Law Schools

The Best Bar Exam Results We've Seen Yet

Which schools performed the best on the test, and which performed the worst?

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When the editors here at Above the Law write about results from the latest administration of the bar exam, we often find ourselves gawking at pass rates that fail to impress. Unfortunately, these poor pass rates shouldn’t be surprising, considering that MBE scores for the July 2018 bar exam crashed to a 34-year low. But lo and behold, the results from Pennsylvania’s administration of this past summer’s bar exam are out, and they’re not half bad compared to what we’ve already seen.

Sure, the overall pass rate is down by 2.56 percentage points since last July (falling from 74.56 percent in 2017 to 71 percent in 2018), and sure, the pass rate for first-time takers is down by 2.18 percentage points since then too (falling from 81.21 percent in 2017 to 79.03 percent in 2018), but the vast majority of law schools in the state and surrounding area posted respectable pass rates, and that’s rare these days.

First, the good news: Seven law schools broke the 80-percent mark as far as first-time pass rates are concerned, with the Commonwealth’s T14 school, Penn Law, posting a 92.68 percent pass rate. Next, the bad news: Two law schools posted pass rates in the 60-percent range, and one law school’s passage rates fell in the 50-percent range.

Which schools performed the best on the test, and which performed the worst?

Here are the results for all Pennsylvania-area law schools for the July 2018 exam:

A round of applause go out to the University of Pennsylvania Law School, with the highest pass rate in the state. Of course, the school’s pass rate was even higher in July 2017, but any pass rate in the 90-percent range is worthy of celebration.

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Yes, we know that Rutgers Law’s first-time pass rate and overall pass rate look a bit like the school’s football record this year (crappy), but we need to have a little chat about what’s going on at Widener-Commonwealth. With a first-time pass rate of 54.76 percent and an overall pass rate of 45.61 percent, things don’t seem to be going so well for Widener’s Pennsylvania campus. How do we know? Because the school’s first-time pass rate dropped 19.24 percentage points and its overall pass rate plummeted 23.24 percentage points since last July. What, may we ask, are yous all doing over there? Better luck next year to Widener Law’s 2019 graduates.

Congratulations to you if you were able to pass the bar exam in Pennsylvania this summer. If you didn’t pass, don’t despair. Many very successful people have failed the bar exam (see our list of famous bar exam failures). Focus on February and develop a plan for passing. Believe in yourselves, because you can — eventually — do it!

July 2018 Bar Exam Reults [Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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