Law Schools

The Bar Exam Is Bad, But It Can Be Even Worse

Bar exam horror stories.

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sad lawyer bar exam helpEven in the very best of circumstances, the bar exam is best described as the legal profession’s hazing ritual. But quite frequently test takers have to attempt to get licensed in… not the best of circumstances. So, every year we want to know: what was the worst thing that happened to YOU during the bar exam?

They say misery loves company, or maybe it is just some schadenfreude in action, but here is some of what folks dealt with as they tried to become esquires.

This first one is more of your heart skips a beat (or several) tale, though one that every single test taker felt in unison.

After the Delaware Board of Bar Examiners announced in February (to much delight) that they reduced the number of Delaware State Essays from 8 total down to 4 total (as well as other changes), today the first line of the directions (that the Director of the Board read to us out loud) was “The Delaware Bar Exam contains 8 questions.” Followed by, “This exam packet contains 4 essays…” The first line was seemingly a typo. This was not before instilling sheer shock and fear into each test taker in the state of Delaware, “Did I mess up?” Eventually, the proctor told the room, “There are only 4 questions. It’s not a trick.” But the several minutes that passed between the reading and the clarification and the lack of a clear correction, didn’t do a ton to settle the room. That’s it. Thanks for listening!

A bar exam horror story archetype is next up. It’s unfortunately all too common a story, when it feels like everything that can go wrong does go wrong in the lead up to the test.

I took the July 2022 exam but feel like my story is bad enough to make the cut for this year. For most of the summer leading up to the exam, I was living with my boyfriend who I had just moved in with after graduation. I went to law school in a different state from where I sat for the bar. Three weeks before the exam, right before July 4, he dumped me. My living options at that point were to stay with my now ex in his one-bedroom condo, temporarily move in with either my mom, whose house was on the market, or temporarily move in with my dad, who was currently going through treatment for throat cancer. I chose my dad and spent the last three weeks before the exam being inconsolable about the breakup, caring for my father (including a trip to the ER 48 hours before the exam), and studying 10+ hours a day. I can look back on it and laugh because I passed, my ex and I are friends, and my dad is in remission but woof, I would not wish that experience on my worst enemy.

Here’s a mid-exam distraction that’s… pretty hard to ignore.

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A noisy restroom door control in the hallway outside the exam chamber of stress. Over time the door’s usage increased until it was truly inside my head. At mid-break I said something. Why did I need to say something? I think they used a trash can to prop it open. It’s only a story because it was very loud and went for so long before something was done. Impossible to ignore, but the people conducting the exam never thought anything of it.

Or when your kid is hospitalized mid-exam:

I woke up at 3 am with nerves the morning of the MBE, so I was very tired to begin with. Then, as soon as I hit submit on my last set of MBEs and turned my phone on, I had a message from my husband telling me to call him. My youngest son fell outside and the brake handle of a bike hit under his arm, broke his rib, and made his lung collapse. We’ve been at the hospital all night. He’s going to be okay thank goodness, but I still haven’t been to sleep ???? —

Bar exam days are long enough — no one need tardy proctors making it even longer.

Bar exam today was to resume at 1:15 pm the proctors came back at 1:50 and made everyone wait while they took a long lunch.

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If you survived or witnessed some horror story in action, let us know. You can email it to us (subject line: “Bar Exam Horror Story”) or text us (646-820-8477). Maybe your story will inspire others to persevere.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.

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