Has the California bar exam gotten easier?

The pass rate of California's bar exam has slightly increased since the state announced it would be lowering the cut score from 1440 to 1390 and spreading the exam over two days rather than three, but it is still widely considered the most challenging in the country.

Is the California bar easier?

California's bar exam is generally considered the most difficult. It covers a wide range of subjects and takes two days. What does BAR (as in the BAR exam) stand for?

Which state has the easier bar exam?

Statistically speaking, Oklahoma has one of the easiest bar exams based on first-time passing rates. Nearly 87% of first-time exam takers pass the Oklahoma state bar exam. In comparison, California has a much lower first-time passing rate at 58.1%.

Is the July or February bar exam harder?

The good news for applicants preparing to sit for the bar exam in February is that it is not objectively harder than the July exam.

Is California bar harder than New York?

The pass rate on the California bar exam is the consistently the lowest in the US, and it's usually several percentage points lower than the other states. New York, on the other hand, is an unusually easy state to pass the bar examination in.

Is The California Bar Exam Getting Easier?

Why is California's bar exam so hard?

One of the main reasons the California bar exam is so difficult is its broad scope. The exam covers a wide range of legal subjects, including contracts, torts, criminal law, civil procedure, and professional responsibility.

Why is California bar pass so low?

Ultimately, there is a problem with law graduates performing increasingly less well on the California bar exam. Law students often go deeply into debt to pay law school tuition, and as a group, leave law school less prepared to take the bar exam than they did a decade ago.

Why do less people pass the February bar exam?

Many test-takers no longer have that luxury when studying and preparing for the February exam. Many individuals have to work, raise families, and deal with other external circumstances all while studying for the February exam. Fewer test-takers vigorously preparing for the exam means a lower pass rate.

Will the new bar exam be easier?

As per feedback and research, the NCBE does expect that most examinees will feel that the NextGen Bar exam is easier than the UBE. While the items' level of difficulty is not actually decreasing, the shorter, computer-based, and skills-based exam should yield a much more natural testing experience for most.

Which state has the toughest bar exam?

For several reasons, the California bar exam is often considered to be the hardest in the country. California's legal system is known for its complexity. The state has its own set of laws, regulations, and precedents that often differ significantly from federal laws and those of other states.

Did Kim Kardashian pass the California bar exam?

In December 2021, Kim passed the exam, which is a first-year law student's examination. The exam is a shorter and less difficult version of the California bar exam. Passing this exam allows Kim to continue her legal apprenticeship and try the state and official bar again.

What is the easiest lawyer to be?

How hard is it to get a 270 on the bar?

A 280 is approximately the 73rd percentile. A 270 is approximately the 58th percentile. A 260 is approximately the 44th percentile. A 250 is approximately the 26th percentile.

How many times can you fail the CA bar exam?

Most states allow 2-4 attempts of the bar exam, but about 35 states, including California, New York, and Florida, don't have any limits on the number of times you can take the bar.

Can you pass the California bar without going to law school?

It's four years of hard work or maybe more, but it could be the right path for you! In California, qualified applicants can take the bar exam without going to law school.

Is California getting rid of the bar exam?

At its November meeting, the State Bar Board of Trustees approved forwarding to the California Supreme Court a plan to pilot a Portfolio Bar Examination (PBE) as a method for assessing a candidate's minimum competence to practice law.

How is the bar changing in 2026?

Set to debut in July 2026, the NextGen bar exam will test a broad range of foundational lawyering skills, utilizing a focused set of clearly identified fundamental legal concepts and principles needed in today's practice of law.

Is the bar exam curved?

(Note: percentiles change from administration to administration, but this is a decent guide as to where you stand.) The MBE is curved, so just because you scored “close” to passing doesn't mean you are as close as you think. For example, a 125 is the 32nd percentile, and a 135 is in the 57th percentile.

Are there people who never pass the bar exam?

There are probably on the order of 150,000 law school graduates in the United States who have taken but never passed a bar exam; this amounts to one in ten J.D.s and the risk falls disparately on black, Hispanic, and Asian law school graduates.

Is it common to fail the bar exam?

The 34.9% passage rate for attorney examinees (i.e. lawyers practicing in other jurisdictions) on the California bar exam should further highlight that these abysmal results have nothing to do with intelligence or knowledge of the law.

How many times can you fail the bar USA?

Discretionary Limits: Some states in the country have imposed certain limitations on the number of attempts allowed by a single candidate. These fall between the range of 2 to 6. However, these are discretionary limits, and candidates can give another attempt if they obtain special permission from their state's bar.

How many people pass the CA bar exam first try?

California's General Bar Exam pass rate of 51.5 percent represented a slight drop from last year's July pass rate of 52.4 percent. Preliminary statistical analyses show that of the 7,555 applicants who completed the GBX, 67.3 percent were first-time takers.

Is the California bar curved?

The written raw scores are scaled to the MBE scaled scores (within CA); this is the “curve” that correlates the written score distribution to the MBE score distribution within a given administration. They do this because the MBE has known variables; see above paragraph.

What is the hardest bar to pass?

Yes, the California bar exam is widely considered to be the most difficult of all state bar exams in the US. The California bar exam has a pass rate of 34%.