Thread: How good do we have to be to pass the new york bar exam in essay

I took the new york bar this july and waiting for the result anxiously. I don't think I did good on exam. That makes me really worried. My question is to pass the new york bar, do we have to answer correctly to all of essay quesitons? Actually, out of 5 questions, I think I did not bad on 3 quesitons, 1 really bad and 1 so-so. Also, concerning MBE, I was not really good.(My Barbri test score is 111 only, PMBR is 105) I hope I would pass. Is there anybody who can tell me how good do we have to be in essay questions. I mean to get more than average, how thorough do we have to be. If I miss one issue, not complete analysis, conclusion is wrong but still talk about in the area. do I still get more than average? Sorry

It's hard to say if you have passed...but I think you didn't

It's too hard to say b/c your good may mean great to the bar examiners. However, MBE w/ NY spec. is 60% of the bar exam, and usually you need a 145 to pass. NY has a very strange grading system where everything is converted to 1-1000. The exact formula is hard to get, but the average, if I remember correctly, is about 145 before the 1000 conversion. So if your numbers are the conversion based on the 200 point system, then you are in a big danger.

A final total weighted scaled score of 665 is required to pass the examination, and any applicant who fails to attain a total weighted scaled score of 665 must retake the entire examination at a subsequent administration.

Through psycho metrically approved scaling procedures, the raw scores attained by the applicants on each portion of the examination are converted to scaled scores on a common scale of 0 to 1000, and the three scaled scores are then weighted and combined to yield total weighted scaled scores on the same 0 to 1000 scale. The relative weights assigned are 50% to the written portion (40% essays and 10% MPT), 10% to the New York multiple choice, and 40% to the MBE portion.

The essay and MPT answers of each applicant who receives an initial total weighted scaled score of 655 through 674 are re-read and re-graded by graders other than the initial graders. The two scores for each essay answer are averaged to determine a final scaled score for each essay. The examination scores are then recomputed to determine each applicant's final scaled score. There is no appeal from this final score.

There is no passing or failing on any one portion of the examination. Thus a poor performance on one section of the examination may be offset by a superior performance on another section. Passing or failing is determined only on the basis of the applicant's total weighted scaled score.