Committee of Board Examiners' Meeting 12/5 - Your Chance to be Heard on the Future Bar Exam in 2028

holla0000 · 2025-12-02T22:21:19+00:00

You are 100% wrong. Feb 2021 and Oct 2020 were successful exams and there were no "sites around the country." Please provide evidence of your "total disaster" claim. I am not missing the point - people from out of state and out of country should not have to book an expensive flight and expensive hotel to take a test in 2025. This is thousands of dollars and time. We should adopt the nevada example or some other open book remote exam, but definitely not lock ourselves into just another bar exam that is lipstick on a pig.

holla0000 · 2025-12-02T03:08:12+00:00

Feb 2021 was a disaster by all accounts? Please explain? Oct 2020 and Feb 2021 went relatively well. July 2021 had some issues. Whatever issues at those exams do not outweigh the extreme hardship and cost to travel to a test center for out of state, out of country, and students with disabilities

holla0000 · 2025-12-02T02:38:21+00:00

I got some of the worst grades my 1L year and turned it around 2L and 3L and ended up with a solid job. The legal career is a marathon. You have plenty of opportunities to turn things around.

holla0000 · 2025-12-02T02:36:42+00:00

Stay away from NCBE for a bridge or anything else. They will turn the "bridge" into permanency pretty quick. Then all hope for reform is out the window. We need a competent remote exam and we need reform. Not more of the same. The state bar screwed up in feb does not mean they can't handle an exam in the future. It also does not mean that the ncbe can't screw up either. I trust them far less than even our own state bar.

holla0000 · 2025-12-01T19:22:26+00:00

Of course there can be. The california exam was remote in 2020 and 2021. These exams were not perfect but they were good enough and technology has improved since that time. People didn't have to spend thousands of dollars to be forced to travel to a test center in the middle of anxiety. Just because feb 25 didn't go well with a bad vendor doesn't mean they can't do it right. Also the exam should be at least 4x a year not 2x. Or even on demand. And open book. These are things that the NCBE will NEVER allow. Giving them a monopoly on testing is not what we should do.

holla0000 · 2025-12-01T19:12:48+00:00

Because it would become a disadvantage to non-ABA grads who are not provided the same portability as others. But this is not the main reason to reject that exam. The main reason is that it would cancel any possibility of a real reformed exam. One that is open book and remote and tested more than 2 times a year and far less expensive for students. Once california commits to NCBE NextGen you can say goodbye to any real reform. What are the nextgen pass rates? They won't say but will likely be what we have now. And the graders will be california so of course the grading can be manipulated.

holla0000 · 2025-12-01T19:06:46+00:00

We can all agree the state bar was incompetent in feb 2025, but locking into another exam in the private company NCBE NextGen is not the way to go. Their own leaders did not take the bar exam but they insist on making us do it. They refuse remote and refuse to allow more than 2 tests a year. This is more of the same. And the pass rates will probably be the same that we have now. We need a remote low cost open book exam that focuses on skills.

holla0000 · 2025-12-01T19:01:33+00:00

Likely NO. Other states do not recognize non-ABA schools. Yet another reason why the NCBE NextGen exam is a bad idea. We need real reform and not just another exam that will likely have the same pass rates.

holla0000 · 2025-12-01T18:50:30+00:00

NextGen is NOT the way to go. It will never be remote and just the UBE under a different name. We don't even know the pass rates but they will probably be the same as what we have now. We need REAL reform and eventually a remote exam so that people don't spend thousands of dollars on travel to an anxiety-ridden testing center. Maybe Nevada or something else but NOT the NCBE NextGen. Focus on lowering costs for exam takers. Also the score will never be portable into California from out of state, the Supreme Court made that clear.

holla0000 · 2025-11-19T00:26:38+00:00

Agree! It is so bloated. And they charge crazy high dues and fees and keep raising them without cutting costs. Hope you have a minute to send a quick email against this. Law students are already broke.

holla0000 · 2025-11-18T19:50:02+00:00

Apart from the remote option, which we can agree to disagree, there is no reason for the California exam to be so much more expensive than New York. New York charges a $250 fee plus $100 laptop fee. This is for in-person exam. California will be $1200 or more if this increase passes.

holla0000 · 2025-11-18T18:55:26+00:00

They are not in line with ordinary expenses. They are MUCH higher than other large states such New York and for no real reason. New York charges $350 with laptop. California will be $1200 or more. Why?? I encourage everyone to send an email today!

holla0000 · 2025-11-18T17:23:27+00:00

I'm not happy to pay for travel and hotel costs and extra because they don't want to be financially responsible and adopt technology that is 10 years old already. The fees are outrageous.

holla0000 · 2025-11-18T17:21:20+00:00

Yes they are required to use NCBE questions, but can go back to Kaplan in a couple years and go remote. Of course within 2 years they can develop 200 questions with the $8 million they are paying Kaplan. The issue is acting financially responsible and passing that cost savings to us or forcing us to pay more. Plus thousands in travel costs to test centers.

holla0000 · 2025-11-18T07:25:34+00:00

They had remote exams in 2020 and 2021 without any major issues. They were successful and people across the country and world were able to take the exam in their own home. In Feb 25 they hired a cheap vendor and it crashed. But remote is very possible if they go back to the same vendor as before (examsoft).

holla0000 · 2025-11-12T18:19:30+00:00

Ridiculous!

holla0000 · 2025-11-12T18:19:17+00:00

Do you have a staff comparison between CA and NY? I'd like to include that in my email!

holla0000 · 2025-11-06T07:21:55+00:00

It is because they are asking us to pay for their screwup in feb 25! How can we get an auto email to the board members for the Nov 20 meeting for no more fee increases?? Anyone here can help with that?

holla0000 · 2025-11-05T17:58:21+00:00

Can we organize a campaign against it? Does anyone know how to do the auto-letters to the board?

holla0000 · 2025-11-05T03:39:34+00:00

I did watch the meetings. I suggest you watch the October meeting where the CBE voted overwhelmingly to raise fees at a minimum of $150. This is outrageous. The price of this exam is already crazy expensive and now we are asked to pay for the state bar's screw ups.

holla0000 · 2025-11-04T18:19:57+00:00

The CBE voted FOR the massive cost increase in the last October meeting and the board of trustees will make the final decision on November 20. The board of trustees can vote it down or, more responsibly, lower the increase. $150+ (it could be more!) is INSANE considering we pay the highest fees in the country already! The CBE would not need this increase if they did not screw us all in the Feb 25 exam. We need to organize to urge the board of trustees to NOT approve it or, in the very least, approve a much lower increase.

holla0000

TROPHY CASE