bathroom location
Bar Exam Part Two: Procedural Annoyances
I took the bar at Northwestern University’s Business school, which is in downtown Chicago. The building looked nice enough from the outside, but the actually classroom in which I took the bar was a mess. To paraphrase an obscure Monty Python sketch, The trouble with the classroom was that it lacked everything. Everything you’d want in a classroom, at least.
I was inches away from the test takers on either side of me. I bumped into them both several times during the course of the exam. The guy to my left (who was VERY, VERY serious [i.e., no casual chitchat, even during lunch break/after the exam]) was left-handed—I’m a righty—so our elbows collided about once every ten minutes.
The air conditioning was either not working, not turned on, or so ineffective that it seemed like there was no air conditioning. And there was no bathroom on the floor. So if you had to go during the exam—which I did—you had to go out two sets of doors, up a flight of stairs, down a long hallway, and around a corridor.
And the administration of the exam was FILLED with little annoyances, the main one being a twenty-minute long monologue of testing procedures that was repeated to us before each of the five exam sections, verbatim. And then the pens. We weren’t allowed to use our own pens on the bar; had to use those of the Illinois Bar Association. Least fluid pens ever. Had to push down REALLY hard on them. Middle finger was bright red after my 6th hour or writing.
And the exam. Was it hard? Of course it was hard. How do I think I did? Of course I think I failed. But everybody thinks this, and most are wrong. So we shall see.
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Sorry to hear that your room
Sorry to hear that your room was so horrible. I took it at the Wyndham, in a room with somewhere between 40-50 people. Space was OK...I'm lefty, the guy to my left was righty, and we only bumped elbows once. Those instructions were horrible...I'm still hearing about "sunglasses, cell phones, hats (except religious apparel)" in my head. The pens were godawful...I hate ballpoints to begin with (gotta be rollerballs for me). My wrist and arm were on fire by the end of Day 1. Overall, my take is: Day 1 morning good, Day 1 afternoon tough. Day 2 morning a total b***h, Day 2 afternoon OK. Same thing happened when I took the Washington State bar 10 years ago...walked out of Day 1 happy, but walked out of Day 2 convinced I had failed. I passed, so one never knows. Best of luck, I hope we both get good news in October!
I was wondering if you could
I was wondering if you could post your comments about the subject matter of the MEE, MPT and Illinois essay questions. Questions you liked, disliked, did not expect. Just would like to see another person's input.
As far as NU biz school, luckily the person next to me did not show up (I'm left handed) which was a HUGE plus. Three hours is a good amount of sleep, I got absolutely no sleep before the MEE and MPT. Thank god I went to bed early for the MBE. Best of luck!
Best,
Eric
Sounds like we're in a
Sounds like we're in a similar place in a lot of ways, Counselor SJB. Good luck to both of us.
Hi Counselor Eric, I have
Hi Counselor Eric,
I have LOTS to say about the subject matter of the MEE and MPT tests. The thing is, I'm really terrified to write about those questions because I know they collect them at the end of the tests...suggesting they dont' want them getting out...and I don't want to do anything that might piss the Illinois Bar off. Don't want to chance it. So, yeah, I think I'll be staying away from the content of the exam. Sorry, sir.
Thanks for the reply. Makes
Thanks for the reply. Makes sense. Sorry, I am not used to blogs. Would not want to put you in a position jeopardizing your admission to the bar. Take care.
Best,
Eric
sc bar fun...instead of
sc bar fun...instead of being uncomfortably warm, our room (more of a warehouse) was ridiculously cold to the point that i had to wear a jacket. i most certainly feel your pain on the writing instruments; i wanted to chew my arm off after the first essay section. we unfortunately had 2 days of state essays plus the mbe, which only made my hand hurt that much more and also made me wish that i hadn't used softest at depaul. such is life. in other news i'd read lawyer boy thursday of last week and loved it. it was nice to see the way you handled the characters. in telling my mother to read it, i'm also glad you could fully describe a) a certain legal writing professor and b) sleep difficulties. she said she always listened to me when i spoke about those problems, but now she realizes that i wasn't just exaggerating or whining (not that law students would ever do such a thing). anyways, good luck on the pending bar results, let me know when the next book is due.