We asked for bar exam horror stories, and Above the Law tipsters delivered. The bar is more than a professional licensing exam, it’s a trial by fire/hazing ritual. But the tradition soldiers on, and so do the stories about the absolute misery of the test.
Water is essential for life, but don’t tell exam proctors that! After long lines plagued the water refill station at one bar exam location, test takers had to raw dog it on day two.
The largest venue for the DC bar is the DC armory which has basically no AC. It has two water bottle refill stations in the main lobby. Around 1,000 test takers. Yesterday, at least one person fainted during the MPT in the morning. At lunch time, the lines for the water refill stations were so long that it seemed like it might hold up the start of the afternoon test, so they told us we weren’t allowed to use the water refill stations on day two and if we wanted any water we had to bring it all ourselves
Another thing that sure *feels* necessary for bar exam success is the ability to read (and edit) whatever the hell you word vomit in the essay section. This test taker’s tech issue day 1 of the exam forced them to take the test blind.
I took my fully functional laptop to the exam on the Tuesday. Set it up, logged into the exam software, waited for the exam to start. Literally the second the Proctor said “you may begin,” my screen just went black.. Everything was working, I just couldn’t see what I was typing, if there were typo’s, what screen I was on, etc. I called for tech assistance, they couldn’t figure it out, and handed me the “hand-written version.” But I didn’t want to do that, so I just typed everything blind, and hoped for the best.
Careful reflection and editing? Don’t know her. But let’s hope it all worked out.
If you survived or witnessed some horror story in action, let us know. You can email it to us (subject line: “Bar Exam Horror Story”) or text us (646-820-8477). Maybe your story will inspire others to persevere.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].
