The highlight of my exam experience came the evening before, when - with full expectations of peaceful review evening - I arrived at the apartment arms full of groceries to discover that all of my possessions had been wrapped in plastic and left in the middle of the room and the walls were in a sundry stage of being painted. Ultimately, not a hugely shocking event, considering the place is undergoing extensive renovations in anticipation of my moving and the subsequent resale, but ... well, it might have caused me to blink a bit in the most sane of circumstances and - as mentioned before - I am experiencing the emotional stability of a pregnant teenage girl with bi-polar disorder.
Anyways, Andrew took me and my groceries in and I managed to make it to the exam and everything.
The exam itself wasn't so bad. I mean, of course it was bad, but once you're there, you're there and you just have to work through it. The mental fatigue probably doesn't really kick in until day two. As it was, this wasn't too far afield of a regular study day or maybe two lawschool exams on the same day (ok, that sounds awful). And, yes, yes, I did "better than I expected," but to all of you reassuring people who aren't familiar with the bar and hold the conviction that I am kicking ass based on prior success or innate intelligence... well "better" means "closer to passing." You have to average a score of 7 on all the answers to pass. I've gotten a decent slew of sevens, but they might still be pulled down by the 5's and 6's. Still some work to go, shockingly enough. If not, I guess I'd feel pretty ripped off by the $3k bar prep fees (or would if I hadn't gotten that scholarship to cover them... but the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers might feel a bit peeved)
Our essays are scored by various people who also score the real exam essays, but we get feedback. It's both entertaining and terrifying to note the variations in temperaments of the 30 odd scorers we get. Some of them are definitely more generous than others. Some are super supportive with their "good rule"-"nice issue spot"-"great font!" type feedback, while others say virtually nothing, and still others will basically rewrite the entire essay for how you should have written.
The exam itself wasn't so bad. I mean, of course it was bad, but once you're there, you're there and you just have to work through it. The mental fatigue probably doesn't really kick in until day two. As it was, this wasn't too far afield of a regular study day or maybe two lawschool exams on the same day (ok, that sounds awful). And, yes, yes, I did "better than I expected," but to all of you reassuring people who aren't familiar with the bar and hold the conviction that I am kicking ass based on prior success or innate intelligence... well "better" means "closer to passing." You have to average a score of 7 on all the answers to pass. I've gotten a decent slew of sevens, but they might still be pulled down by the 5's and 6's. Still some work to go, shockingly enough. If not, I guess I'd feel pretty ripped off by the $3k bar prep fees (or would if I hadn't gotten that scholarship to cover them... but the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers might feel a bit peeved)
Our essays are scored by various people who also score the real exam essays, but we get feedback. It's both entertaining and terrifying to note the variations in temperaments of the 30 odd scorers we get. Some of them are definitely more generous than others. Some are super supportive with their "good rule"-"nice issue spot"-"great font!" type feedback, while others say virtually nothing, and still others will basically rewrite the entire essay for how you should have written.
My favorite is when the stylistic advice given by two graders contradicts each other: it's like being the child of recently divorced parents with different concepts of discipline. And although it's not clearly mathematically related to how the final "scores" are tallied, they have kind of a scoring sheet of issues and rules expected in the model answer, and I will say some scorers are more or less generous about giving you credit. So, ultimately, I'm learning that the bar exam is hugely subjective and impossible to predict and maybe the switch to multiple choice isn't that horrible a thing.
And of course, I am never ever moving (to anywhere that doesn't have reciprocity with WA) once I have a WSBA number. Although, if this bar thing doesn't work out, I guess could go the way of the new USA show "Suits" which apparently is all about some high powered corporate attorney who hires a new "associate" who just happens to be a "brilliant" slacker college drop out and of course hijinks ensue as he practices law and pretends to be a Harvard grad... my question about this: don't they assign bar numbers in New York (I assume it's in NY)? Doesn't the "firm" have an HR department? I'm perplexed, but not enough to watch.
Also, honestly, how is this anything less than a watered down take on the show about the brilliant slacker who pretends to be a psychic to work for the police (Ok, I enjoy Psych). Or the story of the brilliant conman who works for the man finding insider traders? ... I'm sensing something of a USA theme here, maybe (I mean other than the "All Law and Order:SVU/CI 25 hours a day" of which I have to say I thoroughly approve - or the "ridiculously bad-ass hot blond women in some kind of interesting niche of law enforcement" theme). Oh apparently, the brilliance of the Suits dude is that he has a photographic memory. I'm unclear exactly how that's a particularly pertinent trait to the practice of law.
Ok, so by "go the way of" I don't really mean be an idealized representation of the modern American male who still lives at home, can't hold down a relationship, and is otherwise an overgrown child, but it works because he's super charming and smart (sorry, *most guys in your twenties*, you're probably not brilliant), but more like "watch a lot of USA tv shows while I cry."
And of course, I am never ever moving (to anywhere that doesn't have reciprocity with WA) once I have a WSBA number. Although, if this bar thing doesn't work out, I guess could go the way of the new USA show "Suits" which apparently is all about some high powered corporate attorney who hires a new "associate" who just happens to be a "brilliant" slacker college drop out and of course hijinks ensue as he practices law and pretends to be a Harvard grad... my question about this: don't they assign bar numbers in New York (I assume it's in NY)? Doesn't the "firm" have an HR department? I'm perplexed, but not enough to watch.
Also, honestly, how is this anything less than a watered down take on the show about the brilliant slacker who pretends to be a psychic to work for the police (Ok, I enjoy Psych). Or the story of the brilliant conman who works for the man finding insider traders? ... I'm sensing something of a USA theme here, maybe (I mean other than the "All Law and Order:SVU/CI 25 hours a day" of which I have to say I thoroughly approve - or the "ridiculously bad-ass hot blond women in some kind of interesting niche of law enforcement" theme). Oh apparently, the brilliance of the Suits dude is that he has a photographic memory. I'm unclear exactly how that's a particularly pertinent trait to the practice of law.
Ok, so by "go the way of" I don't really mean be an idealized representation of the modern American male who still lives at home, can't hold down a relationship, and is otherwise an overgrown child, but it works because he's super charming and smart (sorry, *most guys in your twenties*, you're probably not brilliant), but more like "watch a lot of USA tv shows while I cry."
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