Osgoode vs Western

[TheBarbieDoll]

Can someone help me pick between the two.

Pros/Cons of each or your suggestions?

[halamadrid]

A buddy of mine recently graduated from Western and he had nothing but good things to say about the school. He went into Big Law and from what he's told me the profs were great, and the clinical opportunities were interesting which helped him secure a 2L position. He also said that the community at Western was great and upper years were more than willing to help 1Ls acclimate to law school, whether it be through by providing summaries, notes, etc. 

[AnonymousAnon]

I just finished at Osgoode, if you want PM me some questions I'd be happy to answer them! 

[QueensDenning]

I go to Queens, but my general thoughts are that Osgoode is a little more "prestigious" (for whatever that's worth, if anything), placement rates on Bay-street are similar, though slightly higher at Osgoode (I think?), Osgoode is known for having more specialized clinics (I think they have a bunch of different crim clinics? I could be wrong on this), is more "academic," and is certainly more liberal (not in the classical sense, lol!).

Western is known for a closer knit community and better nightlife (among law students - obviously Toronto beats out London any day of the week, but Osgoode's campus, though it has (recently) become beautiful, is not what most people would think of when they think of "Toronto," because to be perfectly honest, it's in as shitty of an area of Toronto as I could think of. Western also is known to have a more corporate focus, though I also think this means fuck all. Both schools will offer a breadth of corporate classes. Overall, I would take Western over Osgoode any day of the week, but that's mostly based on my personality (I'm a pretty social, business-oriented law student). Both schools are great law schools! Also Western's class size is 200 vs Osgoode's 300, I think (someone correct me if i'm wrong). 

[LMP]

5 hours ago, TheBarbieDoll said:

Can someone help me pick between the two.

Pros/Cons of each or your suggestions?

I withdrew myself from consideration at Western as soon as I got in at Osgoode, so I can't exactly say I had to choose between them. But that said in the time before I withdrew I did sort of compare the options, purely as hypothetical, and decided on Osgoode. So I can provide something of a run down for my decision making procress and the relative pros and cons of the school's (from my perspective).

 

Osgoode

Pros:

The Osgoode name still seems to carry a lot of weight. I'm not saying that translates to better prospects, but I believe it counts for something.

A huge array of course offerings and clinics. 

Strong OCI numbers while also providing resources for non biglaw careers. 

Location (this is a controversial one). I know, it's North York, it isn't exactly UBC on the beach. But the rest of the GTA is well within commuting distance and I find the options for food and entertainment vastly superior in that area. I am not a huge fan of London so for me at least, Osgoode wins here.

 

Cons:

Expensive. The second most expensive in the country I believe (I'm excluding dual degree). I know it isn't that much more than Western but those thousands add up quick. Rental costs are also higher there. 

It's a big class. I know they break it down into smaller groups and such but at the end of the day I think I'd like a smaller group overall. 

Ugly campus. Which I will argue is separate from location. The campus ain't that pretty. I don't think anyone will argue it is. It's unfourtuante but that's how it is.

 

Western

Pros: 

Strong corporate focus. While I still think Osgoode places slightly better during OCIs, Western seems to have very strong numbers and greater resources available for students interested in a corporate career. 

A much smaller class, which as I said above is appealing. 

Western's famous student life and culture. Say what you will about the place people are proud to go there and seem to have a great time. 

The campus looks pretty damn nice. I haven't seen the law buildings but I've walked around the school, it's a nice place to be. 

 

Cons: 

London is far from my favourite city. I feel it's lacking a lot of amenities that I'd really rather have.

I got the feeling the school was too focused on corporate law. Maybe that's just my interpretation and I'm sure many students there pursue various avenues, but still, it was a bit much on their promotional material. 

A competitive lack of clinics as compared to some other schools. There's probably plenty and likely some I failed to stumble upon. But it just seemed like the pickings were a little slim.

 

 

 

I'm sure people from both schools are going to come and tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. Which is fair, I really don't. But this was my rough thought process when I was "deciding" between schools.

[Disbarred]

I chose Osgoode and would do the same again because the outcomes seem to be slightly better. You can land a NY 2L job from osgoode (although unlikely) and virtually cannot from any other school apart from uoft and McGill. Osgoode also has slightly higher Bay Street placements and clerkships. You can’t go wrong with either but osgoode seems to be the no-lose option 

Edited June 11, 2021 by Disbarred

[jcfm]

On 6/11/2021 at 5:45 PM, Disbarred said:

I chose Osgoode and would do the same again because the outcomes seem to be slightly better. You can land a NY 2L job from osgoode (although unlikely) and virtually cannot from any other school apart from uoft and McGill. Osgoode also has slightly higher Bay Street placements and clerkships. You can’t go wrong with either but osgoode seems to be the no-lose option 

Are the NYC numbers for Osgoode the same as for McGill and UBC? (Which is a 2-3 each year)

[jcfm]

On 6/11/2021 at 4:55 PM, LMP said:

I withdrew myself from consideration at Western as soon as I got in at Osgoode, so I can't exactly say I had to choose between them. But that said in the time before I withdrew I did sort of compare the options, purely as hypothetical, and decided on Osgoode. So I can provide something of a run down for my decision making procress and the relative pros and cons of the school's (from my perspective).

 

Osgoode

Pros:

The Osgoode name still seems to carry a lot of weight. I'm not saying that translates to better prospects, but I believe it counts for something.

A huge array of course offerings and clinics. 

Strong OCI numbers while also providing resources for non biglaw careers. 

Location (this is a controversial one). I know, it's North York, it isn't exactly UBC on the beach. But the rest of the GTA is well within commuting distance and I find the options for food and entertainment vastly superior in that area. I am not a huge fan of London so for me at least, Osgoode wins here.

 

Cons:

Expensive. The second most expensive in the country I believe (I'm excluding dual degree). I know it isn't that much more than Western but those thousands add up quick. Rental costs are also higher there. 

It's a big class. I know they break it down into smaller groups and such but at the end of the day I think I'd like a smaller group overall. 

Ugly campus. Which I will argue is separate from location. The campus ain't that pretty. I don't think anyone will argue it is. It's unfourtuante but that's how it is.

 

Western

Pros: 

Strong corporate focus. While I still think Osgoode places slightly better during OCIs, Western seems to have very strong numbers and greater resources available for students interested in a corporate career. 

A much smaller class, which as I said above is appealing. 

Western's famous student life and culture. Say what you will about the place people are proud to go there and seem to have a great time. 

The campus looks pretty damn nice. I haven't seen the law buildings but I've walked around the school, it's a nice place to be. 

 

Cons: 

London is far from my favourite city. I feel it's lacking a lot of amenities that I'd really rather have.

I got the feeling the school was too focused on corporate law. Maybe that's just my interpretation and I'm sure many students there pursue various avenues, but still, it was a bit much on their promotional material. 

A competitive lack of clinics as compared to some other schools. There's probably plenty and likely some I failed to stumble upon. But it just seemed like the pickings were a little slim.

 

 

 

I'm sure people from both schools are going to come and tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. Which is fair, I really don't. But this was my rough thought process when I was "deciding" between schools.

On the not of UBC...how would you compare Osgoode against UBC? In terms of BigLaw placement, clerkship, prestige

[Disbarred]

49 minutes ago, jcfm said:

Are the NYC numbers for Osgoode the same as for McGill and UBC? (Which is a 2-3 each year)

From my understanding UBC doesn’t usually place any students. It goes UofT, osgoode, McGill. But please defer to someone who know more than me about this

[LMP]

5 minutes ago, Disbarred said:

From my understanding UBC doesn’t usually place any students. It goes UofT, osgoode, McGill. But please defer to someone who know more than me about this

This is correct. Not because UBC is a bad school, but simply because those NYC jobs come from firms that usually have alums from Canada. And those alums tend to be from the three schools you mentioned, though UofT above the others. 

[historicaladvantage]

Both are excellent schools, but Osgoode generally carries a slight amount more of prestige in employment and clerkship contexts. If you're solely interested in corporate law Western is renowned for having a strong business law faculty, but then again so do Osgoode.

I would say Osgoode caters to students with a more diverse array of interests, including but not limited to a strong corporate law course offering and student base. Western is largely comprised of people pursuing corporate, even more so than Osgoode. But I imagine most people that get into Osgoode and Western who are interested in corporate will still choose Osgoode as it has the slight edge in corporate employment numbers. 

Osgoode has some great clinical offerings in business (like its venture capital clinic and business clinic) but Western has good clinics as well. 

The most major difference is honestly going to be student body. Osgoode is a very left-leaning school whereas Western, not so much. Osgoode is also a commuter school with less of a party scene (based on my personal experience) and Western is smaller and close-knit and, from what I've heard, parties hard. 

Edited June 17, 2021 by historicaladvantage

[Tomatoes]

On 6/15/2021 at 2:07 PM, Disbarred said:

From my understanding UBC doesn’t usually place any students. It goes UofT, osgoode, McGill. But please defer to someone who know more than me about this

I believe McGill actually does better than Osgoode in this regard. From what I understand, around 6-8 US firms OCI at McGill as opposed to 2 for Osgoode (though my information may be outdated). UBC doesn't really place students in NY.