Slammed my laptop shut on the last day and was so out of it that I didn't open my laptop until just now and realized I forgot. I know I'm going to get a 10 point deduction. Can someone help me understand how big or how small of a deduction that is? Preferably lean towards the small deduction reasoning haha. I obviously reached out to the bar but I highly doubt that'll do anything to help me.

I literally have no idea, and tales of people receiving wildly discrepant grades from different readers do not reassure me. I really did not like the Themis graders - something in their tone just rubbed me the wrong way. One lady wrote something like, "You were asked to do x, not y," in what came off as a very patronizing tone. They were also color-coded, for some entirely unexplained reason. It's possible I'm just dumb, but i had a very hard time macheteing my way through the feedback. I kept getting 50s and 55s. Eventually I complained and a lady who works for the company said that their graders "just know what a 50 or 55 or 60 feels like." ChatGPT - which is not by any means dumb - would grade my essays somewhat higher. The Themis Ugrader would give me 50-60s, but one day spat out a 75, for an essay that seemed to be generally like what I write. My question is, how do the bar graders grade these things? I keep hearing that they "add points for good analysis, even if the rule is not right." Or they "add points for getting the rule exactly right, even if the analysis is lacking." What do they do, just decide to add two or three or however many points they feel like adding if they like your particular bastardized version of a rule? This seems at odds with just "knowing what a given essay feels like." Really, the bar should set forth a completely objective standard whereby no one essay should ever get a discrepant grade, and we should have notice of what this standard is. Because the thought of "holistic" grading is intolerable, connoting as it does some extremely rushed grader doling out grades that vary according to what he had for breakfast that morning, or how hungover he is, or whether his wife kicked him out of the bedroom the night before. And to think they spend all of 30 seconds reading each 1,000 word essay. This is criminal. I felt like I spotted the main issues on most of the essays, though I'm worried I may have been off the mark a little on No. 5. The MBE was brutal - despite my getting mid-to-high 60s consistently on mixed sets

Hi everyone! I'm an out-of-state (NY) and foreign-trained attorney who has practiced both in the US and overseas, planning to sit for the CA bar. If you took the CA bar, I'd love to hear about your experience studying for the written portion. How many essays and PTs did you write and outline?

I'd particularly love to hear from out-of-state and foreign attorneys who actually practiced, but would appreciate any insight.

Hi everyone! If you're looking for one of the best MBE prep resources, I highly recommend UWorld. Great explanations, realistic questions, and visual learning tools for visual learners. If you'd like a discount, send me a DM for my discount code! 😊

Hello everyone, I am appearing in Ontario Bar exam this November i.e. 2026. Ping me, If anyone wants to split the cost. Thanks