The National Conference of Bar Examiners announced last week that a single question on the February 2003 Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) was improperly coded. The mistake affected the MBE scores of about one-third of exam takers–most of these individuals received an additional point when the error was corrected, while a few lost a point.
The net outcome is that a very tiny percentage of bar applicants who were on the threshold of pass/fail have switched from fail to pass or pass to fail in some states that have recalculated the grades. Obviously, this is a very pleasant surprise for those people who thought they had failed and now have passed. Then again, imagine how it would feel for someone who had thought they had passed, ecstatically relieved that they won’t have to go through the cruel intellectual hazing ritual again, elatedly telling all their family and friends, only to get hit upside the head with the cruel hand of fate telling them “Haha, we were just kidding, sucker. YOU FAILED!!!” :smack:
I suppose I shouldn’t gripe too much, since I still passed, and only one person in my state (Maryland) was affected as to their ultimate result, changing from fail to pass. Even so, the NCBE has really created a crazy mess–several states graded their bar exams very early and have already sworn in the successful February examinees…even though a small handful of these examinees might not have really been successful if the error had been discovered earlier. And some people who should have been sworn in are still waiting. Several other states have had to recalculate results after previously sending “official” notifications to examinees–you know, that letter that gives you the big “Whew! Hallelujah, it’s over!” feeling if you’re told you passed.
The National Conference of Bar Examiners–good riddance! 
P.S. Bob Feinberg really knows his stuff about the MBE.