Cal Bar Experiment – should you?
Hello everyone,
Recently the Cal Bar posted the Cal Bar Experiment. Final year law students (3rd or 4th depending on your school) and anyone potentially repeating the Cal Bar in February or July 2025 may apply to participate.
Deadline to submit application to participate is October 13. Full information from the Cal Bar about the Experiment below.
NOTE: you must be registered with the Cal Bar as a law student (if you’re a repeater, you’re fine here). If you aren’t registered with the State Bar, register ASAP.
NOTE: acceptance isn’t guaranteed. You can apply, and they might accept everyone, or not.
I recommend all applicants apply to participate here. The Cal Bar wants students to prepare well and do their best so that the Cal Bar gets the best possible data for its exam. The horribly-timed November 8 date (hello, MPRE day and Bar Exam results day, anyone?!) means they won’t get the best data. Anyhow, the Cal Bar reserves the right to not grant extra points to people who don’t score “well enough”. Observations: if you pass the February 2025 exam on the first read, all of this is moot – you’re not getting extra points. And you don’t care, since you don’t need them.
But if you fail on the first read, and you score “well enough” (I read into this you didn’t tank it to just get the extra points), the Cal Bar will award up to 40 scaled points (enough to take a second read applicant to a passing score!). This is a game-changer, potentially, to those in the second read. If you score 1200 on the first read, this potential score boost (the Supreme Court must approve the Cal Bar’s petition, so it’s not a done deal yet) won’t help.
I recommend you try it. It’s 49 MBEs. They will give you 2 hours. You’ll get an early sense of whether the MBE will be any different from the NCBE questions of the past. My guess is that repeaters will think it’s not much different. Note Phase 2 is on the July 2025 exam (if approved) and that will be an essay or two and some MBEs on the day after your last day of your bar exam.
California Bar Exam Experiment
- Background
- Purpose of experiment
- Phase One overview
- Proposed bar exam score adjustment
- Apply to participate in Phase One
- Requesting testing accommodations for Phase One
Background
The State Bar of California is conducting the California Bar Exam Experiment designed to inform upcoming and possible future changes in how the bar exam is administered. Beginning in February 2025, the multiple-choice questions on the California Bar Exam will be developed by Kaplan Exam Services, LLC, and the exam will be delivered remotely and in person at test centers. The experiment includes two phases. Phase One will occur on November 8, 2024, and will test:
- Multiple-choice questions developed by Kaplan.
- The new platform for remote and test center exam delivery.
Phase Two will occur as a third day of the July 2025 California Bar Exam and will explore:
- Performance in remote vs. in-person exam delivery.
- Performance with different time limits.
- Performance with and without access to limited web content or personal notes.
Note: The State Bar’s Committee of Bar Examiners has recommended to the California Supreme Court that a bar exam score adjustment be applied in 2025 for those who participate and perform well in one or both phases of the experiment. The proposal is currently pending before the Supreme Court and it is not yet approved.
Each phase of the experiment will require less than two hours of testing for standard test takers. Participation in the experiment will not impact an applicant’s eligibility to take the California Bar Exam, and there will be no penalty for poor performance on the experimental exam.
Below, you’ll learn about Phase One and how you can participate. Please view the California Bar Exam Experiment FAQ for more details. Additional information about Phase Two of the experiment will be released at a later date.
Purpose of experiment
In August 2024, the State Bar finalized an agreement with Kaplan to independently develop questions for the California Bar Exam. The questions will replace the Multistate Bar Examination, developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which will no longer be administered in California. This will allow the State Bar to make the bar exam available both remotely and in person at test centers starting with the February 2025 exam. Although the questions will be developed by Kaplan, the bar exam’s subject areas will remain the same, and the multiple-choice questions developed by Kaplan will not substantially modify the training or preparation required to pass the exam. The content and subject areas featured in the experiment are also the same as those on the bar exam. The purpose of Phase One is to field-test the Kaplan questions and the new remote and test center exam delivery vendor.
Phase One overview
Phase One will feature a multiple-choice only exam held on November 8, 2024, and will require less than two hours of testing for standard test takers. Any applicant registered with the State Bar who intends to sit for the February or July 2025 bar exams, including third- and fourth-year law students and repeat bar exam takers, is eligible to apply to participate in Phase One.
There are limited spots available; the State Bar may allow all eligible applicants to participate or may randomly select from those who applied. Participants will also be asked whether they prefer to participate in the exam experiment remotely online on their own computer or in person at test centers where computers will be provided. Due to limited space, an applicant’s preference is not guaranteed.
Proposed bar exam score adjustment
The State Bar’s Committee of Bar Examiners has recommended to the Supreme Court that a bar exam score adjustment of up to 40 points be applied in 2025 for those who participate and perform well on the experimental exams. The purpose of the score adjustment is to ensure that participants are highly motivated to participate in the experiment in good faith and that the resulting data analysis will closely replicate an actual exam. There will be no penalty for those who do not score well in either phase of the experiment.
Note: The proposed scoring adjustment is still pending before the Supreme Court and is not yet approved.
Apply to participate in Phase One
To apply to participate in Phase One of the California Bar Exam Experiment, please fill out the California Bar Exam Experiment: Phase One Application.
The application for Phase One will close at 11:59 p.m. PDT on October 13, 2024. To be eligible, you must be registered with the State Bar and must submit a complete application. If you are not already registered, please do so immediately by visiting the Applicant Portal.
The State Bar will review registration requests as quickly as possible, but approval before Phase One of the experiment is not guaranteed.
Requesting testing accommodations for Phase One
The State Bar will process requests for testing accommodations for Phase One separate from the process for other exams. Applicants must submit a complete California Bar Exam Experiment: Phase One Application by 11:59 p.m. PDT on October 13, 2024. An approved testing accommodation for the California Bar Exam Experiment does not guarantee that the same accommodation will be granted for a future State Bar exam. The testing accommodation request process for the California Bar Exam Experiment is separate from the process for other State Bar exams. Please view the California Bar Exam Experiment FAQ for more information or contact the Office of Admissions at experimentalexam@calbar.ca.gov.
