The results from Ohio's July 2008 Bar Exam will be released this Friday.  Hopefully it's a Happy Halloween for me!  The Bar Exam was difficult, and preparing for it took a level of diligence and self-discipline I'd never had before.  I think Capital did a great job of preparing myself and my classmates, based in large part on the Advanced Bar Studies class.
 
Advanced Bar Studies is an elective, for-credit course that is available to third-year students.  Everyone I knew signed up for the class.  I'd heard from previous students that it was a lot of work but worth it.  Sure enough, Professor Twiss assigned a good deal of flashcards, reading, and other activities.  It was sometimes frustrating because in your last semester of law school, you aren't quite prepared to worry about the bar exam that you already know will consume your summer months. 
 
However, after graduation, I started my commercial Bar Review course.  Almost instantly, I started to appreciate all the skills I had learned in Professor's Twiss's class.  More than anything, she mentally prepared me for what the studying for the bar would be like.  I knew the components of the exam inside and out, and I was mentally prepared to begin my substantive review of the materials. 
 
Preparing for the bar exam was unlike anything I'd done before, but it was exactly what I had expected thanks to Advanced Bar Studies.  As far as I know, Capital was one of the first law schools to develop a for-credit class like this.  I heard from several other students at the actual exam that they wished their school had offered something similar.  It definitely made me feel more confident during my studies and taking the actual exam.
 
Capital's bar passage rate for first-time taker's in July 2007 was 89%.  That's a great number and hopefully the 2008 percentage is even higher!