UofA vs. Queen's

[OswaldtheRabbit]

Hello everyone,

I am currently accepted to both the UofA and Queen's University and am just looking for opinions on where to go.

• My considerations so far:
  • I would like to practice in Alberta. However, I am not particularly fond of Edmonton. On the other hand, I would not mind living somewhere new like Kingston.
  • I do not really know anyone in either place although Edmonton is definitely closer to home for me.
  • I am not entirely sure of what area I would to practice in yet. I am thinking corporate or criminal but this is undecided as of now.
• Questions:
  • I have heard that prestige does not really matter much for mid-range Canadian law schools, but does Queen's allow for more of a national reach than the UofA? (just in case I do decide to work somewhere other than Alberta)
  • Are there any significant legal specialization areas that one school offers over the other school?
  • I also often hear that one should go to law school where they would like to work. So, is it a no-brainer to choose the UofA?

Also, if there are any other comments, I would appreciate hearing them. Thanks!

 

[Elzdi]

May I ask when did you apply for U of A and Queen`s and when did you receive the results? I have applied for both and still haven't received any result.

[OswaldtheRabbit]

Yeah no problem. Keep in mind that these are estimates though as I cannot remember the exact day. I applied to UofA around September and heard back about a week ago or so. And I applied to Queen's around November and heard back in January.

[Whist]

If you are fairly confident you want to practice in Alberta, or at least more confident in that than you are about potentially wanting to work elsewhere, choose UofA. While schools will have postings for places outside the province, you'll have an easier time setting roots if you're already there. Corporate and crim are quite different. I'll let somebody else speak for Queens, but UofA's crim student volunteer project is something you can start right away in 1L, and gets you court experience and some hands-on work with low-income crim files. UofA has won the Gale Cup (crim moot) three years in a row now if you're interested in that. Corporate law opportunities in Edmonton, Calgary, or Vancouver will be more accessible from UofA, whereas I imagine Queens makes the GTA more accessible. I don't think one has more national reach than the other but there's probably a great deal of selection bias going on for both. The majority of Queens grads will want to stay in Ontario and the majority of UofA grads will want to stay in Alberta.

Edited March 5, 2022 by Whist
typo

[OswaldtheRabbit]

Thanks for the advice!