Windsor (Single) or Ryerson?

[ClarkGriswold]

To preface this, I have already read an earlier post about this comparison, which I’ll attach below. I’m going to ask this again though, as I’m interested if there are any new opinions on this comparison or if my personal factors change any answers.

Fortunately I have received two offers this cycle so far - Windsor (single) and Ryerson. Though it’s still super early into this cycle, I’d appreciate any opinions on which school would make more sense to attend in light of my personal situation/interests. They’re listed below:

- Entirely indifferent on pursuing biglaw, so biglaw placement rates aren’t the be-all and end-all for me. Fwiw, I believe both schools placed the same proportion of their 2L students in biglaw roles last year (18%).

- Interested in municipal law. Windsor’s Centre for Cities is an attractive student opportunity. I’m a “0L” though, so my preferred work focus could very well change with time.

- I’ll have to live away from home at both schools as neither are within close driving distance to home. 

- Graduating with as little debt as possible is important to me, but at the end of the day: work opportunities derived in part from where I attend > the debt I take on (within reason, of course). 

Any and all responses are greatly appreciated! TIA. 

[Jean-Ralphio Saperstein]

7 minutes ago, ClarkGriswold said:

I have received two offers this cycle so far - Windsor (single) and Ryerson

that's huge CONGRATS!!! (personally I'm biased and so I would say Ryerson just bc I love the university)

[Darth Vader]

If you want to do anything other than corporate law (and other areas of law usually practiced in Big law firms), Windsor. Windsor has more social justice opportunities. If I wanted to be a criminal or family lawyer, I would not go to Ryerson over Windsor. For all the talk about Ryerson's access to justice branding, the school seems to be focusing on corporate law and "legal innovation". It's also a very new school so there are fewer opportunities overall.

I would keep municipal law as more of a side interest. This is a niche area of law and municipalities hire very few law students and junior lawyers. 

Edited December 15, 2021 by Darth Vader

[bluebean]

If I were accepted to both, I would choose Windsor over Ryerson for the following reasons:

- Windsor is more established (older law school, networking opportunities based on past students' success vs untested students at Ryerson because of its newness which might lead to a hiring preference)

- An extension of the above point is that Ryerson students don't have access to as many resources such as past outlines/briefs because they just don't have that many past students (although, I know that law students from other unis have 'donated' their outlines but the content may or may not be applicable)

- Ryerson is in Toronto so I'm assuming that the living expenditures such as rent would be much greater there

- I'm not a big fan of the Ryerson campus setup

- Windsor seems like a safer and more peaceful city than Toronto - I've zoom called my UofT friends and the sirens are a constant

- Ryerson made me embarrass myself in a video interview and I can't forgive them for that

Note: many of those points are assumptions and it would be worth doing your own research to confirm/dismiss those assumptions

 

Other factors that may be important to you:

- tuition seems about the same for both (give or take a couple thousand)

- Ryerson is in Toronto so the food options are a major plus...now that I think about it, this might be my deciding factor for Ryerson over Windsor

- the ability to visit other interesting places in Ontario (Windsor seems boring and isolated) is a huge plus for Toronto, more activities to do in general given the city life

- Windsor is near the US border so if you're one to travel, that could be a fun thing to do

- driving in Windsor is likely much nicer than driving in Toronto

- In my mind, I have this impression that Ryerson is competing with Osgoode and UofT, which seems doomed from the start. Windsor on the other hand has its own reputation and niche for itself.

 

Congrats on both your acceptances (and maybe more to come?)! Both are phenomenal options that offer you educations in law of equal quality and you can't go wrong with either one. See which is a better fit for you based on what is important to you. Best of luck deciding!

[ClarkGriswold]

1 hour ago, Dee said:

that's huge CONGRATS!!! (personally I'm biased and so I would say Ryerson just bc I love the university)

Thank you! Would you mind sharing your experience at Ryerson? I can tell it has been a positive one, but what about the school in particular have you liked? 

16 minutes ago, Darth Vader said:

If you want to do anything other than corporate law (and other areas of law usually practiced in Big law firms), Windsor.

I would keep municipal law as more of a side interest.

For sure not interested in corporate law, so I’ll keep this in mind. Beyond municipal law, I’m also very interested in areas such as appeals before the LPAT/OMB and courts, land development/heritage properties, and expropriations. Again, these might be very niche interests, so I’ll be sure to enter 1L with an open mind to plenty of career focusses. 

10 minutes ago, samii said:

If I were accepted to both, I would choose Windsor over Ryerson

Really appreciated that you included some academically-focussed and more personal reasons for both schools. Prior to your post I didn’t consider the abundance of outlines/briefs available to Windsor students relative to those attending Ryerson. 

[LMP]

I think Windsor is the way to go. 

Windsor is something like $5k cheaper a year, which can provide added flexibility when picking a less traditionally high paying career path. 

Moreover, Windsor is quite well established and you can draw more heavily on its alumni network. 

Windsor also has superior clinical offerings and opportunities. 

And I agree with the posters above, Ryerson is leaning hard into the corporate angel even though they claim to be more focused on social justice. Plus, and this is a pet peeve, I hate that they make you take a Python course. That's just a waste in my opinion. 

But, in defense of Ryerson, I think living downtown is significantly better than living in Windsor, but I recognize this is a preference.  

I also don't want to come off as being too opposed to Rye. I don't think it's a bad program, but if you're indifferent to location (which I think is there biggest selling point) I don't see why you'd pay more money to attend. 

[law-yer]

On 12/14/2021 at 10:42 PM, ClarkGriswold said:

To preface this, I have already read an earlier post about this comparison, which I’ll attach below. I’m going to ask this again though, as I’m interested if there are any new opinions on this comparison or if my personal factors change any answers.

Fortunately I have received two offers this cycle so far - Windsor (single) and Ryerson. Though it’s still super early into this cycle, I’d appreciate any opinions on which school would make more sense to attend in light of my personal situation/interests. They’re listed below:

- Entirely indifferent on pursuing biglaw, so biglaw placement rates aren’t the be-all and end-all for me. Fwiw, I believe both schools placed the same proportion of their 2L students in biglaw roles last year (18%).

- Interested in municipal law. Windsor’s Centre for Cities is an attractive student opportunity. I’m a “0L” though, so my preferred work focus could very well change with time.

- I’ll have to live away from home at both schools as neither are within close driving distance to home. 

- Graduating with as little debt as possible is important to me, but at the end of the day: work opportunities derived in part from where I attend > the debt I take on (within reason, of course). 

Any and all responses are greatly appreciated! TIA. 

I would choose Windsor over Ryerson.. There are a lot of management issues which can disturb students in Ryerson since it is a new school. Moreover, you would save $5K.

1 minute ago, law-yer said:

I would choose Windsor over Ryerson.. There are a lot of management issues which can disturb students in Ryerson since it is a new school. Moreover, you would save $5K.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/12/07/he-was-the-poster-child-for-torontos-newest-law-school-hes-now-filing-a-750000-human-rights-complaint-against-it.html

[Darth Vader]

1 hour ago, law-yer said:

I would choose Windsor over Ryerson.. There are a lot of management issues which can disturb students in Ryerson since it is a new school. Moreover, you would save $5K.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/12/07/he-was-the-poster-child-for-torontos-newest-law-school-hes-now-filing-a-750000-human-rights-complaint-against-it.html

Is that article supposed to support your argument against Ryerson? Because that guy is a 37 year old man that got into law school without a degree and a criminal conviction, who received the second largest scholarship at Ryerson valued at 10k (the first was given to a Black woman), raised 40k through GoFundMe, received another 12k in bursaries, and was given a free dorm. He also failed his first year of law school and was given the chance to redo it. He claims that he was misled by Ryerson marketing itself as a social justice school when it has a Bay Street focus. This is not unique to Ryerson as anyone in law school can tell you that most employers participating in the OCI process are in corporate, and at the end of the day, people just want a job.

I'm with Ryerson on this one. If anything, they should have given the money to other deserving students in the program that come from working class and marginalized backgrounds.

Edited January 12, 2022 by Darth Vader