Themis + UWorld vs Barbri
The stakes for passing the bar exam couldn't be higher. There are a lot of bar review courses to choose from, but two top the list: Themis and Barbri. But which one is better for you? Which one will increase your chances of success? And most importantly, which provides the best value?
Themis + UWorld vs Barbri: Key Feature Comparisons
Your time, money, and energy is valuable. Make an informed decision with the following side-by-side comparison of the most important features to consider when choosing a bar prep course.
This chart lists important factors in deciding what you need from a high-quality bar prep course |
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Barbri
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Comprehensive Price |
$2,695 | $4,199 |
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Additional Fees |
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Early Access to Full Course |
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Total Number of MBE Questions |
4,000+ | 5,500+ |
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Total Number of NCBE®-licensed Questions |
1,375+ | 100 |
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Comprehensive Pass Rates |
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Personal Attorney Advisor |
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Adaptive Calendar |
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15–20 Minutes Video Lectures |
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Study Pacer |
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Enhanced Visual Learning |
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Dedicated Attorney Essay Grader |
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Free Hard Copy Books |
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Customizable MBE® Practice Tests |
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In-Depth Answer Explanations |
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Unlimited Flashcards |
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Mobile App |
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Performance Tracking |
Comprehensive Price (full bar review)
Themis + UWorld’s pricing is all-inclusive. What you see is what you get. Barbri's basic “Self Pass” course lacks about half the features of its higher tiers (e.g., NCBE-licensed questions, tutoring sessions, etc.). The $4,199 "Ultimate Pass" is the closest you'll get to Themis + UWorld’s $2,695 comprehensive course. Why not save over $1,500 and get more value?
Additional Fees
Barbri's tiered pricing means costly extras like book deposits, cancellation fees, and add-ons. At Themis + UWorld, we value transparency, so let us be clear—No. Additional. Fees. We won't squeeze you for access to essential tools. Whatever you pay gets you everything you need to pass the bar.
Early Access to Full Course
Themis + UWorld and Barbri both offer "Early Access." But early access to what? For Barbri, it often means early access to only some of their study materials. For Themis + UWorld, “Early Access” means full access to the entire course 14 weeks before the February exam and 20 weeks before the July exam.
Total Number of MBE Questions
Themis + UWorld students routinely applaud the difficulty of our MBE questions and their faithfulness to the actual exam’s format. All 4,000+ questions are routinely updated by our in-house legal experts to reflect the exam’s current format and designed to meet or exceed exam-level difficulty. While Barbri does have lawyers curate their 2,500+ questions, they only offer 100 NCBE-licensed questions.
Total Number of NCBE®-Licensed Questions
Exam-like practice is the key to success. That's why Themis + UWorld provides 1,375+ routinely updated NCBE-licensed questions. Barbri's base-level course does not offer NCBE questions. If you’re willing to pay for one of Barbri’s two most expensive tiers ($3,299+) you will get access to only 100 NCBE-licensed questions.
Comprehensive Pass Rates
The quality of a bar review course is best measured by student performance. That's why we remain the only bar review course to routinely publish state-by-state pass rates every year. Don't let clever marketing blindside you. Full transparency is key. Here's exactly how we publish our pass rates:
- Reach out to every Themis + UWorld student. Other companies only collect results from survey responses.
- Mark unresponsive students as unsuccessful. Other companies throw those students out.
- Count all assignments in our 75% completion pass rate statistic. Other companies count only specific tasks.
Surveys, qualifiers, and excluding unconfirmed students from calculations skew pass rates and misinform you about a course's efficacy.
Personal Attorney Advisors
Meet your personal success team. Contact Substantive Law Attorney Experts via your Themis + UWorld portal whenever you need help clarifying tricky legal concepts. Your team also includes:
- Local Themis Director - monitors your progress to keep you on track
- Attorney Adviser - offers exam pro-tips & expert strategies
- Dedicated Attorney Essay Grader - provides guidance & tailored feedback
Adaptive Calendar + Study Pacer
Our Adaptive Calendar + Study Pacer auto-adjusts your study schedule based on your start date. Don't waste hours planning. Let us provide daily assignments adapted to your performance so you can focus on studying.
15–20-Minute Video Lectures
Watching a video for several hours might feel productive, but if it's filled with non-essential or poorly-communicated information. Research shows that after only 20 minutes the efficiency at which we retain information begins to significantly decrease. That's why we design our 15-20 minute bite-sized video lectures to be dense but digestible.
Enhanced Visual Learning
One study found that after three days, their subjects retained 10-20% of spoken or written information. In contrast, they retained 65% of the visual information they consumed. We pair out written content with industry-leading images, charts, graphs, and diagrams that break down complex rules of law.
Dedicated Attorney Essay Grader
Themis + UWorld students can access 100+ essays from past Multistate Essay Exams (MEE®) at no additional cost. If simulating the actual essay exam wasn't enough, we are the only course that allows you to submit unlimited essays to a Dedicated Attorney Essay Grader for feedback.
With courses like Barbri, you may get unlimited essay reviews, but from different graders. This is a critical distinction. Having a dedicated grader is like having a dedicated doctor. They understand your historical weaknesses and guide you through the process of improving them.
Free Hard Copy Books
Our hardcopy bar course books are included in Themis + UWorld bundle at no extra cost. Barbri offers course books, but you'll have to pay a book deposit and they are only available in certain pricing tiers.
Customizable MBE Practice Tests
Customize unlimited practice tests by subject, topic, custom tag, or previously incorrect questions. Pull from over 2,000 practice questions in the UWorld MBE QBank, including 1,375+ NCBE-licensed questions. Our NCBE-level questions are written by our team of in-house legal experts to match or exceed exam-level difficulty.
When you're feeling confident, you can take one of our five MBE practice exams. This includes two 200-question simulated exams that mimic recent MBEs and feature expert analysis on the most heavily tested rules of law, plus tips on avoiding common exam mistakes. Barbri offers only one simulated MBE.
In-Depth Answer Explanations
It's not enough to know the right answer. You must understand why it is right or wrong. That's why we provide industry-leading comprehensive answer explanations for both correct and incorrect answer choices, so you get it right on the bar exam.
Unlimited Flashcards
Effortlessly transfer text, illustrations, and diagrams from our QBank to both sides of new or existing flashcards. Quickly locate and review flashcards on specific exam topics with custom decks, tags, and easy-to-use filters.
Spaced repetition technology is proven to enhance information retention and recall. Rate your understanding of the concept behind each flashcard and let the algorithm adjust the frequency of topics presented based on your proficiency.
Mobile App
Swap social media scrolling with Civil Procedure review. Our flashcards are ideally suited for mobile format, and the benefits of the spaced-repetition method are multiplied by frequent mini-sessions. Having a library of legal concepts in your pocket at all times means you'll never have an excuse not to study.
Performance Tracking
Themis + UWorld provides immediate results and real-time feedback on your assignments and practice exams, allowing you to highlight and target your weaknesses. You can also compare your performance to other Themis users.
My Notebook
Simply highlight the text and illustrations you want to save from our QBank and select "Notebook." When My Notebook pops up, select the tab you would like to transfer the content into and paste it by moving your cursor on the page.
Click-and-drag entries to organize content as you go, add unique tags for straightforward searching and annotate text to leave a personal touch. My Notebook was created to be as adaptive as possible to optimize your study experience.
Themis + UWorld vs Barbri: The Verdict
Themis + UWorld offers more NCBE-licensed questions, more practice exams, more customization, more curated MBE questions, and more learning tools. Babri's least expensive product (Self-Pass) costs $1,999, but lacks critical study features. It's $4,199 Ultimate Pass is more robust, but still lags behind Themis' $2,695 all-inclusive course.
The verdict is clear. When the stakes are high, it’s important to trust your bar prep to a company that has a vested interest in seeing you succeed. Our pass rates, personalized touch, and commitment to your success is unparalleled; there’s a reason why more and more students are choosing Themis + UWorld over Barbri.
Testimonials
UWorld runs so smoothly. The questions are extremely helpful, and the performance monitoring helps me determine where I'm struggling most so that I can devote more time to those particular questions."
It's nice to see actual bar exam questions. It gives me a good idea of how I will perform on the actual test day. Questions from other bar prep services seem to be very convoluted, and getting lower scores on those gives me unnecessary anxiety."
Actual questions, great comprehensive explanations, high functionality. This course will truly prepare you for the bar exam. I am very impressed and highly recommend UWorld MBE QBank to anyone looking to pass the MBE the first time."
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Which bar review course costs more – Themis + UWorld vs Barbri?
Barbri’s course costs more and comes with fewer features. Its Ultimate Pass costs $4,199 compared to Themis + UWorld’s $2,695 all-inclusive course. Although Babri’s least expensive product (Self-Pass) costs less ($1,999), it lacks many critical features.
How long is the Themis + UWorld bar prep course, and when does it start?
Why is the Themis + UWorld course better than others?
How does the support system differ between Themis + UWorld and Barbri?
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