@import url('http:// I Passed....but The Bar Exam is Still a Bitch: Who Failed the Bar Exam?
I Passed....but The Bar Exam is Still a Bitch
I took the Bar Exam more than once, several times actually, and lived to tell the tale....retakers take heart...the bar is a bitch...but not impossible...
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Who Failed the Bar Exam?
Honestly I thought when I came back here for my last posting it would be utterly euphoric.....but I can't say that it is.

I didn't pass.

I am still not sure how that is possible but it's true. I"ve been waiting to write till the bar saw fit to finally release my scores.....apparently the record number of cheating at this last exam meant they had to seal results and such.......

I brought my MBE's back up to semi-whopping proportions....posting a scaled 155 my lovies.....but somehow in the world of NC essay scaling I am just not able to dance the dance.....don't really know why....this exam didn't seem so hard.....except for that insane civ pro question I totally screwed the pooch on.....

The way I see it....these last two tests I've failed by the skin of my teeth....which hurts yes....but hell....if I keep raising that MBE score....they'll have no choice but to let me in yes? Dirty bastards.....
posted by Bar Bitch @ 9:12 AM  
18 Comments:
  • At 3:13 PM, September 20, 2006, Blogger The Once and Future TC said…

    I'm sorry to hear that. :(

     
  • At 1:29 AM, September 21, 2006, Blogger Rick VF said…

    Me too. But damn, that's a fine MBE score. I just can't believe you didn't pass with that high of an MBE score.

     
  • At 7:56 PM, September 21, 2006, Blogger Unknown said…

    I was hoping to read some good news because it seemed this was your time to shine, and I am sorry that this time didn't happen for you. I think the fact that you have increased your scores is very encouraging. You shouldn't give up. You are an absolutely competent attorney. I am retaking the NY Feb 2007 Bar (which will be my third attempt at NY, but 4th Bar)and I will be rooting for you all the way.

     
  • At 12:50 AM, September 22, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Sorry about the bad news. I'm retaking in Feb.

     
  • At 10:53 AM, September 22, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I know exactly how you feel. I thought I had beaten the beast this time - but did not. I followed your posts all along and felt that you, too, had unlocked the secret. The odd thing about this time is that I haven't asked myself IF I should try again - I KNEW from the moment I saw the "F" online, that I would go again. My scores improved tremendously and have given me encouragement. I will never, ever give up and hope you won't either.

     
  • At 12:44 PM, September 23, 2006, Blogger Bar Bitch said…

    To everyone....

    Thanks...as always I appreciate you taking the time to stop by...

    and I appreciate the encouragement...for the people who have passed...I am not against hearing about it!!!! for the love of god!!!! there must be some people out there not dealing with an academy award-worthy bar story yes?

     
  • At 12:48 AM, September 24, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Sorry you didn't make it this round. I was following your blog as I studied. I passed the NC bar but I don't have any secrets. I left the exam completely unsure of how I did and I'm not sure why I passed. I just went to BarBri and blindly did what they told me to do.

     
  • At 3:15 PM, September 25, 2006, Blogger Bar Bitch said…

    My boss...bless his heart (and please do, really, he's getting ready for a double by-pass..so there's an extra knife for me not passing huh? Can't exactly take over the practice yet?) thinks there's bias against out-of staters....I'm not really buying that...but it warms my heart that he's rooting for me so hard that he's got conspiracy theories...

     
  • At 9:15 PM, October 01, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Just found out I failed the bar exam today. Life's a bitch then you fail the bar exam. Probably the shittiest feeling ever, since the exam was such a bitch, and I don't feel like taking it again. But, such is life. Good luck in FEb.

     
  • At 6:37 PM, October 02, 2006, Blogger Bar Bitch said…

    To the Anon's, especially, on Oct.1:

    So sorry pumpkins....try and cheer up if you can...or just puke over my attempt to cheer you up... I know how bad you feel...(if it doesn't offend, I suggest getting laid...) then it's likely you'll be ready to study again...(hey it works for me)....and luck to you in Feb babes...you know who will be hear to cheer for you!

     
  • At 4:07 PM, October 18, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I literally found your site by typing in "I failed the bar exam" from google.

    I'm with you. I failed PA. I don't know how I didn't pass. My MBE destroyed me. 111 for a scaled 124.
    My essays were really strong, but not strong enough for me to pass.

    I never got anywhere near that low on MBE from PMBR, or the bar exam flash cards or the mini-bar from BarBri. I just got smoked. I logged in like 46 hours on the barbri software and was averaging 69.8% write total. I literally spent no time worrying about the essays and only focused on the MBE.

    I don't know about your state, but in PA they post all of our names. So I've mostly been dealing with embarassment for the past week. I was top 1/3 of my class, comments editor on law review, full scholarship to a pretty sold tier 2 school. I never failed anything in my life.

    Getting ready for the bar exam was quite possibly the worst experience in my life. I never worked so hard ever. I worked in law school, but I went out drinking every thurs night and weekend was very social and had rather strong grades. Studying for the bar was harder than all of my years of law school combined.

    Anyway, the point of my post was to say that I am here with you. There's lots of us going through this. The bar exam is a archaic ritual that should probably be done away with sooner rather than later.

    I guess the hardest part, is watching all of my friends pass. Nothing against them, but two of my good friends were in the bottom 10% and put no effort in, didn't take barbri and spent most of their time watching TV and somehow passed. I spent thousands of dollars on every possible prep course out there, gave up drinking, had no social life outside of barbri class and now I have to do it all over with again. Ugh.

    Anyway, like I said, other people are going through this too and we support you :-)

     
  • At 10:28 AM, October 24, 2006, Blogger Bar Bitch said…

    Anon on October 18....

    It does feel embarrasing to not pass (because it feels so public)...and I think we all feel a little hopeless when we think about doing it "again"...

    Initially, I thought there is nothing I can do different...I've already done it all, tried my best and I failed...the truth is though that each time I go back to study, I find that there is a way to put in "smarter" studying time....and please don't read that as giving up your life, and studing mad amounts....there is a fine line between commitment and pure insanity...you have to find what works for you...

    are you studying passively? Or have you found a way to do it more actively? Anytime you can find a study method that does not involve reading over outlines and making notes from them you are onto something...

    You are obviously very bright....you know this...you will find a way through....

     
  • At 8:12 PM, November 14, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Dear Ms. BarBitch,

    Your perseverance is an inspiration. I just found out today that I did not pass NY and I am feeling so deflated. I took Barbri and PMBR and followed their schedules to a tee. A lot of people today told me that maybe I "studied too much" and that may be what did me, but I am waiting to get my score report and will discuss it with the Barbri people to be sure. Anyway, I appreciate your have the guts to lay it all out there like that and to keep fighting. I only hope I can do the same

     
  • At 9:24 PM, November 14, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    here here! the results for NY were just released and i failed. and i can't give the kinds of excuses and explanations that some others can - deaths in families, break-ups, other unexpected misfortunes. and i can't say that i sat on my ass all summer and never studied. i studied like a mad-man - waking up at 8 and studying until about 10 pm every day for the last month.

    i too was not a horrible law student - i was on a journal, top half of my class from a good school. but sometimes shit happens for no reason but that you're just off your game.

    unfortunately, i have no idea what happened because our score breakdowns haven't arrived yet. but i don't think anyone who's sat through a bar exam anywhere can think any less of your ability to be a competent, skilled lawyer. don't let the bar results affect how you perceive yourself.

    let's just hang in there and know that we'll all be a-ok this second time around.

     
  • At 11:02 PM, November 14, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    ny was just released today and i failed. like others, i have no idea what happened - no unexpected tragedy or lack of studying is an excuse. i went to every barbri class, turned in every practice essay, put in 8 hours a day, listened to my pmbr CDs on the ride to class. i went to a good law school and was in the top half of my class.

    i'm nervous because i'm working and if i don't pass in february, my company is going to let me go. and i absolutely love my job. yes, i'm terribly embarassed - all my law school friends passed, and most of my work colleagues passed on their first try as well. there aren't a lot of people around me that can sympathize. still, the pressure of having only one more shot at this is overriding the humiliation right now.

    but i'm here for you sister - or brother. we'll survive, and in the grand scheme of things, it's really only a bump in the road.

     
  • At 1:46 PM, November 16, 2006, Blogger Bar Bitch said…

    Anon #1 in NY.....

    Everytime someone says I'm an inspiration...I really want to stop and say thanks...especially considering you could just say to me, hey loser...why the hell haven't you passed yet?

    Since all this happened to me, I've found that lots of really smart people don't pass this test the first time...and I'd be of that opinion whether I passed or not...hunt around on the net a little...you'll find that a lot of people in the academic world are in favor in getting rid of it...there's some very sound and interesting argument on it.... (you'll probably also see that pass rates are on the decline all over the country, and not just b/c of non-ABA schools)....

    But that is neither here nor there eh? The bar is a reality and I don't have a problem with sour grapes....I'm not suggesting I haven't passed or you haven't b/c the test is lousy and doesn't measure anything worth testing....I just haven't quite gotten it right yet...but I will and so will you....

     
  • At 1:53 PM, November 16, 2006, Blogger Bar Bitch said…

    Anon in NY #2

    Don't feel like you need an "excuse" to not perform well on this test...geez...it's hard as hell....you are right... sometimes you are just off your game...you'll be able to evaluate that soon....

    The people who send out the damn pass/fail letters really should be shot for not just sending the score along with the failing letter...how much more difficult would that be? And how much more piece of mind would all of us have?

    Love that attitude dude...you're gonna kick ass....

     
  • At 2:03 PM, November 16, 2006, Blogger Bar Bitch said…

    Anon in NY #3

    There isn't much worse than that feeling that you did your best...and it wasn't enough...(but that's not true, I promise!!!!)

    The days that follow that letter from the bar really are surreal...once the scores came in, I always felt better (or really pissed over the 1.5 points) but at least then I could start making a new plan....

    I'm sorry...but there are lots of people here who know what you're going through...they've got your back...

     
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