There are six main bar prep program options you may want to consider: Here is a list of factors you may also want to consider. We put these in a ranking list of what we would prioritize as most important and a quick reason why. Your priorities may be different, and feel free to re-prioritize as you see fit.
AmeriBar’s bar exam prep programs cost $1,295-2,295 and include 1,400+ NCBE questions. AmeriBar offers access to its online products for up to three years. Michael Ghaffary and Mehran Ebadolahi founded BarMax in 2010. BarMax’s bar prep course costs $2,495 and includes 1,995+ NCBE questions. BarMax offers lifetime access to its online products.
While working full-time and preparing for the NY bar exam, I tried to dedicate all free time I could find. This, for example, included job breaks (between client assignments), weekends, and holidays. Depending on circumstances, my bar exam prep time widely ranged from many hours to no time at all per working day.
For students who will be sitting for the bar exam in New York, BarMax UBE offers comprehensive prep for the New York Bar Exam. BarMax UBE is the only bar review course that gives you instant and lifetime access to a user friendly program delivered straight to your iPad, iPhone and/or computer.
Statewide Pass Percentage Chart The New York bar exam pass rate of first-time takers ranges from 56-91 percent. The New York bar exam pass rate of repeat-takers ranges from 20-44 percent. The New York Bar Exam pass rate of total takers ranges from 42-75 percent.
You are more likely to pass. With a bar prep course, you are more likely to pass the bar exam. You will have materials and questions at your disposal and you will receive feedback and be able to make sure you are on track. You can ask questions when you are confused and get any areas of law clarified.
2019 First-Time Test-Taker Bar Pass Rate In 2019, the aggregate pass rate for first-time examinees was 79.64 percent! That pass rate is welcome news for those individuals studying and preparing for an upcoming administration of the exam and also for the legal profession overall.
Regarding the MPRE, you should spend at least 3-4 weeks to prepare for it. As for the NYLE, given that it is an open book examination, a two-week preparation is normally enough after you complete all the online lectures. 3. Cost?
Re: Is BARBRI enough to pass the bar? Yes, absolutely. In fact, Barbri is set up to be MORE than enough (i.e. more than you should reasonably be able to do - they even TELL you that). They say that if you are doing about 75% of what they assign, you're doing enough.
Barbri provides much better essay materials. The book of essays and examples is great. Themis graded more essays, but I didn't feel like I had as many outlines to review and learn. If you don't feel like you are a good technical writer, Barbri's materials are decent.
South DakotaEasiest Bar Exams to Pass South Dakota ranks as the state with the easiest exam, followed by Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Iowa. There are fewer law schools in these states (South Dakota only has one, and Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Iowa each have two), meaning that there are generally fewer law graduates who take the bar.
Kim Kardashian celebrated passing the “baby bar” with some cheddar bay biscuits. The reality star learned that she passed the First-Year Law Students' Examination in December 2021 while sitting in her car in front of a Red Lobster restaurant.
CaliforniaCalifornia. When thinking about the hardest bar exams, it's hard not to immediately bring up California. According to popular opinion, California might have the most difficult bar exam in the country.
However, a majority of states have higher score requirements than New York. This means that the New York bar exam is not one of the most difficult bar exams (at least with respect to the passing score requirement). Nonetheless, the New York Bar Exam still qualifies as a moderately difficult bar exam.
Overall, the NYLE is not a very difficult hurdle to pass. As long as you are organized and calm, on exam day you will not have a problem passing this exam. For more information and to register, you can visit the New York Bar Examiner's website here.
The passing score on the NYLE is 60% (an applicant must answer 30 out of the 50 items correctly). An applicant who fails the NYLE will be required to retake both the NYLC and the NYLE.
Themis Bar Review is based in Chicago and was founded in 2008. Themis publishes its pass rates publicly on its website. Themis bar prep programs cost $1,595-2,695 and include an unknown amount of NCBE questions. Themis offers access to its online products for four months.
In addition to passing the New York bar exam with a score of at least 266, there are several requirements that must be met in order to be admitted as an attorney in New York, including: Score 85 or higher on the MPRE within the accepted time frame. Complete an online course called the New York Law Course (NYLC).
The Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) is administered twice each year in New York (in February, and July). The examination is administered over two days, in four, three-hour sessions. The UBE has three parts: the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE), and the Multistate Performance Test (MPT).
The MBE is a six hour test and consists of 200 multiple choice questions that test your understanding across seven subjects. Your MBE score comprises 50% of your overall UBE score.
Applicants seeking to be admitted as attorneys in New York without taking the bar exam, must comply with Rule 520.10 of Rules of the Court of Appeals for the Admission of Attorneys and Counselors at Law.
The MPT consists of two 90-minute tasks where you analyze and apply laws to specific scenarios. The MPT makes up 20% of your score. Crushendo offers the most recent MPT questions and includes the point sheets that the graders used. Watch Crushendo’s free MPT tips video.
Admission on Motion. New York permits admission on motion, without examination, for applicants who have practiced for five of the preceding seven years , are admitted to practice in at least one reciprocal jurisdiction, and have graduated from an American Bar Association approved law school.
In general, the New York UBE is administered in Manhattan or White Plains to in-state test takers and in Albany, Saratoga Springs, and Buffalo to out-of-state test takers.
The MPT is designed to test an examinee's ability to use fundamental lawyering skills in a realistic situation and complete a task that a beginning lawyer should be able to accomplish. The MPT is not a test of substantive knowledge.
Applicants must complete an online course in New York-specific law, known as the New York Law Course (NYLC) and take and pass an online examination, known as the New York Law Exam (NYLE).
It is administered by user jurisdictions as part of the bar examination on the Tuesday before the last Wednesday in February and July of each year.
The Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) is developed by NCBE and consists of six 30-minute questions. It is administered by user jurisdictions as part of the bar examination on the Tuesday before the last Wednesday in February and July of each year.
Ultimate Goal. The main goal to pass a bar exam — like to study law in the first place — is to get an attorney license. This is because such a qualification allows you to practice law. In my case, for instance, the purpose was to achieve the New York bar admission. This now permits me practicing the NY law.
Along the way, you must quickly score life-saving points…. American bar exam is tough in all respects: mentally, emotionally, and physically. Half way through the first day of the exam, for instance, my eyes already burned due to extreme concentration and pressure.
Although it’s tricky to get exact numbers from Barbri, their pass rate is presumed to be around 80% for students from ABA-approved schools. That is word on the street, but who knows where the word started. If true, this is very high and very good.
The barbri program lasts about nine weeks, which is pretty much from the day after graduation until a week before the bar exam. For February takers, it begins the first Monday in January and goes until a week before the bar exam. This is about how much time you’ll need.
The BarMax structure is adjustable, but you should give yourself at least six or seven good weeks. If you want to start earlier, you can. Just pick your start date and BarMax will give you a schedule of what to do each day based on your start date.
Although Barbri is very good and dependable, it also comes with a hefty price tag. It costs about $3,650, making it the most expensive program out there. On the other hand, it does get results, and you’re already a $100K+ in debt, so maybe just add it to the tab?
This is good because unlike many values from our Disney movies of standing out and rising to be the best, on the bar exam you just want to blend in and be a sheep. The more you look like everyone else, the less you’ll stand out. This is a great idea, especially when the bar exam grader is going through his hundred bar exam essays at 11:00pm, after he’s done watching the Apprentice and is in the mood for firing! Don’t be the anomaly.
Barbri has stated they allow you to retake their course for free if you fail the previous bar exam. No promises if you fail twice, though. Either way, you should call them to verify this is true in your state.
Although Kaplan used to be the place to go for the multi-state portion before Barbri began providing that service a few years ago, Kaplan has now instituted the full bar-prep program. They’re very new, and it’s not known how successful they have been. Unless you want to be a guinea pig and not be saving a whole lot of money anyway, we recommend you keep away from Kaplan for now. As a side note from customer service, I’ve seen terrible reviews of them online and students have emailed me complaining of the way Kaplan grades exams and wishing they had read this post before they signed up with Kaplan.
Pass rates are not a good indication of how YOU will actually perform on YOUR bar exam. Your time is better spent understanding the bar prep activities that really matter to YOU passing YOUR bar exam.
In fact, the BARBRI Simulated MBE is as correlated to the actual MBE as the PSAT is to the SAT. There are many reasons why an individual preparing to pass ...
AmeriBar provides bar exam prep courses in 40 states (not available in Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin). Its Bar Review courses and UBE courses cover all aspects of the exam, but its section-specific courses may be a better fit if you only need to review a certain portion. You can mix and match them as needed to build a custom program just for you. All courses are self-paced, but they include unlimited phone support and the option to purchase private tutoring if you need extra help.
Most states also require applicants to take the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE). This is a 60-question multiple-choice ethics exam that runs for two hours. It’s administered three times per year in March, August and November. Some states require you to have a passing MPRE score before you sit for the bar exam, so check with your state bar to see if this is a requirement for you. Most bar prep companies offer free MPRE courses as well, so you can start with one of these before moving onto a traditional bar prep course.
Its MBE course covers the general portion of the exam in all states except Louisiana. California residents have the option of purchasing a special course tailored to them for the same price as the UBE course.
The Multistate Performance Test (MPT) consists of three 90-minute skills questions designed to measure your ability to use lawyering skills and concepts in real scenarios. These questions test your ability to analyze a situation, organize information, solve problems and communicate your solutions to others. It is usually taken on the same day as the MEE — the last Tuesday in February or July.
Themis Bar Review was built to accommodate a busy lifestyle. The curriculum is spread out over eight weeks, as opposed to some other courses that cram all classes into a month and a half. You can reinforce what you learn in the classroom with a series of short on-demand videos and test your knowledge with 2,500 practice MBE questions and three practice exams. The course will adapt as you go, always targeting the areas where you need the most help to ensure you’re using your time effectively. Courses are available for all states except Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Kaplan offers comprehensive self-paced, live online and in-person bar prep courses to residents of all states. Live courses include 32 classes ranging from four to seven hours per day and full access to Kaplan ’s online study materials. Students interested in a self-paced bar prep course have several options.
Themis hosts live online courses, so you can attend them from anywhere. Lessons take place four to five days per week over eight to 10 weeks and cover all aspects of the exam. You’ll take three practice tests throughout the course, so you can assess your progress and see which sections you should spend more time on.