Check out the January 17 updates to the FAQ document – a lot of changes!
Hello everyone!
A lot of updates to the February 2025 FAQ document. You can find the document here:
February-2025-Bar-Exam-FAQs 11725
Highlights:
- Wildfires: If you are displaced/personally affected by the wildfires, email wildfire.emergencies@calbar.ca.gov to discuss your circumstances.
- In person testing – you will schedule your exam site on January 30. I’ve been hearing about several evolutions on policy here. First was that you could choose a site on January 30, first come, first served. Second was an email to students asking them to confirm mailing address and they would be assigned to a location closest to your address. If you go to the Meazure Learning website, it will tell you there are 27 sites statewide. Now… the newest updates. Suddenly you can go to sites in the Pacific AND Mountain Time Zone! So… if you live in Chico you can’t go to Sacramento, or if that’s full you can go to Utah?! Who knows. But perhaps more likely is this: we now have clarification that the Bar will be given at FOUR Meazure Learning facilities. Interestingly, these don’t SOUND like Meazure Learning facilities. Get a load of this:
LA – Ontario Convention Center. Two things: 1) DUDE, Ontario is in ORANGE COUNTY. Not LA. 2) That sounds like a site where the Bar used to be given?!
Sacramento – @ The Grounds
SF – South SF Conference Center
San Diego – Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center.
OK folks, does this sound like a rope-a-dope to you? The Cal Bar said they’d be going insolvent in 2026 and can’t hold bar exams in hotels. The Cal Bar used to hold bar exams in hotels in LA, Sac, Bay Area, and San Diego. Now… the Cal Bar is holding exams in large convention hall-sounding facilities in person. What am I missing?
Anyway, when you go online on January 30, you will input your zip code, and only the sites closest to your location will be listed. And if you live anywhere near any of the four major sites, “only that site will be available for you to choose from.” So it still sounds like a first-come, first-serve thing. Sign up early on January 30.
Oh yeah: FAQ 22: the exam scheduling window runs from Jan. 30 – Feb. 14. But NOTE: last day to change from remote to in-person or vice versa is January 20. Last day to change between in-person locations is February 3.
3. Hardcopy update: only applicants with accommodations, whose disabilities require hardcopies for accommodation, can use hardcopies. And if you’re getting hardcopies, that means you MUST test in person. And that means you can’t use your desktop/laptop. You must use the Meazure Learning computers and from what I saw on a video, it looks like a desktop with a generic keyboard.
4. If you’re testing remotely, you can use laptop or desktop. Only one mouse or keyboard can be used.
5. Break time: same situation whether you’re testing remotely or in-person. And you are not allowed to continue taking the exam after the break has expired. 5-minute breaks, people. Plan for 3-4 minutes, go pee, and get back to your seat PRONTO.
6. Want to change your modality (in person, handwriter, remote)? The deadline has changed: it’s now JANUARY 20. Reason: so if you need to do remote or in person you can complete the mock exam on time. Remote MUST do the mock exam. In-person: mock exam is OPTIONAL, per FAQ 35. You can do it if you want but it’s only available until January 24. No need to schedule an appointment for in-person mock exam since it’s unproctored.
7. EXAM DAY LOGISTICS: plan to arrive (in person or remote) at least 30 minutes prior to your start time. Log in no later than 15 minutes before your appointment time on exam day. They reserve the right to deny you access to your exam if you’re late.
8. PT’s on exam day: you will view and annotate the materials in a pdf. You have single-color highlighter functionality, text annotation and comment features, tagging system to help organize notes, and text can be copies/pasted into the response field.
9. If you’re absent for any portion of your exam, the Cal Bar treats you as not having taken the exam, and exams aren’t graded.
10. AFTER JANUARY 20, YOU CAN’T CHANGE YOUR TESTING MODALITY. In other words, you can’t change from in-person to remote. Between January 21-Feb. 3, you can petition to change which in-person site you go to (i.e., Sacramento to SF). Not guaranteed but you do have the chance to do it.
11. Admittance Tickets – no more need to print them. You must bring a printed confirmation notice from Meazure Learning upon arrival for in-person candidates.
Again, this FAQ update has a lot of new/updated content. Check it out so you’re informed!
