The Smart Guide to the MBE

A Guide to Mastering the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE)

Chapter
09

MBE Scoring

What You’ll Learn:

  • How Your MBE Score is Calculated – Raw Scores & Scaled Scores
  • How to Approximate Your Scaled Score
  • Total Weight of MBE Score in Each Jurisdiction

How Your MBE Score is Calculated – Raw Scores & Scaled Scores

There are 175 scored questions, with 25 scored questions from each subject area tested (see chart below).

Subject Area
# of Scored Questions
Civil Procedure25 Questions
Constitutional Law25 Questions
Contracts25 Questions
Criminal Law & Procedure25 Questions
Evidence25 Questions
Real Property25 Questions
Torts25 Questions
Total Scored Questions175 Questions
Each scored MBE question is worth one point, for a total of 175 points. This raw score is then converted to a scaled score between 1-200. The NCBE scales all scores nationally using a complex statistical formula to adjust for any differences in test difficulty relative to prior administrations of the MBE (to make sure a scaled score on one examination is equivalent to a score on any other examination).

You want to aim for a scaled score of at least 140-145 (which is the average score). Ideally, you should want a 150+ scaled score to have confidence to pass the exam.  The national average MBE scaled score for the last few exams was:  131.16 in Feb. 2023; 140.37 in July 2022; 132.68 in Feb. 2022; 140.49 in July 2021; 134.010 in Feb. 2021; and 132.611 in Feb. 2020.  The average scores for the three July/Fall 2020 in-person exams ranged from 137.2 to 146.1, but had significantly less candidates due to Covid-19.12 Historically, the average MBE score is lower in February than in July.

Based on our review of past exam examinee score reports, there is a high correlation to having a high MBE score and passing the exam.

How to Approximate Your Scaled MBE Score

When taking a full MBE practice exam, you can typically add 10-15 points to the number of questions correct to approximate your scaled score (see formula below).

Number of Questions Correct (out of 200 Questions)
(if taking less than 200 questions, then multiply the % correct x 200)

+

Estimated Scale Factor (10-15 points)

=

Approximate MBE scaled score

The above formula is useful to gauge how you are doing when taking practice exams. BUT, please note that this is an over simplification of the scaling process, and is not how the MBE is actually graded and scaled – it doesn’t take into account scored vs. unscored questions and the MBE scale that varies from exam-to-exam.

Don’t concern yourself too much on determining how your scaled score is calculated. For MBE preparation, your main focus should be on increasing the number of questions you answer correctly.

Total Weight of MBE Score

The MBE is worth a large chunk of the total bar exam score:

  • 50% if your state is a UBE jurisdiction (New York, New Jersey, etc.), or
  • Between 40-50% in most other states.

Below is a chart of showing how much the MBE is worth in each jurisdiction.

JurisdictionMBE %Notes
Alabama50%
Alaska50%
Arizona50%
Arkansas50%
California50%
Colorado50%
Connecticut50%
Delaware40%
District of Colombia50%
Florida50%
Georgia50%
Hawaii50%
Idaho50%
Illinois50%
Indiana50%
Iowa50%
Kansas50%
Kentucky50%
LouisianaJurisdiction does not use the MBE.
Maine50%
Maryland50%
Massachusetts50%
Michigan50%
Minnesota50%
Mississippi40%
Missouri50%
Montana50%
Nebraska50%
Nevada33%
New Hampshire50%
New Jersey50%
New Mexico50%
New York50%
North Carolina50%
North Dakota50%
Ohio50%
Oklahoma50%
Oregon50%
Pennsylvania50%
Rhode Island50%
South Carolina50%
South Dakotasee noteScaled score of 135 or higher is required.
Tennessee50%
Texas50%
Utah50%
Vermont50%
Virginia40%
Washington50%
West Virginia50%
Wisconsin50%
Wyoming50%
Guam50%
Northern Mariana Islands50%
Palausee noteScaled score of 120 or higher is required.
Puerto RicoJurisdiction does not use the MBE.
Virgin Islands50%

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