How Hard Is the Bar Exam?

The bar exam is widely considered one of the hardest professional licensing exams in the USA. It isn’t hard because any one question is impossible. It’s hard because of how much it covers (seven MBE subjects plus more on the essays), the speed it demands (about 1.8 minutes per MBE question), and how tiring two full days of testing are.

How hard is the bar exam in practice? Nationally, most first-time takers from ABA-accredited law schools pass the July exam. Repeat takers pass at much lower rates, and states with higher cut scores or their own exams, especially California, often report overall pass rates around 50%.

• How much it covers: Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law & Procedure, Evidence, Real Property and Torts on the MBE, plus subjects like Business Associations, Family Law, Trusts & Estates and Secured Transactions on the essays.
• Tricky questions: MBE questions reward knowing the rules exactly. Two answer choices are often very close.
• Time pressure: you must write six essays in three hours.
• Endurance: most people underestimate how tiring 12 hours of testing is.

The good news: the bar exam tests minimum competence. You don’t need an A. A UBE score of 260–270 out of 400 passes in most states, which usually means getting about 60–65% of MBE questions right while writing solid essays.

USA Bar Exam: Quick Facts

Administered by

State bar admission boards (most exam content written by NCBE)

Length (UBE)

2 days, about 12 hours of testing

Components

MBE (200 questions) · MEE (6 essays) · MPT (2 tasks)

Scoring

400-point scale; most UBE states require 260–270

When

Last Tuesday–Wednesday of February and July

Study time

400–600 hours (8–10 weeks full-time)

Disclaimer: This guide is for general information and is not legal advice. Bar admission rules vary by jurisdiction. Always confirm dates, fees and requirements with your state’s bar admission authority. Read our editorial policy.