“The February 2022 administration of the New York State Bar Examination will be an in-person examination administered on February 22-23, 2022. There will be no remote option.” announced the New York State Board of Law Examiners earlier this month.
The New York State Board of Law Examiners (the “Board”) is responsible for administering the bar examination to candidates seeking admission to practice law in the State of New York.
Will COVID-19 vaccine be required?
On December 13, 2021, the Board sent an email to every candidate for the February 2022 Bar Exam with the Board’s COVID policy and directed the candidates to answer a question about their vaccination status by no later than Monday, January 3, 2022. Candidates who failed to timely submit their answer to the question were withdrawn from the February 2022 Bar Examination.
At this time the Board does not require vaccination statewide. All candidates will be required on each day of the examination to present (1) proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 PCR test and (2) a valid photo identification.
In New York City, however, ONLY fully vaccinated candidates will be permitted to enter the test sites. Unvaccinated candidates will be required to take the bar exam in either Albany or Buffalo.
All candidates at all sites will also be required to be masked at all times during the entire bar examination. No exception.
Harsh measures for unvaccinated candidates
Unvaccinated candidates will be required to submit proof of a negative COVID-19 test result to enter a test site each morning of the exam. The negative test result must be from a PCR test performed on a sample drawn no more than three (3) days before the first day of the February 2022 bar examination (the test must be performed on a sample drawn no earlier than Saturday, February 19, 2022).
Results from antigen or at-home tests will NOT be accepted. If a candidate does not have the appropriate negative test result, they will not be permitted entry into the test site, and there will be NO exception or exemption to this
policy on either morning of the exam.
In New York, getting a PCR test became increasingly difficult with most test results taking days to come back. A LabQ tent outside Lincoln Center warned people it could take up to 96 hours — four days — to get a test result.
What Protocol for Omicron?
Due to the latest wave of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant the Board is reducing the number of candidates assigned to each test site and, to the extent possible, candidates will be seated one per table to allow for social distancing during the exam. In locations where classrooms are used candidates will be seated every other seat.
Additional information concerning COVID protocols during exam day will be made available when admission tickets
are issued in February.
No chance of remote option
Most states that stick with their February test dates will not have the option of conducting their tests remotely, because of deadlines set by the conference of bar examiner’s software vendor, ExamSoft. In New York the Bar Exam is on track to be held on February 22-23, 2022.
Bar Exam format
The New York bar exam is a two-day exam. The New York bar exam format for the first day consists of the Multistate Performance Test (MPT) and the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE). The second day is dedicated to multiple-choice questions on the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE).
For more information on the Bar Exam we invite you to visit our Bar Exam section.
How to prepare for the Bar Exam?
The Bar Exam is like nothing you’ve seen before. It requires a more structured, disciplined and intensive approach. One of the best way to prepare for the exam is to practice, practice, practice.
This means that you should take less time to outline the material and instead review as many practice questions as you can. The good news? We have exactly what you need.
Our Priority Outlines break down all concepts you need to know to master the Uniform Bar Exam. Color-coded, cross-referenced, and organized by subject and sub-topic.
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