A Step-by-Step Approach on How to Study & Prepare for the MBE

What You’ll Learn:

• Our 6-Step Approach to Effectively Prepare for the MBE
• 10 MBE Study Tips to Master the MBE

How to Study & Prepare for the MBE

A high MBE score is the KEY to passing the bar exam for three reasons.

• First, if your MBE score is high enough it can compensate for weaknesses in other sections of the exam (e.g. essays, performance test).
• Second, the MBE is worth the most of any section on the bar exam (50% in UBE states and normally between 40-50% in other states).
• Third, studying for the MBE pays double dividends because there is usually a substantial overlap in the subjects tested on the MBE and essay portions of the exam (especially in UBE states).

Since there are now only 175 scored questions⁴, gaining every point is crucial to passing. That is why having a great strategy is essential to your bar preparation.

Below you will find OUR Smart Study Strategy to excel on the MBE. This is the same strategy the creator of SmartBarPrep used to score in the top 5% on the MBE (a 171.1 scaled score – see here).

Go ahead and try it out for yourself!

Taking practice MBE questions prior to developing a good grasp of the law for a subject area is a waste of time and serves no purpose because you don’t know the law yet. Don’t make this mistake. Instead, you should have a good working knowledge of the law before attempting MBE questions for the subject area. That way you can make the most productive use of your time, and review those questions to build on your knowledge of the subject matter.

You can learn the subjects by bar review classes/lectures, books, or outlines. Keep in mind, you don’t need to have everything memorized perfectly – you just need a good working knowledge of the subject (a.k.a. a good grasp of the law or reviewed the subject in some way). It’s your choice what to use to learn the law, but make it fast and then start your MBE practice.

After learning the law for a subject, you should condense that subject into something you can use for future review (outline, mini-outline, attack sheets, flashcards, etc.). This is essential for breaking down and committing the legal rules tested to memory, and will be your go-to document while studying. You can then add to this document later on as you continue your studying and taking MBE practice questions.

If you don’t have time to create your own document, you can also use an outline from a friend or bar review company and then add your notes to it.

Practice makes perfect, and for the MBE taking a lot of practice questions must be a priority. Once you learn a subject area, you can start taking questions for that subject – this is why prioritizing learning the MBE subjects first is important. Then, as you learn more subjects you can start taking mixed question sets. Taking 25-30 practice questions per day gives you enough practice, while also allowing you time to review your answers that same day. Closer to the exam, and after you have built up your mental stamina and focus, you should increase the amount of questions you take in each sitting, eventually building up to simulated half and full exams.

The quality of your review is more important than the quantity of questions taken. If you do 1000’s of questions, but never review explanations of why your answer was correct or incorrect, then you’re missing the point of doing the practice questions in the first place.

The main goal of taking practice questions is to figure out your weak spots and correct them – to learn why you got a question wrong so it doesn’t happen in the future. Passively checking your answers and reading the explanations just DOESN’T help you do that effectively. Instead, you MUST perform what we call “Active Review”.

To perform “Active Review”, you should draft a short rule statement for any MBE question you: (a) got wrong; or (b) got correct but was unsure of the answer. Draft these rules from the explanations provided. These rule statements should be sorted by subject and compiled into your personalized MBE rule sheet (place this at the end of your condensed outline for each subject). Then, add to this document as you take more practice questions.

If you don’t prefer a rule sheet, you can always make flash cards for these rules OR add the rule statements into the body of your subject outlines.

Your choice. Pick one and go!

By performing active review, you will also become familiar with the type of questions asked and what they are REALLY asking. Understanding the questions and how the law is tested is key to working faster as well. This is a tactic of studying the test itself, not just studying the law. Scoring high on the MBE depends upon not only knowing the law tested cold, but also recognizing which rule or issue is being tested.

You should be constantly reviewing your Outlines and Personalized MBE Rule Statement Sheets (or flashcards) during the entire course of the bar exam review period. During your “active review” you should be adding notes and rules to these documents as well. This way you are constantly reinforcing your knowledge of the law and reviewing what tripped you up in the past.

After taking a lot of MBE questions and reviewing your answers, you should start noticing patterns in how you answer questions. Try to recognize and diagnose any weak areas or bad patterns. Once diagnosed, you should fix that weak spot or implement a “default strategy” – a strategy you will always adhere to when answering questions – to correct the problem pattern.

For example, I noticed that whenever I changed my answer choice, I usually got the question wrong and my first choice was correct. To fix this, I implemented this default strategy: I would read all answer choices, and decide on an answer. Once decided, my default strategy was to never change an answer choice unless I was 100% positive of the new changed answer choice. If there was any doubt (even a .001% chance), I was not allowed to change the answer. This strategy limited my bad habit of changing answer choices when my first choice was usually correct.

Default Strategies also set the stage for automating things you should not be spending time on when taking the exam (e.g. having a system for bubbling the answer sheet). Knowing yourself and developing strategies to address your problem areas is KEY to obtaining a high score on the bar exam.