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Admission to the Bar - Preparation and Resources: Multistate Bar Exam (MBE)

This guide provides background and handy resources for students facing the last remaining hurdle before a career in the law--the bar exam.

Jurisdictions Offering the MBE

All U.S. jurisdictions, with the exception of Louisiana and Puerto Rico, offer the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), either as part of the Multistate Uniform Bar Examination (UBE), or in tandem with a state-specific portion.

Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) Information

 

The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) is a 200-question multiple choice exam often given as one of the two days of the bar exam.  Twenty-five of the questions are unscored "pretest" questions being evaluated for future use, shuffled in with the remainder of the questions, and otherwise indistinguishable from them.  Of the remaining 175 questions, 25 questions apiece are on the following topics:

  • Civil Procedure
  • Constitutional Law
  • Contracts
  • Criminal Law and Procedure
  • Evidence
  • Real Property
  • Torts

Each question has four answer choices.  There is no "guessing penalty" on the MBE, so it is to the test-taker's advantage to answer every question.

For more information, check out MBE Information from the National Conference of Bar Examiners, and MBE Subject Matter Outline

Sample Test Questions

Sample Test Questions (from the NCBE Study Aids page):

For examples of test questions similar to those on the MBE, see MBE Sample Test Questions.

Civil Procedure was added to the MBE in February 2015. For sample Civil Procedure questions, see MBE Civil Procedure Sample Test Questions or purchase the MBE Study Aid