How many minutes is a bar exam question?

Asked by: Irma Tromp  |  Last update: October 22, 2025
Score: 4.3/5 (15 votes)

Regular timing conditions. During the MBE portion of the bar exam, you have 6 hours to complete 200 multiple choice questions. So, if you take the bar exam under normal timing conditions, you will have, on average, 1.8 minutes, or 1 minute and 48 seconds, to answer each MBE question.

How long are bar exam essays?

As explained below, the two-day exam now consists of five one-hour essays, one 90-minute performance test, and 200 multiple-choice questions.

How many MBE questions are in an hour?

As a general rule, aim for completing 33 questions each hour. Learn more about how many minutes you have to answer each MBE question here!

Is 311 a good bar exam score?

Depending on how many people have taken the UBE, a score of 280 is approximately the 73rd percentile. A 300 is in about the 90th percentile, and 330 is in the top 1% of all scores.

How many minutes per bar exam question?

How much time you should spend on each MBE® question? A good general rule of thumb is that you have roughly 1 minute and 48 seconds per question. This is based on 200 questions in 6 hours, or 1.8 minutes per question.

How Many Minutes Do I Have to Answer Each MBE Question?

16 related questions found

Which state has the hardest bar exam?

California is widely considered to have the hardest bar exam, due to its low pass rate and the difficulty of the content and constraints of the exam.

Did Kim K pass the bar?

The Skims mogul has been able to keep up with her legal apprenticeship and plans to sit for the state bar exam in future. No, Kim Kardashian has not passed not the California General Bar exam but successfully passed the baby bar in 2021. She cleared it in her fourth attempt.

What is a 266 on the bar?

In most states that grade on a 1–6 scale, a 4 is considered a passing score. Here is the exact number a passing score for each essay: A 3.9 is considered passing in Uniform Bar Exam jurisdictions that require a 260 to pass. A 4.0 is considered passing in Uniform Bar Exam jurisdictions that require a 266 to pass.

Is 295 a good bar score?

In order to pass the Uniform Bar Exam, examinees must earn a score of at least 260 on the MBE and MEE. However, a score of 280 is generally considered to be a good score, and a score of 300 to 330 (highest score on bar exam) is considered to be excellent.

What is a 270 on the bar?

A 280 is approximately the 73rd percentile. A 270 is approximately the 58th percentile. A 260 is approximately the 44th percentile. A 250 is approximately the 26th percentile.

Is the bar exam a time crunch?

The bar exam is timed, which is pressure in itself. But more than that, the majority of students are trying to learn and remember everything they need to pass the bar in only about 10 weeks. And it's this time crunch that contributes to making the bar exam so hard. What can you do?

How many questions can you get wrong on the bar exam?

That means you'll need to get 115 questions correct out of 190 — or that you can miss up to 75 questions and still pass the MBE!

Can you pass the bar if you fail the essays?

The answer, in most states, is yes. In most states, as long as you make up for any lost points on the essay portion of the exam, you can fail the MBE and still pass the bar exam. For example, in New York, you need a 266 out of 400 potential points to pass the bar exam.

How many students fail the bar exam?

Unsurprisingly, California has the lowest passage rate (44.42%) by a wide margin. Take even a great in-state school like UCLA and only 86% percent of students are passing on their first try. That gives you an idea of how hard the CA bar is.

Is the bar exam getting harder?

Recently, California has had some terrifying pass rates. This includes a February 2020 overall pass rate of only 26.8 percent. In years prior, the pass rates were slightly better, but not by much. For example, the February 2018 overall pass rate was 27.3 percent.

How many times can you take the bar exam?

There is no limit to the number of times you can take the bar exam in the state of California. While it may come as a relief to many students who are planning to take the bar exam in California that there are no limits, California's bar exam is known for being one of the hardest exams in the U.S.

What is the lowest passing bar score?

UBE Minimum Passing Scores by State

Each UBE jurisdiction sets a minimum passing score, ranging from 260 to 270. Recently, many jurisdictions have re-evaluated these scores in response to national discussions on bar exam difficulty, candidate performance, and the demand for new lawyers.

Why is the bar exam curved?

This adjustment is used to ensure that an applicant's likelihood of passing is not affected by any variation in the difficulty of the written section (includes both the essay and PT questions) across administrations. Almost all United States jurisdictions scale their written scores.

Did Kim Kardashian have a BBL?

Kim Kardashian, perhaps the most dominant Kardashian figure of all, has openly admitted that her BBL was painful and not worth it. Thus, she then got a BBL reduction. Renowned for the stunning curves she takes pride in, Kim may have as well put an end to the BBL trend just by getting hers removed.

Is reading the law a real thing?

Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the tutelage or mentoring of an experienced lawyer.