As we enter the “T-minus 5-weeks till the bar exam” zone I wanted to share a few thoughts regarding both the DC and Virginia bar exams. Now is definitely the time to start focusing on your studies if you have not already. No doubt with the holidays and other personal and work commitments, you may not have studied as much as you had anticipated up to this point. Well, now is the time to turn over a new leaf and get a solid plan in place where you dedicate X hours/day or Y hours/week to studying for the bar exam. For most of us, the bar exam is something that requires many weeks of study in order to pass, not just 1-2 weeks of cramming right before the exam.
For the DC bar exam, you do not want to underestimate the MPT. It is a challenging part of the exam and requires excellent time management and organizational skills. Practice makes perfect so start practicing your MPTs now instead of putting them off till the last minute. The MPT is 25% of the total weight on the DC bar exam, and if you are an essay only taker, it’s 50% of the exam. Either way, it’s a significant piece of the pie.
For the VA bar exam, remember that the MBE deserves specialized attention and simply knowing the law is not going to help you unless you are naturally gifted at standardized test taking. Practice questions are key but they only help insomuch as you review your answers carefully and understand why you are getting questions wrong OR correct. The trickiest MBE questions are fine line law distinctions that are tested repeatedly on MBE after MBE and it has been this way for decades. Learn those fine line distinctions and learn to spot the fact patterns that test them. That is how you will improve your MBE score, which is 40% of the total weight on the VA bar exam.
6 replies on “A few thoughts on the DC and VA bar exams”
Looking for Feb. 2011 DC predictions.
Hi there —
I have a decision to make — take the DC bar or the Va bar? I graduate in May from UR law and am already employed. I will not be practicing law in either jurisdiction, but still want to take a bar exam so I have the credential. There are 6 subjects on the Va Bar that are NOT on DC, so my initial thought is to take the DC Bar (and save myself from having to learn Tax, Equities, etc). However, the low pass rate gives me pause.
Advice?
VA is arguably the most difficult bar exam there is (Yes, even harder than CA or NY). So, therefore DC is an quot;easierquot; bar exam. One reason to take VA is if you are very strong in essay writing but weak on the MBE as VA weighs the MBE at 40% and essays at 60% vs DC which is a 50/50 weighting. Also, if you take the DC exam and score a 133 or higher on either section but fail the exam, you only need to take the section you failed when you re-take the exam. Whereas with Virginia, you always need to take the full exam.
Thanks, that’s great to know. I’m honestly pretty confident in my essay and MBE portions — not too worried about passing, but want to minimize the stress/ time suck.
In your humble opinion, why do you think the pass rate for DC is so low (41% last year) compared to Va (75%)? Does the DC bar attract weaker candidates? Do people (in general) not prep sufficiently?
There are many theories on the low pass rate for the DC bar exam. (Many international takers (aka – non-native English speakers), repeat takers, etc.) But the truth of the matter is that the DC bar exam is the Universal Bar Exam (UBE) and even if it is slightly harder because the graders are “tougher”, it is still a very passable bar exam. Feel free to email me if you want to discuss in detail, I’m happy to help.
I’d like to get info on long distance prep with you Sir-