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Survey: How many times did you guys take the test?

PostPosted: Mon Mar 18, 2019 8:42 pm
by b5000
Informal survey:

How many times did you guys take the test before passing?

I'm a bad test taker in general and it took me 3 attempts. First attempt was traumatic (failed by 2 pts), second time actually did worse than my first attempt..(board does not list the passing cutoff score)..less traumatic but got me angry and more focused.. passed on the third try..after focusing intently on areas I was deficient in.

Board publishes the pass rate but not the number of attempts - so I'm curious as to the forums users experience. (I know I'm most likely an outlier due to me being a horrid test taker)

Re: Survey: How many times did you guys take the test?

PostPosted: Mon Mar 18, 2019 10:57 pm
by AREctct
I took it twice and failed twice. First time I got a 59% and the second I got a 67%. I’m currently studying for a third retake and I am super self conscious about everything. I feel like I have to memorize everything but there is SO much information. I am also a terrible test taker any insight would be great

Re: Survey: How many times did you guys take the test?

PostPosted: Mon Mar 25, 2019 1:10 pm
by Catmocha
I’m glad I’m not the only one. I just failed my second attempt. I did slightly worst than my first attempt by 2%, which is really frustrating. Ready to hunker down an nail that 3rd attempt.

Re: Survey: How many times did you guys take the test?

PostPosted: Mon Mar 25, 2019 4:13 pm
by AREctct
Catmocha, what study materials are you using?

Re: Survey: How many times did you guys take the test?

PostPosted: Mon Mar 25, 2019 7:31 pm
by Catmocha
I was using David Doucette’s TWE. 3 months ago I took DD’s practice exam and passed 80%. Then 3 weeks ago, I did Gang Chen’s and failed with a 50%. So I spent the last three weeks studying the 50% I missed with Gang Chen.

Then today I got tested on another chunk I didn’t study: Cal Green. I think there’s just a lot of information to get through. I’m investing in Woo’s mock exams this round and focusing more on flash cards. I’m noticing that cards before testing seems to help a lot!

Re: Survey: How many times did you guys take the test?

PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2019 2:10 pm
by b5000
I highly recommend Woo's mock exams - & familiarity with CAL Green (Chapter 5 Nonresidential Mandatory Measures)

Re: Survey: How many times did you guys take the test?

PostPosted: Wed Apr 03, 2019 8:35 am
by Raja
b5000 wrote:Informal survey:

How many times did you guys take the test before passing?

I'm a bad test taker in general and it took me 3 attempts. First attempt was traumatic (failed by 2 pts), second time actually did worse than my first attempt..(board does not list the passing cutoff score)..less traumatic but got me angry and more focused.. passed on the third try..after focusing intently on areas I was deficient in.

Board publishes the pass rate but not the number of attempts - so I'm curious as to the forums users experience. (I know I'm most likely an outlier due to me being a horrid test taker)


Hey b5000 thanks for sharing your experience, I have a feeling I'll be in a similar situation. I tend to blank out when I sit for exams like this. Anyhow, do you have a link for where they publish the pass rate? Haven't been able to find it.

Re: Survey: How many times did you guys take the test?

PostPosted: Wed Apr 03, 2019 11:51 am
by b5000
Raja,

Here are the stats: https://www.cab.ca.gov/news/newsletters ... tics.shtml

Looks like they have not updated the CSE pass & fail statistics since 2017...... Interesting that the pass rate dropped from 68% in 2016 to 54% in 2017.

Re: Survey: How many times did you guys take the test?

PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 2019 8:47 am
by Raja
Thank you! I think pass rates for the ARE drop when they update exams, maybe that's what happened? At least it's still higher than for PPD, ugh.

Re: Survey: How many times did you guys take the test?

PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 2019 6:11 pm
by b5000
Raja,

I agree - I'd suspect the rates are due to the recent update of the testing format and or material from the previous version. It would be interesting to see what the 2018 stats are.

Though the bar exam: https://abovethelaw.com/2018/11/califor ... -time-low/ is in no way a comparable test it is interesting to see that the national board for the bar collects and publicly publishes much more detailed stats like pass rate of 1st time vs 2nd..etc..

Don't give up - you have the experience. You can and will pass this.

Re: Survey: How many times did you guys take the test?

PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 2:28 pm
by Raja
b5000 I wonder why the pass rates go up again... maybe they weed out questions that everyone is getting wrong or are too obscure or something.

Thanks for that link, funny I was looking at that the other day and thinking about the two processes and fields. It does seem more transparent, straightforward, for attorneys.

And thanks for the encouragement :) All my friends in CA did the supplemental years ago when you had to stand in front of the panel and answer questions in person so I don't know much about the computer version.