July 2007 California Bar Exam Pass Rate

Check it out!  Despite the fact that individual exam results won’t be available until tomorrow, the State Bar of California has released overall pass rate statistics for the July 2007 exam!

The good news for all you worrywarts is that July 2007 exam-takers passed at a rate of 56.1%, almost 5% higher than the students who sat for July 2006, and almost 20% higher than the students who sat for February 2007 (though it should be noted that in the past 45 years, the overwhelming trend has been for July takers to pass at a significantly higher rate than February takers, and one must go back to 1961 to see an example of when this didn’t happen).

In fact, the 56.1% pass rate is the highest of any California bar exam in the last 6 years.  And compared to the last 103 times the California bar exam has been administered (as far back as the State Bar has statistics), the 56.1% pass rate is the 23rd highest in the exam’s history.

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Exactly how the bar exam is scored

Up until a moment ago, I was very confused about exactly how the bar exam is scored.

A very informative PDF is provided by the California Bar. It reveals a very convoluted equation.

So, here’s how it seems to work:

1. First, take your raw MBE score (0-200). Then, scale that score and multiply by 10. This should give you a number between 0 and 2000. This is your MBE scaled score.
2. Next, you’ve got to figure out your writing scaled score. The essays are worth 100 points each. Just leave them as is. Each performance test is worth 200 points. Add that all up and you’ve got your raw writing score (0-1000). Then (and I swear I’m not making this up), multiply that raw score by 3.08, and then subtract 493. This is your scaled writing score.
3. Now that you’ve got your scaled scores, the MBE is worth 35% of your overall score and the writing part is worth 65%. So, multiply your MBE score by 0.35, and your writing score by 0.65, and then add them together – you need to get over about 1440.

If you read this and think it’s wrong, please let me know!

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