[Edit 12/8/2017 — Welcome June 2018 FYLSX test takers! It seems CalBar status pages have been updated. If yours wasn’t, you probably didn’t pass. It’s Friday — go out, have a drink or four, and start studying again in a week or two. Tips are above, and, push that Follow button on the right side of the page! I’m finishing my 4th year and regularly blog about issues relating to law school that you’ll want to read…]
Last week I got confirmation that I passed (indeed, annihilated) the October 2016 California First Year Law Students’ Exam!
The Exam
For those not in the know, this test, cutely dubbed the “Baby Bar,” is required for all California law students who are not in an ABA-accredited law school. As the ABA, being the grumpy old people that they are, refuses to accredit any online law schools, those like me and want to do law school while having a job (or traveling the world, raising a family, or whatever else makes you happy) are stuck taking the Baby Bar. The exam is taken after you’ve finished your first year. It is offered every June and October, and you must pass within 3 sittings for the exam (e.g., I finished my first year in November 2015, and therefore was required to pass either June 2016, October 2016, or June 2017). If you don’t pass, your law school studies are over until you do, and when you eventually pass, you can receive law school credit only for your first year.
The exam is 100 multiple choice questions and 4 essay questions, allegedly each representing half your grade, at the same difficulty level as the real Bar Exam. The only difference is that the real Bar Exam tests 12 subjects instead of the 3 on the Baby Bar: criminal law, tort law, and contract law. The nice thing about this is that you can use actual past Bar Exam questions as prep for the Baby Bar. The bad thing about this is the pass rate for the Baby Bar is typically in the range of 20% – 25% — the odds are against you from the start. And, the cost to take the exam including all fees is $777, plus travel to Los Angeles or San Francisco if you’re not local.
My First Attempt
In the spring, I was getting ready for the test and taking practice exams, and from what I could see, my scores were in the passing range. Confident, in June I went to Oakland and sat for the Baby Bar exam, which felt pretty good upon taking it. The exam takes 45 days to grade, and in early August I got my results: failed by 1 percentage point.
I was disappointed and a bit surprised (although with a pass rate of 20% – 25%, not passing the first time is not exactly unexpected), since all the practice exams said that I was doing great on the multiple choice and ok on the essays. When I reviewed the written score report, the answer became clear: the Bar’s curving of the exam effectively made the essays count significantly more than the multiple choice. My multiple choice received nearly a perfect score, but the bar examiners did not like my essays. This was frustrating since the State Bar specifically published that the sections would be given “equal weight:”
An applicant’s total score on the examination is the sum of an applicant’s converted scores on the multiple-choice and essay sections. This step gives these sections equal weight in determining the total score.
The State Bar lies!
I tried appealing my grade to the State Bar since it would clearly have been passing had they weighted equally as they had promised, but they wouldn’t hear it. So, it probably won’t surprise you, if you’re a long-time reader, that I’ll be filing a small lawsuit to get my exam fees back since the exam I was given was not the exam advertised. 🙂 But, I digress…
My Second Attempt
To fix my essay writing, I did two things:
First, during the previous sitting, I hand-wrote the exam rather than typed it. The Bar charges an extra fee for the “privilege” of typing your exam, and I figured it was better to rely on pen-and-paper and avoid any technical issues that day. But, quite simply, I can type more words per minute than I can hand-write, and on this exam, you need to be working as fast as possible. I think if I had typed the June sitting, I probably would have passed (being 1% away from a passing score, pretty much any improvement at all would have made the difference!). Seriously, do not hand-write this exam!
Second, I spent time going through several past exams, writing out the answers, and comparing them to the model answers that the State Bar published to figure out what I had missed. This also gets you a feel for how the State Bar likes to see answers presented to them. There’s a pattern, and it seems that following it may be a good idea. 🙂
The end result was that my multiple choice score stayed about the same, but each essay increased in score by, on average, almost 15 percentage points. I could have actually written my 4th essay on “why it’s important to advertise the correct scoring methodology when you’re giving exams to law students” and taken a 0 and still passed. (Actual essay questions for October 2016 FYLSX).
Study Tips
Here’s what I recommend for practice (these products are what I actually used and I receive no compensation for listing them):
1) PMBR Audio Lectures. PMBR is a company that, before they were bought by Kaplan, produced awesome bar review lectures. If it’s not on the Bar Exam (and thus not on the Baby Bar exam), it’s not covered, allowing you to focus on only the material that you need to know. Their criminal, tort, and contract lectures total about 14 hours and are by far the best use of 14 hours spent on reviewing substantive law. The easiest place to find their CDs is on eBay or Amazon.com (search “pmbr contracts audio,” or torts, criminal), as they don’t seem to offer the CDs as a stand-alone product anymore.
2) Fleming’s Baby Bar Review. Prof. Fleming runs one of the very few courses that targets the Baby Bar specifically. He has take-home materials, but for about $300 you can take a 3-day, in-person workshop where you’ll review substantive law, practice writing essays in exam-day conditions, and are given the opportunity to take home 6 practice essays which Fleming’s will grade for you, along with detailed feedback, for no additional charge.
3) AdaptiBar. Adaptibar licenses official Multistate Bar Exam questions from the National Committee of Bar Examiners (NCBE) and allows you to practice the multiple choice section on their Web site. The NCBE doesn’t actually write the questions for the Baby Bar, but they are substantially similar. Great for both getting an idea of how you’re doing and for learning what you need to study more of.
4) The Famed 1980 Exam. While the California Bar releases every Baby Bar’s essay questions and answers, they have only released one multiple choice exam ever — from 36 years ago! To be perfectly honest, this is because they are lazy and re-use questions from year to year, so if they released every exam, they’d have to re-write them. But, if you take the 1980 exam as practice and then take the next Baby Bar, it will astonish you how many questions they still re-use with only minor variations. You’d think for $777 per test taker they’d be able to afford to come up with fresh material.
5) Past Essay Exams. Take the questions, write them in an hour each, and compare your answers to the practice answers. They’re showing you exactly how they want it done. Do it that way.
…and finally, make sure you pay the laptop fee and type the exam, and if your typing is slow, learning how to type faster should be a part of your studies (you’ll need that as a lawyer anyway!).
December 8, 2017 at 11:46 pm
Check your results again. Someone just called me and said she didn’t pass and just checked again and passed
December 8, 2017 at 11:51 pm
Mine is the same when do we receive results by mail? I wanna look it over and see what’s going on assuming I failed.
December 8, 2017 at 11:54 pm
You can actually call the bar on Monday morning and they will give results over the phone . Results may come by mail as early as tomorrow or by Monday or Tuesday .
December 8, 2017 at 11:55 pm
I think I will wait until tomorrow to be sure and then decide what I will do with my life
December 8, 2017 at 11:54 pm
Depending where you live, could be tomorrow up 7ntil next Thursday. I live in Florida, I expect next Wednesday.
December 8, 2017 at 11:58 pm
Zack give you were an A/B student, you may have passed; what kind of review did you do?
December 9, 2017 at 12:02 am
I did Fleming’s review but didn’t even get half way through it since I run my own tax firm. However, I felt I did ok in essays excluding contracts and MBE was hit or miss
December 9, 2017 at 12:07 am
I did Fleming’s too, home study. My first attempt for June 2017, I reviewed all three substantive law four times over, wrote out and memorized inner and I answered 1200 MBE questions.
December 9, 2017 at 12:08 am
Wow! That’s a lot! Did you pass the first time?
December 9, 2017 at 12:09 am
My raw score was 543, my scaled score was 503.
December 9, 2017 at 12:13 am
What’s the minimal pass score?
December 9, 2017 at 12:15 am
560is passing; 540through 559 gets a second review to see if they will pass you.
December 9, 2017 at 12:10 am
Memorized inner and out checklists, and knew it cold.
December 9, 2017 at 12:09 am
Also outlined each subject four times and did the AdaptiBar MBE questions (1,200+).
December 8, 2017 at 11:59 pm
I live in IL so maybe Monday
December 9, 2017 at 9:56 am
If my status reads “requirement not satisfied” – does that mean I failed?
December 9, 2017 at 10:02 am
Same here
December 9, 2017 at 10:03 am
My status is the same, “Requirement not satisfied!”
I have kept all my study materials since last January 2017 when I began studying; I have taken pictures and video of the volumes of work I have done; seems it takes more work than its worth!
Wish I could post those images!
I have begun my plan for June 2018; if I pass it would have taken 1.5 years to get to school and $10,000+ of fees and coats!
December 9, 2017 at 10:19 am
I was reading on FYLSE Real Help that some statuses do not get updated immediately or at all – maybe it’s premature to assume we failed?
December 9, 2017 at 10:27 am
Hope your right!
However, I beleive the CA Bar systems regarding status get refreshed/updated before we get the mailed notice.
Seems others were updated to Requirement satisfied. With a pass rate of 22% if the systems says Requirement not satisfied, then you did not pass!
December 9, 2017 at 10:30 am
The test is bullshit. I will Petition Concord to let me continue contingent on taking it in June
December 9, 2017 at 10:35 am
If ur status reads requirements not met .. you did not meet the requirements of passing the first year law exam …
December 9, 2017 at 4:36 pm
I’m reading Ray Hayden’s blog regarding the 2014 FYLSE and his status wasn’t updated until the following Monday – do you think that a late update is still a possibility now?
December 9, 2017 at 4:43 pm
Anything is possible . But remember that Ray’s post also had the old website . This is a new website . I took the June 2017 exam and my results popped up and everyone else’s I knew stayed the same as the computer . But like the old adage in Law school goes “It depends “
December 9, 2017 at 4:48 pm
You passed, did they?
Hopefully I am wrong! But I am not going to order study materials until I either a letter or someone at CA Bar tells my I passed or failed!
December 9, 2017 at 4:45 pm
Yes it is possible, not very likely!
It seems the way the grading system works with the lir database, the release date is only a final date for the Bar. The actual results were completed three to four weeks ago; then second reviews for those score in the 540 to 559 were processed and completed two weeks ago; then then the final phase and compalation of the population of pass and non-pass was compiled and sent to CA Bar education director for approval and submission to send out report to the test takers!
Not likely that data systems is not updated; they run a daily system update late nights!
Seems the exam resilts come over after the offices close at 5:00 PM.
I hope in this case I am wrong!
December 9, 2017 at 5:21 pm
Yes, they passed as well. Although, the ones that did not pass, the same result reflected on the computer. I haven’t seen or heard of anyone who had alternate results reflecting passed on one form and not passed on another one.
December 9, 2017 at 10:35 am
Mine says requirement not met also. Would like to see someone that passed this last exam post on here.
Personally, with only one more chance to go I am reluctantly studying for my finals knowing I might have to do 2nd year all over again.
Anyone else in the same predicament?
December 9, 2017 at 11:54 pm
I just filed an emergency interlocutory injunction against the CA State Bar that forces them to give me a passing grade. I’m in the process of also amending the pleadings to change it to a class action cause of action. Anyone interested?
December 9, 2017 at 11:56 pm
What grounds do you have? But sure, I am interested if you wanna add my name and email me a copy of the Complaint. Zack@zelfirm.com
December 10, 2017 at 3:10 am
Please tell me you are joking. With the understanding that I cannot give you legal advice, I fail to see how you have an “emergency,” you don’t understand the word “interlocutory,” if you filed a pleading (as opposed to a petition) you filed in the wrong court, and a non-attorney pro se litigant cannot represent a class. If you are serious that you just filed these documents, I beg you to seek legal advice from a licensed attorney who specializes in attorney discipline.
December 10, 2017 at 7:49 am
Yea! I am interested.
December 10, 2017 at 1:07 pm
I like the way you beg, boy.
December 11, 2017 at 12:06 pm
FAILED!
June 27, 2018 at 1:53 am
Any of you losers take the June 2018 baby bar? Or y’all still cryin bout last Oct?
June 27, 2018 at 5:34 am
Yea, me #3
July 20, 2018 at 9:29 pm
How did everyone else feel after the June exam?
July 20, 2018 at 11:17 pm
Which part?
It seems this has become another race, a micro race among all those trying to get to 2L; I just looked into a few online ABA school; however, the total cost is $149,950. Ouch.
What are your thoughts.
July 20, 2018 at 11:26 pm
Not many people want to discuss it in detail; I rememeber the essay questions very well, oh, and my answers too.
July 22, 2018 at 6:58 pm
I remember it reall well too. I don’t know many people who took the exam so I have days when I feel really great and others when I’m convinced I need to change career paths… I know we are supposed to not think about it but it’s really hard not to, especially knowing the passing rate!
I thought maybe there’s a forum I’m not seeing that people talk about the test…
August 9, 2018 at 7:16 pm
Anyone get their mailed results from June 2018? I’m on the edge of my seat… feeling 50/50 that I passed/failed. Can’t bring myself to look at my admissions status page just yet.
August 9, 2018 at 7:30 pm
Funny!
I think everyone has the same question and they mostly feel the same way!
Keeps us updated.
Where are you from?
August 9, 2018 at 7:47 pm
I got my results today; I passed with a 678!
Also, the online portal where my profile is located indicates I have satisfied the requirement (FYLSE).
Good luck!
August 9, 2018 at 8:52 pm
Got my passing score too with a 690!
August 9, 2018 at 11:11 pm
Anyone else get results?
What date and time were your admission status updates?
August 9, 2018 at 11:17 pm
Not for me , site is listing last update current as of 08/08/18 22:09:18 PM
August 9, 2018 at 11:38 pm
Pete, are you a different person then Pistol Pete?
August 9, 2018 at 11:43 pm
yea
August 9, 2018 at 11:48 pm
what does your status say Emily?
August 10, 2018 at 1:22 am
Mine says requirement not met and it has the same time and date as yours. I’m not sure why
/if they’d release the results early… I am pretty sure the bar releases them on a Friday after business hours on purpose (so they don’t have to answer calls from people freaking out haha) so not sure i take what the others said at face falue…
August 10, 2018 at 2:30 am
Anyone else get results yet?
August 10, 2018 at 2:55 am
mine says: The information below is current as of 08/09/18 22:09:17 PM. Any recent changes in your status will be reflected when the next update is processed.
August 10, 2018 at 1:21 pm
Anyone receive a letter from CA Bar?
August 10, 2018 at 1:44 pm
was told that grades get posted around 5 tonight. good luck everyone
August 10, 2018 at 5:33 pm
Told by whom?
August 10, 2018 at 2:11 pm
No letter for me. I think they mail them out today.
August 10, 2018 at 6:45 pm
There are no early FYLSX results.
There are people here posting that misinformation about early results but it is untrue.
Results are updated tonight, for everyone who took the FYLSX in June 2018, and this is according to the Bar. I just spoke with them on the phone.
Anyone stating otherwise is just playing games with you, to direct the spotlight to themselves.
August 10, 2018 at 6:59 pm
Thanks for the clarification.
August 10, 2018 at 7:11 pm
Thank you for the information. I thought about calling the bar but figured they would be slammed with inquiries today.
August 10, 2018 at 7:17 pm
I was wondering about that myself.. So odd and not very cool in my opinion. I know when I took it and passed the results came out on August 11, 2017 last year at 5:00 pm on the CalBar website. I never heard of anyone getting early results but there is always a possibility I guess. :}
August 10, 2018 at 8:34 pm
The status updated at 4:41pm today. Just checked and mine updated.
August 10, 2018 at 8:07 pm
CA Bar was updated, anybody notice changes?
August 10, 2018 at 8:32 pm
My status updated at 4.41 pm to passed.
Please note: The information below is current as of 08/10/18 16:41:02 PM.
Admission requirement: Pass the First-Year Law Students’ Examination or establish exemption
Applicant status:Requirement satisfied
FYLSE required status:Requirement satisfied
Passed June 2018 First-Year Law Students’ Exam
August 10, 2018 at 8:33 pm
Congrats;]
August 10, 2018 at 9:47 pm
Congrats!
My status didn’t update so I’m guessing I didn’t pass.
August 10, 2018 at 10:50 pm
Has anyone else passed?
August 11, 2018 at 3:41 am
So….if mine hasn’t updated, that means I didn’t pass, right?
I’m assuming the Bar doesn’t release different people’s results on different days. 8/11 and mine hasn’t changed.
FIRST-YEAR LAW STUDENTS’ EXAMINATION
Admission requirement: Pass the First-Year Law Students’ Examination or establish exemption
Applicant status:Requirement not satisfied
FYLSE required status:Examination is required based on current information on file
Last exam applied for:June 2018
Application status:Application approved, 5/07/2018
Eligibility status:Eligible
Assigned test center:THE PASADENA CENTER-LAPTOP
Admittance ticket:Examination Admittance Ticket available to print, 5/07/2018
August 11, 2018 at 8:21 pm
Anyone else pass?
August 11, 2018 at 11:34 pm
I don’t think I passed it either, my status isn’t updated, this was my 3rd time and I literally locked myself in the house for 3 months.
August 12, 2018 at 1:00 am
Truly are some trolls on these comments. And this isn’t the real Joseph Hanlon, based on the different icon/avatar.
August 12, 2018 at 8:02 am
Honestly, I have enjoyed this site very much, I also enjoyed different feedback from everyone, the fake imposters I can do without.
I know this is very close for me. i went back over Jonathan’s post about his first exam, June 2016, did he get 94 MBEs correct? If so, wow! This was the same test the CA Bar mistaken put a Civ Pro in for a Crim Law essay. Based on the 94 and three remaining essays, no question he should have passed.
CA Bar always makes mistakes. The lawsuit should have been about switch and bait with the scaling method. I have read some essays and they were a few paragraphs Not written in the IRAC method, yet they recieced a passing grade – prrhaps the grader was tired!
Thanks everyone for your feedback.
August 12, 2018 at 2:14 pm
It is not true of what you said. They mistakenly put the Criminal Procedure test and had to give everyone a 100 points for that test, then they converted raw score of 295 to the scaled score for everyone , and the result came out lower than the the raw score. For example, I got 295 raw scores (75, 60, 100, 60) for my essays portion, but the scaled score was only 251.92 so I failed. I also got 74 MBE correct, but the Coverted Mupltipe score for the MBE was only 273.90. Total =525.83 and failed !!
I truly believe Johnathan did a great job to pass that monster test. It is very hard to get a 85 score on any essay and 90 on MBE regardless of how much time you put into studying for this test.
Good luck all.
August 12, 2018 at 2:17 pm
correction: ” they converted my raw score of 295 to the scaled score …”
August 12, 2018 at 3:32 pm
Dolan,
I hear ya!
I did not take the June 2016, I recall a friend and a few others explained to me the problem the CA Bar made in using an essay that was not intended fornthe FYLSX.
My point, and the bigger problem, is the CA Bar administrators make many mistakes; does not seem to be as well organized as the general Bar.
Your feedback is appreciated.
August 12, 2018 at 3:49 pm
I have not received a letter from CA Bar Examiners with my June 2018 grades; however, given my status screen on the CA Bar website indicates that I have not satisfied the requirement of the FYLSX, I have implemented my plans for October.
In hind sight, I finished my 1L in July 2012; I took time off before my first Baby Bar attempt in June 2017; where my raw score was 547, scaled score was 503.
I took classes at Taft, there are about four people who I know took the Baby Bar, two passed their first time, two did not and never returned to the Baby Bar. In some ways, I want to blame my school and the Baby Bar review course for me not passing, perhaps I am being selfish to feel this way. I don’t blame them for me not passing, I blame them because, after I failed, I asked them to help me identify what my weak areas and and help me with a study program.
I can honestly say, and I have substantial documentation to corroborate my statement that I put plenty of hours and time and money into studying for this exam, yet now I am working on my fourth exam.
Don’t want to me in these shoes for the general Bar.
August 12, 2018 at 4:01 pm
Glad to hear several of you have passed, and I hope the remainder keep going!
Also, y’all may have noticed that there’s been someone who’s been posting annoying comments repeatedly while impersonating other users. Before law I came from an IT background, and if there is any more nonsense on this thread, I’m going to “fuckstart” someone’s TWC and Verizon Wireless accounts.
August 13, 2018 at 12:28 am
lol I love it :}
August 12, 2018 at 9:38 pm
My update:
First time sitting for the baby bar, I felt as prepared as I could be, I studied as much as I feasibly could, and tried to work smart about it, laser focusing on missed issues, and my weak spots. I knew the inner and outer lists and concepts perfectly, backwards and forwards. I knew my MBE game was weak.
I have “requirement not met.” I’m not used to failing.
Though I’m disappointed and sad, I plan to hire a one-on-one tutor to go along with my Fleming’s program which I purchased the take-home version, so I can work through it again. I’ll sit for this test again in October.
I’m wondering in the back of my mind if I’m just not cut out for this type of learning, though I did well all through school (and life) up to this. I’m smart and usually successful, but just barely passing Law School.
Thanks @Jonathan Corbett for creating this space, and for taking out the trash. I hate cowards that post under assumed names and come around to mess with everyone.
And yes, I’ll keep going.
August 12, 2018 at 10:33 pm
Kathryn
Don’t give up you may have not had the right mentoring. I tutor IL’s and I passed the baby bar the first time. There are formulas for MBE’s etc., that are super helpful in figuring them out. if you are interested in chatting or even tutoring contact me (310) 728-9300 melissahall725@gmail.com
August 13, 2018 at 12:26 am
“Failure is the crucible of learning!”
So I have been told, you also for that matter!
Regarding this Troll, in many ways I find it amussing that someone would waste time posting complete non-sense. At the same time, I find it immature and excesssively childish.
Now, think of the noise in that person’s brain…..should we feel said for them?
Time to get back to work, time is valuable.
August 13, 2018 at 5:07 pm
My paper results and scores arrived today. I live in the Bay Area, and the mailing is postmarked from San Francisco, so they didn’t have a long way to go.
August 13, 2018 at 8:05 pm
Just received my letter, total scaled score 538.4313,
Just missed a second review.
It hurts so bad its funny and I have to laugh.
August 13, 2018 at 8:53 pm
Joseph,
You are so close ! You will pass the next time because you have proven you know how to be that close.
August 13, 2018 at 9:06 pm
My past results:
Exam 1, MBE 73, Essays 255; scaled 503
Exam 2, MBE 63, Essays 245, scaled 463
Exam 3, MBE 73, Essays 245, scaled 538.43
I put so much time in this last test…..why are my score almost identical.
Thanks to Malissa for the amazing amazing (yes 2 x amazing) help.
August 14, 2018 at 1:30 pm
Hi Joseph,
Based on your scores, if I were you, I would spend more time practicing the essays -spot all the issues as you can, define the rules and apply all the facts to the elements of the rules. Frankly, I have not seen anyone passing with a less than 265 raw scores on the essays portion.
Good luck with the October 2018 exam.
August 14, 2018 at 1:38 pm
Joseph your scores are likely identical b/c you are likely performing the same study habits and techniques in your preparation. In order to change this you need to change your study habits, techniques and approaches. When they send you the essays you can compare them with the ones that are posted, although posted answers don’t mean perfect answers. However, they take quite a while to post. Sit down and see what you likely missed on issue spotting and check your analysis or have someone check it for you and review. It is always a good idea to have someone check your work as it is hard for one to be objective about themselves. With a better approach in both MBE and Essay areas you have a good chance of passing the next go round. Remember doing the same thing will produce the same results.
Good luck and if you need help reach out. :}
October 20, 2018 at 5:35 pm
Good luck to everyone on your upcoming fylsx next week !
November 28, 2018 at 12:10 am
Thanks Doan, now… just waiting on the results!!!! almost here a week and some scraps….
December 6, 2018 at 1:13 pm
where can i get a 1980 copy of the multiple choice question to study?
December 6, 2018 at 7:11 pm
click on this link from Ray Hayden’s website: http://rayhayden.us/ete/1980_FYLSX_MCQ.pdf
December 7, 2018 at 7:41 pm
How are the Baby Bar people doing?
December 7, 2018 at 9:21 pm
Site not updated as of 6:20pm Cali time, anyone admission status updated?
December 8, 2018 at 12:29 pm
Site was updated at 22:09. No status change here.
December 9, 2018 at 2:14 am
Mine hasn’t updated either yet 🙂 I enjoy this blog btw
December 10, 2018 at 2:37 pm
Well the site updated today at 9:58 and my status didn’t change. I’m thinking that is it. Anyone get a pass?
December 10, 2018 at 3:22 pm
Yep. Just got my pass. Updated on the site too. I feel your pain Jay. This was my second try. That first score was so crushing because I missed it by a hair. Stay with it!! You WILL pass next time.
December 10, 2018 at 3:35 pm
Congrats!
December 10, 2018 at 3:57 pm
Thanks Jay 🙂 It was by the absolute skin of my teeth. Got it on review. Grateful doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel. You’ll be getting that feeling in June too. For those curious, I did all of the questions in Finz till they were about memorized, including the section on Evidence. You need it to pass the test. We don’t get enough of that first year. That’s what makes it so hard. Having property law down, at least for the basics helps too. And I recommend you do one of the reviews despite the cost. It’s cheaper than repeating the second year. My barely passing would have been an easy pass if I’d saved some of my duckets and thrown down for the review. But I literally did every question in Finz so many times over the course of 6 months that I almost had them memorized. It’s the multiple choice that gets ya.
December 11, 2018 at 1:37 am
Friday’s update came and went, and my status didn’t change. This was my third opportunity (cancelled the first due to my son’s death, failed the second), so I spent all weekend depressed considering my failure.
…and then my status updated Monday, and my pass letter arrived. WHEW.
December 11, 2018 at 3:28 pm
JOY!!!!! So glad you passed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 11, 2018 at 4:33 am
Aaron, I’m so excited to hear that you passed. I spent all weekend thinking that I had failed too, but then my status changed at 9:32 on Monday morning to satisfied. I got my letter from the CA Bar in the mail Monday also confirming my pass.
December 11, 2018 at 3:29 pm
Hell yeah!!!!! Wooot!!
May 13, 2019 at 12:41 am
Thank you for the advice. I just ordered the Flemings course and the PMBR CDs.
August 10, 2019 at 12:54 am
Found out i passed the June 2019 fylsx with my status update today. Just wanted to thank Jonathan for this site and for the wonderful advice and tips. oh and it was third try…….
August 10, 2019 at 1:12 am
Just wanted to stop in and let you know I passed June 2019.. second try.
I used Fleming, did 4000 mbes, issue spotted 85 essays, and performed 12 mock exams.
Thank you for holding this space for those on this journey!
Congrats to everyone who passed!
Kathi
August 10, 2019 at 1:08 am
Congrats! I passed the June 2019 FYLSX too. I took Jonathan’s advice and listened to most of the PMBR CDs. I also completed Emmanuel/FINZ, most of Fleming’s Fundamentals of Law (should have done one more month), and AdaptiBar. For me, the most important thing was to find what worked for me and really learn the concepts through practice. I’m glad to move on my 2L year, but I still want to go back and make sure that I have each concept down in the next few weeks. We will cover this information again on the CBX and everything is going to build on what we learned in the first year. Thanks for the recommendations and guidance!
September 18, 2019 at 6:29 pm
Do they still mail hard-copies of the essays?
September 18, 2019 at 7:16 pm
Yes. It takes months though.
September 19, 2019 at 1:20 pm
Ok, thanks. And do they show marks and scores and such?
September 27, 2019 at 7:36 pm
Hi, Does anyone know if, when the essay answers are returned in the mail, that there are marks and scores and such? Or no marks? What about a grading rubric?
September 27, 2019 at 7:51 pm
No marks, no rubric. Just a print-out of your essay in a paper sleeve with the score written on the front. Several months later they will release two example answers (from actual tests) to which you can compare your work, but that’s as close as you’ll get to feedback.
September 28, 2019 at 12:52 pm
Thanks Eric.
September 28, 2019 at 1:23 am
Hello Raj –
I passed the June 2019 FYLSX. I received my essay answers by logging in to my CA Bar account. The CA Bar also sent an email on the day that my essays were uploaded in my account. Here are the steps I took to view the results:
1. Log in to my CA State Bar account:
2. On the top right-hand corner click on “Exam”
3. Then click on “Exam Result”
4. Then click on my Exam Enrollment ID number hyperlink
5. Click on “Related” to see my “Answer Files” which contained my essay answers in PDF format
6. Click on “View Result” to see my MCQ scores, essay scores, and my Total Scaled Score
7. Under the “View Result” page I will also saw a link to “Information for Successful Applicants” which explains that I can schedule an appointment to see my MCQ questions if I was interested.
There are no marks or comments on the essays, but I can see what I typed.
I hope this helps!
— Sara
September 28, 2019 at 12:52 pm
Thanks Sara.
December 10, 2019 at 5:26 pm
Oct 2019 Baby Bar results are supposed to be released on Dec 13. Is that the day we can start checking the Status page?
December 13, 2019 at 11:20 pm
Has anyone passed the Oct 2019 FYLSE ?
December 13, 2019 at 11:21 pm
Did you pass?
December 13, 2019 at 11:43 pm
I knew you would pass Elissa. You were an amazing student
December 14, 2019 at 12:12 am
I passed
December 14, 2019 at 12:13 am
Congrats