The Bar in Tampa

The Summary:

The Bar was an experience. I couldn't tell you whether I did well enough to pass or not, because it's really unlike any test I've taken before. The Bar both was devastating and reasonable. I don't know how to say anything else except to be very specific. I've gotten a few phone calls requesting details that I haven't had a chance to call back on yet, so I'll describe it all here. The crux is I don't know if I passed, but I tried very hard. The answers to my many questions on how I did will not come until mid-September. I am cautiously optimistic. If I did not pass, I will try again. If I did pass, I will be very grateful not to repeat this experience.


The Detailed Version:

Every test I've taken prior to this, the test-makers expect that some people might get a perfect score. But on the Bar, over the past 14 exams in 7 years I believe (which is all the records the stats I saw kept), no one has gotten a perfect score. I don't believe anyone has ever done better than getting about 40 questions wrong. 40 out of 400. Most people don't get anywhere close to that.

The Bar tests 21 subject areas, each of which has their own semester or year-long course. The exam is written to test only some knowledge of every area. But because you never know what areas they will ask you about, you have to learn them all. And despite what you learn, it may not help: I memorized countless principles of law in three subject areas that not a single question was asked about (of course, no one could have known that going in, as two of the three were areas the Bar has tested almost every year recently). So that's the framework for the Bar.

The Bar takes place in a convention center. About 1500 people sit in one giant high-ceiling room at wooden desks on concrete floors, two people to a desk. You can't take anything in with you (and they use security guards and metal detectors/wands to be sure you don't). There are four sessions, three hours each: FL essays Tuesday morning, FL Multiple-choice Tuesday afternoon, Multi-state questions on Wednesday morning and afternoon.

The Bar on Tuesday morning was - I suppose depressing is the word. The three essay questions were in nuanced areas that I had studied but that were very complex or difficult to analyze. I do not know how I did, though I wrote several pages on each essay and knew some applicable points of law for each. I know I got things wrong on these as well. I left Tuesday morning's portion feeling horrible, worse than I can ever recall feeling about my performance on something.

I don't know if my concern on Tuesday was a justified feeling. On a normal exam in school, if I got below a 80%, I would feel like I had not done well. On the Bar, the State of Florida is perfectly happy for people to get just 60% right. So perhaps my feeling bad was because I knew I hadn't gotten 80% and so it felt like failure; in reality, I may have gotten a 60% or 70% and have no reason to feel so bad. All I know is I felt pretty bad afterwards and that night.

Tuesday afternoon was the FL multiple-choice questions and I felt better about them but was still shaken by the morning. I had a hard time studying Tuesday night, but I did it anyway. I really wanted to go home; it felt like the show was over. I pressed through it because I had come too far to give up and, objectively speaking, I might have done fine Tuesday and just misperceived things.

Wednesday went, I feel, very differently. The questions all made sense. I felt like I knew the law. I still had several questions where I could only narrow it down to two of four choices. But I felt good about many questions. I left Wednesday feeling like I had a chance of passing again. I don't know if that means I passed. But I feel much better about Wednesday.

In sum, I am unable to predict how I did. I spoke to many people from my class and this was the common consensus - we each felt bad about some part or another and did not know how we did. Something like 300 or more of those who took it will not pass the Bar. In mid-September, we'll have the answer. As I said above, I will be cautiously optimistic. Generally, I don't plan to think about it much - there are other, better things to do between now and then.