I would do anything to get into Western, and any tips are appreciated!

[berrycardinal42]

This is going to be a little bit complicated of a post and here is a TW for CSA. 
 

Flash back to 2015/2016 school year. I went to Western and was in my first year when my life was turned upside down. I came to terms with being molested by a close family member for years, they got sick, got better, I had him charged and went through the trial causing me to lose my whole family etc. 

and I just disappeared from school. Like, stopped going to classes, didn’t take exams, just dropped out without dropping out. Of course my grades took a hit and I believe I wasn’t even allowed to return the following year. 
 

After lots of therapy and support I went back to school in January 2020 and got my degree (not at Western). I got straight A’s, was very involved, lots of student jobs through the school including as a research assistant. I graduated in 2022 and through this time I was solely focused on getting into law school. 
I got a 158 on my LSATs (which I thought was good at the time), good recs, PS, and lots of experience. It was a 4 year degree but I studied full time through summer as well. 
 

Denied from Western right away. 
 

Mostly for the purposes of location, I would do anything to get in and wonder what you think I can do to get in. My OLSAS GPA shows 2.89 but like I say I got straight A’s. 
 

I’m not sure if they just don’t want me because of my past- so I address it on my PS? Should I meet with the dean of admissions? 
 

Any tips are greatly appreciated! 

[MyWifesBoyfriend]

A 158 paired with a 2.89 likely won’t get you into any Canadian school, let alone one of the more competitive ones. You’ll need a 165+ to have a shot at Western, even if your last two years are strong. All schools assign considerable weight to cGPA, so your LSAT needs to offset the 2.89.

 

You may or may not want to discuss your past in your personal statement. That’s entirely up to you. Right now, you’d need to focus on the LSAT before it’s worth having that discussion.

[berrycardinal42]

2 minutes ago, MyWifesBoyfriend said:

A 158 paired with a 2.89 likely won’t get you into any Canadian school, let alone one of the more competitive ones. You’ll need a 165+ to have a shot at Western, even if your last two years are strong. All schools assign considerable weight to cGPA, so your LSAT needs to offset the 2.89.

 

You may or may not want to discuss your past in your personal statement. That’s entirely up to you. Right now, you’d need to focus on the LSAT before it’s worth having that discussion.

Yes, I didn’t get into any school with those stats, so I’m concentrating on the LSAT. I’d like to get into the 170s. 

[Forever Curious]

On 7/1/2025 at 5:17 PM, berrycardinal42 said:

Yes, I didn’t get into any school with those stats, so I’m concentrating on the LSAT. I’d like to get into the 170s. 

I would focus on schools that offer applicants to drop certain amount of credits from the gpa calculation (Uvic is the only one to my knowledge but there may be others) and/or that only look at the last two years of studies (UofA for example). I wouldn't focus on any particular school in your position but rather see what makes most sense in terms of admissions and costs. LSAT in the high 160s or low 170s will help a lot of course.