to begin with? When you were a kid, I KNOW that you did not say, "When I grow up, I want to be a biglaw associate."

You want it for the money. You want it to pay off your loans. You want to use it as a springboard into more fulfilling legal careers.

Stop. Just stop. Take it from me. I was an associate and left biglaw several years ago after realizing that I was getting fatter, less energetic, weirder, etc.

You can make enough money to live a comfortable life and pay off your loans in another job (or another career).

What interests you about the law so much, anyway? If you like the law for what it is, then stay in the legal industry. But if you don't like the law or if you think you'd be happier in another career, then go for it.

You only live once, and while money is important, it's not everything. When you're lying on your deathbed, you're not going to wish you spent more time in the office or that you make another $10,000 or that you had another boat or whatnot.

Remember the important things in life: your family, your friends, your health, your happiness, and last, but not least, God.

God bless you and I wish you the best in your future endeavors.

For those of you who are thinking of wearing your HLS sweatshirts to the exam (both days), it's been done before, and, unless you want the parking garage to pose a greater threat to your general survival than the MBE, maybe you should leave it at home.

How's studying going?

I'm posting on freaking ATL for avoidance. Does that answer your question?

Please leave the room if you think this will affect you.

BLAM!

lol @83.

ditto for ties. the NYC MPRE exam was ridiculous.

though please do where your Yale sweatshirts... I have YET to see a Yale grad in public.

After a morning of caffeine and ritalin i've done 660 flash cards and 150 multiple choice.... (sound of teeth gnashing)

6 - So wait... if you forget a rule, you can just write 2 or 3 versions and they will dismiss the 1-2 wrong ones and give you credit for the right one? That makes no sense.

For the record, the bar is the most ridiculous BS I've ever experienced in my life. It is a pointless exercise. It is the same as having someone memorize 15,000 random numbers just for the hell of it. So you have a good memory; I'm still going to kick your ass in court.

85

The MPRE too? I'm sorry I missed that administration of the exam. I have very good aim with empties under parking lot conditions, and, fortunately, U.S. News and World Report provides me a handy priority list in case I'm confronted with a conflict of douche-baggery.

Why is MA stuck in the stone age; if anyone of influence is reading, I think it is about time you figured out how to use a computer and let people type the essays. They don't even teach people to use that archaic and basically absolute crappy ass form of communication called writing any more. I don't even own a pen.

Wait, we have to hand write this shit? ...

"obsolete crappy ass...."

89

Wait, when is the Bar again? Next week? Okay, so I still have a few days before I need to begin cramming...good.

Typing rules, and you always have the option to hand write if necessary. There have been no problems since the July 2007 exam with the laptop users. The USB back up and the new software have made a big difference.

This would never happen at SMU

I just can't wait for next Wednesday at 4:30pm . . .

Has anybody taken Maryland? Advice? What should I spend the most time doing the next few days? Leaning toward spending no more time on MBEs (I did the PMBR 3 day and most of BarBri's MPQ 1 book) and doing all the remaining essays in the BarBri Maryland essay book...

Virginia bar sucks.

Fire alarms @ BU too.

27 if you're and LSU grad it's not you're last 7.5 of testing

-a greenie alum

Northeastern is too cheap for fire alarms. We just watch to see when all the rats in the basement flee our asbetos-soaked 1960's white limestone buildings onto Huntington Street. We are also the only law school in Massachusetts that doesn't have an on-site Barbri class.

COUCH SECURE

100 - BOOOOOOOOOOM

100- That's because it's not ABA accredited

I've been doing this shit for two months and just don't give a fuck no mo. I could take the bar tomorrow and my score ain't gonna be no diff then next Wed. And if I see some dude wearing his Ivy gear I'm going to take a shit in the barbri bag and beat the shitbag with a shit bag.

Can anyone tell me why I should waste time writing practice essays when I can use the time to actually study? I understand doing a couple of essays in order to gauge the timing, but otherwise I plan to just issue spot the practice essays and focus more on substantive stuff.

There's no way somebody did 4500 practice MBE questions.

I'm at the point now where I feel I'll pass. I'm not trying to be a hero and ace this exam.

105: It would have been overkill big time, but it's very possible. Let's say you had a light second semester of 3L with mostly paper finals. You do 50 questions per day from late May until late July -- that's 4500 questions. And, subtracting out all the Barbri paced program stuff, it's much less (practice MBE was 200, practice 1/2 MBE from Preview was 100, each subject in MPQ1 was 144, there's another sample 1/2 test and full test in MPQ2 -- those questions alone, and there are more, equal almost 1500 right there).

Or, if you started studying right at the end of May, that's still two months, which comes out to something like 75 questions / day. A lot more, but doable, especially if you're going through them more rapidly.

104 - outlining an essay or two may be useful; just keep in mind that some of the Barbri sample answers would take hours to write, while other answers are crap and miss completely obvious issues.

105 - 4500 MBE questions is 75 per day for 60 days. That's entirely feasible w/ Barbri and PMBR, and not too many more than what I did two years ago (I did 60 - 70 per day). I passed. I have no job, but I passed.

104 - I'm with you on that... if you don't know the rules, practicing isn't going to help.

Some of you people have ridiculous insecurties. Sure, I wouldn't do it, but who gives a shit if someone wears an HLS/YLS/whatever shirt? Why is it ok to wear a shirt from a shitty school and not a good one? Is it because you're intimidated?

Is this PMBR add 36 to your score at all reliable? Thoughts?

110: Uh, it's more like the PMBR test is ridiculously difficult -- they themselves admit to not including any easy questions on the test, whereas a decent sized chunk of the actual MBE will be "easy" questions. If you look at the percentiles and pretend it was a real MBE (needing a scaled 130-140 to pass and receiving somewhere from 15-20 extra points from raw to scaled), less than 10% of the takers would have passed (a 120 raw was 90th percentile).

109, not intimidated, it's because i don't like it when people attempt to intimidate me. Being mature, I fling poop. -103

Has anyone actually ever failed the MPT? Seems you would have to try real hard to not pass that part of the exam.

103 FTW.

I thought th ebar examiners woul dcare about my criminal record, but they never contacted me. Any chance they will cop an attitude AFTER I take the test?

"Has anyone actually ever failed the MPT? Seems you would have to try real hard to not pass that part of the exam. "

From the lecture it seems people who actually do fail, do so in one of two ways.

1. They fail to read the directions and write something that's basically irrelevant.

2. They have very very poor time management skills and realize three quarters of the way through the time allotted that they have 5 questions left and no time to complete them.

Anyone else have devious plans for distracting other test takers? I'm going to fart really loudly and continue working while everyone else is laughing.

I hired a friend who is not planning to become an attorney to flip out the entire time (discrete enough not to get kicked out until the last few hours when everyone starts to panic); should take care of the people in my room.

Is Ms Wurtzel studying for the bar?

I have a high pitched device that only tools can hear; should take care of hopefully half of the people in the room especially if the proctor is not a tool and thinks the morons are crazy and makes them sit down and take the test with the alleged screeching noise.

Is there any reason I shouldn't return my BarBri books for the refund? I'm not considering keeping them for practicing law, just for the horrible possibility that I don't pass. Maybe at that point I'll just be F**ked and repaying more BarBri money will be the least of my worries.

I guess my real question is, what is the secondary market for the BarBri materials? If I hang on to them until after I find out if I passed, will people actually buy them on Ebay/Craiglist, and or will I be breaking some BarBri terms of use by reselling that I was unaware of?

property avg per set- 3/18
contracts avg per set- 4/18
PMBR 3 day - 42/200 . . . Good (20%)?
Can't wait to wear my Harvard T

122, are you for real?
I got like 10 correct for those sets, but I did them right after the respective bar bri lectures in June.
I got 99/200 correct on PMBR.

Am I still screwed?

121 - Barbri goes after people that sell the books on the secondary market. You agreed not to resell them. Whether or not they have a claim against you is debatable, but if I were you I'd stick with the $250 refund.

123 - no, you're average

124 - what can they go after you for? copyright only entitles them to the first sale, right? I know, I know, doesn't matter, it won't be on the Bar.

I skipped out on Barbri and just bought the books from a friend for $200. I had a hard time finding a good set, so the market is either really good or everyone is scared to sell them. What does barbri tell you guys anyway? Everyone I talk to makes it sound like they will kill you if you break the rules. One friend wouldn't even give me the paced program or even give me an idea of what they expected. Crazy!!!

After taking tons of practice tests, I have determined that I am a below average kind of guy.

126 - If you are really interested after the bar exam, google it. There've been numerous cases. Heck, I think ATL even had a post a while back about a guy getting sued by barbri. Barbri is notorious about protecting their intellectual property. The first sale doctrine is always the main line of defense, but isn’t always successful. I think they try to claim that they merely granted a license and didn't actually sell the books, or something to that effect. Maybe you could win a case against them, but I'd much rather skip the headache and get my $250. Then again, with deferrals there are a lot of people with time on their hands. Maybe going against barbri pro se would be good experience!

so how many people have actually kept up with the BarBri program? Is it even realistic? this 12hrs a day regimen feels kinda nuts...

I know a few (losers) who basically did. The types who went to LS straight from undergrad, whose lives depended on being in the top 2% of the class, and worked really hard to get there because they weren't really all that smart- just didn't care about not having a life for 3 years because they never really had one to begin with. But they will pass, barring fluke accident/swine flu.
I, on the other hand, went to and outlined every BarBri class, and did maybe 50% of the homework until BarBri ended a week and a half ago. Since then I've been flashcarding and practicing like my life depended on it, but I'm so bad at memorizing crap that I might fail.

I went to most of the lectures but didn't start reviewing till this week. I plan to pass.

I love that the posts here are mainly positive. Ive been to the classes, outlined notes, and done practice MBE questions but slacked a lot on the practice essays. Doing them this week and working on memorizing more this week. Hope to do a couple more MPT's just for time management purposes. I

Anyone taking 2 bars? Have you really started studying for your second bar? I am focusing on bar 1 and if I pass bar 2 bonus; but I'm afraid to study the distinctions and mess up bar 1.

I feel more freaked out than most because I landed a job I really wanted w/ a mid sized firm and moved my family for the job. Now---what if I fail. Eek. I'm just counting my blessings that I have employment and keep praying Ive done enough to pass.

taking NY and NJ.

NY is a cake walk.

NJ is garbage just like the state. nothing to worry about.

@ 134, are you single? you sound smart. what's your a/s/l?

@ 134, are you single? you sound smart. what's your a/s/l?

cake walk implies you don't need to study. problem with the bar exam is you have to actually know stuff- not enough to just be smart. anyone who studied is fine.