BarProse is a new product that was just launched to help students for the California Bar with their essay writing. I was given the opportunity to check out their product. It’s an amazing product and if anything, you should check out their free trial. You can sign up here. If you decide to purchase the whole program (They are running a limited time special right now for $145 for the February exam).
Summary of Features:
- Extremely fast feedback
Each essay is graded and returned within 24 hours, quite fast compared to other bar prep programs out there. Each essay is reviewed by BarProse’s software, and then reviewed by an extra set of eyes, to ensure you receive quality feedback. There is even a button that allows you to dispute a reason, if you think there is an error.
- Shows whether you followed the IRAC format
BarProse follows the IRAC formula, and assesses each of your sentences to see exactly how you are structuring your bar exam essay. If you deviate from the path, they will let you know. This is extremely helpful for those of you who sometimes struggle on how to format your exam essay correctly.
When I took the bar exam, one of the big goals I had was to really put my grader to sleep when grading my essay, and just check off all boxes, the easiest way to do that is to structure your essay in the same way that the bar examiners grade. This is where BarProse’s program is very helpful as you can see whether you are following that process.
- Identifying whether you are using facts within IRAC
One of the key ways to score points on an essay, is to ensure you are using the correct facts to your issues and rules, which in turn drive your analysis. BarProse will include in the feedback any facts that you may have missed, to let you know what is applicable.
- Identifying whether you are using the correct rule statements
BarProse displays rule elements for each rule that applies to the sub issue. The user is shown elements they used in green, and missed elements in red. Only the keywords for each element are given, so that students can craft their own statements with the required elements.
Walkthrough
- Welcome screen
As part of the program, BarProse provides a full walk through to get you set up. The User Interface is fairly intuitive, and I had no problems just jumping into the program and seeing how to submit an essay. If you want to try out the process yourself, you can sign up for a free account here.
- Dashboard
The above picture is the overall dashboard. You can see that there was one essay completed. In order to fully see how the system works, BarProse had one of their expert tutors draft an essay for me (one that wasn’t perfect), so I could see exactly how the system could provide feedback on positive items, as well as areas for improvement.
Once you launch into the essay writing portion, you can select which essay you want to write, and jump right on in. Because I was provided a free account, I only had the Torts essay available to me.
Actually writing the essay is a fairly straight forward process. You are given the same options as you have on the bar exam, the left pane shows the question, with the right pane being where you input your answer. There is a timer that you can pause if needed, but gives you a good sense of keeping track of your time, so you can figure out when to move forward. What is great about it, is it fits in your browser, meaning if your mobile and have an hour to kill, you could knock out an essay.
- Viewing Results
The above screenshot is where you see the actual essays you’ve completed. It also gives you a summary that you can filter by subject, which is helpful for assessing weaker areas.
- Viewing an Example Essay
The BarProse feedback legend is probably the core area, and it is pretty easy to get used to. Below is the example essay answer they provided, and you can see how each of the aspects of the legend were provided.
Free Demo
One of the great things about the BarProse program is that they give you the first essay to write for free! Anyone signing up will be able to create their own profile and test out the system here.
Pricing & Referral Program:
BarProse operates off of a one price pass for the season (two seasons each year). The standard price is $295 and the seasons run between December 1st – February 28th, and May 1st – July 31st.
They are running a limited special right now that has cut that price in half for $145! It looks like this is a limited time offer. You can sign up through the link I received from them here.
After you’ve signed up, if you enjoy the program and recommend it to your friends, BarProse runs a referral program that will give your friends a discount of $25 as well as $25 back to you!
Overall Impressions
Looking at the solution, this is definitely the wave of the future for essay grading. Writing a bar exam essay really comes down to executing on a pre-defined formula. BarProse helps you learn and execute on that formula so you can improve your scores. I was definitely impressed with how the system works, and recommend everyone at least try out a free account.
