5 Tips on How to Pass the MPRE

How to Pass the MPRE: Whether you are taking the MPRE for the first time or whether you have taken it in the past, you may want some helpful tips on how to pass the MPRE. Here, we give you five tips that have helped several of our students pass the MPRE. We have helped dozens of first time takers as well as repeat takers – including 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th time takers! And we have over a 90% passage rate for our MPRE students!

5 Tips on How to Pass the MPRE

1. Make sure to have a good road map as to what is tested.

Not all areas are treated equally – and some are tested more than others. Our MPRE cheat sheet provides a fantastic overview of what is tested – and what isn’t!

For example, you can see that judicial conduct is only 2-8% of the MPRE. Conflicts, on the other hand, are 12-18%. So if you want to spend your study time as efficiently as possible, focus on conflicts rather than judicial conduct! It is well worth it to download the MPRE cheat sheet, even if you only use it as a guide for the highly tested areas.

2. Become familiar with the key words and phrases on the MPRE.

We have noticed that some students get MPRE questions wrong even though they know the law. They simply do not read the question carefully enough! For this reason, it is well worth it to take a few minutes to figure out how MPRE questions are tested. (It can truly make the difference between a passing and failing score!)

For example, “is a lawyer subject to discipline?” is a very different question than “is a lawyer subject to civil liability?” (In the former case, the client does not have to prove duty, breach, cause, and harm. In the latter case, the client does – and it is often hard for a client to prove that a lawyer’s breach of duty caused harm!) Figuring out these nuances can save you time on the MPRE and earn you valuable points.

Check out the key words and phrases on the MPRE here.

3. Take Professional Responsibility in law school (or your equivalent ethics class.)

Take the ethics class (“Professional Responsibility”) required by your law school prior to taking the MPRE if you want to maximize your chances of passing the first time. Some schools focus more on state ethics laws whereas others focus on the ABA rules. Either way, your class should provide a good background for the MPRE. It will get you used to the fundamental principles of ethics law as well as how it is commonly applied by judges.

4. Practice!!

The absolute best source of MPRE questions are the real questions released by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE). So start by completing the sample test questions as well as the online practice exams offered by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. (The NCBE just released a second exam! These exams are $40 and are entirely composed of past MPRE questions so it is well worth your time to complete them!) You will find out where you truly stand. If you are looking for more free sources of MPRE practice questions, please see this post — we offer a plethora of resources!

Remember you don’t need a perfect score. Generally if you are scoring about 64% your score should be passing in most jurisdictions. Check out this post to see how we got to that number!

5. Come up with an MPRE study plan

Many students ask us how long they should study for the MPRE. And really, the answer is different for everyone. You should study longer if:

you are not very good at standardized tests
you did not take Professional Responsibility in law school
you do not feel comfortable with the material
you struggle with multiple-choice questions
it is a “high stakes” exam for you (e.g. you cannot take the bar exam if you do not pass, or it is the last obstacle to being able to practice law)

Generally if you can block out a few hours a week for the three or four weeks leading up the exam, this should be sufficient. For example, you could do something like this:

Week 1: (four weeks before the MPRE): Study 2 hours Wednesday and 2 hours Friday. Focus primarily on memorizing the rules. Do not jump right into practice exams! Learn the law before answering questions.
Week 2: Study 3 hours on Saturday: Focus on reviewing the rules and practice questions.
Week 3: Study 2 hours on Saturday and 2 hours on Sunday: Review the harder parts of your outline. Make your own MPRE condensed outline.
Week 4: (before the MPRE) Study 2 hours on Tuesday and 2 hours on Thursday. (The MPRE is on Saturday) Complete practice exams and review the MPRE cheat sheet (above) or any condensed outline you made.

Questions on how to pass the MPRE? Contact us here!

Looking for an excellent FREE MPRE course? Our free MPRE course comes with a free outline, free MPRE practice questions, and free instruction by an MPRE expert. It is rated five stars by our students! You can enroll here!

Looking for last minute MPRE tips? Check out this post on last-minute MPRE tips!

Looking to Ace the MPRE?
- Enroll in our 5-star rated free MPRE Course, complete with expert guidance, an exclusive outline, practice questions, and a one-sheet.
- Tackle the Real MPRE questions — the gold standard for test preparation.
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- Dive into our assortment of complimentary top-notch MPRE resources for your success.