How much did you study for the Ontario Bar Exams and how difficult did you find them?

[yunglawyer]

In 2020

[NewJd5726]

How would people recommend binding the indices? At the beginning of the book for each section? Separately as one big index book? Or in separate books for each section's index?  

[yunglawyer]

I would not recommend binding the indices with the materials. There will be definitely be some trial and error during the exam (i.e. you initially identify the wrong key term/concept) and you don't want to keep flipping back between your indices and materials. I recommend binding everything separately. You will have plenty of space on your desk and for each section you'll only need three binders: your PR index, that section's index and the materials.

[QueensDenning]

1 hour ago, yunglawyer said:

your PR index, that section's index and the materials.

What is a PR index? 

[ruthlessfox]

4 hours ago, QueensDenning said:

What is a PR index? 

The index for Professional Responsibility, which you need for every section of the exam.

[Dood]

The current exam is not just page flipping. You have to understand basic concepts in the material across common areas of law to pass - but is that really so shocking of an ask for newly licensed lawyers 🤔🤔?

[ruthlessfox]

11 hours ago, Dood said:

The current exam is not just page flipping. You have to understand basic concepts in the material across common areas of law to pass - but is that really so shocking of an ask for newly licensed lawyers 🤔🤔?

No one on this forum can credibly comment on whether the exam is fundamentally different than it used to be, as I highly doubt anyone is in the unique position of having written the exam across multiple licensing cycles. There are still people who don’t read the materials and pass. There have always been tougher questions that were hard to search on the exam. Until the LSO comments on it, this is all just speculation.  

[Dood]

I prefer the baseless speculation tbh -  it gives me a greater sense of satisfaction to believe that I passed a harder exam than you boomer lawyers took in 2020 and earlier.

[epeeist]

1 hour ago, ruthlessfox said:

No one on this forum can credibly comment on whether the exam is fundamentally different than it used to be, as I highly doubt anyone is in the unique position of having written the exam across multiple licensing cycles. There are still people who don’t read the materials and pass. There have always been tougher questions that were hard to search on the exam. Until the LSO comments on it, this is all just speculation.  

I agree with your general sentiment, but there are some people who (because of failures) have written the bar exam across multiple licensing cycles (and currently, within the 3-year licensing window) and who could comment based upon firsthand knowledge (albeit based on imperfect recollection and assessment of relative difficulty of exams written a significant time apart from each other).

I'm a volunteer tutor through LSO for those who've failed the bar exam, but while in the past I've sometimes tutored those who had failed multiple times (not with me as a tutor!), to the best of my recollection for the past few years the candidates I've tutored have only failed once before so there aren't comparisons across cycles (and even if I had secondhand information, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment upon non-public specifics of the exam here).

[myth000]

The exams are created by psychometricians, they might have been created to accommodate multiple learning styles and test-taking strategies.   Probably using two or more strategies (e.g index + basic conceptual understanding) is safer than using just one.

[TheJoker]

I skimmed + highlighted the materials over and then got my indexes from LexPD. After that I just did a couple tests each week from August - November (which is when I wrote). For the practice tests, I used a mixture of Access (both the free exams and full exams); Ontario Bar Prep and Emond. I passed both exams the first time around. I do have text anxiety, so I may have studied more than the average person, but for me it was worth the time. I'd rather invest more time upfront and pass the first time around rather than doing the bare minimum and failing - but that's just my preference at the end of the day. I also went to law school in Alberta but was articling/getting called in Ontario, so I took a bit more time to ensure I didn't confuse any concepts (i.e., court system in AB uses slightly different names than ON, which definitely matters when writing the barristers exam). 

One of the things that helped me most was to keep a sticky note with me when doing exams (both the practice and real exam) and jotting down the #s of the questions I found difficult/that I guessed on. When I was done my practice exams and submitted my answers, I took time to review the answers I got wrong along with looking over the answers for the questions I put down on the note. I'd make notes in my exam materials based on the explanations provided, because sometimes these practice tests explain the logic behind one of the answers being more correct/correct in comparison to what you may have thought based on what is written in the materials. I found this helped, especially with topics I was unfamiliar with (such as tax in the business law section, the real estate section and criminal law). 

I agree with everyone on here saying that the exam questions are longer + it is a fair bit of guessing on exam day. I found questions on the exams to be a little bit harder, but part of that was due to - drum roll please - test anxiety! As long as you know roughly where to look in the materials/index and use your best judgement given the question and the answers proposed, you should be fine. 

[Apollo14]

Thanks for all of your replies. In the last few weeks I've read through most of the Barrister material and have started the Solicitor material but I don't think I'm going to be able to finish it all in time. My reading pace is much slower than I had anticipated. 

[Apollo14]

Sorry to resurrect this thread - I've just finished the Emond practice exam and I'm a little concerned...I didn't find the test too bad but to be honest if the actual exam is much harder I think I will be in trouble. Does anyone know if the actual exam is significantly more difficult or are the questions just worded differently/both? 

Thanks in advance!

[QueensDenning]

2 minutes ago, Apollo14 said:

Sorry to resurrect this thread - I've just finished the Emond practice exam and I'm a little concerned...I didn't find the test too bad but to be honest if the actual exam is much harder I think I will be in trouble. Does anyone know if the actual exam is significantly more difficult or are the questions just worded differently/both? 

Thanks in advance!

I heard Edmond is one of the hardest 

[ruthlessfox]

1 hour ago, QueensDenning said:

I heard Edmond is one of the hardest 

If you do well on Emond should you be confident or is the actual exam unrecognizably more difficult than any PT? The latter is sort of the sense I'm getting from last summer's Barrister thread on Reddit...

Edited May 25, 2023 by ruthlessfox

[Dood]

I didn’t do particularly well on either Emond practice exam but still passed the real exams. Just going through the exercise made me better at using the indices and TOC. It also helped me realize which areas I really needed to study more and that I needed a time sheet to stay on track. I wouldn’t read too much into your scores and just keep hustling at this point.

[OnlyResident]

The UofT Index for one exam is about the same size as the materials. Is it worth bringing or can you rely on the TOC already provided? 

[Dood]

It’s worth bringing for peace of mind.

[Jupiter]

is anyone articling on bay writing in fall or in spring 24? So behind on the materials and thinking of postponing till fall/spring. I think if i buckled down i could get through all the material but I have absolutely 0 desire to study hard right now after law school. Firms not paying anything either so i'd much rather study on their dime. Thoughts? 

Edited May 27, 2023 by Jupiter

[QueensDenning]

10 minutes ago, Jupiter said:

is anyone articling on bay writing in fall or in spring 24? So behind on the materials and thinking of postponing till fall/spring. I think if i buckled down i could get through all the material but I have absolutely 0 desire to study hard right now after law school. Firms not paying anything either so i'd much rather study on their dime. Thoughts? 

Would recommend buckling down and getting through it. I'm very excited to get it over with. If you don't want to study now, think about how much you won't want to study while working. 

Also, if you are gonna write it on the 30th, I'd suggest foregoing reading at this point to do a bunch of practice tests instead. I don't remember much of what I read, but doing the practice tests have shown me that it's more important to know how to use your index than actually knowing the answer. Questions are so specific that even if I'm fairly certain of an answer from memory, on test day I will probably locate the answer in my materials to double check (time permitting).

[myth000]

in your situation, I would just take the test and use it for practice, because I hate going to the doctor to get a sick note and I hate wasting a $1000.  

[Jupiter]

32 minutes ago, QueensDenning said:

Would recommend buckling down and getting through it. I'm very excited to get it over with. If you don't want to study now, think about how much you won't want to study while working. 

Also, if you are gonna write it on the 30th, I'd suggest foregoing reading at this point to do a bunch of practice tests instead. I don't remember much of what I read, but doing the practice tests have shown me that it's more important to know how to use your index than actually knowing the answer. Questions are so specific that even if I'm fairly certain of an answer from memory, on test day I will probably locate the answer in my materials to double check (time permitting).

thanks for the response, how big is the tax / estate planning component on the exam? havent taken courses in either and i get stressed just looking at them, im not finding it skimmable as well as i simply dont even kno what im reading.

Also, if i fail, will the firm pay the fees again or am i expected to pay? 

Edited May 27, 2023 by Jupiter

[QueensDenning]

37 minutes ago, Jupiter said:

thanks for the response, how big is the tax / estate planning component on the exam? havent taken courses in either and i get stressed just looking at them, im not finding it skimmable as well as i simply dont even kno what im reading.

Also, if i fail, will the firm pay the fees again or am i expected to pay? 

Not huge. I skipped the corporate tax section totally. Tax is part of family law but if your good at using the index those questions are pretty easy to answer (IMO). 

No idea whether your firm will pay your fees again if you fail. I definitely wouldn't ask though. Can't imagine a worse impression to leave before hire back decisions. I plan on keeping it a secret (from my firm) if I fail. 

[Apollo14]

Does anyone know if it is common for big law firms to let go of Articling Students who fail one or both of the bar exams before they start Articling...? 

[QueensDenning]

I'd be incredibly surprised if any firm ever terminated an articling contract because of a summer bar failure. Not even sure if they could, legally (for that reason).