As one might be able to infer from my tale of how I ended up informing myself of the bar results, I was not optimistic about my chances. Not after the last time and being so close, yet cigarless. Of course people now tell me that of course they knew I would pass; how could there have been any doubt?
The constitutionality of the bar exam has been unsuccessfully challenged on several fronts, but to my knowledge no one has ever pressed a "cruel and unusual punishment" claim. Which is too bad, because I think there would be some merit in that. You take this test for three grueling days with absolutely no feedback or ability to sense how well you're doing until four months later when they may finally deign to tell you "apparently not very well." It may be unpleasant to those around you to be morose and pessimistic about your chances of passing, but it's completely insane not to be. How could you possibly know otherwise? The only rational thing to do is walk around expecting to fail, with a Sword of Damocles above your head that's just waiting to drop.
I am, of course, greatly relieved that it did not fall on me, but my joy is tempered by the fact that several friends of mine did not similarly escape such fate. I hope they can manage to ignore the infuriating nonsense that this sitting apparently had the highest pass rate in years - it was still only 56%, only a little better than flipping a coin. No, the California Bar Exam is a mean, nasty thing that almost completely randomly sorts people into passers or non-passers, wantonly slashing away at thousands of people's hopes, dreams, and self-esteem. It is a vicious and inarticulate creature, incapable and unqualified to comment on anyone's character or intellect, so please, whether you are a passer or a non-passer or even an acquaintance of either, don't allow yourself to let it.
Comments (3)
Amen. This is a great lesson for all those connected with really any bar exam in the country (although probably more so for states like Cali and Delaware, where there is an arbitrary cut off point).
This year, I took NY and NJ. I got news I failed the NJ bar two weeks ago, with an abysmally low MBE score. I mean, ridiculously low. Well below what I should have gotten (given practice test scores), and I failed NJ by a good 11 points. I guess I just had a really bad day that second day. They talk about the MBE being a crapshoot, and for me it really was.
I lost all hope for NY, because my essays would have had to really be 7s or higher on every single one (which is almost impossible.) I wouldn't even look at the website when the results were released, and a friend had my number and looked for me, and then informed me I'd passed NY despite everything. But it could have easily gone the other way - I am aware of that, and humbled by that possibility. Having gone through the pain and agony of failing a bar exam is nothing I'd wish on anyone, and yet each year almost half the people that take the bar, all around the country, fail. It's a good thing to be able to keep it in perspective and realize that sometimes it's not about *you*, but rather about a lucky or unlucky break. (One friend actually spun my NJ failure into a positive, indicating that now I didn't have to do ICLEs, at least!)
Congratulations on California!
Posted by Meg | November 19, 2007 5:21 AM
Posted on November 19, 2007 05:21
Congratulations on passing New York! And I'm with your friend about the NJ thing - I think you may have dodged a bullet there.
Posted by Cathy | November 19, 2007 9:14 AM
Posted on November 19, 2007 09:14
So did you see this story?
SoCal Woman Becomes a Lawyer at Age 18
Posted by Sean | November 20, 2007 10:19 PM
Posted on November 20, 2007 22:19