Nervous, anxious, carefree -- these and other emotions are going through law graduates' minds after taking the Tennessee Bar Exam which wraps up today at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.
The bar exam, which is administered by the Tennessee Bar Association, is essential for anyone who hopes to pursue a career practicing law.
"A lot is riding on this test -- money, debt, your career," said James Rose, reference attorney for The University of Memphis, who took and passed the Bar Exam in 2001. "Everything depends on this pass or fail two-day exam."
Most students have jobs lined up after they pass their bar exam, but they can find those jobs gone if they do not pass the exam.
While some firms allow graduates to retake the bar exam, others look elsewhere according to Jerrod Smith, graduate of The U of M law school and one of the many students who are taking the bar exam today.
If a graduate fails, they can retake the exam up to three times, and if they fail a third time they must wait a year to take it a fourth time.
The average passage rate for a law student at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law is consistently higher than the state average, according to the U of M law school website.
In February 2002, 83 percent of the law students passed as compared to the state average of 76 percent. Even so, law students worry.
Unlike most exams, for the most part, this one will not be passed by cramming the night before.
"It is not the sort of thing that you can learn in a couple of days -- you really have to know it," said Andy Anderson, who graduated in May and is the bar exam today.
Preparation begins two or three months in advance and graduates will usually use independent exam preparation agencies and still some students have doubts about whether they will pass or fail.
The PMBR Multistate Specialist and the BARBRI Review are the two most used bar exam preparation agencies and their websites tout a chance to pass the bar exam the "first time."
These independent exam preparation agencies together can reach cost of upward of $2,000, but students who use them feel that it is worth it.
"I'd rather spend the money [on these programs] -- then roll the dice and not know what or how to study," Smith said.
"I feel I know enough," said Smith, but upon reflecting he admitted he just "hoped they asked the questions I know the answers to...knock on wood."
Like him others "don't want to jinx it by saying yes" they will pass, but they are hopeful, said Anderson.
The average day for Smith since mid-May has involved waking up and getting to a Starbucks at 8 a.m. and studying until lunchtime. Then Smith goes "to another Starbucks or goes to school to study." He estimates that since then he has studied approximately 500 hours.
Like Smith and Anderson, all of those incalculable hours of study for better or for worse are finished with today.
Tomorrow the waiting will begin until October, when the results are released.
"It hasn't been enjoyable, but it's something you have to do," said Anderson.
