Howdy Max, and everybody. Thanks again for all your kind responses and last minute tips.
I did indeed plan on keeping everyone updated during that last week; unfortunately I forgot to pay the old phone bill in the hubbub and couldn’t post over the weekend. The last six days of studying were nerve-wracking. I did learn my lesson on the sleep deprivation
Like Tibs, I studied for the most part right up to the wire, but I did go out and have a few beers before I went to bed. I was too nervous to hold them down, and I barfed. Got to bed about 11.
So I got up this morning about six and met study pals Migs and Joe and ate a tasteless breakfast. Made a quick stop-off at the Catholic church so the religious types could pray, and the non-religious types could pray anyway. Then we wen’t to the Astrodome Astrohall to test with about 1300 other hopefuls/fearfuls.
The first portion of the test was procedure and evidence, 20 questions on civil and 20 questions on criminal. Strangely, once I actually began taking the test the sick feeling I’ve had for the last month and a half went away and I was able to just focus on the task at hand. This portion was an hour and a half long, about 2 or 2 and a half minute per question. I was on question 18 when the halfway mark was announced, and was a little surprised I was a bit behind schedule and a bit fearful. I picked up the pace a little and was able to answer all the questions. For the most part the questions were pretty straightforward, general venue, Batson challenges, that sort of thing, stuff they’d asked in previous years… They did throw a curveball or two; one question involved a priest being asked on the stand about confessional. I didn’t know if Texas recognized the priest/ penitent privilige, I guessed they did. Lucky guess, we do. A few I guessed at and got wrong or partially wrong, a few more I guessed at and got right or partially right. most I knew, a couple I knocked out of the park. My arm hurt like hell.
After the Procedure and Evidence, I was feeling much, much better. I felt like I did pretty good. We had a short to stretch and pee, no talking allowed, and came backfor the MPT.
The MPT, for those unfamiliar, is the Motion Practice Test. The same one is used all over America. They give you a fictional task with fictional facts (write a client letter, draft a memo, prepare a closing argument, etc.) and a file of fictional statutes and cases to read and use. Some are relevant and some aren’t. You have an hour and a half to read all the material, sift out what’s relevant and what isn’t, and write your thingie. It’s more a test of organizational and lawyering skills than of knowledge.
I took a half hour to read the material. I hadn’t really practiced for the MPT, focusing on the substantive material instead. I think I did okay, though. A few issues I would have liked to develop a little more but you just can’t do everything in the limited time provided. At a minimum I think I at least wrote pretty clearly and spottedmost of the issues. The main problem is my handwriting; I write (print actually) poorly in the first place, and after an hour and a half, well…I’m sure some grader will soon be saying, “this is amazing. They let a six year old take the Bar Exam?”
Tomorrow, the MBE; Multistate bar exam. This one, again for the unintiated, is a six hour 200 question multiple choice test, three hours in the am and three in the pm. The same one is given in all or almost all states simultaneously. It tests general principles of law. I feel pretty good about this one, I’ve always been good with multiple choicing. Still, test scores in Texas are down in recent years; even 15th in the nation University of Texas got an unprecedented 55% or so overall bar passage (meaning 45% failed) last February. I’ll let you all know tomorrow how everything goes.
-prav
