california essay exam

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• Past Exams The State Bar of California releases past exam essay questions and selected answers from 2012 onward.
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California Bar Exam: Essays

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CA Bar Exam Essay Test Instructions:

"Your answer should demonstrate your ability to analyze the facts in the question, to tell the difference between material facts and immaterial facts, and to discern the points of law and facts upon which the case turns. Your answer should show that you know and understand the pertinent principles and theories of law, their qualifications and limitations, and their relationships to each other. Your answer should evidence your ability to apply the law to the given facts and to reason in a logical, lawyer-like manner from the premises you adopt to a sound conclusion. Do not merely show that you remember legal principles; instead try to demonstrate your proficiency in using and applying them. If your answer contains only a statement of your conclusions, you will receive little credit. State fully the reasons that support your conclusions, and discuss all points thoroughly. Your answer should be complete, but you should not volunteer information or discuss legal doctrines that are not pertinent to the solution of the problem. Unless a question expressly asks you to use California law, you should answer according to legal theories and principles of general application."

Essay Test Prep Materials

CA Bar Exam Questions and Selected Answers by Subject   (Please bear in mind that these are not model answers, but actual answers to past exams that may include some errors. Available to UC Law SF students only)

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California Bar Exam and MPRE: 2. The Essay Component

• 1. Subjects Tested on the Exam
• 2. The Essay Component
• 3. The Performance Tests
• 4. The Multistate Bar Exam
• 5. Bar Exam Fees

About the MPRE

• Planning During Law School & Checklist
• 1. Commercial Bar Review Courses
• 2. Free Online Study Aids
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Guide Outline

Introduction

About the Bar Exam

Subjects Tested on the Exam

The Essay Component

The Performance Tests

The Multistate Bar Exam

Bar Exam Fees

Planning During Law School

Second and Third Years

Studying for the Bar

Commercial Bar Review Courses

Free Online Study Aids

Bar Review Books

Helpful Information

• The State Bar of California [URL] Provides information regarding the California Bar Examination, including a summary of the requirements for admission to practice law in California, information about how to register to take the bar exam, links to forms, and other important details.
• MBE Information Provides a description of the Multistate Bar Examination, or the multiple-choice portion of the bar exam. Outlines subjects covered, provides sample questions, and guidelines for taking the exam.
• MPRE Information Provides a description of the MPRE, including an outline of the subject matter covered, sample questions, and guidelines for taking the exam.

The Essay Component of the Bar Exam

Each essay question is designed to measure your ability to analyze legal issues arising from factual situations.  Graders look for your ability to:

• analyze the facts of the question;
• tell the difference between material and immaterial facts;
• discern the points of law and fact upon which the question turns; and
• apply relevant legal principles to the factual scenarios provided.

Answers that merely state conclusions will receive little credit.  In addition, unless a question expressly asks you to use California law, bar exam instructions advise that you should answer according to legal theories and principles of general application.  The California State Bar provides online access to essay questions and selected answers from past examinations.  For your convenience, links to PDF files for the essay questions and selected answers from recent years are provided below.

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• Last Updated: Oct 2, 2023 10:14 AM
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REAL GRADED ESSAYS:

BarEssays.com has spent years and countless hours constructing our database of California Bar Exam essays . You will have access to thousands of authentic essays that have been graded by the California Bar Examiners.

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EASY SEARCH:

The BarEssays.com search engine allows you to browse essays by subject, essay score, handwritten/typed essays or examination year and includes links to officially released answers. The BarEssays.com search engine will dramatically increase the efficiency of your California Bar Exam studies.

A Database of Over Three Thousand Authentic Graded California Bar Exam Essays

BarEssays.com is a unique and invaluable study tool for the essay portion of the California Bar Exam. We are, by far, the most comprehensive service that provides REAL examples of REAL essays and performance exams by REAL students that were actually taken during the California Bar Exam and graded by the California Bar Examiners. Since launching in 2007, thousands have successfully used the BarEssays.com essay database to prepare for the essay portion of the California Bar Exam, with several entire law schools, review courses, and tutors providing access to all of their students.

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California Bar Exam Essay Frequency Chart

Are you looking for a comprehensive California bar exam essay frequency chart? Here’s our chart of the essay subjects tested on the California bar exam through the present date. The essay chart will show you which subjects tend to be frequently tested (e.g., Professional Responsibility!) and which ones are not tested as often (e.g., Agency).  You can also get an idea of which subjects are generally tested in conjunction with another subject (which you are more likely to see with the new test format as of July 2017).

Our chart provides a more accurate representation of when subjects were tested because we have separated Corporations, Agency, and Partnership; Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure; Contract Remedies and Tort Remedies; California Civil Procedure and Federal Civil Procedure; Trusts and Wills; and the California Evidence Code and the Federal Rules of Evidence.

Key Takeaways from the California Bar Exam Essay Frequency Chart:

1. make sure you study professional responsibility..

Professional Responsibility has been tested more than 37 times since 2006 on the California essays. In addition to conflicts of interest, advertising, and fee agreements, you may see questions in the corporations context and the criminal context (e.g., duties of prosecutor). Almost every single essay asks examinees to answer according to the ABA rules as well as the California distinctions. Therefore, it is worth it to study the most highly tested California distinctions. There may be times when the ABA rule and the California rule are the same. In those instances, you should tell the examiners that the outcome would be the same under both rules.

2. Be aware of common crossover questions.

If you are aware that certain subjects are always or generally tested with another subject you will be more likely to spot all of the issues on exam day. Never read a fact pattern assuming that only one subject will be tested. Based on the chart above, some common crossover essays include:

• Community Property/Wills
• Contracts/Contract Remedies
• Corporations/Professional Responsibility

Additionally, Agency usually is tested with another subject. Because students will write five essays instead of six essays beginning with the July 2017 administration, it is highly likely that you will see more crossover essays (even though you will write one less essay you still need to study all of the subjects). Our chart tells you exactly which essay questions to review if you are struggling with certain crossover essays.

3. Even though California Civil Procedure has only been tested once, you should study it!

The Examiners tested California Civil Procedure for the first time on the July 2016 exam (three of the four questions required knowledge of California Civil Procedure). Even though the fact pattern did not state that examinees should answer according to California law, it is important to note that the case took place in California. Now that California Civil Procedure has been tested once it is likely that it will be tested again. If you have not read through this essay and the student answers, take a look at the past exams on the State Bar of California’s website.

4. It is possible for essays to test a subject more than once!

Many examinees think if a subject has been tested on one essay it will not be tested again during the exam! This is not the case. If you look at the chart you will see that the following subjects have been tested twice on the same exam: Contracts, Professional Responsibility, Federal Civil Procedure, and recently, Real Property. This is important to know so that you do not quickly dismiss issues as you read the fact patterns on exam day.

5. Review highly tested California Evidence distinctions!

Since 2006, Evidence has been tested a total of 18 times. On about half of those essays, students were asked to respond according to the California Rules of Evidence and on about half of those essays students were asked to respond according to the Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE). Thus, both the FRE and the California Evidence Code are commonly tested. It would be a mistake to assume that you do not really need to study the California evidence distinctions.

This post was written by Ambika, our California Bar Exam tutor, who has passed not only the California Bar Exam but also bar exams in New York and New Jersey!

If you are looking for a new approach, please feel free to contact us at your convenience.

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• Sep 24, 2019

Breaking down Essay Grading by the California Bar Exam

If you are gearing up to take the February 2020 California Bar Exam, you may be wondering how the California bar essay portion is graded. California recently made some changes to their bar exam going from a three day examination period to two days. Day one is the written portion of the exam and consists of 5 one-hour essays and one 90 minute Performance Test.

California divides the graders into six groups, each consisting of 12 experienced graders and up to 4 apprentice graders. Both groups are supervised. The graders assign a raw score to each essay on a scale from 40 – 100. The State Bar of California has explained, “in order to earn a 40, the applicant must at least identify the subject of the question and attempt to apply the law to the facts of the question. If these criteria are not met, the answer is assigned a zero.” We’re going to go out on a limb here and assume you want to hit a score of 65 and above. That’s exactly what our inexpensive materials are geared to accomplish.

A score of 55 is designated as a below passing paper . The applicant missed or incompletely discussed two or more major issues. The applicant had a weak or incomplete analysis of the issues addressed and the overall organization was poor.

A score of 60 is a slightly below passing paper . The applicant may have missed or incompletely discussed one major issue. Discussion of all issues was incomplete and organization of the issues was poor.

A score of 65 is an average passing paper . Applicant had a lawyer-like discussion of all major issues and missed some minor issues. Overall paper could have been better.

A score of 70 is a slightly above average paper . Applicant had a lawyer-like discussion of all major issues and missed some minor issues. Paper could have been better, but analysis and reasoning warrants more than a 65. Well organized paper.

A score of 75 is a distinctly above average paper . Applicant discussed all major issues in a lawyer-like fashion and discussed the ancillary minor issues. Overall, a well organized paper.

A score of 80-85 is unusually complete and thorough paper. Applicant discussed all major and minor issues in a lawyer-like fashion and very well organized.

Components used for grading include: organization/format, issue spotting, rule statement, and analysis. A passing paper will have use of headings and IRAC used to organize issues discussed. Issues are generally discussed in a logical order. A passing paper will discuss all the main issues, but may fail to discuss some of the minor issues. A passing paper will have clear rule statements that may be stated verbatim or in your own words that blend some of the concepts into one statement. Rules are correctly applied to the facts of the case and there is infrequent discussion of both sides of an issue, but paper still discusses major issues raised from the fact pattern.

We hope this gives you a better idea of what a passing (65 and above) paper looks like. Feel free to head to our sample page to see a CBB sample of Civil Procedure. All subjects are organized in the same fashion and are specifically geared towards a passing score of 65 and above.

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The state bar had pitched a $1.475 million, five-year contract with Kaplan North America LLC to replace the Multistate Bar Exam with a different, “cost-effective” exam. Crafting new questions would enable the bar to administer the licensing test remotely or at small, vendor-owned test centers, saving between roughly $2.8 million and $4.2 million annually starting in 2025.

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2023 test requirements.

Amherst College

• Amherst is test-optional. The test-optional policy applies to all applicants - domestic and international - applying for first-year admission. At their own discretion, students may choose to submit SAT/ACT test scores for consideration in the application review process. Amherst will not consider SAT Subject Tests. You can learn more about Amherst’s test-optional policy here .  

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Boston College

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Boston University

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Bowdoin College

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Brown University

Brown is test-optional for the 2023-24 application cycle. If this describes your situation, please know that your application will not be disadvantaged in the admission process, and will receive full consideration by Brown's admission committee.

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California Institute of Technology

• Caltech has implemented a five-year Moratorium on requirement and consideration of SAT and/or ACT test scores. The Caltech Undergraduate Admissions Office will not be accepting or reviewing any standardized test submitted.

Carleton College

• Carleton has adopted a test-optional policy for first-year applicants applying for admission for entry in Fall 2024. This policy means results of the SAT or the ACT are not required, but you may still submit them. 

Case Western Reserve University

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Claremont McKenna College

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Colby College

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Colgate University

• Colgate University will offer Fall 2023 applicants the option to apply without consideration of their SAT or ACT scores. Learn more about Colgate’s test-optional policy .

College of the Holy Cross

• Holy Cross has been test-optional since 2005. Applicants may indicate their preferred testing policy on the QuestBridge Supplement and may also update their testing preference and/or submit additional test scores via the applicant portal.

Colorado College

• Colorado College is a test-optional college. Please review CC's test-optional policy to determine your test plan.

Columbia University

• For 2022-2023, Columbia offers students the option to apply without consideration of their SAT or ACT scores. 

Dartmouth College

• Dartmouth College is test-optional for applicants to the Class of 2028 .

Davidson College

• Davidson is test-optional for the SAT or the ACT. Learn more about Davidson’s test-optional policy .

Denison University

• Denison has practiced test-optional admission since 2008. No student is at a disadvantage by not submitting scores. Students who choose to have their scores considered may self-report them through their Denison applicant portal.

Duke University

• ACT, writing exam optional; OR
• SAT, with essay component optional

Emory University

• Emory University is test-optional, meaning students can apply without submitting their SAT or ACT score(s) in the 2023-2024 academic year. Learn more about Emory’s test-optional policy .

Grinnell College

• Grinnell is test-optional for students applying for admission in 2023-2024. Learn more about Grinnell's test-optional policy .

Hamilton College

• Hamilton offers students the option to apply without consideration of their SAT or ACT scores. Learn more about Hamilton’s test-optional policy . 

Haverford College

• Haverford College offers students the option to apply without consideration of their SAT or ACT scores. Learn more about Haverford’s test-optional policy .

Johns Hopkins University

• Hopkins is test-optional for applicants through 2026. You will be able to self-report scores on your QuestBridge application. Your Hopkins supplemental form will allow you to indicate your test-optional status for their review process.

Macalester College

• Macalester has a Test-Optional admissions policy. This includes ACT, SAT, SAT II, AP, and IB. There will be no penalty for students who choose not to submit test scores in the selection process.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• MIT requires either the SAT or the ACT from all first-year applicants. They do not require the ACT writing section or the SAT optional essay.

Middlebury College

Middlebury is currently test-optional. You do not have to submit standardized test scores with your application. A lack of scores will not factor into your application review. If you would like your standardized testing to be considered, you can submit either the SAT or the ACT. Learn more about Middlebury's test-optional policy .

Northwestern University

• Northwestern offers students the option to apply without consideration of their SAT or ACT scores.

Oberlin College

• Oberlin College is test-optional for the 2023-2024 application year. 

Pomona College

• Pomona College has adopted a test-optional policy for students applying for first-year and transfer admission through Fall 2024. Under this policy, SAT or ACT scores are not required to apply but students may choose to self-report them on their applications. Learn more about Pomona's test-optional policy .

Princeton University

• For the 2023-24 application period, Princeton will review applications with or without test scores, leaving the decision in the hands of the applicant. Learn more about Princeton's standardized testing policy . 

Rice University

• Rice will allow first-year applicants to undergraduate, degree-seeking programs for the 2023-2024 application cycle to submit SAT or ACT test scores, if they choose. Students who are unable to submit tests, or prefer not to submit test scores, will be given full consideration in the admission selection process. Learn more about Rice's 2023-2024 testing policy . 

Scripps College

• Scripps offers students the option to apply without consideration of their SAT or ACT scores. Learn more about Scripps’ test-optional policy .

Smith College

• Smith College has been test-optional since 2009 and remains test-optional today. The submission of SAT or ACT scores is optional for all applicants.

Stanford University

• For the 2023-24 application period, Stanford will review applications with or without test scores, leaving the decision in the hands of the applicant. Visit Stanford's Standardized Testing page for more information.

Swarthmore College

• Swarthmore offers students the option to apply without consideration of their SAT or ACT scores. Learn more about Swarthmore’s test-optional policy .

Tufts University

• Tufts University offers students the option to apply without consideration of their SAT or ACT scores. Learn more about Tufts’ test-optional policy .

University of Chicago

• UChicago offers students the option to apply without consideration of their SAT or ACT scores.

University of Notre Dame

• For the 2023-2024 application cycle, Notre Dame offers students the option to apply without consideration of their SAT or ACT scores.

University of Pennsylvania

• Penn offers students the option to apply without consideration of their SAT or ACT scores. Learn more about Penn's test-optional policy .

University of Southern California

• For the 2023-2024 application cycle, USC offers students the option to apply without consideration of their SAT or ACT scores. Learn more about USC’s test-optional policy .

University of Virginia

• In response to COVID-19, UVA will not require applicants to submit the SAT/ACT for the 2023-24 application cycle. Students who are unable or choose not to submit test scores will not be disadvantaged in any way. Students who wish to include testing as part of their application may continue to do so. Students who choose to submit testing may choose to take either the ACT or the SAT.

Vanderbilt University

• Vanderbilt offers students the option to apply without consideration of their SAT or ACT scores. Learn more about Vanderbilt’s test-optional policy .

Vassar College

• Vassar does not require applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores. Vassar will use the superscore for the SAT or ACT. If a student submits both the SAT and ACT, Vassar will use the higher of the two scores to evaluate the application.

Washington and Lee University

• W&L offers students the option to apply without consideration of their SAT or ACT scores. Learn more about W&L’s test-optional policy .

Washington University in St. Louis

• WashU offers students the option to apply without consideration of their SAT or ACT scores. Learn more about WashU’s admission requirements .

Wellesley College

• Students applying for entry in the fall of 2024 have the option to apply without consideration of SAT or ACT scores. 

Wesleyan College

• Wesleyan is entirely test-optional and does not require the submission of standardized tests in the admissions process. You should submit the combination of test results you feel best represents your academic achievement and potential. This can range from a full set of SATs and SAT Subject Tests, an ACT, and AP exam scores, to a combination of results from different evaluations, or no test results at all. Learn more about Wesleyan's test-optional policy .

Williams College

• Williams offers students the option to apply without consideration of their SAT or ACT scores. 

Yale University

• Yale offers students the option to apply without consideration of their SAT or ACT scores. Learn more about Yale’s test-optional policy .

Submitting your scores

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Typically the August or September test dates in your senior year are the latest dates in which QuestBridge can receive test scores to evaluate you for the National College Match. Finalists may submit scores taken from later fall dates directly to the college for consideration. In order to be considered by colleges for the Match, tests must be taken by October at the latest. Check the Application Requirements pages for the schools you are interested in to make sure the last acceptable test dates are not earlier.

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