NY Bar Exam Cheating Concerns Swirl as Blizzard Bumps Some Tests

The New York bar exam administrator is facing blowback over postponing the test in one high-volume Manhattan location due to the blizzard this week but holding it as scheduled elsewhere in the region.

That’s raised concerns that examinees taking the test a day later could gain an advantage on the high-stakes exam by learning the topics or questions from those who already took it — or on Reddit, where the test is often discussed in detail by anonymous posters.

“They’ve compromised the test,” New York bar tutor Sean Silverman said.

The New York State Board of Law Examiners could quickly find a way to give the delayed test-takers different questions, Silverman noted, but that too could compromise the exam, since “everybody’s got to be graded on the same test.”

The storm arrived at a challenging time for the board after an outcry over how proctors handled an unexpected episode the last time the twice-per-year test was administered, in July, when a New York test-taker required CPR.

The board defended its handling of the health incident and said staff is trained for such events, but New York state lawmakers are mulling legislation that would require the agency to craft a plan for emergencies.

As in July, test-takers took to Reddit this week to exchange information and vent — a new era for the exam where test-takers publicly talk to each other, post information, and denounce the exam’s developers and administrators online.

Examinees are perplexed as to why the test was postponed at the Armory Track & Field Center from Feb. 24 to Feb. 25 but not at other sites in New York City and the surrounding area, in the aftermath of the Feb. 23 blizzard, the region’s biggest snowstorm in a decade. Test-takers at the Armory and elsewhere were frustrated by the board’s decision-making and communication, interviews and posts on the message board show.

Armory test-takers “will all have the answers and we are graded against them,” reads one post on the forum.

Hard Choices

Beyond questions about the potential for cheating, test-takers said they were forced to decide between rough conditions or skipping the exam.

They didn’t know if they’d be penalized for missing the test over a canceled flight or whether they should put up extra money for hotel stays to get ahead of the storm or to stay a day later for a postponed test. Many examinees travel to far-flung locations to take it, arriving in advance to make sure they’re on time.

“There was no communication, and a disregard for our safety,” said Gaby Ruiz, a St. John’s Law graduate and test-taker who took the exam on Feb. 24 in New York City.

Test-takers calling the board for information were greeted with a message saying phone lines were closed. Candidates who can’t make it to the test “will be withdrawn,” the message said, which will “not prevent you from reapplying” to take it, “unless you have three or more withdrawals and absences, in which case you will need to petition.”

The board should establish a set of publicly available protocols so people know what to expect when emergencies occur and have more insight into its decision-making process, said David Marshall, a St. John’s University law professor, and Suzanne Darrow-Kleinhaus, a Touro University law professor.

Marshall and Darrow-Kleinhaus co-chair the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar. They said they’re not speaking on behalf of their schools or the bar association.

The board didn’t respond to requests for comment. Its website attributed the decision to delay the exam at the Armory to “unprecedented weather conditions.” The Armory didn’t respond to a request for comment.

A spokeswoman for the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which develops the test, said that “decisions about test site operations, scheduling, delays or adjustments are made by individual jurisdictions.”

The NCBE “monitors public forums and other online spaces for potential compromises to the exam content or process,” the spokeswoman said. “If concerns arise, our team reviews them promptly and takes appropriate steps within our authority to help protect the integrity of the exam.”

Postponement Fallout

Armory-based test takers said they won’t be looking for any advantage. For Ariana Paulino, who flew in from Florida to take the test at the Armory, the stress from the delay wasn’t just about a changed flight and hotel costs. The allegations on social media that Armory test-takers now have an advantage “is causing more harm than good,” she said.

A Columbia Law graduate who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from the board said she failed the test in July in the same room where a fellow examinee went into cardiac arrest. Then she was scheduled to take the test at the Armory — and learned things wouldn’t go as planned yet again.

“The biggest problem I see is that this exam is only offered twice per year, which makes any change in schedule a huge challenge,” she said ahead of her test. “I am doing my best to stay calm and focused.”