10.1.1) The California Bar Exam.
Description
This article is from the King Hall Law School FAQ, by David F. Prenatt, Jr. NetEsq@dcn.davis.ca.us with numerous contributions by others.
10.1.1) The California Bar Exam.
The California Bar Exam (Bar Exam) is a three day exam that takes
place every year during July on the last Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday of that month; similarly the February exam takes place on the
last Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of that month. The first and
third days of the Bar Exam are comprised of three essay exams each
morning, and a "performance test" each afternoon; the second day of
the Bar Exam is comprised entirely of the multiple choice Multistate
Bar Examination (MBE). The MBE is the key to passing the Bar Exam.
The scores on essays and performance tests change in the multi-phase
grading process, and are only predictable in that they gravitate
towards the mean, regardless of the quality of the individual essays
and performance tests. In striking contrast, the answers to each MBE
question are either right or wrong, and you will receive full credit
for a correct answer or no credit at all for an incorrect answer
(notwithstanding "scaling").
More often than not, a good MBE score will make up for mediocre
performances on Bar Exam essay questions and performance tests, and a
mediocre MBE score will prevent otherwise qualified students from
passing the Bar Exam; many bar applicants do not even complete the
MBE. MBE questions tend to focus on obscure rules of law that mislead
even the best and brightest law students. There are 200 of these
multiple choice questions on the first and third days of the exam that
must be answered in six hours (100 questions in each of the three hour
morning sessions and 100 questions in each of the three hour afternoon
sessions for a total of 400 questions). These questions are drawn
from six subjects: Contracts, Torts, Criminal Law & Procedure,
Evidence, Real Property, and Constitutional Law. At the present time,
the number of questions drawn from each subject varies. However, the
number of questions from each subject will be equalized by 1997.
Continue to:
My Books
