Self-grading your MEE/MPT answers

One question examinees often ask me is whether they should self-grade their MEE/MPT answers. While anyone can self-grade MBE questions, it’s more difficult to get a gauge for how much you need to know and how much you do know for purposes of essay questions when all you have is model answers. As a result, most examinees shy away from self-grading their written MEE/MPT answers. However, this is where the materials available through this module can help you immensely as one of their major benefits is the ability to self-grade. Examinees can use the MEE Essay Compilation or MEE Issue Spotting outline to identify the issues/legal problems and then supplement with the MEE/MPT Comparisons. These Comparison Banks mimic the process a grader goes through, and the more you put yourself into the shoes of the grader, the better you will score on the MEE/MPT.

Almost all states scale their written component to the MBE. This sometimes leads to examinees failing the exam who would have passed if it weren’t for the scaling system. Basically, an examinee can fully demonstrate knowledge on an essay, but once the scaling and adjustment take place, they may no longer have a passing grade. Because of this, Oklahoma stopped scaling their essays to the MBE in 2016.

However, since almost all states continue to scale their essays to the MBE, this is a battle you must fight on your opponent’s battlefield according to your opponent’s rules. For these scaling states, NCBE tells graders to put their graded essays into “buckets” which contain an equal number of 1 essays, 2 essays, etc. This allows for a normal distribution of scores, but can lead to arbitrariness/unfairness in essay grading. For example, if your essay deserves a 4, but the grader’s 4 bucket is too full, he may unfairly move your essay into the 3 bucket.

So the next question is how does the grader decide what essay goes into which bucket. According to a 1977 study entitled An Analysis Of Grading Practices On The California Bar Examination by Stephen P. Klein, Ph.D., the “grading standards for the California bar exam essays are based on: analysis of the problem, knowledge of the law, application of legal principles, reasoning, and the appropriateness of the conclusions reached. The objective “correctness” of the answer are not supposed to affect the grade assigned.” Bar exam graders have to be trained to apply these scoring rules consistently through a process called “calibration.”

At a March 2011 bar exam workshop at New York Law School, Bryan R. Williams of the NYS Board of Law Examiners stated: “The grading of the exam is done by seven people throughout state – all practicing lawyers. There are five board members of the NY Board of Law Examiners who are appointed by the Court of Appeals. Each one of those board members have seven people who are in their team. Each person is responsible for one essay, and that team of people, then they grade the essay and the MPT. So what happens is we have the question written, and then we have a model answer. And just like this exam that was just given, a few days after the exam, all of us, the seven graders and myself, will receive about 50 sample answers given by candidates, so we all get the same 50, and we individually go and we grade those exams based upon the model answer that they did, and then we have a meeting and we come together and we make sure that we are all grading the same way, so we can get calibrated, and there has never been a time since I’ve been doing this, and I’ve been doing this since 1986, there has never been a time where we would have had that meeting and because of the kinds of answers we get back, we don’t in some way change our model answer because what we are trying to do, we are trying to rank order people.”

The more calibration sessions, the more reliable the essay grading. In California, a group of graders hold three calibration sessions to ensure that grading is done consistently as the graders continue to score answers. In New York, it is not clear how many calibration sessions are undertaken, but it is likely less than three. Graders use calibration sessions to standardize the scores for various quality levels of answers. This ensures that theoretically at least, the same essay would receive the same points from any of the graders assigned to that essay. Essay grading reliability diminishes if the graders are not sufficiently trained to apply the scoring rules consistently. This was confirmed in the 1977 Klein study: “there was far more consistency among the readers before the regular reading process began (calibration data set) than there was once this process was underway. This difference is evident on all three indices of agreement and clearly illustrates that the initial calibration data does not reflect accurately the degree of agreement among, the readers in the scores that are subsequently used in determining an applicant’s pass/fail status. For instance, with the calibration sample there was a range of 70-85 percent agreement on the pass/fail decision~ whereas this range dropped to 27-57 percent at the beginning and to 23-53 percent at the end of the regular reading period. In other words, during the normal reading process, the readers agreed with one another about one-half as well as they did during the calibration process!” see The State Bar Of California Committee Of Bar Examiners/Office Of Admissions Description And Grading Of The California Bar Examination – General Bar Examination And Attorneys’ Examination

NCBE provides a very detailed answer and analysis to each MEE/MPT question. This makes it much easier to self-grade. Following is a detailed explanation of HOW an examinee can accurately self-grade their MEE/MPT answers using the materials on this site.

In tutoring, I grade essays on a scale of 0-10 where 5 is exactly passing. A legend for the scoring is below.

0 = Did not discuss any issue or the answer is completely irrelevant
1 = Very poor discussion of the issues. Wrong law and poor analysis.
2 = Poor discussion of the issues missing important law/analysis OR right conclusions but no issue statements, rules or analysis.
3 = Inadequate answer. Missing parts of law and/or analysis.
4 = Not quite passing answer. Some incorrect law and adequate analysis OR correct law and some inadequate analysis.
5 = Exactly passing answer. Answered the issues sufficiently with adequate analysis, even if the answer not correct.
6 = Above passing answer. Answered the issues correctly with more detailed analysis.
7 = Good answer. Answered the issues correctly with good analysis.
8 = Very good answer. Solid answer with detailed elements and good analysis.
9 = Great answer. Correct on all aspects of the issues and detailed elements. Used the appropriate terms of art. Solid detailed analysis.
10 = Excellent answer. Fully answered the issues correctly with strong lengthy analysis. Discussed each element and used all relevant facts.

For each MEE practice question issue, you should self-evaluate by comparing your answer to the MEE Answer and then entering a grade ranging from 0-10 into a spreadsheet to track your progress. For example, if you think the first issue for an MEE question was difficult and you missed some law, you should enter a code between 2 or 3. You should do this for each issue contained in each MEE question. Use the Issue Point percentage (e.g. 50%) to help you decide if your writing was sufficient for the topic. For example, if a topic was 50% of your score but represented only 25% of your writing, you should downgrade your score for that topic. Even if your jurisdiction uses a different grading scale, you should still use the above legend as a guidepost when you self-grade your practice essay answers.

You should use the MEE and MPT Comparisons to get an idea of whether your word count and analysis is consistent with passing essays. Put simply, these are the best resources available for accurately self-grading your MEE and MPT answers. As you review the better essays, your format will start to change and you will focus on framing the issues with more particularity. Much like a grader will calibrate his grading by looking at the quality of a range of different answers, you will learn how to adjust your responses to mimic those regarded as superior. Your primary goals when using the Comparison Banks should be: (1) to see how the high scoring essays are structured (e.g. how they use CIRAC/IRAC, how they address the issues, how they format their answer in regards to issue statements, conclusions and bolding/underlining/italicizing); and (2) to see how the high scoring essays properly analyze the issues. Good analysis is a pre-requisite for a passing essay score. For example, as stated in a Southern Illinois University School of Law presentation, the most common problem seen on the exams of those who failed was the absence of factual analysis. Analysis is the most important element of IRAC because this is where the legal reasoning occurs. Continually observing how high scoring answers analyze the facts will give you insight on how to replicate such analysis in your essays. As one passing examinee told me: “Reviewing the essay comparison tool gave me a better idea of where I was going wrong. Once you get past the mental hurdle of how much information is available, or really, once you figure out what to focus on, it’s such an invaluable tool. I’m not sure if I was right on the substance of what I wrote this time, but I am damn confident my writing style and overall tone improved.”

When you are self-grading practice essays, be a bit harsh in your grading. This helps you avoid lulling yourself into a sense of false security that may prevent you from really studying the material more. As one top scoring F20 examinee said: “I got one 4 and all the rest 3s (for IL the range is 1-6, passing starts at 4) from the graders. On the real deal I got 175. During the last two weeks, I focused on essays. I graded myself really harshly (like if I didn’t split up the rules like they did, I didn’t give myself that point) so that I would learn.” Don’t be overly harsh – simply imagine yourself as a skeptical grader and be realistic about how the grader would score your essays if it were the actual exam. Always keep in mind that self-grading can be a double-edged sword. On some essays, you will feel completely demoralized, while on other essays you will give yourself an inflated sense of confidence in your ability. Making MEE rules helps overcome these potential problems. When you self-grade using the model answers, copy the sections of the answer text that contain the rules you missed. For example, a domestic-educated examinee who passed on his 2nd attempt wrote full essay answers in practice and made an essay rules outline. He told me: “Bar reviews put emphasis is on building your own outlines from the lectures. That only works if you’re a person who learns while typing. For me, it was easier to review other people’s outlines — like yours — and build lists of rules based only on my mistakes.” Keep these MEE rules list the same way you keep your MBE rules lists – categorized by subject (e.g. a batch of Wills MEE rules, Trusts MEE rules, etc.) and even by sub-category. Every so often, print out these missed rules (large bold type is best) to read/review. Also, occasionally read these MEE rules out-loud to yourself or record yourself reading the rules and listen to the recording. Making these rules will help prevent self-grading from demoralizing you. Bottom line – you don’t want to give yourself an inflated sense of confidence in your ability.

An indirect way to start your essay study is to use the MEE essays to supplement your MBE studies. For example, if you had problems with joinder in MBE practice, read the MEE essays on joinder (Ctrl+F using the MEE Essay Compilation). Since your knowledge for the MEE is going to be limited in early study. you should answer MEE essays open book where you read the question and answer, and then write/type the exact answer as if you were transcribing it. The act of writing it forces you to think about how everything is put together. Then as your knowledge develops, go from open book to closed book. Depending on how much time you have to study, you should issue spot essays if your time is limited, or answer full essays if you have more time. A good rule of thumb is one full essay and 2-3 issue spotted essays per day in the afternoon or evening (after you did your morning study). Ultimately, you want exposure to as many MEE essays as possible. For example, one foreign examinee who received the highest MEE essay score on the Secured Transaction essay told me she simply reviewed the Secured Transaction essays going back 15 years. Often, a topic from a past essay will show up on the MEE, so the exposure will help you spot the issue and know what to write.

Even NCBE acknowledges that testing and practice are important learning tools. According to NCBE: In order to drive student learning, law school faculty should ask themselves whether their tests assess what they want students to learn and whether their tests are given in time to provide feedback that will enhance student learning. Tests are a powerful motivator, and testing time is not a waste of instructional time if the tests are focused on important concepts. Likewise, studying for a test is a good use of learning time if the tests are testing important concepts. Testing early and often is important to provide guidance to students about whether they are on track or whether they need to study more in order to succeed in the course. A quick quiz, perhaps in the last 5 to 10 minutes of each class, would be one way to provide this feedback. The quiz could consist of short-answer or multiple-choice questions, and it could be self-graded. see The Bar Examiner, December 2011

I am in the process of developing a spreadsheet which will be keyed to my MEE Outline to enable examinees to more efficiently self-grade their MEE answers. I expect to release this here in late-June 2020.

July 2020 UBE Essays Subscription

UBE ESSAYS subscriptions for the Julyy 2020 bar exam are now available. The Features Page explains the content and materials available with a UBE ESSAYS subscription. A UBE ESSAYS subscription for the upcoming exam administration is $175 although discounted law school subscriptions are available with participating schools. There is also a $25 coupon code available if you complete my Retaker Form or Post-Exam Form.  Access to your UBE ESSAYS account will expire on March 1 for February exams or August 1 for July exams (ignore the Subscription Term of 7 months).

February 2020 UBE Essays Subscription

UBE ESSAYS subscriptions for the February 2020 bar exam are now available. The Features Page explains the content and materials available with a UBE ESSAYS subscription. A UBE ESSAYS subscription for the upcoming exam administration is $175 although discounted law school subscriptions are available with participating schools. There is also a $25 coupon code available if you complete my Retaker Form or Post-Exam Form.  Access to your UBE ESSAYS account will expire on March 1 for February exams or August 1 for July exams (ignore the Subscription Term of 7 months).

February MBE Scaling and Percentiles

The following calculator will accurately estimate your MBE Score and Percentile (based on the Feb 2011 scale which is the last time a complete MBE scale was released). Please keep in mind that the F19 scale may differ substantially from this F11 scale. For example, the F11 MBE mean was 138.6 while the F18 MBE mean was 132.8, suggesting that the F19 MBE mean will be somewhat different from F11.

If you failed the bar exam, I can send you a free comprehensive statistical analysis of your scores if you complete the following Retaker Advice Form.

Florida Part A Score Calculator

The following calculator will estimate your Part A Scaled Score for the July 2018 and February 2018 Florida bar exam administrations based on the individual Part A scores you enter. February 2019 Florida examinees can use the F18 calculator to test various scoring scenarios and estimate their exam performance since the F19 scale should be similar to the F18 scale.


While I am certain of the results of my other bar calculators, I am not 100% certain about this calculator. Out of all the bar score calculators I have made (New York, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Washington DC, and Alabama), this one is by far the most difficult because the Part A scores sometimes seem to follow a reverse scale. Accordingly, if you receive an incorrect result, please submit your scores to me using the following form. As an incentive to FL examinees to fill out this form, I will tell you how much the Florida essays are worth as compared to the Florida multiple choice (they are NOT worth the same). Examinees can use this information to properly allocate their study-time based on how much each area is expected to contribute to the total score. I plan to make my MBE specific materials available to non-UBE examinees for the upcoming exam. If you are interested, there is a notification list here. I also tutor subject to availability.

 

Connecticut UBE Score Calculator

The following calculator will accurately estimate a Written Scaled Score and Total Score for the February 2018 Connecticut UBE bar exam administrations based on the scores you enter. Connecticut examinees can use this calculator to test various scoring scenarios and estimate their exam performance.

If you failed the exam in a UBE state, I can send you an analysis of your scores if you fill out the following Retaker Advice Form. This information enables me to determine the scale for each exam and maintain the bar score calculators. As an added incentive to submit the information, anyone who completes the Retaker Advice Form will receive a $25 coupon code to UBE Essays.com.

What is takes to get a 120 on the written portion of the UBE

Based on NCBE statistics, a July examinee with a written score of 120 did better than only 10-12% of examinees nationwide on the MEE/MPT. To better understand what 120 written score looks like, following is a July 2016 MEE answer that received a score of 42 in NY. If a July NY UBE examinee received a score of 42 for each of his 6 MEE essays and 2 MPTs, that examinee would have received a total written score of 120 (meaning they would have needed a 146 on the MBE to pass with a 266). Please note that this is a single sample essay and some examinees write much less and receive higher scores while other examinees write more and receive lower scores.

Subscriber Testimonials

I think this helped me immensely, because although I had not practiced writing any essays, I still really got a feel for the tone, length, content and structure of passing answers which created a ‘voice’ in my head when writing essays.

I did much better on my essays this time due in large part to your comparison tool. I found that to be extremely helpful.

I realized during this process that I actually am much more of an auditory learner, and I found myself able to focus more and retain more from audio or audio with text than I ever have just by reading. So the fact that you provide so many audio resources made a big difference for me.

I would suggest that all future examinees use every portion of your site and materials and really take the time to read your website and its sections over. The advice was invaluable and helped A LOT. Literally every part of your website contributed in some way.

If I had to identify one thing that helped me most on the MPT, it would be the MPT format Bible. In hindsight I’d spend a day or two just reading this and practicing it.

Of your materials, the past MEE answer comparisons were the most helpful.

The Essay Comparison Tool was very helpful. Specifically: 1) Reviewing the Released Answers and comparing them with mine. 2) Comparing my answers with the best scoring answers submitted 3) Comparing my answers with similarly scoring answers 4) Comparing my answers with the lowest scoring answers submitted

Reviewing the essay comparison tool gave me a better idea of where I was going wrong. Once you get past the mental hurdle of how much information is available, or really, once you figure out what to focus on, it’s such an invaluable tool. I’m not sure if I was right on the substance of what I wrote this time, but I am damn confident my writing style and overall tone improved.

After studying your materials that I did very diligently, my understanding of the questions were hugely improved. I listened to the MP3s when I was cooking or exercising and after a while I just felt I knew it all.

I spent time listening your mp3 materials when I was driving, and I believe I made the best use of my time.

Thank you for your assistance in helping me pass the NY bar exam. I downloaded your MP3s and listened to them going back atleast 20 exams – this helped me a lot!

Another thing I found really useful to me is the mp3 essay answers. I listened to it whenever I have a chance.

It was a great resource and most especially the MP3 which I always listened to every night. It was like my sleeping pill because every time I started to listen to them I some how calmed down and was able to go to bed

I truly believe that your subscription site for the essays was an invaluable resources and acted as a comparator for me- to understand what the examiners wanted – before that my essays were not to the standard – being a foreign student – this was a gem to have to act as a guide

I found the MEE Module to be super helpful – the sheer repetition of reviewing the law applied to the facts with analysis helped me figure out how to structure essays, the detail needed in analysis, and what the right answers were. I went through so many essays

The MEE Issue Spotting outline was helpful for identifying issues and did not take a significant amount of time, allowing me to study simultaneusly for the MBE.

Hearing it read out loud to me with the mp3s was big too.

The MP3s are great when I am tired of reading

I need the soothing voice of your automated mp3.

Your MEE outline was helpful. I did not have much time. Without it I would have bombed today’s MEE.

I had about a two to three hour drive to the location of the bar exam. So, I downloaded from your website the MP3s and listened during my drive. This actually helped a lot as I really took in the material I listened to in the car. I would highly recommend doing this for any one using your website

Perhaps a general tip for test takers would just be to read MPT sample essays for occassional bed-time reading.

I cant thank you enough! I just want to say I passed the NY bar exam! and i whole heartedly believe i wouldnt have done it without your materials. I got a low MBE score of 129.5 so i’m guessing the essays must have helped me out. I went through almost every essay in the past 10 years all thanks to the way you had them organized esp through the audio versions. Thanks again!

The only thing that helped me pass the bar was the Seperac essays. This was my fourth time taking the UBE bar exam (beginning July 2016). In July 2017, I got a 263 with an MBE score of 139. I never finished the MPTs on any of my bar exams. My friend failed the bar her first try and told me she used Seperac for the essays. The ONLY reason I passed the bar was because of my membership to your MEE database. Even with a score of 289, I only completed one MPT. Like I said, I never could master the MPT and this administration had a very weird MPT with no case law. I literally didn’t do the second MPT. My score really came from the MEE using your data base and also the issue spotting files.

Was a big help spending 8 hours going through your materials and seeing where points were scored and lost. I realized how important just writing all multi-factor tests out were and then analyzing them.

I finally did it. I passed with a 280 thanks to your amazing compilation of essays. I read every single essay question and answer in the book. Thank you so much!

When I was too tired to read I would play your MEE topic audio tapes.

The thing that helped me most on the MEE was the past MEE questions published

A colleague of mine swears by you–she couldn’t recommend you highly enough. In particular, she said she found your MBE mp3’s to be invaluable study aids that allowed her to completely immerse herself in bar prep.

The NCBE essay and analysis is incredibly instructive … It really takes you into the mind of the examiners.

If I had to attribute my passing to just one thing, I would hands-down, without a doubt say that it was reading the essays in your “MEE Master Released” compilation. I’m embarrassed to say, but I gave so little time to learn the non-MBE essay topics (family law, trusts & wills, etc.) that I was literally *learning* the topics by reading the essays that you provided just a few days before the exam. The format was extremely helpful and allowed me to digest the material in the most efficient way possible.

I didn’t have time to read all of the essays, but I think I read the top 50 (so that I had a handful for each of the subjects), and that was enough to make me comfortable enough to answer the questions on the exam for those topics that I literally knew nothing about just a few days before the exam. Pretty crazy how reading your essays allowed me to do that! Additionally, I felt like a lot of the essay topics were on the actual exam, so your predictions were amazing. Thank you so, so much for that. I absolutely would not have passed without it.

I really found your essay issue spotting material incredibly helpful.

I am a hand-writer who inevitably misallocates time causing my essay organization to suffer. I used your UBE Essay subscription intermittently for the last two weeks of bar prep, and was the only essay prep I used. I found it very helpful, the fact that I was even close to the cut score with essays is a testament to that.

I realized that I learn better by listening. This helped me maintain the focus: I was listening to your MP3 files when going to the grocery store, jogging and cooking at home.

I listened to your essays (I listened to them as I fell asleep also!!)

I relied heavily on your program and did not take a traditional bar course. I am quite certain that I would not have passed without your MEE/MPT materials. What was especially useful was the top 50 rules outline that you sent to us weeks before the exam.

I wasn’t sure if there was a form on your website where you wanted follow up info on our scores, but I just received my scores from Arizona. Total combined: 320 MBE: 159.1 Scaled written portion: 160.7. The essay subscription was very helpful because of the way the essays and answers were formatted. Overall, using the materials made me feel more confident for the essay portion. What ended up being the most helpful thing for me was the compilation of the 50 essays with issues you thought might be tested again. Those were very spot on from what I remember. I only read essays in the subjects that I felt I needed the most help in, though. I wish I would have spent more time reading that whole compilation a few times instead of attempting practice essays. But even just reading some of that compilation helped. I was also spending time going through the critical pass flashcards. The written material from the subscription can be overwhelming, but the organization of it is good and easy to navigate. I also listened to some of the audio files while driving and as a break. The audio files were great and I haven’t seen that anywhere else so that really attracted me to your subscription.

Just wanted to share with you that I passed the WA Bar. Your materials were helpful, thank so much. In case you were interested for stat purposes, here’s my score breakdown. Written (MEE and MPT) Score: 157.9 MBE: 148.5 Total UBE Score: 306

Just wanted to say thanks for all the help. You’re the man! I got a 343, with a 169.5 mbe! I think everything you said was right. The MBE was clearly the most important, not even close. I think doing the recently released questions and memorizing those is more important than doing 2000 questions and not really learning from them. As for the essays, I spent (barely) 2 out of 8 weeks on them. I read super condensed outlines and your top 50 essays were helpful. They really narrow down the key issues and topics. I think knowing those 50 essays along with memorizing short outlines for each MEE topics is enough to do well.

You have great resources. I will highly recommend your essay website.

I scored a 269 total and 122 on the MBE, so it was really thanks to all of your advice on the written portions that I passed. I am truly grateful. I think that a huge part of it was really your dedication in offering advice and guidance even in the last days during the lead up to the exam. I think it is really important to know that someone is in your corner. For that – thank you.

Thank you! My total score was 271 and the MBE was 140.1 … I thought the UBE Essays site was useful and printed some of your materials off. I used them in my preparation. I really liked the fact that you used color to make reading easier and I liked that you had two versions, one more detailed than the other. I know another bar taker who used your services and he said his essay scores improved using your services. Based on you analysis I scored about the same as I did on previous exams in the essay portion but I focused all my attentions on the MBE this time around and only did a few essays in the immediate weeks before the bar exam. I think your work, website and emails provide the most valuable information that is personalized to each student which is not an option when students take commercial bar prep courses. As a foreign law school graduate (I went to law school in Scotland) initially I struggled with understanding what my scores meant and how to comprehend the test and what it was asking of me. You have helped tremendously in that regard and instilled confidence in me that it wasn’t rocket science 🙂 so I would like to thank you for that. The only constructive criticism I would give you is to try to simplify your website material. There is a lot of information there and maybe some of it can be composed into charts/graphs. Using different fonts, colors and text sizes could also help make it easier on the eye. Other than that I have nothing else to add and will recommend your services to anyone else who crosses my path.

New York UBE Score Calculator

The following calculator will accurately estimate a Written Scaled Score and Total Score for the New York bar exam administration based on the scores you enter. July 2019 examinees should use the J18 calculator to test various scoring scenarios and estimate their J19 exam performance while Feb 2019 examinees should use the F18 calculator to estimate their F19 performance.

If you failed the exam in a UBE state, I can send you an analysis of your scores if you fill out the following Retaker Advice Form. This information enables me to determine the scale for each exam and maintain the bar score calculators. As an added incentive to submit the information, anyone who completes the Retaker Advice Form will receive a $25 coupon code to UBE Essays.com.

DC UBE Score Calculator

The following calculator will accurately estimate a Written Scaled Score and Total Score for the Washington D.C. F18 bar exam administration based on the scores you enter.

If you failed the exam in a UBE state, I can send you an analysis of your scores if you fill out the following Retaker Advice Form. This information enables me to determine the scale for each exam and maintain the bar score calculators. As an added incentive to submit the information, anyone who completes the Retaker Advice Form will receive a $25 coupon code to UBE Essays.com.