Should I Transfer?

[Legal04]

I’m currently a 1L at LASL. The main reason I went to LASL over other law schools like Windsor is b/c of the IPC program. Also, I come from a low-income family and LASL is the most affordable option for me when comparing it to other schools, especially in Toronto. Overall, it’s alright but b/c it’s new, I am afraid of being stigmatized for going there. My GPA is average so far. I’m considering transferring to Osgoode. I want to stay in Toronto b/c it took me a lot of effort to move to Toronto. I also have made several friends at LASL and I’m involved in several student groups. Starting at a new law school would also be stressful for me.  I really don’t know what to do.

Edited March 25, 2022 by Legal04

[Doot Universary]

The users who speak down on LASL are gonna have a field day with this post, I can feel it.

OP, what makes you believe that you will be stigmatized for going to LASL? Is it tied to some sort of personal experience, what you’ve heard from your peers in the program, or have you been reading too many forum posts? To land 18% of students in Toronto in the school’s first ever 2L recruit says to me that the school, while not matching the placement rate of Osgoode and UofT, is still doing fairly well for themselves. 

I get that your likelihood to land select summer student, articling, entry-level associate positions will be limited at times relative to schools such as Osgoode (biglaw and clerkships come to mind), but I haven’t heard anyone go so far as to say the students of LASL will be stigmatized in their careers simply because that’s where they completed their legal education.

If you’re dead-set on transferring though, you’ll need grades higher than “average” to be successful (I’m assuming you’re around a B overall currently).

Edited March 25, 2022 by Doot Universary
Formatting corrections

[CertaintyOfTerms]

With all due respect, of everything you have written in your post the only reason I am gathering that you want to transfer for is because you do not want to be stigmatized. As @Doot Universarysaid, based on the recruit numbers LASL seems to be placing relatively well. Aside from that, once you leave law school and to a degree when you are in law school nobody cares where you went to school. So, what other people "say" shouldn't matter, the focus should be on doing as well as you can and figuring out what area you may be interested in.

Aside from that a few other things you probably want to consider:

1. If you are so involved (friends, EC's) at LASL, do you really want to just up and move schools and start fresh?
2. How will this impact course selection, are there any first year courses you may have to take to catch up? Are there any upper year courses you may have to take that will take away a choice of class you would want to take?
3. If money still is a concern, I can promise that Osgoode is going to be significantly higher than LASL.
4. As @Doot Universarysaid, to get into Oz on transfer, absent a compelling reason (which I cannot think about you having since you are going from Toronto to Toronto, there are few compelling reasons why you would need to transfer to a school in the same area) you will need solid grades.

Overall, I think you are overestimating the stigma that you will get from completing your schooling at LASL. No one who's opinion matters will care. 

[Legal04]

Hi, OP here. I don't really use this forum often. I ended staying at LASL mainly due to finances and I would not be able to afford Osgoode or I would have to take out a higher loan. I also received a scholarship for next year, which will help with covering expenses and found a good summer law job for this summer in TO.  My grades ended up being a B average b/c I had significant health issues throughout 1L. I should add that another reason I did not choose Windsor is b/c I did my undergrad in Windsor and I had a terrible experience at U of W. Obviously, I did not want to relive that experience in law school. I enjoy living in Toronto and my significant other also lives in Toronto. However, after going through threads and reading through comments, I'm still worried that I made the wrong decision. For context, I am not interested in going into biglaw and I'm more interested in going into legal research or possibly academia. 

Edited July 20, 2022 by Legal04

[Damages]

1 hour ago, Legal04 said:

Hi, OP here. I don't really use this forum often. I ended staying at LASL mainly due to finances and I would not be able to afford Osgoode or I would have to take out a higher loan. I also received a scholarship for next year, which will help with covering expenses and found a good summer law job for this summer in TO.  My grades ended up being a B average b/c I had significant health issues throughout 1L. I should add that another reason I did not choose Windsor is b/c I did my undergrad in Windsor and I had a terrible experience at U of W. Obviously, I did not want to relive that experience in law school. I enjoy living in Toronto and my significant other also lives in Toronto. However, after going through threads and reading through comments, I'm still worried that I made the wrong decision. For context, I am not interested in going into biglaw and I'm more interested in going into legal research or possibly academia. 

Did you turn down an offer to transfer to Osgoode?

[Legal04]

Quote

 

No, I did not apply to transfer. 

[LMP]

Edit because I misread part of your post. 

 

If your goal is reaserch or academia and not big law, then you shouldn't be concerned about your school so much as your marks. You'll need to be doing quite well to secure either and though name recognition may be a slight factor it wouldn't matter if you ended up being a B student at Osgoode vs a B+ student at LASL. 

If you've got the grades to do academica or reaserch then it won't matter that you didn't go to osgoode. If you don't have the grades then a transfer wouldn't have helped you anyways. 

Edited July 21, 2022 by LMP

[Whist]

In addition to what others have said, many (all?) schools don’t let you transfer except between 1L and 2L. You can only get letters of permission after that point, meaning your degree would still be from LASL. So if you just finished 1L and haven’t applied to transfer already, you can’t transfer if the deadline has passed. 

Edited July 21, 2022 by Whist