Beyond the ordinary

PASSING THE BAR EXAM JUST BECAME EASIER.

Is lack of proficiency in English a barrier to passing the Bar Exam?

The simple answer is no! The bar examiners are not testing your English speaking or writing skills; they are testing your legal skills — how well you can spot issues, apply the correct legal rules, analyze the issues, and reach sound conclusions.

Although you obviously need to write your answers in English and express your thoughts in an understandable manner while analyzing the issues, I believe the examiners are not focused on perfect grammar but rather on your ability to communicate your thoughts clearly and effectively to a point that is understandable to them.

I have a Chinese friend who has taken the bar exam a couple of times and did not pass. She believes the reason is her English, which is probably not the case. Many non-native English speakers take the exam and pass successfully.

Bar Prep Tutoring for FTAs is tailored for foreign-trained attorneys who feel overwhelmed or may be second-guessing themselves. I am here to walk you through a clear strategy that will help boost your confidence and increase your chances of passing the exam. Schedule a tutoring session today.

Do I need to IRAC or CIRAC my answers on the Bar Exam?

You must have heard about IRAC/CIRAC If you’re prepping for the bar exam or retaking the exam. IRAC stands for Issue, Rule, Analysis, and Conclusion for your MEE responses. For your MPT, CIRAC stands for Conclusion, Issue, Rule, Analysis, and Conclusion — This is commonly used when writing a persuasive argument.

The question is: how significant is this formula to passing the exam?

I would say it makes your work easier to understand and follow logically when the examiner is grading your answers. However, I’m not convinced that you will fail simply because you did not expressly write:

Issue

Rule

Analysis

Conclusion

while answering the questions.

From some of the sample answers released on the NCBE website, applicants still passed without explicitly writing out the IRAC formula. What is most important is writing succinctly and organizing your paragraphs in a way that clearly shows the examiner that you identified the issue and reached a legal and logical conclusion.

For more guidance, schedule a tutoring session today to learn the right approach to answering bar exam questions.

Time Management on the Bar Exam

As hard as this may be to believe, many people fail the bar exam not because they do not know the answers or because the exam is too difficult, but because they do not finish the exam. Many are under pressure to finish and end up leaving points on the table by not answering the questions as completely as they would have liked due to time constraints.
Managing your time is critical to passing the Bar Exam. 
Schedule a tutoring session today to walk you through the strategy that can help you manage your time on the Bar Exam.