Real MBE Scores Forum

[PersistentAttorney]

I am foreign-educated and English is not my native language.
Took NY for the second time on FEB17.

Kaplan 92% completion;
125/200 in the Midterm; 105/200 Final (rattled me pretty hard...). Averaged ~66% in Kaplan Prep Questions.

Actual MBE score: 142 (first attempt on JUL16 was 129)
UBE score: 275 (first attempt on JUL16 was 257)

I walked out feeling certain I got 130/200 correct. It seems I was quite close to my prediction.
I was working full time while preparing on the other side of the globe and under very difficult circumstances (family issues).

[uclapookie09]

Took Barbri but did not follow it closely. Outlined most essays but did do hundreds of practice MBE questions and used critical pass flash cards and Emmanuel MBE Tactica and Strategies (great book). Did three timed MPT exams. I worked full time during study as I am currently a practicing attorney in California (and have been for 5 years).

Barbri simulated: 110 raw
Actual MBE: 157 scaled
Total UBE: 312 (took in NY)

[cnk1220]

Barbri simulated mbe 133 (used adaptibar, emmanual as well)
Real mbe 150
ube = 301 total (NY)

Cried all during bar prep, cried in between bar days, cried after for 2 months occasionally, cried when I found out I passed.

[Bluem_11]

Please indicate
-which bar prep company's practice test you took and any practice test score,

Themis, forgot exact score but was around 140

-real MBE score,

160

-how you felt post-MBE,

Like shit

-the state you took

NY/UBE

, and
-anything else you think is notable

I had been out of LS for a bit. My first job didn't require bar passage so I procrastinated on it.

[happyhour1122]

used barbri, emanuel, kaplan question books, critical pass

1st bar exam

only barbri- finished 95%
simulated- 90
Real MBE- 131
total: 250

2nd bar exam
used other supp
simulated - 137
real MBE 141? or 2
total: 288

[jaskat]

3rd time taker, first time taking the UBE.

-I took Barbri and in the midterm MBE exam I scored a 112. The MBE was always my weakest point, and was what I ended focusing on in the last 2 weeks of bar prep.

-real MBE score: 141.8

-how you felt post-MBE: I was nervous going into the MBE because it has consistently been my weak point. After the morning section, I was a bit more nervous because, (as many people have pointed out on the boards), there was a string of like 25-30 questions that were HORRIBLE. However I took my lunch break time to regather my thoughts and composure. I went into the PM section of the MBE with renewed confidence and thought it was very easy. having reviewed the black letter law and done hundreds and hundreds of MBE practice questions allowed me to start seeing patterns, which made it easier to answer questions.

-the state you took: NY (UBE Score 291)

-anything else you think is notable: Really reflect on what kind of learner you are, and trust your instincts. I took barbri and I religiously did all of their assignments up to about 65% completion rate. I stopped following their study plan because I realized that I wasn't learning the black letter law well, and no matter how much practice I put in I would not improve my scores if I didn't know the material the questions were based on. 2-3 weeks before the bar exam I began dedicating most of my time to reading, re-reading, and memorizing the black letter law. I threw in 25-30 MBE practice questions throughout the day as well. I know some people here swear by Barbri's study schedule, and if you're that type of learner do that! However, I knew that, that approach would not help me and so sought an alternative.

[seeyouatthenextexam]

Alabama (UBE)

First time taker

Barbri - completed the entire course; however, I did not write out all of the essays assigned. I mentally outlined and read over the answers. In addition, I made my own flashcards for each subject other than contracts (I'm a complete visual learner.)

Simulated MBE - 133/200
Refresher - 78/100
Actual MBE - 153 scaled

I'm generally good at standardized tests - scored a 155 on the lsat with one night's prep. However, I felt like I had failed miserably when I left the MBE. Didn't think I should even go back after the lunch break. The MBE was a miserable experience. Miserable.

Prior to the exam I did not know Adaptibar, Critical Flash Cards, Emmanuel, etc. existed (law school was literally a spur of the moment decision after delaying it fifteen years due to other obligations - I never researched anything because I just knew I'd be ok - blind faith is kinda my thing :/ lol) Looking back, I wish I had known of such. I believe it would have lessened my worries a great deal. Obviously, Barbri did what it was supposed to do but their MBE questions did not seem to be structured as the real MBE questions are and that could really kill someone's confidence during the exam. What saved me is that I knew you just had to do one question at a time and forget it. Move on time the next. If not for that, I'd probably had a meltdown! (Not really, I'm dramatic.)

[BagelsandWhitefish]

Took Themis. Did it totally online, and was a bit worried because I studied in isolation.

Did every MBE practice question they provided. Purchased the 4 OPE exams and did those questions. Reviewed all of the Themis essays and all the ones I could find on the web. Did about 8 practice MPTs and then read through a bunch of others just to get a feel for how the facts and library work together.

Read through the Themis subject books one time and read the short outlines several times, and ultimately made short 4-6 page outlines for each subject. Watched all the videos.

On practice Themis MBE, got 75% of the questions correct.

Scaled Real MBE score in February 2017 was 163. Total UBE 318.

Took the South Carolina Bar.

[banjo]

174 MBE
Total UBE = 337

I took Barbri, but thought their questions were incredibly difficult and demoralizing and didn't even do the midterm. I came back to the sets towards the end of my prep, and I think I got a 70 on the refresher. I also did about 500 Adaptibar questions, flipped through the Critical Pass flash cards, closely studied the Conviser mini-reviews, and listened to the barbri lectures on 1.5-2.0x speed about 3 times each while taking walks.

Honestly, I wish I had just done the online syllabus each day instead of inventing my own stressful and inefficient program. I made a much bigger deal out of bar prep than it needed to be, and now that I'm a lawyer, I wish I had enjoyed that down time a bit more.

[Leprechaun]

Please indicate

-which bar prep company's practice test you took and any practice test score, - Barbri, on the simulated MBE I scored 125 raw


-real MBE score, - on the real MBE, I scored 156.2 scaled

-how you felt post-MBE, - I thought the Barbri questions were harder, longer, and with more twists than the real MBE

-the state you took, - I took the Texas bar in Feb 2017


-anything else you think is notable- I posted a very detailed post on page 2 of the July 2017 Texas thread of how I prepped and how I felt about the bar so not retyping nor cutting and pasting here. If anyone is interested and wants to read it, go to that thread.

[ndnlawdc]

Bar Prep: Barbri, though for convoluted reasons*, I only used the CMR book, the sample MBE questions, and the first two of each sample essays. I also relied heavily on the Critical Pass cards, which a coworker lent me, and which were absolutely essential to a cram study schedule IMHO.

Bar Prep MBE Score: I didn't take the full simulated MBE, but I was getting between 55-75% of the MBE questions right in the two days before the exam.

Real MBE Score: 163.8.

How I Felt: I marked every question I wasn't 100% sure on, and I marked exactly 100 of the 200 questions. So I wasn't super confident.

State/Anything Else: Total UBE Score - 315 (151.4 written). I took Minnesota in February 2017, which just announced a 52.66% pass rate. Pre-UBE, the pass rate was in the 80s-90s, and last year it was 64%, so this is a huge dip. The only thing I'll note is that I barely studied for anything OTHER than the MBE subjects, and I completely made up the trusts answer. I'm a lateral with 5ish years of experience before taking the bar, so it wasn't my first rodeo.

* I was supposed to have time off to study, then a coworker left my firm, and my firm asked me to take over a case and to take the bar in July instead. Then the big case settled 11 days before the bar exam, and so I decided to cram cram cram and see if I would pass. I'm a litigator, and cover several of the bar exam subjects (civ pro/evidence/torts) in my everyday practice. It was a bit of a gamble, but it paid off.

[helenwho2]

english is my second language
barbri
simulated:110
practiced ~1400 MBE questions
real scaled MBE: 144

[Kretzy]

So I took Colorado (results are out this morning). Already barred in California, passed in 2013.

Prep: Took Adaptibar and self-studied for the essays; job generously gave me 3 weeks off full-time to study for it. I ended up doing nearly all of the Adaptibar questions and then 2 full 200-question exams from Kaplan. Was averaging about 70% right on Adaptibar, ranging from 55% in Civ Pro to 80% in Torts.

Didn't take any midterms, but was at about 130/200 on those tests.

Real MBE score: 163.8
Real written: 163.9
Total: 327.7

How I felt: Well, 10 minutes before the exam started, my computer stopped working. So I had to handwrite the written portion. I managed not to panic, but I still left the morning feeling pretty bad. Afternoon went slightly better, but I left day 1 thinking I needed to crush the MBE. The Corps and Trusts answers are a blur to me, but I thought I crushed the Family Law essay, since on a hunch I did 2-3 practice Family Law essays a couple of days before the exam and one of those mocks was quite similar to the Family/Conflicts question we saw. Just blind luck.

I left the morning MBE session feeling great. Afternoon session I thought was much more difficult. I was confident in about 120 answers but didn't have many complete guesses -- a lot of my remaining answers were educated guesses between 2. Thought the questions overall were easier than Kaplan and a similar difficulty to Adaptibar.

Anything else: I'm a 4th year associate in biglaw and am generally pretty good at tests. I also have decent handwriting, so I think my written answers were probably pretty readable.

[Lawyerinwaiting89]

July 2016 - NJ (not UBE):

Kaplan midterm: 100/200
Kaplan final: didn't complete, but probably around 105
Actual MBE scaled score: 127.3
How I felt on exam day: wildly unprepared for the MBE. I had only used Kaplan's MBE questions (physical book and online portal) and I didn't complete the final due to time constraints. I felt that the actual MBE questions were phrased differently and of a different caliber. I had honed BLL through Kaplan's reinforcement-type questions, but did not master about nuances and details. I failed NJ by 4 points.

February 2017 - NJ UBE:

I entirely self-studied. For MBE review, I used Kaplan's long outline book, old lecture notes, and Critical Pass flashcards (to a limited extent). For practice and exam taking strategy, I used Emmanuel's Strategies and Tactics 6th Edition. I read the book front to back and did every practice question. I scored between 55% and 75% in each topic. I completed half of the practice exam and was around 62/100. I also did a handful of Kaplan's questions from the physical book. (I never used any of Barbri's materials and did not purchase Adaptibar or any other company's material).
Actual MBE scaled score: 137.4
How I felt on exam day: I entered feeling more confident than the time before but my confidence was tested during the morning session. I found myself guessing more than I wanted to and felt a bit defeated at lunchtime. However, I felt better during the afternoon session and left feeling like I had at least slightly improved and should be in the 130s.

In the end, my feelings were pretty spot on. I have never been a strong multiple choice test-taker, despite my efforts. I do think that the MBE is something that you can master if you have the time and dedication. I was working full-time and didn't take any time off before the exam except for about two afternoons. I wanted to self-study and knew that I needed to raise my MBE score 5-10 points to likely pass. So I focused on what I could accomplish and didn't do as much as I would have if I was not working and tired most nights. I passed with a 15 point margin (overall UBE 281, NJ requires 266) despite the less than stellar MBE score. It was only a few points above the national mean, but it was enough and my writing portion was obviously somewhat stronger (as has always been the case for me).

Side note: I am taking another jurisdiction in July 2017 (PA) and have purchased Adaptibar. I have only spent a little time on it thus far, but as others have said, I find that it will be very helpful.