Barbri Bar Review (2025): Is It Still the Gold Standard?

The “Big Law” Standard

Barbri is to the Bar Exam what Kleenex is to tissues. For decades, it has been the default choice for law students. The logic is simple: “If I take Barbri and fail, it’s my fault. If I take a cheaper course and fail, I should have taken Barbri.”

This reputation allows them to charge a premium, but they back it up with a massive amount of content and technology that has been refined over 50 years.

ISAAC: The Algorithm

Barbri’s secret sauce is ISAAC (Intuitive Study Assistant And Coach). It’s an AI-driven engine that builds your schedule.

• Dynamic Adjustment: It doesn’t just assign tasks; it re-prioritizes them based on how much time you have left. If you miss a day, ISAAC recalculates your entire calendar to ensure you still hit the high-yield topics.
• Weakness Targeting: If you struggle with Torts questions, ISAAC will sneak more Torts questions into your daily mix until you improve. It forces you to eat your vegetables.

The Simulated MBE

About a month before the exam, Barbri administers a nationwide Simulated MBE.

• The Experience: You take it under timed conditions, just like the real thing.
• The Result: You get a percentile ranking comparing you to thousands of other students. This is the best “reality check” you can get. If you are in the bottom 20%, you know you need to panic (productively).
• Difficulty: The questions are notoriously harder than the actual Bar Exam. This is by design. If you can handle the Barbri Simulated MBE, the real thing will feel like a breeze.

The Lectures & “Essay Architect”

Barbri has the most famous law professors in the country (like Rich Freer for Civil Procedure).

• Pros: They are experts who know the law inside and out. Rich Freer is practically a celebrity in the law school world.
• Cons: The lectures are long. We’re talking 3-4 hour sessions. If you have a short attention span, this can be brutal.
• Essay Architect: This tool helps you build essays step-by-step. It gives you immediate feedback on your structure and rule statements, dragging and dropping elements to create the perfect answer.

Is It Worth the Money?

If you are going into Big Law, your firm will likely pay for Barbri directly. In that case, it’s a no-brainer. If you are paying out of pocket, the decision is harder. Competitors like Themis offer a similar quality for $1,000 less. But for peace of mind? Barbri is hard to beat.