MBE Changes for July 29, 2009A Comparison Between February 2009 Bar Exam Results and July 2008 Bar Exam Results

I noticed , as I was posting the results of the various bar exams, that the February 2009 bar results were much lower than the July 2008 bar results, across the board and across the jurisdictions. Let’s look at a few jurisdictions for first time takers:

State.............February 2009................ July 2008...............Change

Florida................ 67.8%......................87.8%.....................20%

Ohio................... 77.3%......................88.8%.....................11.5%

California............. 47%........................75.0%.....................28.0%

DC..................... 57%........................71.0%.....................14.0%

NY..................... 73.3%......................91.0%.....................17.7%

Texas.................. 77.3%......................85.2%......................7.9%

CT..................... 63.7%......................81.6%.....................17.9%


How do we interpret these numbers? Are February numbers traditionally lower or was it a common denominator like the MBE that was harder this go around?

February numbers are usually lower than July number, despite the fact that we usually just look at the first time takers. If we went back for a few years, February numbers are lower than July bar results. Connecticut does a comparison from February 2000 to present and their average February numbers are 68.1% while their July numbers average out to 77.4%. Using Connecticut numbers, the difference between February bar results and July bar results are dramatic.

What about the MBE? Do you think that the MBE is getting harder? I heard from my students that some of the questions were truly bizarre and “not what they expected” on the February 2009 test. As we know, MBE consistently evaluates and reevaluates its questions and we’ll see on July 2009 test whether the changes on the MBE are going to make a striking difference.