<p>I just sat the bar exam. The national average was 138 on the MBE and I got a 143 on that part BUT BOMBED the essays bringing me to a FAILING score. (just found out today, very upset)</p>
<p>I know that I should just repeat but my state makes me take BOTH sections again NOT JUST the part that I passed. (not cool, I know)</p>
<p>I am worried that if I focus on the part I failed that I'll neglect the part I passed and just end up on the other extreme.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if there are any states out there that either.
1. Let you take only Multiple Choice (no essays required at all)
or
2. Who let you retake ONLY the essays if you passed the MBE?</p>
<p>My understanding is that an MBE score almost never transfers to a different state, unless you either passed the bar for the previous state, or you sat for two bar exams concurrently.</p>
<p>My very blunt advice is to improve on your essays - a LOT. If your 143 MBE score didn’t carry you over into passing, then you are either in a state with a very high passing score, or you really bombed those essays.</p>
<p>It’s easy to get the essays right (or at least right enough to pass):
*Do not spend so much time on one essay that you neglect the others
*If you come to an essay that you know nothing about, leave it for the end and aim to get about half of the available points
*If you are unclear on a specific law upon which the essay turns (e.g. is it 10% or 5% of the shares in a corporation that enables a SH to have the right to inspect the books?), make up the rule and continue with your analysis. Yes, you will lose a few points, but you’ll still get the majority of the points for that essay.
*Study the distinctions between MBE law and your state law. Most states use the distinctions as fodder for essay questions. For example, don’t bother studying all of your state’s Evidence laws; just study the ways in which they differ from the federal rules.</p>
<p>ALWAYS remember that the people who grade essays for bar exams are spending about five or ten minutes per essay and are doing this in front of the TV or while making dinner. Just stating a very clear rule, then applying some semblance of analysis to it, while using the language that attorneys use to describe these situations (e.g. “The portrait adeemed back into the estate,” not “The portrait was not properly given to the decedent’s son”), will get you to a passing score.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link. I’ll check it out. It just gets under my skin a bit since I know in DC they let you repeat JUST the essays if within 25 months (if taken there to begin with) and in my state (MI) when I started law school they allowed you to SKIP the essays ALL TOGETHER if you passed the MBE MC part (which I did) but they changed the rules before I graduated. </p>
<p>-Kind of mad…but work with what you got I guess huh?</p>
<p>Did you take a bar review class? If not, you definitely need to pay for one and don’t skip classes. Can you take BAR/BRI before you repeat? They give excellent tips for essays.</p>
<p>NewLaw: if you took the Michigan bar and got a 143 on your MBE, then you must have gotten less than 63.5% of the available essay points.</p>
<p>Have someone review your essays and give you pointers on how to write better ones. Look at whether or not you lost points on essays with topics that were covered on the MBE, or those that were not. Study the distinctions between MBE’s common law and your state’s specific law.</p>
<p>I knew the author of this book a long time ago. She runs…or at least ran…a course that focused SOLELY on writing essays for the bar exam. Some other attorneys I know had kids that failed the bar. They took Mary’s course and passed the second time around. Maybe the book will help you. I’ve never even seen it, so I can’t vouch for the book itself, but people who took her course felt it was worthwhile. Or more accurately, I know the parents of “kids” who paid for them to take Mary’s course after they failed the bar the first time and passed it after taking Mary’s course and the parents felt the course made the difference. </p>