Are there ways to help all who take the California Bar Exam better prepare and improve their performance? That is the question being studied by the State Bar in conjunction with a team of law and psychology researchers from Indiana University, University of Southern California, and Stanford University.
The research team used surveys and focus groups of recent California Bar Exam participants to help develop the California Bar Exam Strategies and Stories Program. The program was offered for the first time to all applicants for the July 2018 bar exam and has been offered for subsequent exams since.
The online program includes an introductory film, stories from prior test takers, and a writing activity in which participants share insights and strategies that may be useful to them and to future test takers. Since 2018, the combination of Strategies and Stories participation and the Supreme Court’s changing the cut score on the bar exam from 1440 to 1390, has resulted in over 1,000 program participants passing the bar exam who otherwise would not have.
The State Bar is offering the program again to all applicants for the July 2025 bar exam. Early registrants will be invited by email to apply for the program no later than April 27 to receive access in May.
A second registration period for the program will open May 6, with applicants invited by email, and will be available until June 9, 2025.
This research effort complements a series of studies that the State Bar has undertaken to comprehensively evaluate the California Bar Exam, prompted by several factors, including a multiyear decline in pass rates.