Queen’s Culture and Community

[OhHello]

I was hoping that some current or recently graduated Queen’s students could comment on what the student community and culture is like within Queen’s Law. Is the atmosphere generally cooperative and friendly, or is it very competitive? Have your classmates and upper year students been helpful and supportive? 

I have received an offer from Queen’s but it is far from home, so I am concerned about leaving my family and support systems and making new ones in Kingston. Any insight is appreciated!

[Eathwens]

Not a Queens student but from what I've heard is Queens + Western are the most supportive communities as everyone lives on campus. My cousin who works in Law even told me that hes noticed that the students from these universities usually stay friends years after graduation, albeit he works with people from Western more. It's a very community oriented culture compared to something in Toronto. 

[lawschoolapplicant77]

I did part of my undergrad at Queens and agree with the comment above about the student community - its super close knit and easy to make long lasting connections. One word of caution about Queens/Kingston though is that it can be hard to separate school from other aspects of your social life - its a student city and at least based on my experience, it felt like despite the wonderful friendships I made, I couldn't separate any of my life from the school except for work. For some people this is great and totally what they are looking for, and if a strong student culture is something that interests you (ie if you are coming from a larger city where you did your undergrad) then I think it would be a great fit! On the other hand it can be a bit dense and feel difficult to feel completely removed from the school side of life. 

[Rashabon]

33 minutes ago, Eathwens said:

Not a Queens student but from what I've heard is Queens + Western are the most supportive communities as everyone lives on campus. My cousin who works in Law even told me that hes noticed that the students from these universities usually stay friends years after graduation, albeit he works with people from Western more. It's a very community oriented culture compared to something in Toronto. 

Lol what

[Pecan Boy]

I truly believe that there are no material differences in levels of "community support" or whatever at any law schools in the province. They're all gonna largely be the same - you will probably easily find friends, your friends and you will support each other like normal friends do, and you'll be fine. 

[Lawllapalooza]

4 hours ago, Eathwens said:

Not a Queens student but from what I've heard is Queens + Western are the most supportive communities as everyone lives on campus. 

This is incorrect. Perhaps what you're referring to is that neither are considered a "commuter" school. The vast majority of law students at both of these schools will live in housing off campus. I do think there's some truth to your comment about closer communities (though I don't think this is something unique to Queen's and Western, moreso something about schools in smaller cities). A lot of student who go to, say, U of T, may be from the GTA. Some will continue living at home, and others who move out will still have their prior community, so in a way there's less pressure to integrate. For schools like Western and Queen's, though, the majority of the student body aren't from London or Kingston, respectively. As a result (and this is just my theory) most students' only local network is each other, which builds a strong sense of community. 

Edited April 7, 2022 by Lawllapalooza

[Eathwens]

15 hours ago, Lawllapalooza said:

This is incorrect. Perhaps what you're referring to is that neither are considered a "commuter" school. The vast majority of law students at both of these schools will live in housing off campus. I do think there's some truth to your comment about closer communities (though I don't think this is something unique to Queen's and Western, moreso something about schools in smaller cities). A lot of student who go to, say, U of T, may be from the GTA. Some will continue living at home, and others who move out will still have their prior community, so in a way there's less pressure to integrate. For schools like Western and Queen's, though, the majority of the student body aren't from London or Kingston, respectively. As a result (and this is just my theory) most students' only local network is each other, which builds a strong sense of community. 

 

19 hours ago, Rashabon said:

Lol what

I realize where I messed up I meant BY campus sorry, not ON campus. Its not like UoFT where you are an hour or two away its more like 10-30 minutes, in Queens its 5-20 minutes. Sorry one word really fucked up my whole thing 😂

Edited April 7, 2022 by Eathwens

[Rashabon]

Yeah sorry bud but it was a lot more than one word. Your post was dumb.

A huge portion of U of T students all live within easy transit of campus. The majority are not commuting two hours to go to school.

 

[Piffle]

On 4/5/2022 at 7:23 PM, OhHello said:

Is the atmosphere generally cooperative and friendly, or is it very competitive? Have your classmates and upper year students been helpful and supportive? 

All the above comments aside, I just want to say that as a Queen's 1L, it has literally never been easier in my life than here to make friends (except for maybe kindergarten)

Edited April 9, 2022 by Piffle

[toby1994]

Everyone at the law school is extremely supportive and if you ask for help, you will get it. For the most part, the students in my section were easy to get along with and the classroom rarely felt like a pressure cooker. Upper years especially are eager to help 1Ls. I had several upper years who I had never talked to before sending me study supports/offering to talk about exam strategies just because they knew I was in 1L and had the same prof as me. The supportiveness of the student body/many faculty members is probably my favourite part of Queen’s so far.