Recent Bar Exam Results: Open ThreadConnecticut, Illinois, Indiana -- any others?

It’s that time of year again: bar exam results season! Which states have already released their results?

These days, passing or failing the bar exam can have a great impact on employability in what little remains of the entry-level job market for recent law school graduates. That’s probably why those who took the July exam have been so cranky lately — they want to know if they’ll even have a chance to launch their careers.

Not even a month has passed since our last open thread devoted to bar exam results, but it appears that we’ve got a lot of catching up to do. It’s not yet November, so New York and California test takers still have some time left to wait, but we do have confirmed news about results from other states.

Within the past week, including today, at least three states announced their bar exam results. In fact, test takers from one state were so desperate to find out whether they passed that a post about the state’s results from two years ago is one of our most heavily trafficked pages today.

Let’s take a look, shall we?

Indiana posted its results last week, on September 25. Check them out here. Three days later, Connecticut’s results were posted on September 28 (results available here).

Today, October 1, brought bar news from the great state of Illinois.

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Reports have been rolling in all day about the “a**baggery” (gavel bang: frustrated tipster) that took place before the official results were released this morning at approximately 10 a.m. Central time. Apparently Illinois usually posts its results between midnight and 1 a.m., but not so this year. According to another source, the state delayed its results, leaving those who were camped out at their computers to “crap their pants” while they trolled internet forums like All4JDs. Here are some of the more entertaining outbursts from that forum:

  • “I swear, if they don’t come out tonight, I’m going to have a heart attack.”
  • “I can’t believe I spent most of my night awake, waiting for these damn results.”
  • “My heart skips a freakin beat every time I get an email.”
  • “I will be very pissed off if I stayed up for nothing!”
  • “I’ve already thrown up at work. I can’t take much more of this.”

Unfortunately, some may have soiled themselves without reason. Before the Board of Admissions to the Bar released the results, they posted percentile equivalent charts online in the wee hours of the morning. Here’s one tipster’s take on their motives for doing so:

For some reason, the bar examiners seem to think we care more about how the STATE as a whole did than how we did as individuals. They clearly have the tests graded, and have enough confidence in those grades to release the nifty little chart there.

Makes me wonder if they’re trying to get people who would have otherwise passed to jump the gun, freak out, and pay for a February registration upon seeing the charts. I honestly have no clue.

Hmm, not too sure about that theory. Would-be lawyers are a pretty risk-averse crowd — not to mention the fact that many are poor now that they’re no longer living the high life on student loans. It’s highly unlikely that people were shelling out cash before they figured out whether they passed or not.

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Congratulations to everyone who passed, and good luck to folks who will have to take the bar exam again. You can celebrate your success or bemoan your misfortune in the comments.

(Click through to the next page if you’re interested in checking out the Illinois percentile equivalent charts.)