Online Texas Bar exam

[Mo Horn 8933]

Today and tomorrow is the first totally online Texas Bar exam. Our son is sitting for it. Would appreciate any positive juju from Surly, in whatever way you do that, for him and others who are taking it. This is one of those excruciating parental moments where we have zero control, and can't do anything more to help. He's been staying with us for the past 3 months, so he could spend all of his time and energy prepping, so we did everything we could do to help.

[Eastwood 4394]

This year's bar exam process, country wide, has been a disaster. I have a friend sitting for this one, as well. People generally want to peak in their studying in July before taking the exam and that timing has been thrown off by a mile. Also, this will be the last Texas bar exam given because the switch to the UBE happens in February. This led to some feeling immense pressure to go ahead and take this one anyway instead of delaying until February since their study material would have to change a good bit.

Good luck to your son. I'll be sitting for it next July and I'm simultaneously looking forward to it/dreading it.

[Fudge Nuggets 19411]

22 minutes ago, Mo Horn said:

Today and tomorrow is the first totally online Texas Bar exam. Our son is sitting for it. Would appreciate any positive juju from Surly, in whatever way you do that, for him and others who are taking it. This is one of those excruciating parental moments where we have zero control, and can't do anything more to help. He's been staying with us for the past 3 months, so he could spend all of his time and energy prepping, so we did everything we could do to help.

Just remind your son that there are currently 1.33 million lawyers in America so the test can't be that hard.

[Jerry Callo 8956]

^^^^ This.

Good luck to your son.  If he did some prep, he should be fine.

[TwiceHorn 32019]

So I guess now you type short answers and essays into a field on the screen?

What's this UBE thing?  MBE on roids?  Universal?

I hated the MBE worst of all.  Multiple choice with a near-right answer in a field that doesn't really have right answers is a bit of a fuck.

[Eastwood 4394]

24 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

So I guess now you type short answers and essays into a field on the screen?

What's this UBE thing?  MBE on roids?  Universal?

I hated the MBE worst of all.  Multiple choice with a near-right answer in a field that doesn't really have right answers is a bit of a fuck.

https://www.ncbex.org/exams/ube/

Texas is joining the majority of states that use the UBE. The quick and short of it is that each state has its own pass threshold. A Texas JD taking the UBE can apply for admission to a UBE state's Bar if they pass that state's minimum score threshold.

[TwiceHorn 32019]

18 minutes ago, Eastwood said:

https://www.ncbex.org/exams/ube/

Texas is joining the majority of states that use the UBE. The quick and short of it is that each state has its own pass threshold. A Texas JD taking the UBE can apply for admission to a UBE state's Bar if they pass that state's minimum score threshold.

That is going to deprive Baylor of any advantage in the passage stats.

There's going to be no Texas-specific part of the Texas Bar anymore?  That doesn't seem like a particularly good idea.

[Mo Horn 8933]

8 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

So I guess now you type short answers and essays into a field on the screen?

What's this UBE thing?  MBE on roids?  Universal?

I hated the MBE worst of all.  Multiple choice with a near-right answer in a field that doesn't really have right answers is a bit of a fuck.

I'm not sure exactly how it works. He was required to do some practice tests online to make sure it all worked. The software he had to download basically shuts down everything on your computer, except their program. it also takes control of your camera, speakers, and microphone. I guess proctors are watching and listening to make sure you aren't looking at notes and cheating in any way. He did say thay something like 20 states have already agreed to reciprocate so that's probably why it's a UBE.

[Mo Horn 8933]

2 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

That is going to deprive Baylor of any advantage in the passage stats.

There's going to be no Texas-specific part of the Texas Bar anymore?  That doesn't seem like a particularly good idea.

No there is Texas specific things in both the multiple choice and essays, as far as I understand

[TwiceHorn 32019]

1 minute ago, Mo Horn said:

No there is Texas specific things in both the multiple choice and essays, as far as I understand

From what Eastwood says, what your son is taking is an online variant of the traditional Texas Bar Examination.

But he says the UBE is coming.  I was referring to the UBE in that particular instance.

Texas has some odd features in its laws.  Not California-odd, but odd.  Seems like we ought to insure at least a passing familiarity with those oddities.

[wildcat09 29571]

I remember walking out after the MBE and feeling like I'd been hit by a bus. Out of 200 questions, I think I was certain I got 2 or 3 right. I ended up scoring pretty high, but if the UBE is like that I'm glad I don't have to fuck with it. 

[Eastwood 4394]

12 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

That is going to deprive Baylor of any advantage in the passage stats.

There's going to be no Texas-specific part of the Texas Bar anymore?  That doesn't seem like a particularly good idea.

The transition to the UBE was announced during my 2L year and my school began advising people to focus on UBE classes and leave Texas specific classes as electives. They don't even require Texas Civ Pro anymore, just highly recommend it. I took it before the announcement, but I'm glad I did because Texas Civ Pro can be kind of wild, at times.

[TwiceHorn 32019]

4 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

I remember walking out after the MBE and feeling like I'd been hit by a bus. Out of 200 questions, I think I was certain I got 2 or 3 right. I ended up scoring pretty high, but if the UBE is like that I'm glad I don't have to fuck with it. 

My overall score was pretty high, I studied inefficiently.  I don't recall my MBE score.  But taking practice and sample tests, I never could get my raw score to what I thought was a comfortable margin.  But, it is scaled, so I guess no one else was a whole lot better.

[Captainant 28422]

My wife was a wreck during the bar exam, I couldn't imagine trying to study for it and take it when everything's all fucky right now.

Especially since Texas adopts the UBE next year so this bar exam group is getting double fucked. Taking an incredibly strenuous exam in unprecedented circumstances AND it's harder and less useful than next year's exam.

I've got a buddy who's currently in day 1 and he's planning on getting real classy this weekend during the OU game lol

[Mo Horn 8933]

 He used Barbri for his prep and his practice tests were in the high 70%s the last I heard.  So he said he was feeling good. I haven't talked with him much in the last week. He's been staying at a friend's empty house to isolate and do his final week of prep. He's taking the exam there.

[TwiceHorn 32019]

Oh, and good luck to your boy, MoHorn.  I'm sure he'll be fine.  The way to flunk is not to prepare and I imagine the virus has created a pretty good environment in which to prepare.

[Mo Horn 8933]

1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

Oh, and good luck to your boy, MoHorn.  I'm sure he'll be fine.  The way to flunk is not to prepare and I imagine the virus has created a pretty good environment in which to prepare.

Thanks. As I said earlier he's been living with us for the last 3 months. We told him don't worry about food, working, bills or anything, and just prep.  He worked really hard. I'm grateful we're in a position where we could give him that option. 

[Deej 77682]

Surly needs more lawyers.

[Eastwood 4394]

3 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Oh, and good luck to your boy, MoHorn.  I'm sure he'll be fine.  The way to flunk is not to prepare and I imagine the virus has created a pretty good environment in which to prepare.

Our Bar analytics showed that 100% of those who completed 80% or more of their Bar prep program, regardless of program (Barbri, Themis, etc.) passed and 100% of those who completed 20% or less failed. The average amount of studying per day over a 10 week period for those who passed was around 8 hours per day. Those who failed, around 6.7 hours per day. The margin was surprisingly small. However, that portion of the survey required people to be honest. I'm sure there was some lying about how much those who failed actually studied.

[Mo Horn 8933]

6 minutes ago, Eastwood said:

Our Bar analytics showed that 100% of those who completed 80% or more of their Bar prep program, regardless of program (Barbri, Themis, etc.) passed and 100% of those who completed 20% or less failed. The average amount of studying per day over a 10 week period for those who passed was around 8 hours per day. Those who failed, around 6.7 hours per day. The margin was surprisingly small. However, that portion of the survey required people to be honest. I'm sure there was some lying about how much those who failed actually studied.

 He was definitely in the more than 8 hours a day category, and he did complete his course, so i really appreciate hearing that.

[Mo Horn 8933]

9 minutes ago, Deej said:

Surly needs more lawyers.

 As far as I know he isn't on Surly. 😀

[TwiceHorn 32019]

I got to stay in Austin for bar prep and the bar. Was a really good time.

My running buddies and I all attended BarBri religiously.  Maybe not entirely soberly, but all of it.  We didn't do any additional studying until the roughly a month between the end of BarBri and the bar exam.  At that point, we all pretty much went our separate ways studying, but most of us all day err day.  We all passed. And only two were queefy (inside joke that some lawdogs may get).

I don't know wtf happened to the people that didn't pass.  The ones I knew of were solid students.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

3 hours ago, Mo Horn said:

Today and tomorrow is the first totally online Texas Bar exam. Our son is sitting for it. Would appreciate any positive juju from Surly, in whatever way you do that, for him and others who are taking it. This is one of those excruciating parental moments where we have zero control, and can't do anything more to help. He's been staying with us for the past 3 months, so he could spend all of his time and energy prepping, so we did everything we could do to help.

Good luck to him! He sounds prepared and that is the best start.

Also, @Jerry Callo ‘s user name is perfect for this occasion.

 

[Austinvines 318]

So I guess now you type short answers and essays into a field on the screen?
What's this UBE thing?  MBE on roids?  Universal?
I hated the MBE worst of all.  Multiple choice with a near-right answer in a field that doesn't really have right answers is a bit of a fuck.

I particularly liked narrowing the answer choices down to two that were perfectly opposed. I finished the morning session early enough to go back and recheck the questions from the start. After I changed the answers to question numbers 1 and 2, I stopped and GTFO.

[TwiceHorn 32019]

8 minutes ago, Austinvines said:

I particularly liked narrowing the answer choices down to two that were perfectly opposed. I finished the morning session early enough to go back and recheck the questions from the start. After I changed the answers to question numbers 1 and 2, I stopped and GTFO.

In practice testing, I tried second-guessing and my scores went down a little.  Also, the more of them I took, the more often I seemed to make "pattern" mistakes (thinking I recognized the question and answer and thereby giving a wrong answer).  I quit trying to employ testing tricks.

[Mo Horn 8933]

 So I probably should stay off Twitter. There's all kinds of tweets about people having issues with the online test, getting locked or kicked out, and being told their only option is to try again in February. Pretty much all of those are in other states, but a few issues were on the Texas one. I'm guessing we would have already heard from him if that happened to him. I was confident in him and his prep, but my biggest fear was the online test wouldn't work for him. I'm not gonna make it through tomorrow. Other than the fact that I didn't go to law school, I'd rather be taking the test. 

[Jerry Callo 8956]

You're too invested.  He's either going to pass or he's not.  Once again, best of luck to Mo Horn, Jr.

[TwiceHorn 32019]

10 minutes ago, Jerry Callo said:

You're too invested.  He's either going to pass or he's not.  Once again, best of luck to Mo Horn, Jr.

Yeah, geez dude.  Only child with overbearing parents here that weren't that enmeshed with it.

Probably a good thing I didn't come home to study for and take it.

Edited October 5, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[Mo Horn 8933]

35 minutes ago, Jerry Callo said:

You're too invested.  He's either going to pass or he's not.  Once again, best of luck to Mo Horn, Jr.

I want to say you are right and fuck you, at the same time.  On one hand you're right and I can't do anything so why worry. He's prepped and I know he'll do well. On the other hand he's our son and we'd walk thru fire for either of our sons, as most parents will. Of course I'm invested. I want the best for him and this is a huge deal. I know what he's invested in this and it will be hard if he doesn't pass. We all knew this is the way it was going to be, which is why he went somewhere else for the last week of prep and to take the test.

Don't know if you have kids or not, and if you do I'm not judging how you do or would react in the same situation. Maybe I'm just too emotional, but that's just who I am. 

[Mo Horn 8933]

Got a quick text. Only said...Day one done. No tech issues. Phone going back off.

Thanks for letting me vent Surly. One more day to go. 

Edited October 5, 2020 by Mo Horn

[Johnny Sack 8397]

7 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

My overall score was pretty high, I studied inefficiently.  I don't recall my MBE score.  But taking practice and sample tests, I never could get my raw score to what I thought was a comfortable margin.  But, it is scaled, so I guess no one else was a whole lot better.

I had the second highest score in Texas when I took it the summer after graduation.  All I did was study the short fill in blank outlines, review old essays and review old procedure (procedure part of the test was almost cheating the recycled so many questions).  I remember the first night I sat down and looked through the long form Barbri outlines I realized it was way, way too much material.  I figured it would be better to know 100% of the short outlines cold than 60-70% of the long ones.

When I would do a mix of MBE practice questions on my computer -- all subjects and all level of difficulties -- I think I was consistently topping out around an 80.  Could not do better.  

Edited October 5, 2020 by Johnny Sack

[Celery Man 21078]

they should get free sweatshirts

[Austinvines 318]

You only need a 675 out of 1000. I overstudied and could’ve easily played a few more rounds of golf the summer I took the Bar. A very smart and now super successful friend did the whole whistling past the graveyard - “if I passed, it was by a point.” We all laughed and laughed because there was no way he was that close to the line. He got a 676. He studied just enough. I admire that guy.

If you fail, the passage rate actually goes way down so good luck to him.

[Mo Horn 8933]

Thanks Surly for a place to share my anxiety. 2nd day went well, and he feels good about the exam. Best of all, zero technical issues. We celebrated with a bottle of Cava.

If anybody wants to hire an exceptional person, and a great attorney (no I'm not biased, it's true) feel free to DM me.

[DaggerHorns 3150]

5 hours ago, Mo Horn said:

If anybody wants to hire an exceptional person, and a great attorney (no I'm not biased, it's true) feel free to DM me.

I wouldn’t kick the tires for legal opportunities around here.

We couldn’t keep the last beloved website from a daiquiri maker.