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If the UBE Course is more than what you are looking for at this time, I suggest you consider the Combined MBE Outline + UBE Essays Modules. The Combined MBE Outline + UBE Essays Modules is a one-time fee of $500 and expires August 1, 2019, meaning if you purchase it today, you can access it up through the July 2019 exam along with a few days after (in case you want to make sure you downloaded everything such as the MP3s). Accessing the site after you sign up is very simple – you will receive an email and then you simply go to your Registered Member Page and login using the credentials you entered during the payment process. You will have access to two different modules (UBE Essays and the Combined MBE module) and can toggle between them through the Registered Member Page (or just add the links to your Favorites/Bookmarks). On the pages for each subscription, the materials and be downloaded immediately (you can even use a download manager to download all the contents automatically). In regards to the MBE materials, the 285 page Combined MBE Outline (which contains 25 pages of black letter law for each MBE subject plus another 110 pages of MBE rules for the 1,800+ released NCBE questions) is printable and searchable, but you cannot copy/paste content from it (there is also a watermark on every page for security purposes). The MBE Rules outlines are likewise watermarked, printable and searchable, but you cannot copy/paste content. There are also MP3s of the MBE rules which can be streamed or downloaded and played in a device. In regards to the MEE and MPT materials, they are in WORD format and can be edited, printed, copied, etc. There are also a good number of MP3s on the UBE Essays site that can be streamed or downloaded. Please also note that I update the materials where applicable. For example, once the F19 essays are released, I will post a new MEE Issue Spotting Outline and MP3. Likewise, when I complete the MEE and MPT Essay Comparison Banks, they will also be added to the site.

UBE Course subscribers are generally examinees who have repeatedly failed but absolutely need to pass on their next attempt (e.g. because their job is at risk or it will be their last full attempt). In most cases, it may make more sense to choose the economical route and see what happens. For your information, if you are contemplating the UBE Course, any amount you pay for a subscription module will be credited if you later decide to sign up for the UBE course. For example, if you purchase the J19 Combined MBE Outline + UBE Essays Modules for $500 but fail the J19 exam, if you decide to enroll in the F20 UBE Course, it will be discounted by the $500 you paid. Please further note that to enroll in the UBE course, you must provide me with information to verify your examinee status and also sign a comprehensive Non-Disclosure Agreement. If you are unwilling to do this, you should not sign up or purchase any subscriptions with the expectation of a later credit.

With the Combined MBE and Essays subscription, you will find all the subscription materials helpful, but the MBE materials will likely contribute the most to your UBE score (and odds of passing). In a UBE state, you want to spend at least 70% of your overall study-time on the MBE. A good MBE will overcome a lot of problems with the other components. For example, according to a 1976 American Bar Association Journal interview with Joe E. Covington, the director of testing of the National Conference of Bar Examiners, when asked whether state bar examiners can use only the MBE score and not look at the essays at all to make a pass or fail designation, the NCBE director responded: At least four jurisdictions do not read the essay answers of applicant who make a predetermined score or above that score. Some states select an M.B.E, score of 140 for this purpose. Applicants who achieve this selected score or above are admitted to the bar solely on the M.B.E. score. If an applicant scores this high on the M.B.E., the correlation of the essay and M.B.E tests is so good that in only very rare cases would the essay score of an applicant be low enough to bring the average of the scores below the passing score were his essay answers graded. see Everything You Always Wanted to Know about the Multistate Bar Examination, American Bar Association Journal; Mar 1976, Vol. 62 Issue 3, p315. Although this article is from 1976, I believe this still holds true today. This is why out of 4,500+ UBE examinees who failed and sent me their scores, only 110 failed with an MBE score above 140 (meaning about 98% failed with an MBE below 140). This is why you should focus on the MBE and try to get above 140 (which is usually about 65% correct).

You will find the Combined MBE and UBE Essays Subscription ($500) helpful to that end. For example, a F19 subscriber to the Combined MBE and UBE Essays Subscription who passed the F19 UBE exam told me: "Total score 296 and scaled score 152.1. I certainly could not have done it without your help. MyDean at my former law school asked me what materials I used. I told him Joe Seperac made all the difference, Your program is invaluable and your continued support by email made a huge difference! Thank you with all my heart!!" Another F19 subscriber who passed F19 told me: "I just wanted to let you know that I passed the TN UBE with a score of 302. I wanted to thank you sincerely for providing such an amazing program for the MEE, MPT, and MBE. It allowed me to really focus my studying and pass with flying colors. Thank you again!"

The goal of my MBE materials is to help examinees achieve a scaled score of 140 or higher on the MBE. In that regard, I believe my MBE Outline as the best representation of the current MBE exam you will ever see in a commercially available outline – it is highly on point both proportionately and contextually. The best benefit of my MBE outline is that it is packed with the nuances you will see on the current MBE. For example, a subscriber who passed F19 told me: “Your MBE outlines are top notch. They address so many of the nuanced rules I’ve been tested on during this prep cycle and past prep cycles.” Another examinee who failed with an MBE of 127 and then purchased my MBE outline and subsequently passed told me: “Hi Joe! I wanted to let you know I got the great news that I passed the mbe portion of the FL bar! I'm a repeat taker and your outline helped me SO MUCH! THANK YOU! “ In regards to the examinee’s failing attempt, she told me “I felt extremely unprepared for the real property section because there were so many topics I hadn't even heard of. For example there was a mortgage question regarding marshaling which was in NONE of my bar prep materials. And there was maybe a sentence regarding the fair housing act.” This is precisely what my MBE outline addresses. For example, a subscriber who scored a 174 on the MBE in NY and then a 177 on the MBE in NJ told me: “… as far as the MBE is concerned, your outlines have been most useful since you emphasize the fine distinctions.”

Thus, you can regard my MBE outline as an excellent representation (both proportionally and contentually) of the current MBE. For example, an CA examinee who scored a 160.6 on the J18 MBE told me “Your outline is excellent and serves as a great equalizer since the questions on Adaptibar are not fully reflective of the exam.” This MBE outline will serve as a much better reflection of the current MBE exam than the outline you will use with Kaplan. Subscribers generally treat my outline as their MBE bible and adjust their MBE studying based on it. For example, if there is very little coverage for a topic in my MBE outline but it is heavily covered in your Kaplan materials, you should pay less attention to it. Conversely, if my outline stresses a topic but it is not covered in your Kaplan materials, you need to learn it.

Please note that this is a comprehensive outline rather than an attack outline so it will take you some time to get through it. While an attack outline (i.e. an outline that is 3-5 pages per subject) may be more manageable as the exam nears, I find that outlines significantly smaller than 25 pages per subject are too superficial for productive MBE study. With each exam, I actually have to force myself to limit each subject to only 25 pages of black letter law. I honestly feel that I need more than one page of black letter law per MBE question to cover all the nuances for each MBE topic, but I have settled on one page per MBE question for the time being. Since I put a lot of time into trying to understand the exam, so you can regard my outlines as an excellent reflection of it. Basically, what you can expect on the exam is what you can expect in my outline (which also illustrates how comprehensive the scope of the MBE is). As I mentioned earlier, the best benefit of my MBE Outline is that it is packed with the nuances you will see on the MBE.

The Combined MBE outline also contains my 1,800 NCBE MBE rules which are built into it. Subscribers find these MBE rules very helpful in their MBE studies. Thus, the black letter law sections of the MBE outline will appropriately tell you what to expect on the upcoming exam (both contextually and proportionally), while the built-in MBE rules will tell you what was tested on the past. This is about as complete a picture as you can have of the current MBE exam while being able to study everything for the MBE in one place. Typically, subscribers rank my MBE Rules outline as 2nd or 3rd most helpful in their MBE studies (the UBE MASTER outline is ranked most helpful, but this is only available through my UBE Course). For example, as one examinee recently told me: “Knowing now that I passed, I can confidently say that your MBE Rules outline was indispensable. Even though I probably completed only 400-500 practice MBEs, I really focused on thinking about why I got answers wrong, what aspect of the law I didn’t quite understand, and creating rules that directly addressed that misunderstanding. I then reviewed these rules multiple times.” This is because the past questions serve as a good reflection of the legal concepts currently tested. A 2004 research report entitled A Multivariate Generalizability Analysis of the MBE concluded that "variance component estimates for sub-tests for the February and July administrations are very stable, which indicates that the table of specifications for the MBE is well-defined and faithfully followed, and various forms constructed based on the table of specifications are quite 'parallel' to each other." This is why reviewing NCBE questions is so important. Because the MBE forms are 'parallel' to each other, reviewing released MBE questions is the best way to familiarize yourself with future MBE questions. Granted, the farther back you go, the less relevant the questions become (NCBE even warns about this), but there is no better way of understanding the MBE exam than by examining the law tested in the released questions by the exam maker. Accordingly, you should frequently review the rules I wrote for the NCBE OPE questions from 2006-2013 and the NCBE MBE Study Aid questions from 2019 as these are the most important NCBE questions for you to know.

Allow me to explain. There are about 1,800 former MBE questions available from NCBE – 400 from 1991, 581 from 1992, 200 from 1998, 400 from 2006-2013 (OPE 1-4) and 210 from 2019 (MBE Study Aid). For UBE Course tutees, I license these questions from NCBE and after paying a flat initial license fee, I pay different royalty rates (per tutee) based on the MBE exam. For example, I pay $25 per tutee for the 210 questions in the MBE Study Aid. I pay $60 per tutee for the 400 questions in the OPE 1-4 exams. In contrast, it costs $7 to license the 200 questions from 1998 and it costs $2 per tutee to license the 581 questions in the MBE 1992 book. You can see the high value NCBE places on the recent OPE and MBE Study Aid questions as compared to the much lower value for the older questions. Accordingly, I place the same value on my MBE rules for these questions in my materials.

Included in this subscription is a separate MBE rules outline you can read or listen to via MP3. It consists of the same MBE rules which are built into the Combined MBE outline, but they are separated based on their importance. Thus, the important NCBE MBE rules (based on questions from 2006 and later) are separated from the less-important rules (based on questions from 1998 and earlier) to enable subscribers to  focus additional time on the 644 most important rules while still spending some time reviewing the less important ones. This is because while any of the 644 legal concepts in the “OPE” MBE Rules can be tested on the upcoming MBE (and therefore important), there are a number of legal concepts in the “NON-OPE” MBE Rules that are no longer tested (making this older set of questions less important).

If you answer the released NCBE questions, this serves as a great second perspective and if you don’t answer all the released NCBE questions, this serves as an excellent hedge. Thus, since you are taking Kaplan and may not review the released NCBE questions in your MBE practice, reviewing these rules through my outlines serves as an excellent hedge because you will at least become familiar with the legal concepts tested on the actual MBE.

The UBE Essays subscription will give you a lot of insight into what is required on the MEE and MPT. The subscription includes the licensed MEEs, but I transform them into more efficient study tools such as condensed outlines, comparison banks and MP3s. Please keep in mind the available component modules (i.e. UBE Essays and MBE Rules) do NOT contain any topic priorities for the upcoming exam. Any material I produce which prioritizes/predicts upcoming exam topics such as my UBE MASTER Outline or Top 50 MEE outline is only available through the UBE Course.

For the MEE, I suggest you review the MEE Issue Spotting Practice Outline or listen to the MP3s of it. This outline contains every released MEE question from 2002 to present (200+ MEE questions) grouped by subject with the questions sorted from newest to oldest with the corresponding issues and short answers for issue spotting practice. If you don’t have enough time to do full MEE study, this is a great alternative (especially to fill time while you are commuting/working out/etc.). You can listen to these essays in MP3 form while you commute which serves as an excellent way to study more efficiently while also forming different memory impressions.

For the MPT, there is a very large bank of graded MPTs (500+) spanning the past 19 exams. By looking at a wide variety of real graded MPTs, especially the high scoring MPTs, you will learn by example of how a good MPT answer should be constructed. There is also an MPT Format Bible which will efficiently illustrate to you the majority of past MPT formats (according to NCBE, the MPT format can account for up to 10% of the MPT grade).

To give you an example of how examinees use this Combined MBE + UBE Essays subscription to pass the exam, the foreign examinee who passed F19 with a scaled MBE score of 152.1 and total UBE score of 296 told me the following:

Here is how I used my subscription:

MBE Rules:I read through your rules fully at least 3-4 times before the exam.  This was the first time I begun to feel that I understood possible questions that could be tested on the exam. Your rules were the closest thing to the exam questions. I started studying for the bar with Barbri and even though I was learning a lot with Barbri I felt like I wasnt  being directly prepared for possible bar exam questions. I researched online and read rave reviews about your materials. I decided to follow my gut and try your subscription. You responded quickly to my questions and welcomed me to your subscription family! Once I read your MBE rules, I finally felt like I was hitting the nail on the head and truly understanding potential MBE questions. My advice to anyone is first make sure you understand each MBE subject as well as possble (using Barbri or whatever your primary study material is) then read Joe's MBE rules thoroughly, at least 3-4 times before the exam. Make sure you understand and can apply each rule fully. Another thing: Barbri advises you wait till last two weeks to memorize for all the subjects. I highly disagree. I was memorizing as I went along--and by memorizing I mean I was making sure that I fully understood each rule in your outline. Whatever didnt "stick" in my mind on the first read would eventually stick on subsequent reads before the exam. Also, start your study early. I dont believe in Barbri's calender of 2 months of study. Start 1-2 months ahead of Barbri if possible (unless you are already very familiar with the bar materials). It takes time for your mind to digest all the information.

MPT: I followed your advice. First, I fully answered all the MPT essays assigned and graded by Barbri as homework (3-5 full MPT questions). Then I applied your advice... I read through as many additional MPT questions as possible (perhaps 6 additional questions)  then read the sample answers as well . I didnt write out these 6 additional questions I just read both the question and the sample  answer and it gave me a solid understanding of the pattern of questions tested on the MPT and the pattern of acceptable answers. I believe I read the additional 6 the weekend before the exam so it would be fresh in my mind since NY tests MPT on Day 1.

MEE: Your advice made all the difference! I did all MEE questions assigned by Barbri. Then I read through NEARLY ALL of your MEE questions and answers. I read until I just couldn't anymore. I noticed your answers to the MEE questions were more thorough and easy to comprehend than Barbri's. The summary at the beginning of your answers was also super helpful when I felt I was running out of time to read the full answer. Your predictions made a HUGE difference for me as well. It helped me hone in on potential topics that could be tested. It boosted my confidence knowing possible subjects that could be tested. I did make sure that I understood all 13 MEE subjects clearly then I paid extra attention to the topics you predicted. I believe most of your predictions were spot on!!

One more thing: your advice to do all 4 OPE's and the NCBE study questions was spot on!!!! I believe a few OPE questions were repeated on the test and changed very slightly. I did not get to the NCBE study book due to lack of time but I am sure that would have raised my score even more!! I also did some of the questions in Emmanuel's Strategy and Tactics which matched the exam questions as well.

Overall, I think another thing that made a BIG difference for me was the level of attention you gave me. When I felt down or unsure or confused I could write to you and get encouragement and a strategy. I DID NOT EVEN GET THIS LEVEL OF ATTENTION FROM BARBRI WHOM I PAID WAY MORE. I could always ask  for your advice whenever I felt I hit a wall and you would give me invaluable strategy advice. This made all of the difference. Even when I finished the exam and I was unsure of how I would score your advice boosted my confidence that I passed. Now, I am happy that my score is high enough to transfer to any UBE state. Thanks to you I wrote the bar once and aced it so I dont have to worry about it again!

Joe I believe you have DECODED THE BAR EXAM!! Keep up the excellent work!! If I can do anything to support your business please let me know. I am forever a fan and will spread the word any chance I get.

With a UBE Essays subscription, you have access to two forms of MPT prep materials:

(1) I have a compilation of examinee MPTs called my MPT Format Bible which many examinees find helpful. For example, one repeat examinee who significantly improved on the MPT told me: "Your MPT Format Bible was great help for my MPT score." It is basically a collection of exemplar MPTs organized by format so you understand what formats can be tested and better understand how a good MPT answer is framed. It contains 100 above average examinee answers illustrating the proper response/format/style for 21 different MPT types (according to NCBE, the MPT format can account for up to 10% of the MPT grade). There is a sample of it on the UBE Essays site.

(2) There is a very large bank of graded MPTs (500+) spanning the past 20+ exams. By looking at a wide variety of real graded MPTs, especially the high scoring MPTs, you will learn by example of how a good MPT answer should be constructed. For instance, an examineewho just passed on her 5th attempt told me: “Also, the Essay Comparison tool truly helped me see what type of writing style at the score I sought matched the way I’m comfortable writing.” The Essay Comparison tool is a bank of thousands of graded MEEs and MPTS all compared to one another. Such a comparison tool (let alone an MEE/MPT graded essay bank) does not exist anywhere else. You can watch an explanation of it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tctGoHv2e1g&t=2s

FYI, I do not have MPT Questions/Points sheets available on the UBE Essays site. This is because I would have to pay a licensing fee to NCBE for each subscriber, which would make the cost of a UBE Essays subscription much higher. It doesn’t make sense to do this when NCBE offers a large number of past MPT Questions/Points sheets for free on their site.

Another thing many examinees frequently ask for which is not available through the UBE Essays subscription is a black letter law MEE outline. This is something I only provide to tutees because of the way I structure the content, and because most examinees who subscribe are repeaters who have access to MEE black letter law outlines through their bar review.

Instead, I provide efficient compilations of the released MEE questions (from 1995 to present) in various formats (including MP3s). The standard ones I have on my UBE Essays site are:

MEE Compilation, which consists of all the MEE from 1995 to present in complete answer format arranged by subject in reverse chronological order (newest first). This is for examinees in learning mode who will review the full answer to learn the law.

MEE Issue Spotting Outline, which is an abridged version of the MEE Compilation which contains only the legal issues and answer discussion summaries (the detailed full answer explanations are omitted). This is for examinees who have a foundation in the MEE law and want to improve their MEE issue-spotting.

Top MEE Released Answers Outline, which is a prioritized version of the MEE Compilation, meaning the questions are arranged by priority for the J23 exam rather than by subject. This outline is not available until late-May 2023. This is for examinees to prioritize the essays for final review.

Most examinees find the Top MEE Released Answers Outline (formerly called the Top 50 MEE) the most helpful. For example, a J22 examinee who passed with a written of 159 told me: "I used your MEE material to outline as many essays as possible, with a heavy focus on issue spotting and structure. I started with your top 50 in priority and then went by subject to focus on my weaknesses." Based on past results, you can usually expect these essays to cover at least 50% of the issues in at least two MEE questions. For example, an examinee who failed J21 with a written of 123.6 subscribed to my UBE Essays module for the F22 exam and passed with a written of 160.3. The examinee told me: “Hope all is well! I’m excited to inform you that I passed with a score of 316 on the NY Bar Exam. It feels surreal to say that! Your top 50 MEE essays were such a huge help!! At first, I constantly wrote and rewrote a number of essays (including my J21 essays) and read the model answers. Then, towards the end of bar prep, I utilized your top 50 essays compilation along with your essay comparison feature and I think that really helped — just so I could see the difference between good, not so good, and really good answers. This helped further build upon my issue spotting (that I’d improved through writing timed essays), and I was able to better put myself in the grader’s shoes by looking at comparisons. On test day, as I was writing one of the essays (agency), it literally felt as if I was writing the same exact agency essay I’d written a day before (from your top 50 MEE outline). As a second time test taker, I couldn’t have fathomed a 53 point jump. I am in shock! Do let me know if you’d like me to complete any forms (can i still do the post exam one??) or leave any testimonials, as I am more than happy to! THANK YOU!!!“

This Top 50 MEE is generally on point with each exam. A repeat Texas examinee who passed J21 with a 279 (MBE 139 and written 140) after failing with a 259 (MBE 136 and written 124) told me: "I used your Seperac J21 MEE essay compilation to study for the MEE and I can't give you enough credit for how you laid the essays out in order of priority. I used your document to study for the MEE in a quick and efficient manner. Instead of writing out practice essays, I read the question, then spent a few minutes writing out quick answers to see if I was understanding the call of the questions correctly. I felt adequately prepared for 5 of the essays, and as I expected Trusts instead of Wills and had 10 minutes to answer the Wills essay I'm fairly confident I scored a 1 on that essay. I credit your MEE essay compilation with contributing most to my passing and I've recommended that several individuals who failed J21 reach out to you." A F21 subscriber told me: “I started reading through the top 50 and the very first essay ( of the top 50) was virtually identical the the February 2021 essay on agency and I froze—I realized this was for February 2021 and you had been SPOT-ON. I can tell you that the vicarious liability essay #1 was EXACTLY like the essay in February. There was also an easement question—I bombed it but I remember it being related to prescriptive easement and tolling of the time. There was a secured transactions very similar to #27 on the February top 50”A repeater who passed F20 with a written of 160 (previously failed with a written of 129) told me: "Spent the Monday reviewing the top 50 essays though which again was extremely helpful. Wish I’d done that earlier to be honest as the essays are extremely helpful in solidifying knowledge and putting what feel like obscure rules into meaningful context (when you see them applied to an understandable fact pattern)."

I also provide databases of graded MEE much like the MPT databases. As one examinee who subscribed to the J21 UBE Essays module told me: “Just wanted to email you to let you know I passed the July ‘21 DC bar exam. Scaled MBE: 130 Scaled Writing: 143. I could not have done it without your resources. THANK YOU! A huge relief after failing California twice. In terms of what helped the most to me on the provided materials: 1) Database of previous exam answers with grades: This was the most helpful. Understanding the structure of how a 3 essay is versus an essay graded a 5 or a 6 was incredibly helpful. I believe (after sitting for the CA bar exam twice) that structure plays a large part in determining your essay score. I spent about a week going through pretty much every essay you had available in this database and honing in on the structure of the 5/6 essays and looked at the mistakes that may have made an essay a 2-3 based on the questions and facts provided. 2) Top 50 outline: This helped alot. By going through the top 50 essays, I could see what subjects overlapped and how to best memorize the information in my mind so if I spotted that issue on the test, I'd know fairly well what the graders would be looking for. Anything else I was unable to utilize so I could not provide honest feedback on those. But these two were the key to my success on the writing portion of the exam and I'm 100% certain had I not had them, I probably would have failed.”

Another UBE Essays subscriber who failed J19 with a total UBE score of 226 (MBE 116, written 110) passed J21 with a total score of 272 (MBE 146, written 126). He told me: "The MEE/MPT answer banks were absolutely clutch, because seeing the difference between a passing score, and a high passing score helped me establish goals in my essay writing. First, I would get my essay writing to passing level, then incrementally increase it to as close to the high passing score as possible. I never really reached the high passing score, but I made sure to lock in the passing score essay writing so that way as long as I got the MBE above 140 my essay writing would do the job. On test day I remember saying to myself no matter what comes on the screen in front of me, stay focused and kill it! Meaning don't freeze up, and don't allow any negative mental thought to linger, instead put all of my energy into reading the essays, issue spotting, and writing the answer."

The information in the analysis will help you improve your overall written score. The analysis illustrates how your answers statistically differ from the released above average answers and other examinee essays, including the highest scoring examinee essay I receive. For example, one portion of the analysis reports the top 10 words this best answer used that you did not.  For MPTs, one portion of the analysis reports the Top 20 words in the MPT Drafter's Point Sheet that you did not use or the Top 15 words in the Question (File and Library) that both released answers used but you did not.

I significantly revised the MEE/MPT Analysis to compare examinee essays to the NBCE answers. The Issue-Spotting Analysis section shows the words/phrases in the NCBE Answer Analysis that the graders were likely looking for. To make this analysis, I examine the NCBE Answer Analysis for each question (the same one that is in the MEE Essay Compilation) and then I extract the top 50 words/phrases that I expect the graders to look for in the examinee answers. I then report the top 25 (the ones that lead to the best examinee scores). The 'With Word' column reports how many examinees used that word along with the average points these examinees received (green is above passing while red is below passing). For example, for Essay #1 of the Feb 2017 MEE, about 21% of examinees used the word/phrase 'terminate' and received an average of 24.8 points for their essays (whereas a passing MEE essay received 13.3 points). The W/O Word column shows the average essay points for the examinees who did not use that particular word or phrase. Often, the average score for such examinees is below passing, demonstrating the importance of issue spotting and keywords in achieving a passing MEE score. In the prior example, for the 79% of examinees who did not use the word/phrase 'terminate' in their answers, these examinees averaged 13.7 points on the essay. The "You" column reports which of the words/phrases you used in your answer (highlighted in Yellow).

From examining this Issue-Spotting Analysis, you will see that issue spotting and using the correct terminology (i.e. buzzwords) is important on the MEE. For example, below is part of my analysis of Essay #3 (Family Law) on the F17 MEE. Often, when examinees use the same terminology that is contained in the NCBE Answer Analysis, the average score is above passing (of course this also likely means the examinees correctly analyzed and concluded). For example, for Essay #3 of the Feb 2017 MEE, about 17% of examinees used the word/phrase 'equitable distribution' and received an average of 18.9 points for their essays (whereas a passing MEE essay received 13.3 points). The W/O Word column shows the average essay points for the examinees who did not use that particular word or phrase. Often, the average score for such examinees is below passing, demonstrating the importance of issue spotting and keywords in achieving a passing MEE score. In the prior example, for the 83% of examinees who did not use the word/phrase 'equitable distribution' in their answers, these examinees averaged 12.4 points on the essay (below passing). I see this occur with every MEE answer. To me, this is concrete evidence that the graders rely on the NCBE Answer Analysis for their grading and specifically look for the keywords. Thus, reviewing the released NCBE MEE answers can likely help your overall MEE score.

The MEE Analysis page examines how well an MEE score corresponds with confirmable external sources such as the above average answers, point sheet, best examinee answer, and the question itself. For example, if an examinee's MEE is highly correlated with these external sources, does the examinee receive a high grade? Conversely, if an examinee's MEE is not highly correlated with these external sources, does the examinee receive a low grade? If another jurisdiction uses the same MEE for their exam and releases above average exemplars, I also include these MEEs in the analysis (e.g. Arkansas is AR, Minnesota is MN). Examinees who participate in the MEE/MPT Comparison (more on this below) should review cases where there is low correlation but a high score (for some insight on what to do) or a high correlation but a low score (for some insight on what not to do). For example, if an exemplar has a low Essay to Point Sheet Comparison, what else did the grader find in that essay to warrant a high score? Since the graders are probably constant with each exam, examinees can use this information to fashion a response similar to the responses that graders have graded favorably in the past. On each table, your MEE results are highlighted in yellow.

The main purpose of the analysis is to enable examinees to illustrate differences between their essays and better scoring essays/MPTs to make any necessary adjustments. One portion of the essay analysis reports the top words the above average answers used that you did not use. This can give insight into whether you missed fundamental topics or lacked a vocabulary of important words related to the analysis of the essay. For example, I find that some examinees fail to use the word "because" in their answers. In an IRAC analysis, “because” is the single most important word to use when analyzing the facts in the question. The failure to use words such as "because", "since" and "as" will negatively affect your analysis and can only hurt your score (please note that the IRAC Analysis is generally more relevant to the MEE essays than the MPT).

Another portion of the analysis reports the top 20 words you used that the released above average answers did not use. This can give insight into whether you misunderstand a topic or have an inappropriate vocabulary for that topic, especially if you received a low score on the essay. The statistics can provide a wide range of insight - are your sentences per paragraph consistent with the released above average answers or is the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level too high or too low as compared to the released above average answers. For example, if you received a low score and your Essay to Question % was low, you should re-answer the question in practice to see why you did not fit more facts from the question into your analysis.

For style, examinees should modify their writing style to mimic the average style of examinees. For example, if the average examinee writes four sentences per paragraph, but you write six, you should focus on writing fewer sentences per paragraph. Examinees should mimic the average style of bar examinees to minimize any disruptions to the essay grader's reading or grading process.

The Feb 2017 Comparison includes graded essays that range from 32 to 82. Thus, you will not only be able to see what very low scoring essays are comprised of, but also what very high scoring essays are comprised of. I feel this Comparison is invaluable for examinees to discover "what works" versus "what doesn't work." In reviewing higher-graded answers, examinees can see all of the substantive ways in which their answers were lacking. For example, how many sentences do the higher-graded answers write to develop and analyze the black letter law for each issue. How does it compare to your essay? Reviewing essays that are "just passing" will give examinees insight into the content a passing essay consists of. For example, can an essay that only issue spots the issues receive a passing score. For the MPTs, you can see how passing examinees organize and write their answers. If your prior essay/MPT scores were low, you may find a style or format in these passing essays that you can incorporate into future essays. For example, an examinee that passed after using the MEE/MPT comparison told me: "I think this helped me immensely, because although I had not practiced writing any essays, I still really got a feel for the tone, length, content and structure of passing answers which created a 'voice' in my head when writing essays." To cite another example, an examinee that failed told me: "I did much better on my essays this time due in large part to your comparison tool. I found that to be extremely helpful." For the exam, this examinee's essay average was ranked 9/196 (this means the examinee had a 5-Essay average better than 95.4% of the examinees that sent me their score information). For the prior exam (before utilizing the Comparison), the examinee’s essay average was ranked 131/315 (which was better than 58.4% of the examinees that sent me their scores).

The reason essays are released is enable examinees to identify deficiencies in their essays. In a 1995 bill to bill to amend the Judiciary Law, the bill stated that it is in New York State's "best interest to insure that all bar applicants are given an equal opportunity to pass the NYS Bar Examination. Disclosure of past testing materials and applicant examinations allow prospective attorneys to become aware of testing subject matter and methodology so that otherwise qualified attorneys are not defeated in their attempts to pass the bar examination." A copy of the bill is here:
https://seperac.com/pdf/NYBOLE-Bill_To_Amend_the_Judiciary_Law-1995.pdf

In a March 2014 article entitled "It Should Be About Feedback and Revision" by J. Elizabeth Clark, an English professor at LaGuardia Community College who wrote that "[h]igh-stakes essay writing is about learning to game the system. Good test takers are just that: Students who learned the rules of the game, often through expensive test-prep courses that disadvantage poor and at-risk students. Those with greater access to coaches and materials and practice do better on the exam, but that does not mean they are better writers." This MEE/MPT comparison is an excellent way for examinees to learn "the rules of the game." Put simply, there is no other resource available that enables bar examinees to compare and contrast a wide range of graded MEEs/MPTs. Please use it to your advantage, especially if you do not have the time to practice many essays.

The MEE/MPT comparison will contain an enhancement where your MPTs will also be compared to the exemplar MPTs of other jurisdictions. For example, your MPT may be compared to the best MPTs from other states such as Arkansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, and Texas. Put simply, comparing your MPT side-by-side to a large number of high scoring MPTS is the best way to quickly and efficiently identify the deficiencies in your MPT on your own.

With each exam, I see a lot of examinees unnecessarily panic as the exam nears. To give examinees a good understanding of their odds of passing the UBE exam, I took every available statistic from a credible source (e.g. NCBE and NYBOLE) and created a calculator based on that data. While there will always be outliers, the estimations should accurately reflect the majority of examinees sitting for the exam. These statistics will either make you feel more confident or remind you that more work needs to be put into the exam. However, even if you are in an at-risk category, your MBE practice scores (assuming the MBE practice questions are of sufficient difficulty and representative of the topics tested) will give you the most insight as to whether or not you will pass the UBE.

If you find this calculator helpful, please enter your email address and then press the Submit button to send me your information. Since this is the first iteration of the calculator, I won’t know how accurate it is until I compile results from examinees. Thus, by submitting your information, your input will help improve the accuracy of the calculator for future examinees. Thanks in advance and good luck on the exam.

I expect bar exam pass rates to continue to decline until at least 2019 (meaning your odds of passing will diminish with each exam you take). Bar exam pass rates are tied to the MBE (e.g. if the MBE average for an administration goes up, the pass rates almost always go up). MBE scores are correlated with LSAT scores. Thus, I use the 25th Percentile LSAT and 75th Percentile LSAT as a barometer for pass rates. If the Average LSAT for a class of matriculants drops as compared to the prior class, I similarly expect their bar exam pass rates to drop as compared to the prior class (the raw data can be viewed here).

The 2013 Full-Time Law School Matriculants (who take the bar exam in 2016) had a 25th LSAT Percentile of 152.8 and a 75th LSAT Percentile of 158.9. The 2014 Full-Time Law School Matriculants (who take the bar exam in 2017) had a 25th LSAT Percentile of 152.5 and a 75th LSAT Percentile of 158.7. Thus, because the 2014 Full-Time Law School Matriculants appear to be less knowledgeable than the 2013 Full-Time Law School Matriculants, it is reasonable to presume that the 2017 bar pass rates will be lower than the 2016 bar pass rates. The 2015 Full-Time Law School Matriculants (who take the bar exam in 2018) had a 25th LSAT Percentile of 152.4 and a 75th LSAT Percentile of 158.4 (even lower). The 2016 Full-Time Law School Matriculants (who take the bar exam in 2019) had a 25th LSAT Percentile of 151.2 and a 75th LSAT Percentile of 157.2 (even lower still). Thus, I expect bar pass rates to continue to decline until at least 2019.

Following are the national bar exam pass rates since 1996 (compiled from released NCBE data):

While it appears the UBE exam will be easier to study for due to fewer subjects, I believe the UBE exam will be more difficult for lower-ability examinees to pass. The NY UBE exam will consist of six 30-minute essays based on the MBE subjects plus Business Relationships, Family Law, Trusts and Estates and UCC Article 9 (30% of score), two 90-minute MPTs (20% of score), and 200 1.8 minute MBE Questions (50% of score). Accordingly, examinees would be tested for 6 hours per day for two days. Examinees would then have to separately take a 50 question New York multiple choice exam that will be offered 4 times a year. I expect the NY pass rates to stay roughly the same because the cut score is staying the same (266). However, the UBE exam is expected to be more reliable than the NY bar exam, primarily due to the MBE being 50% of the total score rather than the current 40%. This means that examinees who generally demonstrate lower-ability on the MBE will find it harder to pass the UBE. Therefore, while the UBE exam appears to be easier to study for due to fewer subjects, I believe the UBE exam will be harder to pass for examinees who generally demonstrate lower-ability on the MBE (particularly foreign examinees).

For example, I received scores from 300+ failing J15 examinees who had an average MBE score of 122 (versus the mean July scaled MBE of about 142). Their average final score was 614.6. If I convert their scores to the UBE by making their 5-essays worth 30% (instead of 40%), their MPT score worth 20% (instead of 10%) and their MBE score worth 50% (instead of 40%), then these 300+ examinees would have had an average final score of 610.6 on the UBE. This is a loss of 4 points by changing to the UBE format of scoring. Please keep in mind that this is not a perfect assessment, since MPT scores will be slightly more reliable through the answering of 2 MPTs (instead of basing the score on 1 MPT and doubling it). To cite another example, in looking at 2005-2006 NYBOLE data (this is the last time NYBOLE released comprehensive statistics on pass rates), in July 2005, Female Domestic-Educated Repeaters averaged 123.1 on the MBE while Female Foreign-Educated Repeaters averaged 118.9 on the MBE. In Feb 2006, Female Domestic-Educated Repeaters averaged 128.9 on the MBE while Female Foreign-Educated Repeaters averaged 123.2 on the MBE. Typically, the higher the MBE mean, the higher the pass rate. With the MBE carrying more weight on the UBE, the MBE’s negative effect on Foreign-Educated pass rates will be amplified. More so, the MPT will now be 20% of the score rather than 10%. The MPT is essentially a reading comprehension test where the examinees who can read and write fastest do the best. With the MPT carrying more weight on the UBE, the MPT’s negative effect on Foreign-Educated pass rates will likewise be amplified. To look at it another way, I received detailed score information from 99 examinees who sat for the Feb 2015 New York bar exam regarding their status as domestic or foreign educated. Of these 99 examinees, 39 examinees were domestic educated examinees (39.39% of the 99 examinees). These domestic educated examinees averaged 48.57 on the Essays, 49.54 on the MPT, 127.6 on the MBE, and 617.6 on the NYMC. They had an average final score of 634.2. Of these 99 examinees, 60 examinees were foreign educated examinees (60.61% of the 99 examinees). These foreign educated examinees averaged 45.95 on the Essays, 43.49 on the MPT, 119.6 on the MBE, and 629.8 on the NYMC. They had an average final score of 601.4. In looking at just the Essays (40%), MPT (10%) and MBE (40%), the domestic educated examinees scored 36.6 points more than the foreign educated examinees. The domestic educated examinees scored 11.8 points better on the Essays, 6.8 points better on the MPT and 16 points better on the MBE. This small sample supports the premise that domestic educated examinees do much better than foreign educated examinees on the MBE and MPT as opposed to the essays. In regards to the MPT, even though it is 10% of the grade, there is a 6.8 point difference. If I adjust these percentages to reflect the UBE percentages, then for the Essays (30%), MPT (20%) and MBE (50%), the domestic educated examinees will score 42.5 points more than the foreign educated examinees. This is a UBE exam bonus of 5.9 points in favor of domestic educated examinees.

Feb 2010: 1:00AM Tuesday on 04/27/10 (total of 62 days based on 4,031 examinees)
July 2010: 4:00PM Friday on 11/05/10 (total of 100 days based on 11,557 examinees)
Feb 2011: 9:00AM Tuesday on 04/26/11 (total of 62 days based on 3,881 examinees)
July 2011: 12:30AM Wednesday on 11/02/11 (total of 98 days based on 11,182 examinees)
Feb 2012: 12:30AM Wednesday on 05/02/12 (total of 63 days based on 4,011 examinees)
July 2012: 11:00PM Thursday on 11/02/12 (total of 100 days based on 11,734 examinees)
Feb 2013: 1:00AM Thursday on 05/02/13 (total of 64 days based on 4,152 examinees)
July 2013: 12:30AM Wednesday on 10/30/13 (total of 91 days based on 11,694 examinees)
Feb 2014: 12:00AM Thursday on 04/24/14 (total of 57 days based on 4,032 examinees)
July 2014: 12:00AM Tuesday on 10/28/14 (total of 90 days based on 11,195 examinees)
Feb 2015: 5:00PM Monday on 04/27/15 (total of 61 days based on 3,997 examinees)
July 2015: 12:00AM Tuesday on 10/27/15 (total of 90 days based on 10,671 examinees)
Feb 2016: 12:00AM Tuesday on 04/26/16 (total of 62 days based on 4,193 examinees)
July 2016: 12:00AM Friday on 10/28/16 (total of 93 days based on 10,297 examinees)
Feb 2017: 12:00AM Wednesday on 04/26/17 (total of 63 days based on 4,162 examinees)
July 2017: 10:30PM Monday on 10/24/17 (total of 90 days based on 9,932 examinees)
Feb 2018: 2:45PM Tuesday on 04/24/18 (total of 55 days based on 3,759 examinees)
July 2018: 8:15AM Tuesday on 10/23/18 (total of 90 days based on 9,679 examinees)
Feb 2019: 6:00AM Wednesday on 04/24/19 (total of 56 days based on 4,129 examinees)
July 2019: 6:30AM Wednesday on 10/23/19 (total of 84 days based on 10,071 examinees)
Feb 2020: 8:30AM Friday on 04/24/20 (total of 58 days based on 3,563 examinees)
July 2020: 10:30AM Wednesday on 12/16/20 (total of 71 days based on 5,150 examinees)
Feb 2021: 9:20AM Wednesday on 04/21/21 (total of 56 days based on 2,130 examinees)
July 2021: 10:30AM Thursday on 10/28/21 (total of 92 days based on 9,227 examinees)