preLaw Magazine - Winter 2008 - (Page 13) TREND Bar exam ‘secrets’ and sessions A growing number of law schools are taking unusual steps to help their students pass the bar by offering credited courses. BY URSULA FURI-PERRY, J.D. hen bar passage rates for graduates of Pace Law School dipped in 2003, the school decided to step in to reverse the trend. Faculty and staff at the White Plains, N.Y., school created a two-credit course three years ago focused on writing, analytical and organizational skills aimed at helping students score higher on the bar exam. And the effort has paid off. Mark Padin, director of academic support, said the school’s latest passage rates on the Connecticut bar exam have been the best since he came on board — 89 percent. Pace is one of a growing number of U.S. law schools taking unusual steps to help their students pass the bar exam. In addition to credit and non-credit courses, many schools have begun to offer online and print resources, counseling and informational sessions about the exam. Most schools today portray bar prep courses as something to be taken in addition to — and not instead of — a commercial bar prep course. Padin said Pace in the past had tried various methods of preparation, including professor-led seminars on the weekends and commercial bar review courses Officials started with a voluntary noncredit course but found interest among students spiked when the course was offered for credit for the first time last year, Padin said. One of the goals was to hire a dedicated adjunct “who would be more accessible, be around more, and be available for counseling,” Padin said. The course is open to students by invitation only, primarily those who need extra help. But Padin said Pace is re-evaluating the process and may expand the guidelines to include more participants. At Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, students can take a threecredit course that offers 80 hours of class instruction, plus individual feedback and W Many law schools have tried various methods of preparation for the bar exam. At THOMAS JEFFERSON SCHOOL OF LAW, students can take a three-credit course that offers 80 hours of class instruction, plus individual feedback. writing help. Professors Nancy Johnson and Dennis Saccuzzo created the course and developed a cumulative memorization technique to help students compartmentalize and automate certain tasks on the exam. “We begin with broad categories and have a very specific study schedule in which students learn in iterations,” Johnson said. The director of academic success at Thomas Jefferson, she said that most students don’t learn well enough the first time out. Once they graduate, Jefferson students also have the option of enrolling in the school’s two-month “Bar Secrets” course. It provides bar exam practice for about 30 hours per week, with full days of released MBE practice, three-hour essay blocks and immediate feedback. Sacuzzo said Thomas Jefferson reached the state average rate among ABA schools in the state once the course was instituted, and passage rates have continued to rise. At the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover, bar prep has always been a priority. All students take the school’s intensive six-credit comparison course during their last semester to help them prepare for the exam. They must pass the course to graduate. The course meets three times a week for a semester and combines substantive law preparation, multiple choice practice and essay-writing workshops. Professors who teach the six MBE subjects to first-year students teach the course, Winter 2008 13
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