General
General discussion about law schools or your applications.
Have general questions about law school or applying?
What to major in? What grades you need? What LSAT score is good? What schools you should apply to? What's a good personal statement or extra-curriculars? Whether you should study law abroad?
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What's Happening
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1
Orientation/First Week of Classes
Ideally you wouldn't miss it, but you'll be ok. The events are mostly going to be in person (even during COVID they were in person, to an extent). You'll meet people in your section later so don't worry about it too much. -
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Graduation status
I had to defer a final exam due to an injury, but I will be completing it this Friday. It is an approved transfer credit that I need to send to my home school, but they will not receive it on time for graduation. Instead, I will technically be graduating in spring. Does anyone know how this will affect my application? All classes will be completed by the end of this week and I will send Usask the transcripts for my classes once they are posted, but it is just the “graduated” status from my home school that will not appear on my transcript. I will reach out to Usask, but wondering if anyone has had a similar experience? -
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Why does UofT not take reference letters
It's even funnier when one of the first things a law schools career development office tells its students is to take out the "references available on request" portion at the bottom of their resume. Even they know an employer isn't going to care. Imagine an employer is just like "WOW, this person was always on time for their internship! We HAVE to hire them." Yeah, no, references are next to irrelevant in assessing job performance or academic capability. -
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Why does UofT not take reference letters
At best, reference letters are completely fungible. "Hi, I'm some professor, this student took my class, they did fine." At worst, they exacerbate existing social inequalities - the person with the best relationship with the biggest-name professor is not necessarily the best student, just the best-connected student. References are a relic of the "oh, you're friends with Chet's son? I know Chet from the country club, and he certainly is a sound fellow" era of social and professional advancement. It always baffles me when someone thinks a reference letter from the former category is going to be the silver bullet that's going to get them admitted - like an admissions committee is going to say, "Wait a minute, stop the presses, I just read the best application! We've got to revoke the admission of the candidate with the 4.0/180 and give that seat to this person with the 2.0/136/reference letter from some professor who says this student took their class and did fine!" Most people who think they have abnormally good references just have abnormally big egos.- 2
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Why does UofT not take reference letters
Because reference letters are dumb as shit.- 1
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Why does UofT not take reference letters
Because UofT doesn’t think they’re relevant. They’re probably right, given that most reference letters say only good things and don’t give a reliable indication of whether you’re suited for law school.- 5
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Orientation/First Week of Classes
I have a question about orientation and the first week of classes. I am out of the country until August 25th which means I'll miss the entire orientation week. I was wondering if anyone could provide insight on how problematic this will be for my transition into law school. Are any events virtual? How necessary is orientation? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. -
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U of T Bar Exam Index
Check back on this forum or reddit, people will share the google drive link widely.- 1
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Accepted to McGill Law 2024
hello, did anyone from cegep receive an admission letter for fall 2024 after the interview ? -
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Queens vs Cardozo (NYC)
Because of the practice areas you have an interest in and because you're saying NYC is an option you would like to have and not something you're dead set on, I would take the tuition discrepancy seriously. Cardozo sends 20-25% of the class into biglaw, where you could do civil litigation but not immigration work. If we look at biglaw as a possible but unlikely outcome given your interests and what Cardozo grads tend to do, it's fair to say that the opportunity to make more money in NYC will probably only be proportionate to the higher cost of living in NYC versus in Toronto. Based on what you've said, you know that the tuition will be steeper at Cardozo given whatever scholarship you were offered. Taking on significant debt is a serious life decision in general, and can exert a lot of tacit pressure on what you decide to do with your career, so I would think hard about whether you're likely to be able to service that debt and whether your appetite for risk aligns with taking that choice before you take it. If money's not a big issue and NYC is a life experience you're dying to have, then fair enough, but if you see NYC more as a financial opportunity I think this is all worth taking seriously. Also, passing the NY Bar after studying at Queens is absolutely possible but not a lay-up. The ~66% overall pass rate on the NY Bar (already much lower than in Ontario) can be a bit misleading because: 1) The state tends to disproportionately attract law grads from near the top of their class at their respective law schools because NYC is by far the biggest biglaw market; and 2) People going into biglaw all get $3k USD prep courses paid for by their firm which help a lot with passing the bar exam. Both factors put upward pressure on the average pass rate. Worth noting is that the 2022 pass rate for foreign-educated candidates taking the NY Bar was 44%. In 2021 it was 31%. California probably has the hardest bar exam in the U.S., but NY is definitely on the more difficult end of the spectrum and it does become trickier without a U.S. legal education. Hope this helps, congrats on the offers, and good luck! -
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Waitlist 2024
Waitlisted as of this morning for single. No email, portal update. Stats: 3.1 CGPA, L2/3.6 LSAT 160 (Jan)- 1
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UofC UBC and UofT CGPA 3.6 LSAT 170
Looks like it, in that case it is 3.7, which is also my last 3 -
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Waitlist 2024
I haven’t heard a single peep from TMU at all…. No acceptances or rejections or even waitlists? What’s going on? I have another friend in this cycle who also hasn’t heard anything while some people have been waitlisted and subsequently accepted???
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