Pennsylvania

Verified

Imported 2026-09-27 — not yet reviewed; confirm with the admitting authority.

How to apply

Admitting agencyPennsylvania Board of Law Examiners

Application portalApply online

Character & fitnessThis jurisdiction does not use NCBE's character and fitness services; please contact Pennsylvania for filing instructions. MPRE/character timing: character & fitness application should be filed with the bar exam application by the jurisdiction's filing deadline; most jurisdictions require the NCBE Character and Fitness Application to be submitted online via ncbex.org regardless of whether NCBE conducts the investigation.

Exam & score rules

Exam typeUBE (legacy); NextGen UBE first administration July 2028

UBE min scoreLegacy UBE: 270; NextGen UBE: 620

MPRE requiredRequired, minimum score 75

Education requirementABA-approved JD required: No; Alternatives accepted: Non-ABA-approved out-of-state law school (additional: Bar admission in another state, specified number of years of practice); Foreign-educated graduates eligible: Yes (Additional education at an ABA-approved law school, practice of law in foreign jurisdiction)

Other required components

Local law componentNo separate jurisdiction-specific law component required per NCBE data

Other pathsAdmission on motion (5 of past 7 years, reciprocity-based) available; diploma-privilege admittees eligible for admission on motion.

Transfer options

Accepts transferred UBEYes (accepts legacy UBE: Yes; NextGen UBE: Yes); max score age: 30 months

UBE transfer acceptedyes

Score age limit30 months

Admission on motion

Allows AOMyes

Reciprocal onlyyes

Years of practice5 of past 7

AOM fee$1,325

Other requirementsABA-approved JD required; diploma-privilege admittees ARE eligible; PA Rule 203 defines 'practice of law' narrowly (devoting a major portion of time/energy to legal services) and requires reciprocal-state status.

Official AOM source

Essays & sample answers

Publishes past essaysyes (strong pre-UBE example)

Years availablePre-UBE PA essay questions/PTs from at least 1995 forward per passthebar.com mirror and Drexel Law guide reference; official pabarexam.org site historically hosted 'downloadable essay and performance test questions along with grading guidelines, the examiners' analyses ... and sample essay question answers' (per Drexel Law guide)

Sample answersyes (Examiner's Analysis + Sample Answer per essay/PT, per Drexel Law's description of pabarexam.org)

Exam typeUBE (adopted July 2022; prior to that, PA-specific essay + PA-specific MC exam)

Terms of useNot confirmed in this session

Essay archive / sample answers Essay archive / sample answers

Widely cited (Drexel Law, Widener Law Library, barexamtoolbox.com) as a strong pre-UBE example with Examiner's Analysis + Sample Answer per question; PA is now a UBE jurisdiction so new Pennsylvania-specific essays are no longer generated, though archived pre-2022 material may remain.

Fees & deadlines

Feesfirst_time_applicant: $750; attorney_applicant: $750; repeater: $750; late_fee_note: Late fees reflected in the higher figure(s) shown for the filing-deadline fields above where jurisdiction publishes a two-tier fee; laptop_fee: $115

Application deadlinesjuly_2026_regular: March 31; july_2026_late: April 30 / May 15; february_2027_regular: Oct. 30; february_2027_late: Nov. 30 / Dec. 15

Next exam datesUBE jurisdictions administer the exam on the NCBE-set dates, generally the last Tue/Wed of Feb and July; New York has confirmed July 28-29, 2026 for the July 2026 administration. Confirm exact per-jurisdiction dates on the agency site; NCBE filing-deadline data above is confirmed for July 2026 / February 2027.

Possible multi-bar pathways

Researched examples that name Pennsylvania. Discovery content only — not eligibility approval.

UBE score transfer: PA + NJ

One UBE sitting (in PA, NJ, or elsewhere) can be transferred to both, since both are UBE jurisdictions with similar score minimums and multi-year transfer windows.

Arkansas' explicit reciprocal list (partial capture)

Arkansas' Board of Law Examiners maintains and publishes a formal 'Recognized Reciprocal Jurisdictions' list; being admitted in one of these lets an attorney apply for Arkansas AOM (3 of past 5 years practice).

Official sources

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3 Source 4

NextGen UBE first administration announced for July 2028; Legacy UBE final administration February 2028. Feb 2027 UBE application period was open through Dec 15, 2026 per live pabarapplication.org banner (later than the Nov 30/Dec 15 NCBE deadline table - the two sources roughly agree; use pabarexam.org for authoritative current-cycle deadlines).

VerdictUp is a study aid and does not provide legal advice or guarantee admission. Confirm with the admitting authority.