ca bar essay grading

Pass the Essays, Pass the Bar

The written portion of the California Bar Exam accounts for 50% of your grade. Our services focus exclusively on the essays, providing insider feedback, tips, and insight from our team of former California Bar Exam graders.

Countdown to the next California Bar Exam

How It Works

1. Formulate

Formulate responses to practice essay questions under timed conditions.

Receive and review insider grading and feedback within 72 hours

Track scores, feedback, & IRAC performance to gauge progress

Our services.

• Practice Essays
• Online Seminars
• Failed Exam Review

Developed by former bar exam graders.

BarGraders Packages were specifically developed by former California Bar Exam graders to help you pass the essays. We've combined our most popular and effective services into packages designed to meet the varying needs of our testers.

Cram Session

This special program is just what you need to focus your studies for the next bar exam. Includes a Failed Exam Review with a former California bar exam grader, our Online Seminar Series, and 10 Practice Essays.

Time is of the essence, start today!

First-Timer: Essay-Plus Program

The First-Timer Essay-Study Program combines 20 Practice Essays with all 13 modules of our Online Seminar Series. Our seminar series will help you master BarGraders' 5-step technique for writing passing Bar answers, and will teach you about commonly tested issues and common cross-over subjects. Put this new strategy into practice with 20 Practice Essays.

Repeater: Essay-Plus Program

The Essay-Plus Program combines 30 Practice Essays with a Failed Exam Review where a former California bar exam grader will review and analyze your answers from a failed bar exam. Our former bar graders will help you understand your strengths and pinpoint weaknesses in your writing style and approaches. They will also help you formulate a strategy to make the next bar exam your last. Put this new strategy into practice with 30 essays.

Repeater: Essay-Ultimate Program

The Essay-Ultimate Program combines 40 Practice Essays with all 13 modules of our Online Seminar Series and a Failed Exam Review. This package provides our three flagship services at an incredible value.

More than just a raw score.

Practice Essays are the core of the BarGraders service specifically designed to help you prepare for the challenges of exam day.

Patent-Pending Technology

Using our patent-pending technology, formulate and submit essay responses under simulated exam conditions.

Simulated Testing Environment

BarGraders provides a 1 hour timed environment for each practice exam to help you prepare for the challenges of exam day.

72-Hour Turnaround Time

Within 72 hours, receive a model response, scores, feedback, and an IRAC performance breakdown from one of our former California bar exam graders.

Insider Feedback & Performance-Tracking

Understand and apply insider feedback and track your performance on a subject-by-subject basis.

Learn from insiders.

Learn a subject-by-subject approach to writing passing California Bar Exam Essays from the insiders — former California bar exam graders. Each module walks you through the company's 5-step technique designed to help you write passing Bar answers. This technique is then applied to an actual question so you can see it in action. Each module also reviews commonly tested issues, as well as common cross-over subjects.

Available Modules

• Introduction & Essay Approach Overview
• Business Associations
• Civil Procedure
• Community Property
• Consitutional Law
• Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Professional Responsibility
• Real Property
• Wills & Trusts

Gain invaluable insight from former Bar Exam graders.

Work directly with a former California bar exam grader to understand your failed bar exam. Find out what went wrong and what you can do to correct it and move forward. These 1-on-1 sessions are typically conducted via Skype or a phone call to minimize disruptions to your study schedule.

This review will take an in-depth look at your essay answers and may include:

• Identifying why you receiving a failed score
• Evaluating your IRAC techniques
• How to write for the bar exam, not for law school
• Study techniques for repeaters, including time management
• Failed Exam Review sessions typically last 45 minutes

Meet 1-to-1 with former California Bar Exam graders.

Schedule an in-depth study session with a former California Bar Exam grader. These 1-on-1 sessions are tailored to meet your individual needs and are typically conducted by Skype or over the phone.

Focus areas may include:

• Solidifying your IRAC techniques
• Study techniques, including time management
• Collaborating on a game plan going forward

Our Graders

All of our graders are former california bar exam graders. at bargraders, you benefit directly from our experience and knowledge. our team has decades of experience grading the bar exam and has graded thousands of bar exam essays..

Review and provide realistic grading and feedback on your Practice Essays

Work with you 1-on-1 to review essays from your prior exam, develop study strategies, and address your individual needs

Identify weaknesses in your approach and writing style

Provide constructive and meaningful feedback on how to improve your approach and IRAC techniques

Give you insider tips to help improve your scores

Start our program anytime. Work at your own pace and time frame.

Why choose bargraders.

Insider Feedback

Don't settle for a simple pass or fail. Receive constructive and realistic feedback from a California bar exam grader. Use this insider's knowledge to help you refine and improve your essay writing skills.

72-Hour Turnaround

Submit your essay response and receive scores and feedback within 72 hours. For those requiring faster turnaround times, our Essay Success Packages offer a 24-hour expedited grading option.

Web-Based Practice

Traveling between bar review courses is stressful and cumbersome. Instead, practice from anywhere and at a time that works with your schedule. Just login, take an exam, and get insider feedback.

Performance Tracking

BarGraders provides informative charts and graphs that will help you track your overall performance as well as your IRAC strengths and weaknesses on a subject-by-subject basis.

Realistic Simulation

We provide a one-hour timed environment per exam question to help you prepare for the challenges of exam day where you'll answer 3 questions in 3 hours. It's the perfect environment to practice typing essays.

Testimonials

Law firm solution, bargraders law firm solution is specifically designed for firms with multiple associates taking the california bar exam. firm-wide subscriptions allow multiple accounts, ensuring any associate in your firm can get essay exam help when they need it. contact us today to learn more..

Location Flexibility

BarGraders Practice Exams are taken online, allowing your associates to prepare from any location, at any time.

Graded by Experts

Former California bar exam graders review, grade, and provide feedback for each exam submitted within 72 hours

Firm-wide Tracking

Performance Tracker

Associates can chart their progress and identify strengths and weaknesses by subject or by skill set.

Information & Resources

Essay Trainer

View a complementary schedule outlining study strategies and goals

Practice Essay Demo

Watch the BarGraders Practice Essay Demo and evaluate before you buy

Sample Graded Essay

View a graded practice essay and see our graders in action

Helpful Links

CA Bar Exam Admissions

MBE Registration

About BarGraders

Bargraders has helped students from most of the law schools in the nation pass the california bar exam., the written portion of the california bar exam accounts for 50% of your score. pass the essays, pass the bar., despite diligent studying and knowledge of black letter law, writing passing bar exam essays is the biggest obstacle most examinees face., our technology platform tracks your performance per subject for each element of the irac., frequently asked questions.

An Essential California Bar Exam Supplement

• SELL YOUR EXAMS
• TESTIMONIALS
• Berkeley Law
• Boston University
• Cal Western
• Chapman Law
• Concord Law
• La Verne College of Law
• Monterey College of Law
• Pepperdine Law School
• San Diego Law
• Santa Clara Law
• Southwestern
• Trinity Law
• UC Hastings
• Univ. of West LA
• Western State
• Whittier Law
• Bar Exam 101
• Bar Exam Doctor
• Bar Exam Toolbox
• Bar Secrets
• Be Prepared
• Jurax Bar Prep
• Make This Your Last Time

REAL GRADED ESSAYS:

BarEssays.com has spent years and countless hours constructing our database of California Bar Exam essays . You will have access to thousands of authentic essays that have been graded by the California Bar Examiners.

BAR GRADER REVIEWS:

With each premium subscription to BarEssays.com, you gain access to hundreds of Professional Bar Grader Model Answers and Professional Bar Grader Reviews of selected essays in the BarEssays.com database, written by official former graders of the California Bar Exam.

OUTLINES, CHECKLISTS, TEMPLATES

With each premium subscription to BarEssays.com, you receive a complete set of California Bar Exam Short Review Outlines, Checklists, and Essay Attack Templates.

EASY SEARCH:

The BarEssays.com search engine allows you to browse essays by subject, essay score, handwritten/typed essays or examination year and includes links to officially released answers. The BarEssays.com search engine will dramatically increase the efficiency of your California Bar Exam studies.

A Database of Over Three Thousand Authentic Graded California Bar Exam Essays

BarEssays.com is a unique and invaluable study tool for the essay portion of the California Bar Exam. We are, by far, the most comprehensive service that provides REAL examples of REAL essays and performance exams by REAL students that were actually taken during the California Bar Exam and graded by the California Bar Examiners. Since launching in 2007, thousands have successfully used the BarEssays.com essay database to prepare for the essay portion of the California Bar Exam, with several entire law schools, review courses, and tutors providing access to all of their students.

• Jan 22, 2023

Passing the Essay Portion of the California Bar Exam: Insider Tips and Strategies

Understand the format of the exam: The essay portion of the California bar exam consists of five essay questions that are based on the subjects tested on the exam. These questions are designed to test your ability to analyze legal issues, apply the law to given facts, and communicate your analysis effectively .

Study the relevant law : The essay portion of the California bar exam is based on the law that is tested on the exam. Therefore, it is essential that you have a thorough understanding of the relevant law before you take the exam. Unfortunately, memorization alone will not suffice in passing the essay portion of the California bar exam. It's important that you understand how the rule applies. This includes studying past essay exams to see how a certain legal rule was used with a unique set of facts. You have to understand how one legal rule can be used in multiple ways.

Practice writing essays: One of the best ways to prepare for the essay portion of the California bar exam is to practice writing essays. This will help you develop your writing skills and become more comfortable with the format of the exam. You can find sample essay questions and model answers on the California State Bar website. Pro tip: there is a 99% chance that PR is going to be tested so it's wise to study and take a look at most, if not all, past PR exams that were administered. Scoring high enough on PR will offset other lower scoring essays.

Use IRAC/CREAC method: IRAC is an acronym for Issue, Rule, Analysis, and Conclusion. CREAC is an acronym for Conclusion, Rule, Explanation, Application, Conclusion. Using this method can help you organize your thoughts and present a clear and logical analysis of the legal issues in the essay question.

Time management: The essay portion of the California bar exam is timed, so it is essential that you manage your time effectively. Make sure to read through all of the essay questions before you begin writing, and plan out how much time you will spend on each portion of the essay. We recommend not spending more than one allotted hour per essay subject. You should have a pre-planned approach for each essay. Here is what you should be thinking about: how much time do I spend outlining? How much time should I spend writing? How many times should I read the fact pattern? The more practice essay exams you do, the better prepared you will be on exam day!

Proofreading : Always proofreading your essay before submitting, it could be a game changer in terms of points. Make sure to take the time to proofread your essays and correct any errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling (if you have the time)!

Get feedback : If possible, have a mentor, attorney, professor or someone who has taken the bar exam before to review your essays. Getting feedback on your writing can help you improve your skills and identify areas where you need to focus your study efforts.

These tips should help you to prepare effectively for the essay portion of the California bar exam. Remember to study the relevant law, practice writing essays, use the IRAC/CREAC method, manage your time well, proofread your work and get feedback from an expert.

Understanding the Internal Scoring System: A breakdown of how essays are graded on the California Bar Exam:

See below for a guide to the components and percentage weight assigned for each component on the California Bar Exam. You will be graded on the following components: Organization/format; issue spotting; rule statements; analysis; and conclusion.

Analysis: 40%

Issue Spotting: 25%

Rule Statements: 20%

Organization/format: 10%

Conclusion: 5%

Recent Posts

February 2024 California Bar Exam Essay Predictions

Thank You, Cal Bar Bible Subscribers: A Special Shoutout to Feedpost!

Conquering the California Bar Exam: A 3-Month Study Plan for Success

California Bar Review Course

Personalized Prep for Real Results

From   $2499

Gain the tools and techniques you need to excel on the California bar exam.

Take control of your California bar exam prep with a full battery of resources designed for you, flexible options including live and on-demand courses, with top instructors who know what it takes to succeed. To access the same exceptional bar prep content at a pace that works best for you, select "Choose Your Course" to get started.

Complete a traditional, intensive 2-month bar prep course Live Online or On Demand.

Bar Review Flex

Ease your schedule and extend your studies across 3 months of On Demand access.

Maximize Your Prep Upgrade to Bar Review Plus.

Give yourself the most time and opportunities to boost your confidence and solidify your knowledge. Select either the 2 month Bar Review or 3-month Bar Review Flex course then add a semester of online access, complete with weekly modules and flashcards.

Prepare To Pass the Bar Exam With Study Options Tailored to Your Learning and Lifestyle Needs

• 2-month Bar Review or 3-month Bar Review Flex
• The option to add semester-long access with Bar Review Plus
• Personalized study plan and recommendations based on your results
• Unlimited essay grading
• Previously released MBE® questions
• Over 4,000 MBE®-style multiple-choice questions 
• Weekly live online Homeroom
• 4 bar practice exams
• Access to “Ask an Expert,” with 24/7 question answering 
• Bar review course textbooks for all subjects
• The ability to connect with other students in our Private Law Student Community
• Flashcards and supplemental content (Kaplan Bar Review Plus only)
• Pass guarantee with free repeat

Lock in today's price with a $20 registration fee

We have what you need to prep for the bar exam.

Proven Bar Prep

Every year, we help thousands of professionals pass the bar exam. We’ve got an impressive track record as industry leaders in bar prep .

Flexible for Your Lifestyle

Prepare to pass the bar in a way that makes sense for you. Choose from the 2-month Kaplan Bar Review, 3-month Kaplan Bar Review Flex, and semester-long Kaplan Bar Review Plus.

Live Online or On Demand

We are the only major bar review to offer on demand and live online classes for bar exam prep. Our expert attorneys will provide you with the ideal amount of structure and guidance.

Lawyers at the Ready

All of our bar review courses are led by lawyers. And they’re available to you 24/7 to help you prepare for the bar exam.

Looking for a different state?

California Bar Exam Information

About the Bar Exam

The California Bar Exam is a two-day exam. It takes place on the last Tuesday and Wednesday of February and July. The California Essays and Performance Test take place on Tuesday and the MBE®(Multistate Bar Exam) takes place on Wednesday. Note that California has transitioned to a two-day exam with the July 2017 administration.

Contact Information

California State Bar

180 Howard St. San Francisco, CA 94105 415-538-2000

Bar Exam Format

The California Bar Exam is a two-day exam.

Day 1: Three Essays covering California-specific and Multistate law; PM: Two Essays covering California-specific and Multistate law and one California Performance Test (CPT).

Day 2: 200-question, multiple-choice Multistate Bar Exam (MBE®).

Subjects Tested

Business Associations (Agency, Parternship, Sole Proprietorships, Corporations, Limited Liability Companies, Joint Ventures); Civil Procedure (Federal and California); Community Property; Constitutional Law; Contracts; Criminal Law and Procedure; Evidence (Federal and California); Professional Responsibility (California Rules of Professional Conduct; California Business and Professions Code; ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and ABA Model Code of Professional Responsibility; relevant state and federal case law); Real Property; Remedies; Torts; Trusts; Wills and Succession.

Bar Exam Dates

The California Bar Exam will be administered on:

• 2024: July 30-31,
• 2025: February 25-26, and July 29-30

The California Bar Exam will require a minimum scaled score of 1,390 points out of 2,000 points to pass. The MBE®is weighted at 50% of the score, the Essays are weighted at 35%, and the CPT is weighted at 15%.

A minimum passing scaled score is 86 or higher.

MPRE® Policy: Applicants may take the exam any time after completing their first year of law school.

Reciprocity

Applicants who are already licensed to practice law in another state or jurisdiction must register as an attorney applicant, complete a positive moral character determination, and pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination as well as the California Bar Examination. If an applicant has an active license and has been certified as in good standing for at least four years before he or she takes the California Bar Exam, he or she may take the one-day Attorneys' Examination - this consists of only Day 1, the written exam. Attorneys with less than four years of active status, or who are inactive or not in good standing, must take the full two-day California Bar Exam, which includes the Multistate Bar Examination.

Bar Review Convenience Package

Get the full review course, plus a lot extra—at no additional cost. You’ll get access to our bar-raising set of MBE flashcards, a second course within five years, and more. Sounds great, right? To make it even better, learn how your law firm can cover the cost.

The best guarantee is one you won’t need. But you get it anyway.

Pass the Bar, guaranteed or repeat your prep for free. †

• 0 Shopping Cart $ 0.00 -->

Struggling with bar exam essay writing? Attend our LIVE Essay Writing Workshops on June 15th or 16th! Watch an expert walk through real bar exam essays and submit your own for feedback!

Learn to study efficiently for the bar exam with our free guides on how to pass the MEE and MBE ! Plus memorize all of the MPT formats with our attack outlines !

Overwhelmed by your bar exam outlines? Our expert-crafted, highly-tailored bar exam outlines are now available for individual purchase! It’s not too late to change your approach!

How Is The California Bar Exam Scored?

How Is The California Bar Exam Scored?:  If you are preparing to take the California Bar Exam, you may be wondering how the exam is scored.  In this post, we break down how California scores the bar exam!

UPDATE: California passed an order on January 28, 2021 that allows examinees who narrowly passed the California Bar Exam between July 2015 and February 2020 to be admitted to the state bar after completing 300 hours of supervised legal work (no second bar exam is required).

What does California test on the bar exam?

As of July 2017, the California Bar Exam is now a 2-day exam (instead of a 3-day exam).  Day one is the written portion of the exam and it consists of five one-hour essays and one ninety-minute performance test.  Day two of the California Bar Exam is the multiple-choice portion, or Multistate Bar Exam (“MBE”).  On day two, you will have six hours to answer 200 multiple-choice questions.

How is the Multistate Bar Exam scored?

Of the 200 questions on the MBE, 175 of the questions are scored and 25 of the questions are “test” questions that the NCBE is evaluating for use on future bar exams.  However, there is no way to know which questions are the test questions, so you should answer every question as if it is a real question!

The scored questions are each worth 1 point.  The number of questions correct equates to a student’s “raw” score.  The National Conference of Bar Examiners scored the MBE.  The NCBE uses an undisclosed statistical formula to convert a raw score into a “scaled score.”  California appears to convert this score reported by the NCBE onto a 2000-point scale (where a “perfect” score on the MBE is 2000 in California).  The State Bar of California has indicated that “MBE raw scores are converted to scale scores to adjust the results for possible differences in average question difficulty across different administrations of the examination.”

On July 16, 2020, the California Supreme Court announced that it was permanently reducing the passing score by 50 points, from 1440 to 1390. On August 10, 2020, the California Supreme Court issued an order stating that the 1390 passing score would not be applied retroactively to past exam takers. Thus, beginning with the October 2020 bar exam, the passing score is 1390.

This equates to an approximate scaled score of 139 out of 200 questions on the MBE portion of the California Bar Exam.  If you are wondering how many questions you need to answer correctly to obtain a scaled score of 139,  check out this post  where we break down the math for you!

Because the two scores—the written score and the multiple-choice score – are averaged together, a 139 or 1390 is not the minimum required to pass the California Bar Exam.  For instance, if you score higher on the written portion, that would decrease the score you need on the multiple-choice portion to pass (and vice versa).

How are the California essays and performance test scored?

Practicing attorneys grade California essays and performance tests.  California divides the graders into six groups, each consisting of 12 experienced graders and up to 4 apprentice graders.  A member of the Examination Development and Grading Team and a member of the Committee of Bar Examiners supervise each group.  The graders spend some time “calibrating” their grading to ensure that all given scores comport with the same standards.

The graders assign a raw score to each essay on a scale from 40 to 100. For performance tests, the raw score scale is from 80 to 200.  The State Bar of California has explained, “in order to earn a grade of 40, the applicant must at least identify the subject of the question and attempt to apply the law to the facts of the question.  If these criteria are not met, the answer is assigned a zero.”

There is a total of 700 possible raw points for the written portion of the California bar exam (100 points for each essay and 200 points for the performance test).  This total raw score is “scaled” to equate the total possible points on the written portion with the total possible points on the MBE portion (2000 total points possible, as discussed above).  Each portion of the bar exam – the written portion and the multiple-choice portion – is worth 50% of the total score.

What total score do I need to pass the California Bar Exam?

California multiplies the MBE scaled score (out of 2000 possible points) by .50. The converted written score is also multiplied by .50 (also out of 2000 possible points).  These scores are then added together. To pass, these combined scores need to total at least 1390.

Will I receive my score?

California does not tell successful applicants their essay scores, performance test score, or MBE score. Successful applicants do not receive copies of their answers following the exam.  Only unsuccessful applicants receive their scores on each essay and performance test. They also receive their MBE scaled score and their percentile rank for each of the seven MBE subjects.  Unsuccessful examinees will also receive their percentile rank for their performance on the MBE compared to other California Bar Exam examinees.  They can obtain copies of their essay answers shortly after California releases results.

Looking to Pass the California Bar Exam?

📚 Ready to Conquer the California Bar Exam?

• Free Bar Exam Resource Center : Your gateway to handpicked guides, webinars, and articles.
• Expert-Written Bar Exam Guides : Get a CA bar exam essay guide, strategies for passing, and advice on choosing the ideal tutor.  

Top Resources Recommended by our Students:

• Bar Exam Outlines : Our comprehensive and condensed bar exam outlines present key information in an organized, easy-to-digest layout.
• California One-Sheets and Baby Bar One-Sheets : Consistently 5-star rated by our students.
• California Essay Exam Mastery Class : Target the most tested and challenging California bar segments.
• California and Baby Bar Exam Private Tutoring : Get personalized tutoring by bar exam experts.
• On Demand Bar Exam Course : 5-star rated for your comprehensive preparation. Free course preview available!
• Real MBE Questions : Perfect your practice with the best of practice materials.

🔥 NEW! Check out our Repeat Taker Bar Exam Course and our unrivaled platinum Guarantee Pass Program !

Related posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use
• Public Interest

By using this site, you allow the use of cookies, and you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service .

Cookie and Privacy Settings

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

• Privacy Overview
• Strictly Necessary Cookies

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to content

• Why One-Timers
• Pricing & Discounts
• Law Students

Bar Exam Calculator

One-timers’ ca bar exam score calculator.

ARE YOU WAITING FOR RESULTS? WANT TO KNOW IF YOU PASSED THE CALIFORNIA BAR EXAM?

Enter your essay, PT and MBE scores in the Exam Score column to calculate your approximate scaled written and scaled total score. Our calculator is calibrated after the results and scaling are officially released for each administration of the bar exam. Updating our algorithm with the newest data sets; which utilizes a systematic computational analysis of all past exams.

Want to start studying to be safe.. but are waiting for results? If you’ve passed… you get your MONEY BACK!

Enter your scores:

Free Exam, Essay and PT Results Review with Instructor

Would you like to review your past exam(s), in detail, with an instructor and/or grader? Complete the free trial sign up and give us a call to schedule your free exam results review.

Guideline of the Grades You May Receive

40  – While this score is possible, it is extremely unlikely. This score is only given if the student barely wrote anything.

45  – Extremely poor answer, almost missed what subject the examiners were testing. The student did not demonstrate an understanding of the essay or the subject matter. It is also pretty tough to get this score.

50  – Very poor.

55  – Needs much improvement, but hit some issues.

60  – Not quite passing, but not too bad. Some improvement is needed.

65  – The student demonstrated a sufficient understanding of the essay and discussed the facts and the law well enough to pass.  A passing answer.

70  – Very good answer. Well organized and nicely discussed.

75  – Close to flawless. The answer contained creative arguments, hit the main issues hard, and discussed everything very well.

80  – While reading it the grader was in awe, it was that good.

100  – The top 2 answers selected to be on the California State Bar’s website.

MBE Scores: Raw vs. Scaled

• The percentage needed for a passing MBE score in California is 69.5% (1390/2000 or 139/200) is the scaled score. Being that 25 random questions are dropped; a raw score of 1220/1750 or 122/175 is needed.
• For a more accurate determination of your score, take advantage of One-Timers’ MBE Test Simulator. (The average score of your last two MBE timed exams given to you by One-Timers should be a pretty fair indicator of how you scored on the actual MBE.)

Scaling Information

• The Committee of Bar Examiners utilizes a scoring procedure designed to ensure the level of difficulty of the exam remains unchanged from previous administrations of the exam. The statistical technique, called scaling, converts scores on the written section (essay questions and PT) to the MBE scale measurement. Converting the total written raw scores to the same scale of measurement as the MBE adjusts for possible differences in average question difficulty and grading across different administrations of the exam.
• On the written section of the exam, applicants were initially graded on a basis of 700 maximum possible points. An applicant could earn up to 100 raw points on each of the five essay questions and up to 100 raw points on the PT. The grade on the PT is doubled in the calculation of the total raw written points. The scores obtained on the written section of the exam are then translated to the 2000-point MBE scale. An applicant’s total score is the scaled MBE score multiplied by .50 plus the converted score on the written section multiplied by .50.
• The committee of bar examiners utilizes a grading procedure designed to ensure the level of difficulty remains “unchanged” from one administration of the exam to another. As such, California can only publish its scaling method after the results are released. Thus, there is no way for the calculator to be 100% accurate.  

Attorney Applicants

• Enter a score of 1390 in the MBE section of the calculator

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

Bar Exam Toolbox®

Get the tools you need for bar exam success

Know Your Audience — Who is Grading Your Bar Exam?

June 11, 2018 By John Passmore Leave a Comment

Who Grades the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE)?

Unless you are taking the bar in Puerto Rico or Louisiana , you will be taking the MBE—the multiple-choice portion of the bar exam.

The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), the nation-wide organization that produces the MBE, grades the MBE for all of the jurisdictions that administer this exam component.

Who Grades the Written Portions?

The written portions of your exam, potentially including the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), the Multistate Performance Test (MPT), and the jurisdiction-specific written portions, are graded by your jurisdiction. Even if your jurisdiction administers an NCBE writing component (i.e., the MEE and the MPT ), your local bar examiners will grade those components.

Who are the Bar Examiners?

An organization of bar examiners in your jurisdiction will be responsible for the grading process. These organizations vary in their structure and affiliation. For example, some are committees of the jurisdiction’s bar like California’s Committee of Bar Examiners or Washington’s Board of Bar Examiners . Others are agencies of the jurisdiction’s Supreme Court, like Texas’s Board of Law Examiners or Virginia’s Board of Bar Examiners . To find out who your bar admission agency is, visit the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ Jurisdiction Information webpage , select your jurisdiction, and then scroll to the bottom of your jurisdiction’s profile. Whatever the organizational structure, these committees or boards will oversee the grading of each applicant’s written responses.

Grading processes vary by jurisdiction. For an example, here are some details on California’s approach to grading —

The [Committee] maintains a diverse pool of approximately 150 experienced attorneys from which graders are selected for each examination grading cycle. A majority of the graders have been grading bar examinations for at least five years and many of them have participated for well over 10 years or more.

Six groups, each consisting of 12 experienced graders and up to four apprentice graders, are selected to grade the essay and PT answers.

What are Some Ways Examiners ensure Fair and Consistent Grades?

Bar examiners are not trying to give bad grades, and they are certainly aiming for consistency. Jurisdictions have varying grading-process quality controls—some are more transparent than others. Check your jurisdiction, but here are a few interesting examples —

The California Committee of Bar Examiners oversees an intense process of three grader “calibration sessions” to ensure graders are grading essays consistently. For a detailed description for what these sessions entail, visit the Committee’s website .

The Washington Board of Bar Examiners looks to NCBE-prescribed standards —

In order to assure fairness and uniformity in grading, the Board of Bar Examiners shall follow NCBE-prescribed standards for grading to be used by all graders. The Board of Bar Examiners shall, as soon as practicable and within any guidelines prepared by the NCBE, certify the scores on the MEE and MPT portions for all applicants who have taken the UBE.

The Virginia Board of Bar Examiners follows this interesting procedure to ensure fair grading —

Immediately following the exam each examiner reads and assigns preliminary scores to a sample of the essay answers. The examiners then meet with professors from the approved Virginia law schools to discuss the essay questions and the answers proposed by the examiners. The law school representatives often suggest alternative approaches to answering some of the questions, which the examiners consider and adopt if appropriate. Following the meeting with the professors, the examiners reach a consensus on grading guidelines for each question. They then return to their respective offices where they and the graders working under their supervision assign raw scores to the exam answers in accordance with the grading guidelines.

What Factors do Essay Graders Consider?

Graders care more about substance than style, but how you communicate your answers matters. Two recent Bar Exam Toolbox posts provide great advice on how to best express your answers to the grader. For a post on what graders are looking for and how to give it to them, read Avenne McBride’s great post Advice From a Bar Grader: Tips to Maximize Your Essay Score . For some practical advice from an experienced bar exam tutor, read Ariel Salzer’s What Bar Graders See When They Read Your Essays .

For great ways to improve the substance of your bar exam essays, see Bar Exam Toolbox’s Bar Exam 101 .

Does Spelling and Grammar Count?

Non-substantive issues in your essays will not greatly impact your score. For the California bar exam, documentation explicitly says that “the quality of handwriting or accuracy of spelling and grammar are not considered in assigning a grade.” But limiting the errors will give your answer a polish that will help the grader give you the best possible score. Remember that even if you don’t get style points, graders are human and may be influenced by non-substantive errors.

Knowing your audience is important. Find out who is grading your bar exam and get to know how they grade. Being informed will help clear up any grading misconceptions and leave you as prepared and confident as possible on exam day!

Ready to pass the bar exam? Get the support and accountability you need with personalized one-on-one bar exam tutoring or one of our economical courses and workshops . We’re here to help!

About John Passmore

John Passmore is a family-violence nonprofit attorney in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He previously served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Texas Office of the Attorney General - Child Support Division. He received his B.A. from Texas A&M University and his J.D. from The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. John and his wife enjoy drinking coffee and chasing around their children and standard poodle named Sebastian.

Reader Interactions

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Need to Pass the Bar Exam?

Sign up for our free weekly email with useful tips!

• Terms & Conditions

Copyright 2024 Bar Exam Toolbox®™

• The Elite Package

The Premier Package

• The Essential Package
• The Attorney Package
• The Foreign Attorney Package
• Early Preparation Addition
• Add-On Services
• Compare Bar Prep

Our most popular package for First-Time Takers (from a U.S. Law School) and Repeat Applicants. Get ample personal assessment, grading and coaching with Expert Tutor and Coach Shana Karpeles, Esq. Includes Early Course Access.

Package contents:.

• Complimentary Early Access to scheduling, video and materials up to 4 months prior to either the February or July Course. Services below begin Mid-May for the July Exam and Mid-December for the February Exam;

Assessment and Strategic Game Plan for Applicant’s individual needs.   Working Applicants will be given guidance on balancing study time if applicable. Study and life balance will be taken into consideration as well;

Enrollment in Skyprep, CA Bar Style's Online Classroom with one stop access to all lectures, grading submission feedback and online materials;

A Daily Course Schedule.   Applicant will receive a detailed and very well structured daily schedule of what to study every day from the inception of the program through the First Day of the CA Bar Exam.

All Materials provided (printed and online access) including clear and concise black letter law outlines for every tested subject, including CA specific subjects, over 50 essay approaches for the major areas tested on the essay portion of the CA Bar Exam, mnemonic outlines, Performance Test Approach Materials, MBE Approach Materials, practice essays and performance tests, model answers from the CA Bar Examiners and CA Bar Style’s own models as well (online access to models only);

Unlimited Essay Approach Access .   Applicants will have access to over 40 hours of CA Bar Style’s online lectures on how to write for every possible tested area on the essay portion of the CA Bar Exam.   CA Bar Style Approaches are based on the patterns of the last 20 years of the CA Bar Exam.   Areas focused on are major and minor issues tested per subject, how to issue spot for every tested area, how to properly analyze the tested issues, when to give a counterargument, when to quickly get out of specific issues, where to spend more time on given tested areas, how to deal with complex cross-over subjects, which areas tend to cross-over, time-management guides, test taking tips and predictions;

A Zoom Instructed Performance Test Workshop  that provides one of the best step-by-step approaches to the 90-minute Online CA Bar Exam Performance Test on the market today. Applicants learn how to properly answer and organize the given task for either a persuasive or objective performance test;

Weekly Zoom Sessions . Head tutor and CA Bar Exam Expert Shana Karpeles will host weekly Zoom Sessions covering Issue Spotting Practice, predictions, time management tips, memorization strategies, MBE Strategy and answering Applicant questions and other topics related to course scheduling and Applicant needs;

MBE Tracking and Tutoring .   MBE Tracking and Assessment of weak areas combined with strategy for improvement in every categorical area tested . Ms.Karpeles will track your MBE progress with the CA Bar Style MBE Tracking Methodology, provide a personalized game plan for carrying out your MBE practice and provide tutoring and structure on how to improve in areas of reading comprehension, substantive law clarity and timing. Applicants will need to separately enroll in The Adaptibar Program that provides the best source of questions to compliment CA Bar Style's MBE Tutoring Program;

Grading of 20 essays , complete with ample feedback, line-by-line grading and guidance on how to organize and pass a CA Bar Exam passing essay (Our graders spend approximately 30-45 minutes grading one essay!);

Grading of 3 performance tests , complete with ample feedback of your use of the file and library, ability to follow the approach and task memorandum and properly analyze the relevant facts and law in the correct tone within the allotted time-frame;

Personal Tutoring .   Two  35 minute personal tutoring sessions whereby CA Bar Exam Expert Shana Karpeles will evaluate Applicant’s written graded submissions and MBE work, will point out where overall the applicant’s main weaknesses are and how to improve them.  Tutoring sessions can be done In-Person (at our Sherman Oaks office) or via Zoom, Facetime or phone conference. MBE assessment and tracking is provided as well. NOTE: The Average Applicant only needs 1-2 personal assessments with Ms. Karpeles. If more are needed, they can be purchased ala carte, but the majority of our Applicants do not need additional assessment;

Simulated Exam . A two-day Online Proctored Simulated Bar Exam with one writing day (5 essays and one performance test) and one 200 MBE question day;

Effective Coaching. G uidance and coaching by Shana Karpeles with any questions or issues Applicant may have regarding work/preparation balance and scheduling issues.

The Premier Package pricing is $6,000.00

Discounts: -Enroll with a friend: 500.00 off per Applicant.

Payment Options

Option 1: Maximum 2 Payments spread over two months from the time of enrollment.

Option 2: Payment in full for $200.00 off at the time of enrollment. The $200.00 off cannot be combined with any other offers.

We accept all major credit cards or 6 months interest-free checkouts through PayPal Credit. Click here to apply.

Make This Your Last Time

Bar Exam Preparation

Analyzing Your Score Report

The questions on everyone’s minds when they get their scores back from the bar examiners:

• What are my weaknesses? What can I do better?
• How should I attack my studies next time?
• How many MBE questions did I even get right?

In other words, “Wait, what the hell did I do wrong?! 😭” Just like when your girlfriend gets upset with you and now you must investigate the reason.

I hope the following gives you an idea of how to plan your rematch with the bar exam.

General guidelines for bar exam score report analysis

Analyses of example score reports from the california bar exam, how many mbe questions did i get right, how many mbe questions do i need to get right, what does ‘mbe below percent’ mean, do the percentiles really tell me anything, if you want to increase your scores and not end up here….

First, check the following table.

“Blah” across the board where everything is just OK? → Improving the MBE will likely lift all scores since MBE subjects are tested in essays also → Alternatively, or in addition, focus on your relatively weaker areas using the table above

This is the exact guideline I developed to analyze score reports. It’s also included in my self-study guide, Passer’s Playbook 2.0 .

Notes if you’re analyzing for the California Bar Exam:

• Each 5-point increment gets you MUCH closer to passing the exam. What this means is that the other way is true also. Each 5-point downtick is a significant loss.
• A “passing score” for an essay or PT is a raw score of approximately 60-63.
• An average raw written score of 60.29 in the 2021 July exam
• An average of 62.78 in the 2022 February exam
• An average of 61.33 in the 2022 July exam

The average raw written scores needed were calculated using the published formula such as this one: 

In other words, an average raw written score of 60-63 generally puts you on track to a 1390 scaled written score, which puts you on track to pass the exam assuming your scaled MBE score is also in the 1390 neighborhood.

So targeting at least a 60-65 on each of your essays and PT is a good idea.

• Consider a “weak” essay or MBE score to be under 1340 scaled (50 points under passing) and a “strong” score to be over 1440 (50 points over passing).

I’ve sorted these score analyses in decreasing order (high to low). Pre-2017 score reports are not included because the scoring mechanic changed in CA. Find your total score and click on examples that most closely match yours. These analyses are based on actual answers I’ve given, edited for clarity (e.g., to remove back-and-forth conversation or to add more details).

Every administration of the exam is different, so a given raw score may translate to a 1390 scaled score on one exam but higher or lower in another. As alluded to above, an average written score of 60-63 will put you on track to pass. So aim to hit at least 60 or 65 on the essays and PT. The number of MBE questions to get right is more of a mystery, but see below for possible MBE scores based on percentiles.

More on California’s grading methodology.

What are your initial impressions?

“I think I did well on the MBE. Not sure what happened in Contracts. In prep, K was my strongest. Deff going to give time to the PT and work on my essays the most”

I agree with those thoughts. The bad news is that you were really close to passing, and knocking out the PT could have been the difference. The good news is that you are really close to passing. My main suggestion:

Based on the wide range of raw written scores (50-70) and the fact that you did very well on the MBE (you know the law), my guess is that your writing structure and format may need some work. When you focus on essays, I would focus on clean IRAC, clear headings, organization, etc.

Just talked to someone who was doing 70% on AdaptiBar and found the real MBE so different that she got a bad score on it. Embrace this blessing, and keep up the great work on MBE! Maybe revisit S&T, particularly the section on K.

Two suggestions:

• Do a lot more PTs (say, one a week at least). You can find plenty of very similar MPTs to practice in the PT guide . This is one area where I think quantity > quality. You have to work through different assignments and see how the model/sample answers are put together.
• You can study the selected answers from the State Bar
• You can study graded answers at  BarEssays  (or my  essay answer bank )

Barbri Don’t waste your time with Barbri lectures unless you really need a review of a specific subject or they are review videos of a practice exam or something. They will drain your time and energy, and you will forget 99% of it anyway.

Scheduling I don’t recommend blindly following any one set schedule. Barbri gives you one schedule to everyone, including to people with infinite time and no other responsibility whatsoever, to people who have full-time jobs, to people who have to take care of kids and family. Personally, this doesn’t make sense.

Instead, I recommend creating your own flexible schedule that caters to your weaknesses and strengths (you can still take inspiration from existing schedules). Don’t shy away from this. Spent an hour up front so that you know what to do every day. Clarity = productivity. Remember that Abe Lincoln ax quote?

MBE You did pretty well on the MBE, so keep doing whatever you were doing. I highly recommend that you work through your copy of Emanuel’s Strategies & Tactics cover to cover (yes, including questions you got right and explanations to all answer choices—lots of great insights you can learn from). Keep working through your Barbri questions too. I think you had a great mix of real and fake questions. If you decide to re-enroll in AdaptiBar, they give you a substantial discount for re-enrolling ($245). No strong rec one way or another about this.

PT Do more! I’d say at least one per week. I like Tuesdays just because the written portion of the bar is also on Tuesday. Look at more model answers. This is one aspect of the bar where quantity > quality. You want to see how these assignments are put together. You can find plenty of practice MPTs (similar 90-min assignments) from links in the PT guide .

Sure, the PT is not a big part of your score, but don’t let it be a submarine torpedo. Very common to ignore the PT until it bites you in the ass. There’s plenty of room to improve from a 55.

Essays Yours is a unique case where your scores vary very widely (20-pt range) while your MBE scores indicate a decent mastery over the law. You clearly know how to put together an essay, IRAC it clearly, etc. because you were able to score a 75. I think further firming up your understanding of the law for the MBE will help since there’s a lot of overlap between MBE and essay subjects. You’ll probably see three essay questions on MBE subjects. Working through the S&T will likely help. Probably continue using BarEssays too [$25 coupon available].

This student’s questions:

• Do you think that I should keep at it with the CBX or should I instead focus my efforts on UBE states?
• I just got a new job and was planning to wait until Feb 2020 to take the exam (be it CBX or a UBE state exam). Do you think this is prudent or would it be taking too long of a break?

My response:

Great job with the essays!

Wherever you go, the MBE is still going to be a significant part of your scores. As a preliminary answer, I would go after the CBX again as soon as you feel ready (can be this time or next time but not after that… it is too long as you suspect).

To give you a better answer about that, I want to ask two questions:

• How have you been preparing for the MBE so far? [Answer: “I’ve purchased Adaptibar and used it sporadically though not as much as I should. This past time I mainly reviewed critical pass cards and did some Adaptibar Qs but mainly stayed away from computer related tasks…”]
• Does your new job require bar passage? Why 2020?

If you prefer to stay away from the computer, Emanuel’s Strategies & Tactics Vol. 1 (and/or Vol. 2 ) is a great choice. You can learn a lot from the explanations. The MBE Study Aid can also be purchased from the NCBE in paperback form also (although you won’t get any explanations there).

As for your job situation, I agree it’s not the best look to take time off so soon after you started. What I would do in your shoes is to study during your free time and aim for either exam in 2019. You will have to sacrifice your free time, yes. The good part is that you’re already good at essays. My plan would literally be to do & review the Emanuel questions and other questions I find over and over and over again whenever there is free time, even 1 hour a day.

I interviewed two recent CA passers who were both working and only had a few hours a day at most to study. However, the time constraint on forced them to get creative and spend the most time on where it mattered. They did not do as well when they had MORE time.

If you’re willing to do double duty, you might consider retaking in Feb or July. If that is not appealing, 2020 it is.

Question : “Can I ask why you would push strongly for 2019 instead of 2020 (aside from the info being fresh in my mind)?”

Answer : I prefer 2019 to get it done ASAP to (1) keep it fresh and (2) because dragging it out will make “being a repeater” more ingrained in my identity. Putting it off makes it harder to pull yourself back up. Your identity settles at “perpetual repeater.” Your determination becomes diluted.

Your PT score was good, so it seems to me you know how to IRAC, present, and organize. Overall, though, both written and MBE were just lukewarm—not terrible, not great.

In your case, focusing on getting a better grasp of the law (particularly for MBE subjects) would benefit you on both ends, since those subjects will overlap with at least three of your essays. Civ Pro & Evidence, which were your MBE weaknesses, also appeared on the essays.

Hence, working on the MBE, beginning with your trouble topics , seems to be the way to go at this point. Strengthening Civ Pro & Evidence will put you closer to passing.

First off, you kinda got screwed by the second graders. Second reads were either same or lower than the original scores. If they’d given you more points you might have passed. Sorry, luck of the draw / graders stopped giving a shit after reading thousands of papers.

That said, those written scores are all over the place. You have some essays scoring 55 even though your MBE is decent. This suggests to me that it was perhaps less so about your knowledge of the law but more about how you presented and logically analyzed them ( IRAC , heading, organization). Presentation matters because you never know if your paper is going to be read by some guy who wants to drive off a cliff after reading 1,000 other essays. (Grading essays is really boring. Having to be consistent across all the essays you grade is going to be pretty hard.) Since we’re dealing with real humans, it will benefit you to be very clear about what you’re discussing and show them you got the issues and rules and a reasonable understanding of how to come to a conclusion. Take advantage of the subjectivity.

MBE was pretty good. Could have been better in some places. Overall, you were close enough to get a re-read but got screwed on the second read. They took away 35 raw points!

Answer : The PT (Essay 6) is actually quite a leveraged piece of the pie. Let’s say you got a respectable 65 on the PT. That’s actually equivalent to 40 whopping extra points across the essays. You can imagine four of your essays getting 10 points extra. That’s because the PT is worth double. It’s allocated 200 points out of 700 total for the written portion. So that’s probably where you left most points on the table. If you want some pointers or ideas for the PT, check out my PT guide .

Your MBE looks decent! Whatever you were doing, keep doing it.

Your Con Law essay was good (70), yet Con Law MBE performance was average (49th percentile). You also received a 65 on another essay. This might indicate that you can write a good essay, as long as you’re proficient in identifying the relevant issues and recalling the relevant rules for that subject.

Given the variation in essay scores (55-70) and the relatively lower MBE score, it would likely help to understand the rules better for each subject (particularly for Torts). Memorize, understand , and apply what you learn to questions, particularly MBE questions .

Also, I’d definitely practice more PTs. Quantity > quality in this case.

“I think my mistake was to cover 6 MBE subjects and practice and then just did essays in the end. Stopped practicing MBE  last month before the exam. English is my second language. I think that contributes to the MBE being tougher for me. Takes longer to read.”

I agree with your assessment if you stopped doing MBE practice in the last month. It’s important to keep up each portion of the bar, especially near the end. If it takes you longer to read, all the more reason to practice more (and redo the same questions later) so that you get used to seeing the patterns and not just the words.

Whatever you did for Contracts and Torts MBE, do that for everything else on the MBE.

While learning the law better is going to help, merely memorizing it is just the beginning. Be able to identify the relevant issues and apply the law by doing plenty of practice essays , and present your answer with proper organization . This will help with PTs also.

Do a lot more PTs. IMO quantity is more important than quality here (make sure your answer still looks similar to model answers). One common trap with the PT is running out of time. Either set a strict time limit for outlining (I recommend 40-50% of your time max on outlining and get to writing no matter what so you can finish), or give yourself more time for the PT by shaving some time off your afternoon essays.

This was a tough exam for sure. You needed an average raw written score of 62.78 to get a 1390 written scaled score, according to the formula in this document breaking down the 2022 February exam: https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/0/documents/admissions/Examinations/BX-Unsuccessful-Ltr.pdf . The average needed here is closer to the old standard (back when the passing score was 1440) than the new standard.

You have a good PT score and got a 65 on another essay, so you’re obviously capable of writing coherently in the way graders want to see.

That said, I see that most of your essays are in the 50-55 range. If you could figure out how to add 10 points to each, that would really help your score. I imagine it’s one of a few things, based on common mistakes I notice. These are some low-hanging fruits that could push your essay score up:

Commingling rules and analyses. Keep them separate paragraphs. First, the relevant rules you need to solve the issue. Then discuss the relevant facts. Don’t introduce new rules in the middle of your discussion.

Issues need to be super clear and broken down. Include sub-rules for sub-issues.

Show your work! Like solving an algebra problem, take it step by step. It helps to think “why” and use the word “because” to connect facts to law. Don’t be afraid to “plagiarize” facts from the hypo. You can also make reasonable common-sense logical steps.

Check your essays and see if you’re making any of these low-hanging fruit mistakes.

In addition, brush up on the law… This will be good for the MBE too. Prioritize your understanding of MBE subjects and PR since most essays will hit them. I suspect you really just need to go through a lot of the  past exams . Get a BarEssays account to see what high/low scoring answers do (discount code MTYLT25).

As a retaker, you’ll have the fundamentals already. Now is the time to focus on practical application and review of sample answers. Presentation of your essays matters too. This is what I noticed as a second-time passer. You got this!

To give you a VERY ROUGH idea of the conversion,  here’s an old conversion table  (on page 3) from when 190 questions were scored.

For the MBE, your raw score (how many Qs correct) is converted to a scaled score by the NCBE. For example, 120 correct on one exam could be equivalent to a 134.5 scaled. In California, this scaled score is multiplied by 10 to give you the scaled score out of 2000 (this is not mentioned in the above link). In this case, 1345 would be the scaled score on the MBE side.

There is a different formula for each administration, so it’s not as simple as moving the decimal.  Some background reading on grading for the California Bar Exam.

It may be useful to you to see more example sets of percentiles and their associated scaled MBE scores (click to enlarge screenshots). For example, you want to try to hit 1390 on the MBE side to be on track to pass the California Bar Exam:

This is a black-box question that can’t be answered simplistically, and you should focus on other things.

But I see that you’re being neurotic and want some semblance of certainty. Or you’re just looking to scrape by with the bare minimum—in which case, NO! Get back to prep because you want to aim higher than the target to hit the target.

If you’re that curious, let’s start by noting that your overall score based on written (essays and performance test) and MBE determines whether you pass.

So if you do well on the written portion, then you don’t need to get as many MBE questions correct. If you don’t do well on the written portion, then you need to get more MBE questions correct.

Check how much your jurisdiction weights the MBE. This is up to 50%, typically 50%.

Let’s say you’re taking the NY Bar Exam , which requires a cumulative score of 266 to pass. Since the MBE is weighted 50%, you want to aim for at least 133 on the MBE portion.

According to the  old conversion table  based on 190 questions correct, you can  very roughly  estimate that you want to get around 115 questions correct to be on track to get 133.0 scaled on the MBE (assuming you’re going to get a 133 on the MEE and MPT). That’s 57.5% (115/200).

But what gets you that target score varies every exam. And the MBE is different now. Think of these numbers as minimums. Try to get as many points as you can still.

Let’s say you’re taking the California Bar Exam , which requires an overall score of 1390 to pass. The MBE is weighted 50% and averaged with the written portion.

According to the  old conversion table  based on 190 questions correct, you can  very roughly  estimate that you want to get around 125 correct to be on track to get 1390 scaled on the MBE (assuming you’re going to get a 1390 on the essays and PT). That’s 62.5% (125/200).

I suggest doing what you can to nail down the parts that you KNOW are coming if you want to give yourself more breathing space in the other parts:

• The performance test, which is worth 2x an essay in 1.5x the time. This is a low-hanging fruit that is very learnable and often neglected.
• The Professional Responsibility essay. This is one where you want to focus on knowing the issues since it’ll be a racehorse question.
• Most of the essays, at least 3-4 of them, will come from MBE subjects. Since you’re already proficient at MBE topics, you should be in fairly good shape to begin with. Practice setting up good IRACs and issue flows.

Incidentally, this is the Tripod Approach .

That’s another way to say “MBE percentile.”

In other words, the percentage of test takers who scored below you. You did better than that percentage of people. So higher is better.

Not in the sense of how many questions you got right (but see above for a very rough estimate). It definitely doesn’t tell you the percentage of questions you got right.

The percentiles indicate how you did relative to others , which isn’t that interesting. Unless you have some ego problem.

But the percentiles could be a proxy for how well you did with each subject relative to other subjects . For example, a 60th percentile first subject is likely stronger than a 10th percentile second subject. You can allocate more of your attention to the second subject in this case.

But, well, the exam is just one data point, albeit a valuable one. Your ongoing (current and future) practice performance is another thing to watch to see what your weak subjects actually are.

Check out the Make This Your Last Time collection of study tools here , where you’ll discover…

• Magicsheets , condensed outlines that cover testable issues and rules
• Approsheets , essay approach checklists and flowcharts
• Passer’s Playbook 2.0 , tools and techniques for effective bar prep. Includes guides, sample schedules, and blueprints that guide you on HOW to learn, not just WHAT to study
• Mental Engines , a course on mental and emotional organization so you can stop being overwhelmed or anxious, and optimistic and productive

Get the Reddit app

A place where students of the law can meet and discuss the CA bar and get simple answers to questions.

CA BAR’s Subjective Essay Grading, Scaling, And Scoring

The CA BAR grades essays subjectively. However, an applicant who scores well nationally on the MBEs is thought to know the black letter law well. The NCBE let me know for the MBE’s, I was in the 80th percentile nationally. Although, my essay grades were very close to, on any other test, what would have been a passing percentage average score, I still failed. This leaves me doubting the validity of the CA BAR’s grading of the subjective essays, scoring, and scaling of the February 2018 CA BAR exam.