Baby Bar

[Marauder]

I would like to get feedback from people who have taken the Baby Bar and have passed.  In other words, why do up think you were successful? 

[sollicitus]

3/4 fail it. Nuff said.

[Opie58]

3/4 fail it. Nuff said.

That's not what was asked.  Another negative Nancy who can't, or won't, answer a simple, honest question, but tears down anyone who seeks to do something they don't approve of or agree with.  So, are we going to debate the pros & cons, again, about the nontraditional approach to law school, the ABA's pluses & minuses, the California approach to offering alternative law schools, etc, etc, etc.  We know 3/4 do not pass; we can see the results, too.  But, 1/4 DO pass, and that is who Marauder is reaching out to - or should they stop because you, and those like you, say so?  If you didn't take the Baby Bar, keep your crappy answer to yourself, please.  I haven’t taken it myself, so no offers here, but people like you just don’t know when to shut up about the same old illogical crap we all read in other posting – I get you view point, but I will NEVER agree with you position.  Shut the pie hole, please.

[Marauder]

Thanks Opie for your comments!

[Maintain FL 350]

I haven't taken the exam, so I can't offer advice per se. I've spoken with several people who have taken (and passed) the FYLSX, however, and this is what I've been told:
It's tough, maybe tougher than the bar exam. It's not as long and doesn't cover as many subjects as the bar, but the level of difficulty (I've been told) is perhaps harder.

Study hard, take lots of practice tests, then really take the time to compare your answers to the model answers. Not just a cursory comparison, but in-depth. Like the bar itself, I imagine that you will start to see patterns in the model answers the more you study and you'll get a feel for what they're looking for.
Check the CA bar website, they might have past exams available.

Successful test taking is a learnable skill, and involves more than memorizing the subject matter. If the FYLSX is like the bar, you've got to remember that the graders will probably not spend too much time on your test. Organizing your answer as clearly and logically as possible will get you the most bang for your buck.

Good luck!

[sollicitus]

yes, and "warning:contains penuts" is also a conspiracy to get you and ruin your dreams by your local grocier.   

[Opie58]

yes, and "warning:contains penuts" is also a conspiracy to get you and ruin your dreams by your local grocier. 

 

[sollicitus]

yes, and "warning:contains penuts" is also a conspiracy to get you and ruin your dreams by your local grocier. 

 

 

[Cher1300]

I think the biggest problem passing the baby bar is that your are still a baby lawyer - having to take it after only one year of law school.  Your writing skills are not up to par at that point compared to 3Ls taking the bar that have at least gotten a good grip on writing an essay under pressure.  3Ls are also better at spotting issues.  I don't know of anyone who passed the baby bar, but you may want to get a study partner for your essay writing.  I have a study group for school that I've been lucky to find because we are not competitive with each other.  We'll take the same practice exam, switch papers, and learn from each other what we've missed or could have done better.  If you don't have someone to study with, see if you can get one of your professors to look at your outline or full exam in addition to the practice exam answers.  One-on-one feedback from a professor is great because you can ask questions to figure out why you missed a certain issue, etc.  Anyway, hope that helps and good luck. 

[Duncanjp]

The thing about the pass/fail ratio of the baby bar is that a substantial percentage — I would assume the majority — of the people who take it are former law students who struggled to get satisfactory grades on ordinary law school exams. If this assumption is correct, then most of the people who take the test go in the door with trouble applying the law to fact patterns. So of course, the test seems hard. But I've seen some baby bar fact patterns. They didn't look any harder to me than the final exams I took at the end of 1L. I have no doubt that most of the people who pass 1L with more or less good grades would also pass the baby bar without much more difficulty. (This may not be true for those who passed with only marginal grades.)

That said, a certain percentage who fail the baby bar probably don't prepare properly for it. Whichever category you fall into, if you need to pass the baby bar to continue your legal education, I would recommend paying for a personal, professional tutor who will keep you focused on a program of study that works, which means that you will write practice exams over and over until you're dizzy, and who will give you feedback and instruction on what you're doing wrong.