# I'm taking the bar exam tomorrow. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 28, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281 "2014-07-28T22:35:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/41 "2014-07-31T13:31:26Z")
RNATB = Really NAiled The Bar! I hope, anyway 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/42 "2014-07-31T13:34:01Z")
Just finished the bar? Cherish these moments. You’ll never know more about most areas of the law than you do right this very second. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/43 "2014-07-31T14:20:40Z")
Thanks **Spoons and Piper** ; my ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/44 "2014-07-31T15:08:29Z")
Here I am! Alive, and not facing charges from drunken shenanigans. So that’s a win. > [@Senegoid](#): > > Uh, is it over now, **Really Not All That Bright**? Have you survived (with sufficient functioning neurons remaining) to tell us all about it? You were in a big room with all the others taking the test, right? How many heads exploded? > > Perhaps we won’t hear from you until tomorrow (Thursday), as I’m sure you are spending this evening (Wednesday) doing some heavy-duty R&R, right? Do you and all the other applicants all head out for R&R together and have one big massive drunken orgy? 😃 Or are you each pretty much on your own? Only one head exploded, as far as I can tell. I am reliably informed that a girl somewhere near the middle of the room got half halfway through the final session yelling something like, “I thought we were all in this together!” I like to think she was telling off her pencils. She then yelled “It has to be one of these four!” (the structure of the MBE is four-option multiple choice) so I suspect the immeasurable unpleasantness of picking the “least worst” answer (they often give you four wrong answers and tell you to pick the best) got to her. She was physically removed from the building. My surname begins with A so I was in the front left corner of the room. I think it says something about the size of the room (there were 3300-something people taking the exam) that I heard none of this even though the room was largely silent. I fancy I could see the curvature of the earth when I looked at the desks at the far end. Other than that, my female colleagues tell me there was a lot of puking and crying in the ladies’ rooms. Didn’t seem to be much of that in the mens’ rooms but I did a pretty good job of voiding between sessions so I only had to go once during an actual test session. Scuttlebutt and a number of empty desks midway through tell me that some people quietly gave up or ran. I was the first person to finish the afternoon session so I got to see the look on probably a thousand peoples’ faces as they exited the exam room. Interesting range, I can tell you. Some friends opted for the drunken orgy thing (planned well in advance for it, in fact) but **jtgain** and others had me pretty well convinced that I’d fall asleep in a strange gutter if I tried anything as foolish as that. 🆒 > [@jtgain](#): > > I think that **RNATB** is incommunicado after last night’s partying. Probably fell off of the boat and woke up this morning with a face full of sand on the beaches of Cuba. 🙂 I actually took it pretty easy last night. I deliberately brought only enough clothes for two days so I wouldn’t drink myself into an extended stay. A classmate who passed last time around drove her husband’s boat right up to the convention center (it’s on the waterfront) so we all hopped on and had a few beers after the last session, and I got a ride home after that. So no Cuban sand. Turns out I didn’t want to spend any time at the beach because the Tampa Bay area is currently infested with [flesh-eating bacteria](http://tbo.com/health/warning-issued-in-sarasota-over-flesh-eating-bacteria-20140730/). By the time I got home I was too tired to do much more than watch Top Gear and the Antiques Roadshow, eat a large burger, and climb gratefully into bed. My legs are still sore from my impromptu Tuesday morning run. That’s not surprising since bar prep has me in the worst physical shape of my life. > [@Rachellelogram](#): > > RNATB = Really NAiled The Bar! > > I hope, anyway 🙂 From your lips… 🙂 Seriously, I feel pretty good about my performance. The MBE was much harder than I was expecting; it was very much like the thousands of practice questions I did over the past three months, though we’d been assured it was much easier. Still, my worst practice exam score was well above passing, so I am quietly confident. > [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > Just finished the bar? Cherish these moments. You’ll never know more about most areas of the law than you do right this very second. I can feel The Knowledge draining out of my head as we speak. I woke up this morning and there was an oddly shaped dent in my pillow which I assume is where it leaked out of my ears. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/45 "2014-07-31T15:52:40Z")
A lawyer, a doctor, a priest, a nun and a rabbi walk into a bar. The bartender takes one look at them and says, “What is this? Some kind of a joke?” ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/46 "2014-07-31T17:16:11Z")
When do you find out? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/47 "2014-07-31T17:30:42Z")
Anticipated score release date is 9/22/14. In the past they’ve sometimes been released a day or two before or after the scheduled date. ---
**Author:** ![Calatin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Calatin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calatin)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/48 "2014-07-31T17:58:05Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Anticipated score release date is 9/22/14. In the past they’ve sometimes been released a day or two before or after the scheduled date. I don’t know how they do it in Florida, but in Texas, they usually post the results on-line the day before the announced date. One of the Bar’s worst-kept secrets. You’ll know as soon as they are posted, because your phone will start exploding with texts and calls. ---
**Author:** ![Grrlbrarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrlbrarian/32/4048_2.png) [@Grrlbrarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrlbrarian)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/49 "2014-07-31T18:02:24Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Here I am! Alive, and not facing charges from drunken shenanigans. So that’s a win. > \
A toast to speedy and fabulous results for you. And congratulations on finishing the exam!!! 😃 That is quite an achievement in and of itself, as you noted from the ranks of empty desks! Hurrah for you!!! ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/50 "2014-08-01T02:44:06Z")
Dude…be glad you didn’t have [this problem](http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/30/4262186/processing-issue-delays-bar-exam.html) during your exam. Laptops were not an option in my day, but if they were, I can see totally losing my shit over something like that. Prolly would have needed a straightjacket, heavy sedation, and a padded cell. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/51 "2014-08-01T03:24:53Z")
[31 Stages Of Taking The Bar Exam](http://www.buzzfeed.com/mvp84/31-stages-of-taking-the-bar-exam-93le) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/52 "2014-08-01T12:56:37Z")
Back at work today! Could use a longer nap. > [@Oakminster](#): > > Dude…be glad you didn’t have [this problem](http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/30/4262186/processing-issue-delays-bar-exam.html) during your exam. Laptops were not an option in my day, but if they were, I can see totally losing my shit over something like that. Prolly would have needed a straightjacket, heavy sedation, and a padded cell. I missed the Examsoft server crash by about an hour. I finished the second session of Day 1 really early so I had plenty of time to walk back to the hotel, get a drink, and log on to the hotel WiFi to upload. That was around 4:30 I think; the shit started hitting the fan about 5:30 ET. The lobby and bar were full of law students staring at their MacBooks. Some were gibbering and pulling hair out. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/53 "2014-08-18T15:42:55Z")
Still more than a month before results are released. The strain might kill me. I got a phone call from ExamSoft about the essay upload server failure **Oakminster** mentioned. I assume they are gearing up for the worst, lawsuit-wise (though I didn’t really have any problems so I wouldn’t be involved anyway.) > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > [31 Stages Of Taking The Bar Exam](http://www.buzzfeed.com/mvp84/31-stages-of-taking-the-bar-exam-93le) Those are all absolutely true, except that I was lucky and was prepared for the stuff that was actually tested and hadn’t wasted much effort on the stuff that wasn’t. It’s really, absolutely true that the worst part of not knowing you passed is the thought of telling all your family and friends. I mean, on the one hand you are well within your rights to punch them in the faces because they all say, “you’ve got this, you totally will/did pass!” On the other hand, you either have to deal with _their_ crushing disappointment or - maybe worse - their crushing pity. I suspect that for most people the idea of having to put off their attorney careers for six more months is a distant second. Most takers won’t have jobs yet anyway (I do, but largely because I’ve been working at the same firm for seven years to ensure that I had a place to go after law school.) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/54 "2014-08-19T01:57:06Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Most takers won’t have jobs yet anyway (I do, but largely because I’ve been working at the same firm for seven years to ensure that I had a place to go after law school.) In John Grisham’s _The Associate_, the protagonist is one of a group of Yale law graduates who have been employed by a top NYC firm. They all receive special coaching to help pass the bar exam, because the firm really wants these guys. The protagonist passes it amid much anguish, but the big _wunderkind_, the guy who was the top performer at school and among the newbies at the firm and whom everyone figured it passing the exam would be a given, failed it. Grisham’s painted some pretty horrific pictures of the bar exam. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/55 "2014-09-22T13:20:40Z")
Scores come out today. I’ve done a pretty good job of not thinking about it all the time for the past two months, but today I am not doing a good job of it. Might take up knitting at work. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/56 "2014-09-22T13:30:00Z")
I’m sure you did great! ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/57 "2014-09-22T13:43:57Z")
You crushed it. Knit yourself a victory flag and waive it around the office. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/58 "2014-09-22T14:11:36Z")
Yeah. it’s in the bag. May as well petition the mod’s for a new user name. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/59 "2014-09-22T15:18:09Z")
It turns out I demonstrated “minimal technical competence”. Which means I passed. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281/60 "2014-09-22T15:19:54Z")
Outstanding! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-taking-the-bar-exam-tomorrow/694281.md?page=4)