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LAW SCHOOL GPA & PASSING THE BAR EXAM A St. Mary 's University School of Law study of 862 graduates found that more than 97 percent of those with at least a 3.0 law school GPA passed the Texas bar exam on the first try compared to only 25 percent of those with a GPA below 2.5. A second study at McGeorge School of Law found a bar passage rate of 98 percent for graduates in the top quartile, but a significantly lower bar passage rate for graduates in the last quartile. Although there is no guarantee that a student, whether ranked first or last in the class, is going to pass the bar exam on the first try this research indicates there is a correlation between law school GPA and bar passage rates for first time test takers. These results make sense considering the three types of students that achieve low GPAs. The first type are those students who do not have the academic skills to be in law school. Despite the good jobs that law school admissions committees do, occasionally a student is admitted who does not have the skills to succeed in law school. Based on my own observations there are very few of these students admitted. The second type are those students who do just enough to get by, the slackers. Many slackers are sadly mistaken if they think they are going to just get by in law school and work hard for the bar exam. Two months of bar review is too short a period of time to learn what should have been learned over three years. Bar review courses work best when the student is actually experiencing a review of courses as compared to learning the law. For a better explanation on the difference between bar review and bar learning see Law School Electives, Part II. The third type are those students who are intelligent and hard working, but do not take exams well. If you know you are one of these students do not wait until your third year to try to improve your test taking skills. Early in your first year start working with the academic support professor so when you take the bar exam you are comfortable with the new skills and techniques you will develop for test taking. Although you may be able to pass law school exams with the skills you possess, passing those exams is not your ultimate goal. Your ultimate goal is to pass the bar exam, which is much harder than any law school exam you will ever take. Before you start dealing with your law school GPA, you first have to deal with your undergraduate GPA. Below are two websites that address the importance of undergraduate GPA to law school admission. http://www.bc.edu/offices/careers/gradschool/law/lawlocator/ Good luck on the bar exam! Michael Santana If you have any questions or comments about this article, or want to write your own article about the pre-law or law school process, feel free to contact me.
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