Best Bar Prep Course
Themis + UWorld vs. Others
The bar exam is the single greatest hurdle on your path to bar admission. Most bar exam courses merely prep you for an exam but the best train you to think like a legal pro. Your choice will determine whether you stumble on the bar or leap over it.
How to Choose the Best Bar Prep Course?
Preparing for the bar exam is a marathon. To train, you need to run. A lot. The best bar exam courses don't coddle you with easy questions. They push you. They get you exam-ready with exam-level practice. They keep you on track with advanced performance analytics. And they help you target your weaknesses with unlimited, customizable practice. Whatever you decide, your course should excel in the following:
Updated Content
The bar exam is always evolving, and any prep course worth its salt must constantly adapt. That means routinely updating content and questions to current National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE®) standards.
Methodology
The science of learning has come a long way. Preparing for the bar shouldn't be a shot in the dark. You need research-backed learning methodologies to shed light on the journey ahead.
Learning Tools
Advanced performance analytics, digital note-taking tools, customizable flashcards, enhanced visuals, and in-depth answer explanations—these aren't just supporting tools; they’re key features in a quality bar prep course.
Track Record
Experience is the best teacher. The best bar prep providers have a track record of helping examinees succeed.
Social Proof
Every bar exam course says it's the best. But what do its users think? The best bar exam courses have fans that backup their claims.
Exam-Level Practice
Exam-level questions make the actual exam feel as easy as practice. That means practice questions and exams should reflect the difficulty and format of the bar exam.
Bar Review Course Comparison
A bar exam course might say that it’s high-quality, but it needs course features to back it up. Learn more about how Themis + UWorld stacks up against the competition with these comprehensive comparisons.
| Course Features |
|
Barbri Ultimate Pass | Kaplan Convenience Package |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $2,795 | $4,199 | $3,999 |
| Tiered Pricing | |||
| Free MBE® Supplement* | |||
| Early Access to Full Course | |||
| Number of MBE Questions | 4,000+ | 5,500 | 4,000+ |
| Number of NCBE® Licensed Questions | 1,375+ | 100 | 950 |
| Personal Success Team | |||
| Comprehensive Pass Rates | |||
| Adaptive Calendar + Study Pacer | |||
| In-Depth Visual Answer Explanations | |||
| 15–20-Minute Video Lectures | |||
| Free Hard Copy Books | |||
| Customizable MBE Practice Tests | |||
| Unlimited Digital Flashcards | |||
| Performance Tracking | |||
| Mobile App | |||
| Themis + UWorld vs Barbri | Themis + UWorld vs Kaplan |
All Themis courses include UWorld MBE QBank access at no additional cost.
Early Access to Full Course
“Early Access” can mean a lot of different things. For many bar prep courses, it means access to only some of their study materials. With Themis + UWorld, the meaning is clear—full access to our entire course 14 weeks before the February exam and 20 weeks before the July exam.
High Quality MBE Questions with NCBE®-Licensed Questions
Know exactly what to expect on exam day. Themis + UWorld provides access to 4,000+ MBE questions that are routinely updated by our in-house legal team to meet or exceed exam-level difficulty and imitate the exam’s current format.
For exam-like practice, we go to the source. Themis + UWorld provides more than 1,300 routinely updated NCBE-licensed questions. To put that into perspective, Kaplan offers 950 NCBE-licensed questions. Barbri’s lowest tier course offers 0 NCBE questions. Its most expensive tier only offers 100.
Comprehensive Pass Rates
A bar review course's performance is best measured by the success of its users. We’re still the only bar review course that publishes our state-by-state pass rates every year. We pride ourselves on being fully transparent.
Personal Success Team
Your path to passing the bar doesn’t have to be a solo run. Themis + UWorld is the only bar prep provider to give you personalized and consistent support while you study for the bar exam. Your personal success team will guide you through the process step-by-step. That team includes a Local Themis Director to monitor your progress, an Attorney Adviser to provide expert strategy, and a Dedicated Attorney Essay Grader to give you tailored feedback. With other companies, you’re getting a general customer service number and limited access to real people. With Themis + UWorld, there’s always a live person giving you feedback and guidance.
Adaptive Calendar
Don’t waste hours planning when you could be studying. Our Adaptive Calendar generates daily assignments tailored to you and calibrates your schedule based on your start date to keep you on track to complete 100% of the course. Other bar prep courses feed you constant reminders that you’re falling behind, increasing anxiety while decreasing confidence. But we’ve found that focusing on the positive while providing actionable advice is the best way to stay motivated.
15–20-Minute Video Lectures
Binging videos for hours on end can make you feel like you’re moving the needle. Research shows that the brain’s ability to absorb and retain information diminishes significantly after only 20 minutes. That’s why we, unlike our competitors, pack our 15-20 minute video lectures with highly relevant and digestible information.
Enhanced Visual Learning
Studies on information retention found that only 10-20% of written or spoken information is retained after three days. In contrast, 65% of visual information is retained within the same time frame. That’s why we go to great lengths to develop professional images, charts, graphs, and diagrams that simplify the complexity of legal concepts.
We design all of our content and learning tools around the research-backed active learning methodology. That means an emphasis on learning by doing while incorporating a variety of modalities to help you learn faster and retain longer. You won’t find any visual aids in Kaplan or Barbri’s Qbanks.
Free Hard Copy Books
Themis + UWorld includes its hard copy course books at no additional costs. Other bar prep companies can’t say the same. Sure, they offer books, but you’ll typically have to pay a book deposit or shipping fee.
Customizable MBE Practice Tests
Not understanding a concept? Hone your weaknesses with customized practice tests focused on a subject, topic, custom tag, or past questions you’ve gotten incorrect. Questions are pulled from our 2,000+ question MBE QBank. Once you get enough practice under your belt, take one of our five MBE practice exams, including two 200-question exams that simulate recent MBEs.
In contrast, Babri and Kaplan have practice exams, but Barbri only offers 100 NCBE-licensed questions if you pay extra for its second-tier course (we use more than 1,300) and Kaplan only offers 950 NCBE-licensed questions.
In-Depth Answer Explanations
It’s not enough to run through questions without understanding the broader legal concepts being tested. Unlike other bar prep courses, our in-depth answer explanations help you understand the why behind each answer choice and get you thinking like a legal pro before you’ve even passed the bar.
Performance Tracking
Don’t waste time studying what you already know. Themis + UWorld employs advanced analytics that provide you with real-time feedback on your assignments and practice exams so you can target your weaknesses and turn them into strengths. Plus, you can gauge your progress by comparing your performance to other users.
Evidence Based Learning Tools (Digital Flashcards and Notebook)
Our spaced-repetition digital flashcards provide exactly what you need to study, when you need to study it. Just rate your understanding and let the algorithm take care of the rest. Seamlessly transfer source content from our QBank to either side of the flashcard, create a custom deck with custom tags, and study from anywhere.
Want to save something important for quick reference? Transfer QBank content to your digital My Notebook with a click and drag. Organize content on the go with unique tags and annotate text to tailor the content to your learning style.
User Testimonials About Themis + UWorld Bar Review
The quality of a bar review course is best reflected in how it helps its users succeed. Don’t just take our word for it. Look at what people are saying…
I love the ability to customize multiple-choice quizzes by topic and number of problems. Themis is the best. Everyone taking other bar prep companies were envious of the courses, content, and guidance.I passed everything! Additionally, you cannot go wrong when a company actually publishes their results! 10/10 would recommend."
I am ecstatic that I chose Themis. The instant feedback is wonderful, not to mention the explanation that makes topics I struggle with in law school make sense so easily. I received a UWorld MBE Qbank subscription by purchasing the Themis Bar prep course early and I am so happy! The MBE section of the Bar Exam feels much more manageable now!"
I found out I passed this morning, and I am thrilled to share that Themis was the secret to getting here. I appreciated the disclosure of bar passage rates when I was selecting my bar prep package, but it really was the program itself that was the perfect fit for me. Individualized attention if I wanted or needed it, REAL MBE questions, and coverage of everything I needed to get the job done."
