The Magic Number 270—More Than Just Electoral Votes
With the 2024 Presidential Election just two months away, the number 270 is making headlines again. This is the number of electoral votes needed to win the presidency. Political commentators and analysts are busy predicting various paths for Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump to secure this magic number. But while the political world focuses on 270 electoral votes, I think of 270 in a different context—bar exam scores.
For many in the legal profession, 270 represents the scaled score needed to pass most bar exams across the United States. Currently, 41 jurisdictions have adopted the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), and nearly half of those—19 to be exact—require a minimum passing score of 270. These jurisdictions include Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Teaching at a law school in a jurisdiction requiring a scaled score of 270, and where many graduates take the bar exam in similar jurisdictions, I often reference this number when explaining how to pass the bar exam. The number 270 is not just significant; it's a goal that requires strategic preparation—much like the strategies employed in a presidential campaign.
Strategic Campaigns and Bar Exam Preparation
The parallels between preparing for the bar exam and running a presidential campaign are striking. Just as candidates carefully select where and how to campaign, bar examinees should strategically plan their study efforts to maximize their chances of success.
Political candidates, including Vice President Harris and former President Trump, strategically schedule their campaign stops to maximize impact. They focus on key battlegrounds like Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Arizona—states that could tip the Electoral College in their favor. Candidates concentrate their resources on these pivotal states rather than spreading efforts thin across the entire country.
Similarly, bar examinees should prioritize their most valuable resource—study time—by focusing on areas of the bar exam that can yield the greatest returns. Understanding not only what is tested but also how frequently certain topics appear can guide examinees in optimizing their study time to reach that crucial 270 score.
Prioritizing Key Areas of Study on the MBE
For example, on the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), Torts constitute one-seventh of the exam, but negligence questions make up half of the Torts questions. Similarly, Constitutional Law also represents one-seventh of the MBE, with questions on individual rights comprising half of those. For examinees struggling in these subjects, it makes sense to focus on high-yield topics like negligence in Torts and individual rights in Constitutional Law, rather than less frequently tested areas like defamation or obscure constitutional doctrines.
Here are some high-yield areas within other MBE subjects to help examinees quickly boost their scores:
Contracts: About half of the questions will focus on contract formation and issues of performance, breach, and discharge.
Evidence: Approximately one-third of the questions will cover relevancy and reasons for excluding relevant evidence, including character evidence and impeachment.
Criminal Law and Procedure: Focus on common law crimes and the Fourth and Fifth Amendments for Criminal Procedure.
Maximizing Essay Preparation on the MEE
For the essay portion of the UBE, understanding the frequency with which certain subjects are tested is crucial. For instance, Family Law has appeared on the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) 19 times since 2008 (not counting July 2024, as those questions have not yet been released). This equates to a frequency of 53%, suggesting that examinees should devote more time to Family Law compared to less frequently tested subjects, like Agency, which has appeared 42% of the time.
However, within a subject like Family Law, it’s important to prioritize topics that are more likely to appear. Historical data shows that division of property has been tested 10 times, child support 9 times, child custody 9 times, and marital agreements 7 times. By focusing study efforts on these frequently tested topics, examinees can maximize their chances of success.
Strategic Focus Equals Success
Just as political campaigns strategically target key states to achieve victory, bar examinees should strategically focus their study efforts on high-yield topics to reach the magic number—270. Understanding the structure of the bar exam and focusing study time on the most frequently tested areas will provide the most efficient path to success. By adopting this strategic approach, bar examinees can optimize their preparation and improve their chances of passing, just as a well-organized campaign maximizes its path to electoral victory.
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