Washington DC (UBE) & Virginia Bar Exam Tutoring & Self-Study

Author: Dwight Zenzano

  • 6 weeks until the Feb 2013 Bar Exam

    With 42 days remaining, we’re at the 6 week marker until the Feb 2013 bar exam. Most folks are totally immersed in studying right now, a trip to the law library confirmed that for me today. I talked to a guy who is working full time but has Monday’s off until the bar exam. We were discussing how it’s hard to get in enough study hours while also working a full-time job. I gave him the best advice I know of, which is just do the best you can with the time you have.

    Check my twitter feeds for daily MBE and Virginia bar exam tips during the weekdays as well.

    On an MBE note, I’m going to post a mini-review of the latest edition of one of my favorite bar prep books, Strategies and Tactics for the MBE. The 5th edition (2012) has a purplish-reddish color and a few nice updates. I’ll write that up and publish it soon.

  • Just under 60 days until the February 2013 bar exam

    With just a couple of days until the new year, and a little less than 60 days until the bar exam, many people are starting to panic because they have not yet started studying. Whether it was due to the holidays or whatever, don’t panic. Instead, take the next day or two to create a good study plan. Organize your study materials, put your game plans together and then make a commitment to stick to it. 2 months is plenty of time to study for, and pass, the bar exam. I am not taking on any more students for tutoring for the Feb 2013 bar exam, and my other tutors are mostly booked as well, but feel free to drop me a line with any questions you have. I’m always happy to help out where I can. Happy New Year!

  • July 2012 California Bar Exam Results and Analysis

    Time to review the CA bar exam from this past July. The public pass list is available here: http://apps.calbar.ca.gov/exam/

    Overall pass rate was 55.3%. That’s 4,834 people out of 8,737 applicants. As usual, first time takers did better, with a 68% pass rate. Nearly 3/4 of the test takers were first timers (74.2%), that’s 6,485 first-time applicants. For the 2,252 repeat takers, their pass rate was 18%.

    Finally, first time test takers from a California ABA school had a pass rate of 77% and repeat takers passed at a 24% pass rate. First time out-of-State ABA school takers had a 64% pass rate while the repeat takers had a 21% pass rate.

    California’s mean scaled MBE score was (more…)

  • July 2012 New York, Maryland and Texas bar exam results

    3 more July 2012 bar exam results are available today. Private lookup only for New York at the following link:

    https://www.nybarapply.org/LUJ12/XResults.asp

    On Monday NY will post the public list on their website.

    Maryland is releasing today at 4:30PM at the following link:

    http://www.courts.state.md.us/ble/examresults.html

    Finally, you can get your Texas July 2012 results here:

    http://www.ble.state.tx.us/Results/pass_0712.htm

    Congratulations to everyone who passed! California is still a ways off, Friday the 16th for private lookup and Sunday the 18th for public posting. Best of luck to everyone.

  • DC Bar Exam July 2012 results are out

    The results for the July 2012 Washington DC Bar Exam have been posted at the courthouse on the Committee’s door. Letters have been mailed to all test takers. The results are also available online here: http://www.dccourts.gov/internet/documents/July-2012-Successful-List-and-Notice-for-Publication.pdf.

    Out of 210 applicants, just over half of all test takers passed. Overall pass rate was 52%, with 71% of first time takers passing.

    Good luck to everyone, I hope you passed!

  • Virginia Bar Swearing in Ceremony still taking place today

    Despite other closings due to Hurricane Sandy, the Virginia swearing in ceremony is still happening: “The Admission & Orientation Ceremony at the Richmond Convention Center is scheduled to take place.”

    http://www.vsb.org/site/events/item/state-offices-closed-2012-10-29

    This has been confirmed with the convention center directly as well. Here are the specifics for the ceremony this morning:

    Click to access VABar102912Ceremony.pdf

  • 3L Spring prep classes – Mistake or wise investment?

    3Ls are already starting to think about the bar exam. One of the first things I usually get asked about are spring bar exam prep classes. In fact, I was just having a twitter conversation with Stephanie (a 3L who writes the Apparent Authority blog) and another 3L about this same subject. My general advice on these additional classes is (more…)

  • Less than 2 weeks to the Nov 2012 MPRE

    One of the most interesting things about chatting with people who graduate law school is their fear of the bar exam and also their “mockery” of the MPRE. When I ask people how much they studied for the bar exam, I usually hear “every day, 8-10 hours a day”. Or, “I had no life all summer except studying”. Interestingly enough, when I ask how much those same people studied for the MPRE I usually hear “I studied the night before”. Or, “I studied 2 days before”. It’s rare to hear someone even admit to studying 1 week for the MPRE. Is the MPRE really that easy? I don’t think the answer is a simple yes or no. It depends on (more…)

  • When to expect DC Bar Exam Results

    The DC Bar does not give a definitive date as to when the bar exam results will be released. For the July exam they usually say “mid-November”, but we usually see the results in mid-October. This year I am guessing they will be released next week, around October 25th. They first post them on the door in the courthouse and then mail out the results. They also ask the IT staff to post the results online to both websites. The online posting can occur that same day or several days later, depending on how busy the IT staff is. Once the results are available online, I’ll post a link to them here on this blog. Calling the office usually does not help as they will not tell you when they are planning on posting the results. Best bet now is to be patient. If anyone happens by the courthouse and sees the results posted on the door, drop me a note or comment here.

  • July 2012 MBE Analysis & PA results posted

    It’s time for a quick breakdown of the July 2012 MBE. Many were talking about the mortgage heavy, real property questions. Yes, there were a bunch of them and they were pretty tough. Here’s how the national numbers came out:

    The national mean for the July 2012 MBE was 143.4, right around where we typically see it for July. The range of scores nationally went from a low of 58 to a high score of 188 (kudos to those select few who broke the 185 barrier). Overall, no surprises.

    For PA takers, the July 2012 bar exam results have been posted here:

    http://www.pabarexam.org/bar_exam_information/results/be_results.htm