July 2015 MBE Scores/Results Forum

[fdf26]

just passed in IL. I did Themis and completed about 65% of the program. Scored a 135 raw on the midterm and was getting about 75-85% on practice MBEs at the end. I also had the 'string of D's.' I felt like I didn't know much of anything on the AM session, but finished the PM session with time to spare and felt pretty good. If I'm being honest though, the worst part for me were the Illinois Essays.

Anyways, thanks to all who've contributed here, it's been one of the better ways to cope during the wait. Congratulations to everyone who's passed and best of luck to everyone who will take the bar in the future!

[RakeJarrietta]

still annoyed I didn't get my score but I passed in IL and I did around 60% of Themis and was getting 70-80% or so on MBE questions by the end. Probably not that helpful, but I thought the morning session was easy.

[K Rock]

Passed IL. Obviously we don't get our real scores but I had a 118 on the Barbri simulated MBE. I thought the actual MBE was tough as balls, but thought statistically I still had a good chance of passing. Still got freaked out though.

[kykiske]

Passed IL. Obviously we don't get our real scores but I had a 118 on the Barbri simulated MBE. I thought the actual MBE was tough as balls, but thought statistically I still had a good chance of passing. Still got freaked out though.

That's good to hear! I'm still freaking out because our scores are not released until next week. I don't know how you felt, but I felt like I was straight guessing on, say, 90% of the MBE questions.

[K Rock]

Passed IL. Obviously we don't get our real scores but I had a 118 on the Barbri simulated MBE. I thought the actual MBE was tough as balls, but thought statistically I still had a good chance of passing. Still got freaked out though.

That's good to hear! I'm still freaking out because our scores are not released until next week. I don't know how you felt, but I felt like I was straight guessing on, say, 90% of the MBE questions.

Yeah I felt like I only had like 10% of them 100% correct. I was able to narrow a lot of them down between two answers but still a lot of guess work. Good luck!

[ZTZ1010]

Passed CT also. We don't automatically get MBE scores, but I'll update after my request is processed. I had the LONG string of D's in the morning section; probably 25 out of the first 40 or 50 questions. I also felt like I was guessing on roughly 80% of the questions in the AM and 60% in the PM. I walked out of the MBE feeling absolutely awful and near certain that I'd have to retake in February.

I did Barbri and completed about 90% of the assigned coursework. I got 125/200 on the midterm and 66/100 on the refresher or final - whatever the last incremental test was. I also bought the Emmanuels book and was scoring around 77% on the 200 question test. I did two of the NCBE released 100 question tests and scored around 156 on each.

FWIW to those waiting, there is hope!

[robinhoodOO]

Passed CT also. We don't automatically get MBE scores, but I'll update after my request is processed. I had the LONG string of D's in the morning section; probably 25 out of the first 40 or 50 questions. I also felt like I was guessing on roughly 80% of the questions in the AM and 60% in the PM. I walked out of the MBE feeling absolutely awful and near certain that I'd have to retake in February.

I did Barbri and completed about 90% of the assigned coursework. I got 125/200 on the midterm and 66/100 on the refresher or final - whatever the last incremental test was. I also bought the Emmanuels book and was scoring around 77% on the 200 question test. I did two of the NCBE released 100 question tests and scored around 156 on each.

FWIW to those waiting, there is hope!

Congrats, man! And to everyone else sharing the good news!

[grizz20]

Started studying late June. Obviously did shit on the midterm. Worked hard. Kind of shocked when I left the bar exam. Passed the IL bar.

Pretty sure I crushed most of the essays. So don't forget that part, for those of you with a 50-50 split.

Most people will do well. Don't doubt yourselves guys and gals.

[grizz20]

I'm interested to hear about how people are performing on the essays. I didn't think the MBE was that bad but felt pretty shitty after some of those essays, especially in the PM. I also didn't finish the MPT. I wrote in Texas, which is 40% MBE, 40% essays, and 10% MPT (the other 10% was for crim and civ pro qs, which were fine).

Thanks in advance for any input.

My friends that took TX Bar said they had to bullshit on 3-4 essays but just went through the motions. These were people I interned with in district court, were serious students, and did very well in law school. I think you are in good company.

[barwhat]

Passed CT also. We don't automatically get MBE scores, but I'll update after my request is processed. I had the LONG string of D's in the morning section; probably 25 out of the first 40 or 50 questions. I also felt like I was guessing on roughly 80% of the questions in the AM and 60% in the PM. I walked out of the MBE feeling absolutely awful and near certain that I'd have to retake in February.

A guy in my office who took CT last year said they mail MBE scores to everyone. Is that not the case? What did you do to request yours?

[curepure]

Passed IL and I only got 105 on Barbri simulated MBE, average was 113?

[ZTZ1010]

A guy in my office who took CT last year said they mail MBE scores to everyone. Is that not the case? What did you do to request yours?

I was under the impression CT only sent scores if you failed? I could be completely wrong. An attorney I worked with (who took 3-4 years ago) told me that was the case. I simply had an email in to the Bar Examining Committee asking how to go about obtaining my specific scores. I'd much prefer you be right!

[Killingly]

A guy in my office who took CT last year said they mail MBE scores to everyone. Is that not the case? What did you do to request yours?

I was under the impression CT only sent scores if you failed? I could be completely wrong. An attorney I worked with (who took 3-4 years ago) told me that was the case. I simply had an email in to the Bar Examining Committee asking how to go about obtaining my specific scores. I'd much prefer you be right!

Lol our MBE scores get mailed to us. You can request your essay scores but I'm not sure what the point of that would be.

[ZTZ1010]

Lol our MBE scores get mailed to us. You can request your essay scores but I'm not sure what the point of that would be.

Thanks for the clarification.

[slavetothebar]

Wondering if anyone else noticed this...

I took the IL bar. Bar prep course was Barbri. I submitted all of the assignments we could submit for review and received a 3/5, 1/5 (last minute I remembered it was due about 10 minutes before the cutoff to turn that one in) and the remainder of my essays were given 4/5 by the Barbri graders. I felt REALLY good going into the essays.

I failed the bar. I was pretty sure that the problem was with the MBE, but just received my results and discovered that I was slaughtered on the essays. I scored 3 on three of the essays, 2 on four of the essays and 1 on two of the essays. I read a lot about Barbri being OVERLY harsh on grading essays - with people saying they did significantly better on the essays than what the Barbri graders had given them in the practice essays - so I was shocked to read those results.

[Kiwi3891]

I failed the bar. I was pretty sure that the problem was with the MBE, but just received my results and discovered that I was slaughtered on the essays. I scored 3 on three of the essays, 2 on four of the essays and 1 on two of the essays. I read a lot about Barbri being OVERLY harsh on grading essays - with people saying they did significantly better on the essays than what the Barbri graders had given them in the practice essays - so I was shocked to read those results.

Would you be able to share what you received on the MBE? Sorry for the bad news, but bright side, the essays can be practice more (at least in my mind). Keep your head up and trudging through! I am still waiting for my scores on 11/6.

[kykiske]

Do we have any idea how the curve is set--i.e. how many points are added to our raw score to get the scaled score.

[Minnesota2015]

First off, thanks to everyone who posted their results! It made me feel a little less crazy as I waited, so I wanted to share mine too. I PASSED. Thank god.

Minnesota here, UBE state with a 260 required to pass. I got a 347. They didn't provide the breakdown between MBE & MEE, not sure if I'm going to request my MBE score--if I do, I'll post it. I did Barbri, got a 150 on the midterm and between 75 & 80 on the last test. Toward the end I was scoring high 70s, low 80s on most of the MBE question sets. I completed ~80% of the program, but didn't do a single thing outside of Barbri. (If anyone wants to buy some Critical Pass flash cards, I have all but one subject still wrapped in plastic.) I worked full-time until the last three weeks. I also only submitted one essay for grading. Toward the end I worked through two or three in each subject, but my scores were all over the place, even within the same subject areas. I also only wrote out 2 MPTs. I just kept putting the writing off. I went into the bar thinking the essays would feel mostly crap, but expecting that my MBE score would be what carried me. I felt about as expected on the essays--that I failed one, nailed a couple, and did middling on three. I actually felt somewhat confident going into the second day, since it was supposed to be easier than Barbri and I'd been scoring well.

Which is why I felt like total sh*t after the morning. So shell-shocked, confident in maybe 10% of my answers and wondering what the hell happened. It didn't seem like Barbri at all--it felt like it was written to avoid everything Barbri said we should focus on. I did have that string of Ds everyone has talked about. The afternoon was slightly better, but not by much. I was so tired that I had a really hard time focusing and it didn't feel much easier than morning, and still harder than Barbri. I felt so downtrodden as I left that I couldn't even celebrate it being over.

So the moral is, don't despair if you felt like crap! I know everyone is tired of everyone telling them they'll pass (I sure was) but still, I felt like total crap and it was still okay. Good luck to everyone still waiting!

[GTAVER]

I failed the bar. I was pretty sure that the problem was with the MBE, but just received my results and discovered that I was slaughtered on the essays. I scored 3 on three of the essays, 2 on four of the essays and 1 on two of the essays. I read a lot about Barbri being OVERLY harsh on grading essays - with people saying they did significantly better on the essays than what the Barbri graders had given them in the practice essays - so I was shocked to read those results.

Would you be able to share what you received on the MBE? Sorry for the bad news, but bright side, the essays can be practice more (at least in my mind). Keep your head up and trudging through! I am still waiting for my scores on 11/6.

I'm in the same boat as slavetothebar... SO I took CT as my second bar and I too was shocked when I saw my essay scores I got one 6 and 5 2s which is terrible, but I didn't overly prepare for the pointed questions for CT. Thus my written scaled score was 118. My primary bar state is Massachusetts and it does not provide the Scaled MBE Score so CT did not give my Scaled MBE score. But my total Score in CT was 245(118 scaled written and the rest attributed to MBE??) and in order to pass you need to achieve a score of 264.

[kyle010723]

I'm in the same boat as slavetothebar... SO I took CT as my second bar and I too was shocked when I saw my essay scores I got one 6 and 5 2s which is terrible, but I didn't overly prepare for the pointed questions for CT. Thus my written scaled score was 118. My primary bar state is Massachusetts and it does not provide the Scaled MBE Score so CT did not give my Scaled MBE score. But my total Score in CT was 245(118 scaled written and the rest attributed to MBE??) and in order to pass you need to achieve a score of 264.

Sorry to hear about your CT result, hopefully MA will turn out better for you. As to your question:

The passing score is 264 out of a possible 400 points. A bar examination score is the sum of the applicant's MBE scaled score and Written Examination score on the MBE scale, which consists of the MPT and the MEE/Connecticut Essay Examination (i.e., the MBE counting 50%, the MPT counting 20%, and the MEE/Connecticut Essay Examination counting 30%). There is no passing score on either part alone. For example, a high score on the MBE can offset a low score on the Written Examination. Your MBE scaled score and your Written Examination score on the MBE scale are calculated to the nearest whole number.

So you scored a 127 (245 - 118) on your MBE.

[ZTZ1010]

Passed CT also. I had the LONG string of D's in the morning section; probably 25 out of the first 40 or 50 questions. I also felt like I was guessing on roughly 80% of the questions in the AM and 60% in the PM. I walked out of the MBE feeling absolutely awful and near certain that I'd have to retake in February.

I did Barbri and completed about 90% of the assigned coursework. I got 125/200 on the midterm and 66/100 on the refresher or final - whatever the last incremental test was. I also bought the Emmanuels book and was scoring around 77% on the 200 question test. I did two of the NCBE released 100 question tests and scored around 156 on each.

FWIW to those waiting, there is hope!

Just to update this post, I got a 160 on the actual MBE. Score came in the mail today.

[VTLawyer]

Wondering if anyone else noticed this...

I took the IL bar. Bar prep course was Barbri. I submitted all of the assignments we could submit for review and received a 3/5, 1/5 (last minute I remembered it was due about 10 minutes before the cutoff to turn that one in) and the remainder of my essays were given 4/5 by the Barbri graders. I felt REALLY good going into the essays.

I failed the bar. I was pretty sure that the problem was with the MBE, but just received my results and discovered that I was slaughtered on the essays. I scored 3 on three of the essays, 2 on four of the essays and 1 on two of the essays. I read a lot about Barbri being OVERLY harsh on grading essays - with people saying they did significantly better on the essays than what the Barbri graders had given them in the practice essays - so I was shocked to read those results.

Sad to say but the barbri graders are useless. I personally 'failed' every essay that barbri graded. But did very well on the bar exam essays. Whereas there is a girl in my barbri class who scored 5s on all of her essays and ultimately failed the bar exam essay portion. There was another guy who pretty much copied the model answer word for word, (he thought you needed to turn in every graded assignment to retake barbri if he failed), he scored a 3/6 with the only comment being, "see model answer to see the parts of the law you missed." That isn't even mentioning the first graded assignment they gave us was scored using a model answer which the law had since been changed since it was written... sorry now I'm just venting about Barbri.

[alphagirl]

Wondering if anyone else noticed this...

I took the IL bar. Bar prep course was Barbri. I submitted all of the assignments we could submit for review and received a 3/5, 1/5 (last minute I remembered it was due about 10 minutes before the cutoff to turn that one in) and the remainder of my essays were given 4/5 by the Barbri graders. I felt REALLY good going into the essays.

I failed the bar. I was pretty sure that the problem was with the MBE, but just received my results and discovered that I was slaughtered on the essays. I scored 3 on three of the essays, 2 on four of the essays and 1 on two of the essays. I read a lot about Barbri being OVERLY harsh on grading essays - with people saying they did significantly better on the essays than what the Barbri graders had given them in the practice essays - so I was shocked to read those results.

I guess your grader and mine is a same person who must have been in awfully bad mood. I have been just so embarrassed with my essay scores - 1 on three of essays also on MPT. I thought that score 1 should be for answers with almost no idea. But I wrote every rule, issue and application the rule to the facts (even if all of the application/ issue might not be right ones) and I think score 1 is too harsh. Also, we cannot appeal even if we find our answers are not that different from model answer on the inspection day. Feel so unfair...!

[robinhoodOO]

One again, congrats to those with good news!

*Update: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

PM me for more scores, edits, etc.

[CurryWithTheShot]

Passed the MN bar. Took Kaplan for bar review. Did terrible on the mid-term (78) and did better on the final (116, I think) and the additional practice exam (124). I did well enough to waive into other UBE states, if I choose to do so. I am considering requesting my scores, but I'm against having to pay another fee. I don't understand why we have to pay extra to find out our exact scores after paying hundreds of dollars to take the test.