MBE Tips and Best Supplements to Get

Ah yes, the MBE, everyone’s favorite multiple-guess section…

• 1.8 minutes per question for 6 hours
• Paranoia from seeing seven C’s in a row on your answer sheet
• 50/50 choices that make you go, “Damn, what’s with this ultimate decision?”

Up to 50% of your bar exam score hangs on a series of letters. I don’t mean essays, which are also a series of letters.

Wow! Sounds important.

For some people, the MBE comes easily while the essays don’t. For some other people, the essays come very easily while the MBE seems impossible.

If neither is your strong suit (like it was for me)…then you’re out of luck.

Just kidding. It’s never over. If you lack the talent of high scores, develop the talent of grit instead.

While the MBE is a formidable portion of the bar, improving on it is figure-out-able.

So how do you improve your MBE score? Here are:

• 3 quick tactics you can try RIGHT NOW
• 3 study strategies for success on the MBE
• How to implement these tactics and strategies

First, 3 quick reminders for your MBE practice:

1) There can only be one credited answer intended for an MBE question.

That’s the good thing about the MBE. It’s relatively objective and quantitative.

What’s the question testing you on? What are the facts trying to tell you?

The question intends to give you credit for ONE answer. Look for the testing intent of the question.

But what do you do if two answer choices appear similarly correct? (Deciding between two “yes” or two “no” choices)

2) Choose the answer choice that is precisely correct.

If you have to do mental gymnastics to justify your choice, then it’s likely less correct.

It can be hard to say “hell yeah” to one particular choice, like when you’re swiping on Hinge. In that case, choose the least wrong answer.

This also means you need to know what you want to look for in a relationsh—I mean, the law. You gotta know the law and its nuances, as well as how they apply to fact patterns.

Notice they’re called fact patterns. Once you’ve seen enough (dates or question-answer pairs), you can start to connect the dots and see the likely outcome without doing mental gymnastics.

3) Eliminate internally consistent choices.

Try this tip explained by a passer:

In this example, B and C are both saying the same thing—that partial performance applies.

If only one choice can be right, neither is right.

Now…

What if there are internally inconsistent choices?

Or what if two choices say the plaintiff will lose because the plaintiff consented or because the defendant didn’t use force? They both look right!

Can you guess with your gut? Should you?

Part of having multiple-choice test-taking skills is knowing how to navigate situations where finding the credited answer goes beyond knowing the law.

(This is especially important for foreign-trained lawyers who may not have been exposed to multiple-choice style testing.)

I’ve gone through some quick tips above, but you can get 6 more detailed MBE tactics in Passer’s Playbook I don’t share these tactics anywhere else.

You could have these tactics in your back pocket which might come in handy in specific situations…

But there are key preparation strategies that if you get right, your score will have no choice but to go up.

You could have these tactics in your back pocket which might come in handy in specific situations…

But there are key preparation strategies that if you get right, your score will have no choice but to go up.

3 study strategies for success on the MBE

1) Quality vs. quantity

Who do you think is going to do better on the MBE?

Person A: The person who grinded out 3,000 questions and vaguely retained the concepts.

Person B: The person who did 1,000 questions, struggled to learn 1,000 times, and can get most of those right if done again a few weeks later.

My bet is on Person B. I’d rather have you master 1,000 questions than go through the motions of 3,000 questions without learning from them.

In other words, it’s more about the quality of learning than the quantity of practice questions.

It’s less about how many or how fast you do them.

It’s more about how well you do them. How well you review them. How well you understand them. This will later translate to how fast you can do them.

More precisely, don’t sacrifice quality for quantity. You still want both. Do get broad coverage of the tested issues. More is better, just not if you’re merely going through the motions and not taking anything away from your work.

This wall at my personal trainer’s gym says it well:

How do you know you’ve mastered the questions?

You know you understand what’s being tested if you can come back to the same question and answer it correctly with the right reasoning.

You don’t have the right to say “oh I get it now” unless you can answer the question correctly later.

That is, I want you to aim to get 100% of your practice questions right.

Of course, maintaining a 100% score is not realistic. During your preparation, the point is to learn, not to try to look good. But this is a helpful thought to make sure to emphasize your understanding.

Never skip this step

How do you prepare in a way that helps you learn so that you can understand the concepts—and ultimately answer similar questions correctly the next time you encounter them (whether in practice or on the exam)?

The learning happens when you review the answer explanations and gain an understanding of the concept. Not so much when you’re answering the questions.

Attempting the questions is like getting on the scale. The real learning and gains happen after you analyze your work. What you do in between (studying the explanations, internalizing the concept) is what changes the reading on the scale.

You can make sense of what each question was testing you by thoroughly studying the answer explanations—for each answer choice for each question you get wrong and right.

Just because you were correct doesn’t mean you were right. If you (happen to) get a question right, you feel like a genius. But you want to know that you got it right for the right reason.

A more aggressive approach is to review the questions and answers to the point you memorize them.

Each question is an opportunity to validate your understanding (if you chose the credited answer) or to learn the legal principle and how to apply it (if you chose a wrong answer).

This is why any MBE supplement you use should come with answer explanations that are helpful and meaningful to you. I’ll talk more about your choices after the 3rd key.

2) Track your “win rate” by smaller categories, and use this data to target your weaker areas.

“I’m hitting 70% correct,” you mumble contentedly. “I’m on my way to passing the MBE and passing the bar exam.”

Maybe so. But it’s not uncommon to hear someone say, “I hit 75-80% in practice but didn’t score well on the MBE.”

Did I raise your anxiety? These practice scores are still helpful indicators of how well your preparation is going.

It seems like everyone merely tracks their overall MBE percentage score, which is fine. But it’s entirely possible that you’re awesome in one subject yet not so much in another. Your overall percentage doesn’t reveal this!

What if you’re getting 90% in Criminal Law and 40% in Criminal Procedure? That’s still 65% on average. What if you’re getting almost all hearsay questions wrong?

How would this translate to your essay performance if those weak topics show up there?

How you’re doing overall vs. by category is a subtle distinction but also easy to identify. Pay more attention to your weakest subjects and subtopics until they’re no longer your weakest.

These weak areas are low-hanging fruits you can slap into shape, which will naturally raise your overall score.

There are also highly tested topics that you can prioritize. Not all questions are equally important.

3) Practice largely with authentic MBE questions.

To prepare for essays, you’d practice with the past essay exams that the bar examiners have given out before. You wouldn’t go back to hypos that span pages that you saw in law school. (I hope not, nerd.)

Similarly, for the MBE, you want to use actual past exam questions. You want to practice with the same style of questions you’ll see on the actual MBE.

But you can also supplement with simulated questions not written by the NCBE if you want to play with more questions. For example, if you’re consistently confused by 4th Amendment questions and want to understand it better, grind them out using Barbri questions so you don’t “waste” real practice questions.

Just avoid relying on them exclusively. You could split them into something like a mix of 75% past questions and 25% simulated questions.

How can you do all of this?

Option 1 – AdaptiBar or UWorld

Someone had a succinct dilemma about this:

Good dilemma (and choice of outlines).

AdaptiBar and UWorld are both online platforms to help you study for the MBE. Questions licensed from the NCBE will overlap, but each one has its own simulated questions.

Since MBE subjects do double duty and take up most of your score (since essays test them too), both of these are amazing resources if you want extra help, learning tools, and a big bank of questions to practice for the MBE.

Not sure which one is right for you? You can find a comparison of AdaptiBar vs. UWorld here.

But don’t agonize over the “best” tool. Both are the best. Be concerned about being the best student instead.

When you factor in the time spent agonizing and researching different options, they no longer become the fastest, best, or easiest.

Even if you have the best tennis racquet, you can’t beat Serena Williams unless you hone your technique with training.

Weigh the pros and cons, decide which fits your needs better, and MOVE.

It’s less about WHAT you use and more about HOW you use it. The tool itself is only a means to an end. The outcome depends on you.

Also, make sure you actually want to use one of these in the first place. Although they’re the most popular MBE supplements, they aren’t the only options.

Option 2 – Strategies & Tactics for the MBE

You could use the excellent Strategies & Tactics for the MBE by Steven Emanuel, which comes with hundreds of past exam questions and a 200-question practice exam.

It has around half the questions than either AdaptiBar or UWorld but has excellent explanations for about a quarter of the price. Volume 1 of Strategies & Tactics (S&T) also comes with a primer for each subject which guides you on how to approach each subject.

I didn’t do well with the MBE (50-60% during practice) my first time prepping.

My second time around, I used only the S&T book above (Volume 1), S&T Volume 2 (new 4th edition is out), and extra Barbri questions to pass the California Bar Exam, using the strategies I outlined above:

1. Quality of review. I improved with around 800-1000 practice questions, not the 3000+ you sometimes see others do. This is not to say 800 will be enough for you. Again, more is better, just not if you’re going through the motions and not taking anything away from your work.
   • If you run out of questions… Redo them. I guarantee you that you won’t get all of them right again. AdaptiBar and UWorld should be able to reset questions at least once if you ask their support.
2. Track performance by subject and topic. Overall percentages don’t reveal specific areas you might be awesome at and lagging in. You can use a simple spreadsheet to track, like the one available in Passer’s Playbook. AdaptiBar and UWorld can also do this with their online analytics.
3. Primarily focus on real questions, but also bring in simulated questions to grind problem areas. I used the S&T books + Barbri questions to take an extra look at problem areas. Now we have great tools like AdaptiBar and UWorld.

Just tell me what to get

If your question is “do I need X?” the answer is no, you do not NEED anything. People have passed with or without any tool you can ask about.

All supplements are merely there to support your learning. Pick what will help you. Bar prep is personal.

“Ok pedant, will X HELP?” Probably! But everyone’s different.

Everything has pros and cons and works better depending on your specific needs. I broke down everything in exhaustive detail in review articles so you can make informed choices: AdaptiBar review, UWorld review.

Again, instead of fixating on which is the “best” tool, focus on being the best student. These are all the best tools. Identify your specific issue, and make independent choices for your bar prep.

Next, I will skip questions like “how many questions/essays/PTs do I need to do to pass?” or at least grind my teeth while I try to answer nicely.

Dude, how should I know? This isn’t a stamp card. If you’re asking this kind of question, you’re looking to get away with the bare minimum and probably need to do as many as possible.

That said, I’ll narrow it down for you:

You will likely be set if the most you go for is:

(1) Either AdaptiBar or UWorld
+
(2) Strategies & Tactics book

In most cases, (1) alone should suffice. Aim to solve and understand all the questions offered. If you get (2), go through it cover to cover.

If you’re budget-strapped and confident about multiple choice, (2) alone could work. (2) is also good if you like working with a paper format. Also consider Volume 2 of S&T.

In the end, you can’t really go wrong with these MBE supplements. Each of these will help you in some way, as long as you use it to learn from it.

No one can teach you. You can only learn.

Whatever you decide to do, implement the above tactics and strategies with these tools. Then you’ll be well on your way to seeing scores trend higher on your next practice sets and ultimately the MBE.