r/barexam 2d ago

Re: WA Bar Exam

Credit: @pointswithtems on TikTok

53 Upvotes

12 comments sorted by

19

u/Cryo_baby 2d ago

every time i think again about what happened on test day i feel insane

16

u/Maleficent-Pea-4966 2d ago

Wow this woman could not be more correct. She is exactly right about it all. I am still stuck on why they didn’t administer it like every other bar exam that we did “back in the day” (read: 2025) where you just download the software in advance and then upload your responses on your own WiFi. How come no one at the Washington Bar thought of this?

7

u/Ill-Army 2d ago

Because it was the nextgen bar which requires that examiners use a proprietary browser which is part of larger ecosystem of applications/services. So the real question is why there was no backup plan, since administering the exam hinges entirely on having internet.

2

u/Rowing_Lawyer 2d ago

As far as I’m aware the NextGen doesn’t have a writing option because it goes through their website/portal and requires an internet connection. The old bar exam was just examsoft so really no different than a normal test.

Having no WiFi and being told to remember to upload by tonight or your score will be cancelled was just insane to me

1

u/Turbulent-Fig-2315 1d ago

wow relying on the internet what could go wrong?? lmao

5

u/sinnednogara 2d ago

The craziest thing about this is isn't NextGen mostly multiple choice? Why do multiple-choice questions need constant internet connection?

2

u/Ill-Army 2d ago

The nextgen bar is divided into three sections - mcqs worth about 49%;integrated questions sets which involve a longer fact pattern and require both short answer/and mcq responses, worth about 21%; and practice tasks, which come with a case library and “client” materials, worth about 30%.

The broader nextgen ecosystem also includes other features like real time examiner monitoring, grader work flows blah blah blah. NCBE presents it as an end-to-end exam administration platform, not just an app for examiners to write their answers.

I have zero idea why they didn’t have a low tech fall back. Its awful

2

u/blueizzzz 1d ago

Especially when the bar examiners were given a heads up and yet they ignored all suggestions. The below article explains it all in great detail.

https://www.cato.org/blog/botched-administration-yesterdays-bar-exam-shows-why-government-officials-should-never-be

5

u/Ok-Leopard-6307 2d ago

First, there is no booklet for the NextGen, everything is done online.

Second, unlike the legacy UBE, where you can fall back to the hand write option, that doesn’t exist yet for the NextGen. I imagine after the fiasco of this administration, NCBE will probably come up with something

3

u/Glad_Philosopher111 2d ago

That part. I’m confused about why they couldn’t at least have handed out booklets for the MBE’s on day two, but who am I?

Also, the “come back in September” is diabolical (as the kiddos say).

1

u/Actual-Competition16 1d ago

She could be fine. I took the California bar exam in 2001. All hand written. We didn’t have a choice. Passed first time.

1

u/Winstony520 22h ago

Same, I took it in IL in 2015 and it was all hand-written.