Academic Support

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Individual Counseling

The Office of Academic Support is dedicated to assist law students in the enhancement of the necessary skills and tools to ensure academic and professional success.

This office serves as a resource and offers numerous services designed to ensure student success throughout the law school experience. Academic Support strives to help students achieve the disciplined synergy of scholastic rigor, superior intellectual ability, and a moral commitment to outstanding educational achievement. This type of academic excellence is achieved through professors, tutors and students working together as a team. The Office of Academic Support oversees this team effort by providing proactive support to all students and faculty.

This system operates in two parts:

The First Year Academic Support System welcomes and integrates the first-year student into the law school process and curriculum by assisting in the development of crucial skills needed to ensure a successful transition from varied backgrounds into the new role as a law student.
The Upper Level Academic Support System places emphasis on sharpening analytical and writing skills necessary for success in law school and optimal success on the bar examination.

The Office of Academic Support provides several services including:

Workshops, including general study skills, time/stress management, note-taking skills, case briefing and analysis, outlining, legal writing and test-taking strategies
Large discussion groups
Small group and one-on-one tutorial programs
Mentor programs
Learning styles assessment
Academic and personal counseling
Mini-Bar review preparation course
Simulated testing
An exam-writing/practice skills lab
A resource library

Message for Prospective Students
Student Psychological and Testing Services

Contact Information:

Kathryn Tullos, J.D.
Interim Director, Office of Academic Support
Raba Law Faculty Building, Room 106-A
Telephone number: (210) 436-3541

Alice Contreras
Administrative Legal Secretary, Office of Academic Support
Raba Law Faculty Building, Room 106-E
Telephone number: (210) 431-4340
academicsupport@stmarytx.edu

1L Program

Bar Prep

The Texas bar exam is given twice every year in late February and late July. The exam consists of four parts: Multistate Performance Test (MPT) (10%); Texas Procedure and Evidence (10%); Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) (40%); Texas Essays (40%). The maximum possible scaled score on the Texas bar examination is 1000. The minimum passing score is an overall scaled score of 675.

While most examinees take the bar examination after graduating from law school, Texas permits law students who have completed 86 hours of law school study to sit for the Texas Bar Examination.

Day One

Multistate Performance Test (10% of overall score): One 90-minute question. Examinees are given a set of materials and are required to prepare a document such as a memorandum of law, a pleading, or a motion.

Procedure and Evidence Examination (10% of overall score): 90 minutes. The subjects tested are: (1) Civil Procedure (Federal and Texas court jurisdiction, pleading and practice); (2) Texas Criminal Procedure; and (3) Texas Rules of Evidence.

Day Two

Multistate Bar Examination (40% of overall score): 200 multiple choice questions. Examinees have three hours in the morning to complete the first 100 questions, and three hours in the afternoon to answer the other 100 questions. Subjects tested are:

Contracts (34 questions)
Torts (34 questions)
Constitutional Law (33 questions)
Real Property (33 questions)
Criminal Law (33 questions)
Evidence (33 questions)

Day Three

Texas Essay Questions (40% of overall score): 12 essay questions on Texas law. Examinees have three hours in the morning to write the first six essays, and three hours in the afternoon to write the other six essays. The questions are in the following areas:

Wills & Estate Administration (2 questions)
Uniform Commercial Code (2 questions)
Business Associations (including Corporations, Agency, and Partnerships) (2 questions)
Family Law (2 questions) (including Community Property)
Texas Property Law (including Oil and Gas) (2 questions)
Trusts and Guardianship (1 question)
Consumer Rights (1 question)

Application Deadlines

For the February Bar, an application is timely if received (not postmarked) between June 30 and August 30 of the preceding year. For the July Bar, an application is timely if received (not postmarked) between November 30 of the preceding year and January 30 of the current year. An application received before the first filing date will be returned to the sender. An application received after the last filing date will incur a late filing fee.

Helpful Bar Exam Links

Individual Counseling

To schedule individual counseling sessions, please contact:
Alice Contreras
Administrative Legal Secretary, Office of Academic Support
Raba Law Faculty Building, Room 106-E
Telephone number: (210) 431-4340
academicsupport@stmarytx.edu