Due to Covid-19, today marks the first ever Fall Bar Exam which is being held in Virginia, and next month in October will be the first ever for DC. Both DC and Virginia are offering shortened bar exams (Two 1/2 days in DC and 1 day in VA) but each are quite different. Let’s start with today’s exam in Virginia…
Virginia is offering a 1 day essay only exam today, meaning no MBE score is required to pass this exam. The passing score for all applicants is 64 raw Virginia Essay points out of a possible 100. Virginia gives 9 essay questions (10 points each) and 10 multiple choice questions (1 point each). This is a great opportunity for those who struggle on the MBE as this has never been an option before and likely never will again. Good luck to everyone today and remember to check the VBBE (Virginia Board of Bar Examiners) Covid-19 FAQ as there are strict requirements on the amounts and types of PPE you may bring to the exam.
Now, onto the Washington DC bar exam which will be held next month on October 5th and 6th. DC is taking a different approach and is still testing the full exam (sort of), but only 1/2 the normal amount of questions. Additionally, DC will be having their first ever “virtual bar exam”! This means students will be taking the exam from home. Let’s break down each of these starting with the Remote bar exam. This means that all test takers will be taking the exam from home, using their laptops and webcams. There will be monitors observing and special precautions taken. DC is notorious for poor exam administration so please be prepared for long delays and numerous technical difficulties. The exam starts at noon each day so hopefully they will spend time in the morning proactively working to ensure a smooth exam administration but prepare for there to be issues.
The DC exam will still be held over two days but will only be half the normal time and number of questions. The exam will be 3 hours per day instead of 6 hours per day and will start at noon each day with a 30 minute break. Day one will start with 1 MPT (instead of the usual 2) and you will have 90 minutes and then a 30 minute break. This will be followed by 3 MEE questions (instead of the usual 6). Day 2 will also start at noon and there will be 100 MBE questions (instead of the usual 200) with a 30 minute break after 1.5 hours. So expect 50 questions in 1.5 hours, then a 30 minute break, then the remaining 50 questions. This is great for folks who have stamina issues getting through 100 MBE questions at a time and especially for most folks who struggle with back to back MPTs in 3 hours. Having only half the usual questions and a break after 1.5 hours decreases the difficulty in this regard quite a bit. Again, a great opportunity for a shortened bar exam that may never come again.
Good luck to everyone taking Virginia today! I will post more updates soon with some of the changes to California’s bar exam and additional tips for the DC bar exam as we get closer to exam time there.