July 2015 MBE Scores/Results Forum

[Akriant]

Update on my MO scores:
Scaled MBE score: 135.4
Barbri Midterm: 98/200 (at that point I did not read/study Crim law/pro and Civ pro outlines and barely covered evidence).
Barbri refresher: 59/100
Consistently was failing in barbri evidence question sets.
Felt like the actual MBE was the most ridiculous exam that I ever took and was sure to fail.
Essays is what saved me - 160 on essay section.
So yeah, Passed on first try.

[lakerinstl]

Passed Missouri as well. Scores of 141 on MBE and 157 on essays.

Would you mind sharing your bar review course and how you did on the final or midterm? Thanks!

I took Kaplan.

Trying to remember, but I think I got a 115 raw score on the midterm and a 114 raw score on the final. Mad that I did very slightly worse on the final practice exam because I thought I should have been progressing by that point. Then started to get around 80+% on all my practice tests after that. Did many sets of 100 to simulate one session and would routinely get around 80 correct.

[robinhoodOO]

Passed Missouri as well. Scores of 141 on MBE and 157 on essays.

Would you mind sharing your bar review course and how you did on the final or midterm? Thanks!

I took Kaplan.

Trying to remember, but I think I got a 115 raw score on the midterm and a 114 raw score on the final. Mad that I did very slightly worse on the final practice exam because I thought I should have been progressing by that point. Then started to get around 80+% on all my practice tests after that. Did many sets of 100 to simulate one session and would routinely get around 80 correct.

I did worse on the Kaplan Final too. I remember Fromm saying the Final was harder than the Midterm, though.

*Update (43 takers reporting): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

[Rockyraccoon1]

I also passed in Missouri. 159.9 scaled MBE and 163.1 scaled essay. I used Themis and only completed about 75% of their program. I was averaging about 65% on their practice tests. I also felt TOTALLY awful after the MBE, so much so that I had several panic attacks and held off on signing a lease on a new place until after results were released.
Good luck to all those who are still waiting!

[hawks12]

Yo. Missouri posted results yesterday. 84% pass overall which is down 1 point from July 2014.

I passed, but just barely.

Here's some food for thought:

1) Used Barbri; completed 90+% of the material but never submitted essays (ain't nobody got time for that). Was scoring 60-65% on PTs toward the end.

2) Bombed the midterm. 98/200. Cried a lot. Almost didn't take.

3) Ended up getting a 132 scaled on the MBE. State average was 142.

4) The MBE was the most ridiculous, unfair test I have ever taken. In the AM session, I maybe felt confident about five questions; the rest I could narrow down to two or three and guessed wildly. The PM session was somewhat better: I probably felt confident on about 10; guessed on the rest.

5) I had a small section of D's on the AM session. Probably 5-7 in a row.

6) Re the MBE, generally: despite having passed, I'm still legitimately angry. I don't feel like there was anything I could have done to adequately prepare for that test. This was not a test over "general competence"; it was legal minutiae--so much so that "generally incompetent" people in my class (at a reputable Midwest state school) passed but one of the smartest people failed. I can't fathom the purpose of making people take an exam where their pass or fail is determined largely by whether they were a good guesser. In my case, I feel that luck was what dragged me across the finish line. Honestly, it should give us all pause that we don't receive a raw score for the MBE. Reform that shit now.

7) TL;DR: the MBE sucks.

Out of curiosity, did you watch the videos after the diagnostics for each subject and the videos after the midterm? As silly as it sounds, I retained a lot of the weird little strategy hints they gave on those videos. I know a lot of people blow them off and just end up reading the answer explanations, which is fair, but for me at least those stupid videos actually helped. I found so many questions to be questions of strategy over substance.

[ineptimusprime]

Yo. Missouri posted results yesterday. 84% pass overall which is down 1 point from July 2014.

I passed, but just barely.

Here's some food for thought:

1) Used Barbri; completed 90+% of the material but never submitted essays (ain't nobody got time for that). Was scoring 60-65% on PTs toward the end.

2) Bombed the midterm. 98/200. Cried a lot. Almost didn't take.

3) Ended up getting a 132 scaled on the MBE. State average was 142.

4) The MBE was the most ridiculous, unfair test I have ever taken. In the AM session, I maybe felt confident about five questions; the rest I could narrow down to two or three and guessed wildly. The PM session was somewhat better: I probably felt confident on about 10; guessed on the rest.

5) I had a small section of D's on the AM session. Probably 5-7 in a row.

6) Re the MBE, generally: despite having passed, I'm still legitimately angry. I don't feel like there was anything I could have done to adequately prepare for that test. This was not a test over "general competence"; it was legal minutiae--so much so that "generally incompetent" people in my class (at a reputable Midwest state school) passed but one of the smartest people failed. I can't fathom the purpose of making people take an exam where their pass or fail is determined largely by whether they were a good guesser. In my case, I feel that luck was what dragged me across the finish line. Honestly, it should give us all pause that we don't receive a raw score for the MBE. Reform that shit now.

7) TL;DR: the MBE sucks.

But the real question is, how do you feel about Bernie Sanders, Jacob? And I'd say our law school is semi-reputable.

[lawguyjake]

I'll vote for anyone who gets rid of the MBE.

Yo. Missouri posted results yesterday. 84% pass overall which is down 1 point from July 2014.

I passed, but just barely.

Here's some food for thought:

1) Used Barbri; completed 90+% of the material but never submitted essays (ain't nobody got time for that). Was scoring 60-65% on PTs toward the end.

2) Bombed the midterm. 98/200. Cried a lot. Almost didn't take.

3) Ended up getting a 132 scaled on the MBE. State average was 142.

4) The MBE was the most ridiculous, unfair test I have ever taken. In the AM session, I maybe felt confident about five questions; the rest I could narrow down to two or three and guessed wildly. The PM session was somewhat better: I probably felt confident on about 10; guessed on the rest.

5) I had a small section of D's on the AM session. Probably 5-7 in a row.

6) Re the MBE, generally: despite having passed, I'm still legitimately angry. I don't feel like there was anything I could have done to adequately prepare for that test. This was not a test over "general competence"; it was legal minutiae--so much so that "generally incompetent" people in my class (at a reputable Midwest state school) passed but one of the smartest people failed. I can't fathom the purpose of making people take an exam where their pass or fail is determined largely by whether they were a good guesser. In my case, I feel that luck was what dragged me across the finish line. Honestly, it should give us all pause that we don't receive a raw score for the MBE. Reform that shit now.

7) TL;DR: the MBE sucks.

But the real question is, how do you feel about Bernie Sanders, Jacob? And I'd say our law school is semi-reputable.

[lawguyjake]

Yeah. Kind of, I guess. I watched everything on 1.75 speed.

Out of curiosity, did you watch the videos after the diagnostics for each subject and the videos after the midterm? As silly as it sounds, I retained a lot of the weird little strategy hints they gave on those videos. I know a lot of people blow them off and just end up reading the answer explanations, which is fair, but for me at least those stupid videos actually helped. I found so many questions to be questions of strategy over substance.

[hawks12]

Yeah. Kind of, I guess. I watched everything on 1.75 speed.

Out of curiosity, did you watch the videos after the diagnostics for each subject and the videos after the midterm? As silly as it sounds, I retained a lot of the weird little strategy hints they gave on those videos. I know a lot of people blow them off and just end up reading the answer explanations, which is fair, but for me at least those stupid videos actually helped. I found so many questions to be questions of strategy over substance.

Ditto. I don't think I watched a single video at less than 1.5x. I agree though, it's totally a strategy/guessing exam, not an actual test of your knowledge of the law.

[derklink]

Holly crap! Passed the MO Bar, was pretty close, though. For a foreigner with two months of preparation not too shabby.

[JG7773]

Has any state released the National MBE average yet? I'm sorry if I missed it along the way.

[bibendum88]

Wisconsin results were released since Sep 2. Anyone here hasn't receive their results?

[alphagirl]

Just got an e-mail from the Illinois Board of Bar Examiners and almost had a heart attack. It was just asking me to update my contact information though.

Me too. Does that mean we are still in the running?

LOL--they've gotta send you a letter if you failed too, right?

I have not received any email from the IL board ....is it a bad sign???

[marztri]

y

Holly crap! Passed the MO Bar, was pretty close, though. For a foreigner with two months of preparation not too shabby.

Did you have a JD or a foreign law degree/LLM?

[trustmouse83]

Has any state released the National MBE average yet? I'm sorry if I missed it along the way.

BUMP

[K Rock]

Just got an e-mail from the Illinois Board of Bar Examiners and almost had a heart attack. It was just asking me to update my contact information though.

Me too. Does that mean we are still in the running?

LOL--they've gotta send you a letter if you failed too, right?

I have not received any email from the IL board ....is it a bad sign???

I doubt it. I'm trying not to read too much into it. I bet they sent it to everyone, check your spam/other folder and such.

[kyle010723]

Just got an e-mail from the Illinois Board of Bar Examiners and almost had a heart attack. It was just asking me to update my contact information though.

Me too. Does that mean we are still in the running?

LOL--they've gotta send you a letter if you failed too, right?

I have not received any email from the IL board ....is it a bad sign???

I doubt it. I'm trying not to read too much into it. I bet they sent it to everyone, check your spam/other folder and such.

I'm sure they sent it to everyone. I try to tell myself if they want me to update my address, that must've mean I passed. haha. Two weeks from today!

[kyle010723]

Has any state released the National MBE average yet? I'm sorry if I missed it along the way.

BUMP

No national average yet. MO's state average is usually 1 to 2 pt above national average. If that is still true, this year's national average is around 140 to 141.

[derklink]

y

Holly crap! Passed the MO Bar, was pretty close, though. For a foreigner with two months of preparation not too shabby.

Did you have a JD or a foreign law degree/LLM?

foreign law degree (civil law system) and LL.M.

[infynyti]

Passed Missouri. 135 MBE and 147 essay. On Barbri midterm and final MBE were both around 60%. SO HAPPY!

I would tell the people reporting from Missouri congratulations, but now you have to practice law in Missouri

(I'm from Iowa, so pardon the obligatory joke about our southern brethren).

Congrats, guys Great to hear more positive news

Thanks. Yes, it's time for the Show-Me State to show me!

[starryski]

these results are making me feel a bit too confident. i am 90% sure i failed. actually, i have no clue. some days i think i did pretty well, especially on the essays, others i think there is no way in hell i passed. Waiting for New York

[infynyti]

Yo. Missouri posted results yesterday. 84% pass overall which is down 1 point from July 2014.

I passed, but just barely.

Here's some food for thought:

1) Used Barbri; completed 90+% of the material but never submitted essays (ain't nobody got time for that). Was scoring 60-65% on PTs toward the end.

2) Bombed the midterm. 98/200. Cried a lot. Almost didn't take.

3) Ended up getting a 132 scaled on the MBE. State average was 142.

4) The MBE was the most ridiculous, unfair test I have ever taken. In the AM session, I maybe felt confident about five questions; the rest I could narrow down to two or three and guessed wildly. The PM session was somewhat better: I probably felt confident on about 10; guessed on the rest.

5) I had a small section of D's on the AM session. Probably 5-7 in a row.

6) Re the MBE, generally: despite having passed, I'm still legitimately angry. I don't feel like there was anything I could have done to adequately prepare for that test. This was not a test over "general competence"; it was legal minutiae--so much so that "generally incompetent" people in my class (at a reputable Midwest state school) passed but one of the smartest people failed. I can't fathom the purpose of making people take an exam where their pass or fail is determined largely by whether they were a good guesser. In my case, I feel that luck was what dragged me across the finish line. Honestly, it should give us all pause that we don't receive a raw score for the MBE. Reform that shit now.

7) TL;DR: the MBE sucks.

I agree entirely that the MBE requires reform. The actual test was much harder and more confusing than Barbri's questions.
I'm a third-time taker. The first two times, I practiced MBE but not as much, maybe 300-400 questions each time, with around 60% correct. MBE scores: 117, then 123.
This time I did 1000 questions. My percentages on the Barbri practice questions were still around 60%. Despite 1000 questions, I still didn't feel more comfortable with the MBE. Well, I did, in that I remember feeling slightly less like the MBE questions were testing law I had never seen before. But is that how a test should be? I know that I improved, just not how or why.
THIS is why the MBE should be reformed to provide students more predictability. If they want to keep the test hard, they can add more material, or make the test longer, or have five answer choices instead of four, I don't care. But a test-taker needs to feel like he is getting a certain score because he studied certain subject matter for a certain amount of time, not because he guessed correctly on a random number of questions that look utterly unfamiliar.
Theoretically, there IS something unsatisfying about using BarBri/Kaplan/Themis to study for a test created by NCBE, not the test prep companies. You always feel like there's a gap between what you studied and what you are tested on.

[yachterotter]

Just got an e-mail from the Illinois Board of Bar Examiners and almost had a heart attack. It was just asking me to update my contact information though.

Me too. Does that mean we are still in the running?

LOL--they've gotta send you a letter if you failed too, right?

I have not received any email from the IL board ....is it a bad sign???

I doubt it. I'm trying not to read too much into it. I bet they sent it to everyone, check your spam/other folder and such.

I'm sure they sent it to everyone. I try to tell myself if they want me to update my address, that must've mean I passed. haha. Two weeks from today!

I haven't gotten that email, either! Trying to stay calm...

[sdphill]

Just got an e-mail from the Illinois Board of Bar Examiners and almost had a heart attack. It was just asking me to update my contact information though.

Me too. Does that mean we are still in the running?

LOL--they've gotta send you a letter if you failed too, right?

I have not received any email from the IL board ....is it a bad sign???

I doubt it. I'm trying not to read too much into it. I bet they sent it to everyone, check your spam/other folder and such.

I'm sure they sent it to everyone. I try to tell myself if they want me to update my address, that must've mean I passed. haha. Two weeks from today!

I haven't gotten that email, either! Trying to stay calm...

Have you checked your spam folder?

[AReasonableMan]

Just talked to a friend who took the IL bar. She said there's a word limit on essays! Is this true for New York as well?!?! I definitely wrote a lot