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What is the format of the Michigan Bar Exam?

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What is the format of the Michigan Bar Exam?

If you are taking the Michigan bar exam, you may wonder exactly what the format of the Michigan Bar Exam is like. Here, we tell you what to expect on the Michigan bar exam, including how the Michigan bar exam is administered and how it is scored.

NOTE: Michigan is switching to the Uniform Bar Exam starting with the February 2023 administration! Find more information here.

General Michigan Bar Exam Information to be aware of:

  • The Michigan bar exam is held on the last Tuesday and Wednesday in February and July. It is offered twice a year.
  • Michigan has not adopted the Uniform Bar Exam as of yet, but will starting with the February 2023 administration.
  • Currently, the essay portion of the exam is written by the five members of the Michigan Board of Law Examiners and tests Michigan law. The multiple-choice portion is drafted by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) and is a national test. When Michigan adopts the Uniform Bar Exam, both portions will be written by the NCBE.

What is the format of the Michigan Bar Exam?

The Michigan bar exam is a two-day exam. The first day is the essay portion and the second day is the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) portion.

Michigan Bar Exam Essay Day:

  • The essay portion of the exam tests Michigan law. You will be expected to apply Michigan law unless told otherwise.
  • There are 15 essay questions to answer (9 in the morning portion, 6 in the afternoon portion).
  • You will have three hours to answer essay questions in the morning and two hours to answer essay questions in the afternoon.
  • You should allocate about 20 minutes per question in order to finish the exam on time.
  • There are 24 potential essay subjects that are tested (see chart below).
  • 10 points are allocated for each question. A score of “7” is considered passing.
  • The Michigan essay portion is “scaled” according to an undisclosed formula. However, traditionally, if you received an average score of 7 on each essay, you will receive a score of 140 to 150 on the essay portion. (A 135 is considered a “passing” score).

NOTE: Michigan is switching to the Uniform Bar Exam starting with the February 2023 administration! Find more information here.

Michigan Bar Exam Frequency Chart July 2020

Michigan Bar Exam Frequency Chart July 2020

Michigan Bar Exam MBE Day:

  • The MBE is a national test so the majority law is applied.
  • The MBE consists of six hours of multiple-choice (three hours in the morning, three hours in the afternoon).
  • There are 200 questions in total. Each question is worth one point.
  • 175 questions are scored. 25 questions are unscored test questions.
  • 7 subjects are tested (Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts & Sales, Criminal Law & Procedure, Evidence, Torts, Real Property). Each is worth 1/7th of your overall score (so there are 25 scored questions per subject).
  • The MBE is scaled according to an undisclosed formula. However, if you score about 65%, your score is likely considered passing.

Scoring of the Michigan bar exam:

The bar exam is scored on a 200-point scale. The MBE is scored out of 200 points and the essay portion is scored out of 200 points. Each is worth 50% of your score. Then, your scores on each are added together and divided by two. (So, if you scored a 120 on the MBE and a 150 on the essay portion, this is 270 total. 270/2 is 135.) There is no minimum passing score on either portion of the exam.

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