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Pennsylvania Bar Exam Information

Pennsylvania Bar ExamPennsylvania bar exam information including format, subjects, scoring, pass rates, dates, and bar review course options. Comprehensive resources to help pass the Pennsylvania Bar Exam.

AmeriBar’s Pennsylvania Bar Review Course has helped students pass the bar exam for over 15 years.

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Pennsylvania Bar Exam Format

Overview

The Pennsylvania Bar Exam is administered over two days.

Day 1

The written portion of the exam is administered on the first day of the Pennsylvania bar exam. The written portion of the bar exam consists of the Pennsylvania essay questions and the Performance Test (“PT”). You will have three hours to answer one PT and two essay questions. You will have three hours to answer four essay questions.

Day 2

The Multistate Bar Exam (“MBE”) is administered on the second day of the Pennsylvania bar exam. The MBE is a multiple-choice test containing 200 questions. The MBE is split into a morning and afternoon session. Each session consists of 100 questions. You have three hours to complete each session.

Course Video on Pennsylvania Bar Exam Format

Useful Links

  1. Pennsylvania Bar Review Course – AmeriBar has been helping students pass the Pennsylvania bar exam for over 15 years.
  2. PennsylvaniaBarExam.com – Detailed Information and resources for Pennsylvania bar exam takers.
  3. MBEQuestionBank.com  – Online question bank with over 2500 simulated MBE questions.

Exam Dates

  • July 30-31, 2019
  • February 25-26, 2020
  • July 28-29, 2020
  • February 23-24, 2021

Pennsylvania Bar Admissions

Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners
601 Commonwealth Avenue
Suite 3600
P.O. Box 62535
Harrisburg, PA 17106-2535

Pennsylvania MPRE Score Requirement

Pennsylvania requires bar exam applicants to pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (“MPRE”). You must score 75 or higher on the MPRE in order to pass in Pennsylvania.

Scoring/Grading and Results

In order to pass the Pennsylvania bar exam, you must score at least 272. This equates to 136, based on the MBE’s 200-point scale. The scores of the exam sections are weighted as follows: the written portion 55%, and MBE 45%. Pennsylvania releases the February bar exam results in mid-April and the July exam results in mid-October.

Reciprocity

If you are a domestic attorney, you may qualify for admission to the Pennsylvania Bar if you fulfill many detailed requirements. Some of those requirements are:

  • You have an initial law degree from an American Bar Association (ABA)-approved law school;
  • You are a member of the bar of a reciprocal state on active status; and
  • You prove having spent at least half of your time practicing law in a reciprocal state for five of the past seven years or having passed the bar exam in a reciprocal state.

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Jennifer

Regent Law School

“I felt so prepared and so well-versed in every area of the law for the exam. I never felt that way with Barbri the first couple of times I took it. I can’t say enough about how well-prepared I felt and how relieved I was after failing twice to come back and just nail it after six years of absence from the law.”
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Pennsylvania Bar Exam Course Books

Pennsylvania Bar Review Course

AmeriBar has been helping students pass the Pennsylvania bar exam for over 17 years. 

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AmeriBar Students

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Well, the one thing I did do differently was not use Barbri... I used the AmeriBar materials and had the one-on-one tutorial for the essays. I do think it probably made a large difference in how I handled and approached my essays.
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I chose AmeriBar and I’m convinced that had it not been for AmeriBar I wouldn’t have passed the exam.
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I really appreciate everything AmeriBar has done for me. It was probably the best decision I’ve made in the past five to six years of my life. If I didn’t pass this time, I wasn’t going to take the bar exam again. Without AmeriBar it would have been another disappointment. My scores went up 10-15 points in each section. The only thing I did differently this time is use an AmeriBar tutor.
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So, I can’t emphasize enough how much I would recommend AmeriBar to any student. I was able to pass the bar on the first attempt, even in a state that I didn’t go to law school in, and I feel like AmeriBar was a very significant contributing factor to my success on the bar exam.
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Here we are again, second bar exam, second time passing. I was a first-time passer on both...I have absolutely no complaints about AmeriBar. Anyone who’s thinking of taking AmeriBar, I would definitely recommend it.
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You are also taking a step in the right direction by considering AmeriBar for your test materials.
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The first time I took the bar exam, I took the Barbri program, which was a big, huge program where you don’t get a lot of individualized attention. However, the second time I took a bar preparation course, I took it through AmeriBar. AmeriBar really provided the one-on-one help that I needed to pass the bar.
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This was the fourth time taking the bar ...and this time I passed. I used a competitor’s program for the prior three times, and I didn’t pass. I have to say that I think AmeriBar’s tutoring is what really pushed me over the top.
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I think having a personal tutor help to prepare me for the bar exam is the only reason I finally passed the bar. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to AmeriBar and their program.
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Once you go with AmeriBar they will help you emotionally and academically. They will get you 100% ready for the bar exam... I’m grateful for AmeriBar – because they helped me accomplish my dream. And without them, I wouldn’t be an attorney today.
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I felt so prepared and so well-versed in every area of the law for the exam. I never felt that way with BAR/BRI the first couple of times I took it. I can’t say enough about how well-prepared I felt and how relieved I was after failing twice to come back and just nail it after six years of absence from the law.
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After three unsuccessful attempts at the bar exam, I felt as though as though I had nowhere to turn.... AmeriBar is a large contributor to my success in passing and achieving the dream of becoming a lawyer
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They offered seven hours of personal tutoring and I thought, ‘wow this is a program that is quite different.’ So I signed up and paid the money. Guess what? That was what helped me pass the bar.
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I would tell law students considering AmeriBar they should go with AmeriBar because the materials are put together in a superior way. They read much more smoothly. I think they’re put together in a more sequential and chronological way. They are far easier to comprehend, and learning it in a linear sequential way, the way AmeriBar has them set out, really helped me pass.
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Pennsylvania Bar Exam Subjects

Pennsylvania Essay Subjects

  • Business Organizations
  • Civil Procedure (Federal and Pennsylvania)
  • Conflict of Laws
  • Contracts
  • Criminal Law
  • Employment Discrimination
  • Evidence (Federal and Pennsylvania)
  • Family Law
  • Federal Constitutional Law
  • Federal Income Tax
  • Professional Responsibility
  • Real Property
  • Torts
  • UCC Article 2 – Sales
  • Wills, Trusts, and Decedent’s Estates

MBE Subjects

  • Civil Procedure
  • Constitutional Law
  • Contracts and Sales
  • Criminal Law and Procedure
  • Evidence
  • Property
  • Torts
MBE Question of the Day
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Heidi

Thomas Cooley Law School

Heidi was unsuccessful twice with Barbri before enrolling in tutoring.

“Well, the one thing I did do differently was not use Barbri… I used the AmeriBar materials and had the one-on-one tutorial for the essays. I do think it probably made a large difference in how I handled and approached my essays.”

Pennsylvania Bar Exam Statewide Pass Rates

Exam DateFirstRepeatTotal
July 201781%38%74%
February 201772%44%54%
July 201675%28%69%
February 201674%44%56%
July 201578%26%71%
February 201568%37%53%
July 201482%24%76%
February 201472%44%57%
July 201383%28%77%
February 201372%50%61%

Pennsylvania Bar Exam Course Books

Pennsylvania Bar Review Course

AmeriBar has been helping students pass the Pennsylvania bar exam for over 17 years. 

Learn More