UCalgary vs UOttawa

[ellewoodswannabe]

I am hoping to work on the West coast in the future, ideally Vancouver but haven't heard from UBC yet. That said, would it be best for me to get to the West Coast now and try to work my way to Vancouver or will the "higher rank" of UOttawa give me better opportunities? I hope to work in criminal prosecution. Thanks for any advice ! Any general feedback on either schools that could help me make a decision would be greatly appreciated. I am super torn.🙂 

[TheDevilIKnow]

You know Calgary isn't on the West Coast, right? 😉

I would not say that Ottawa has a "higher rank" than Calgary, or that it is perceived as better in Vancouver. U of O placed 10 people in Vancouver OCIs last year, while Calgary placed 9 from a much smaller class. Lots of caveats, of course (such as non-reporting employers and self-selection).

If you want to be a Crown, I would suggest Calgary on the basis that the ACPS does lots of 1L and even 2L hiring. Getting a Crown spot in BC seems to be more difficult. If that's the path you want, you will set yourself up well by perhaps having a better chance to get experience sooner in Alberta. You can then take that experience to the BC Crown's office. From what I understand, getting Crown work is much more difficult in Ontario.

Edited April 27, 2022 by TheDevilIKnow
typo

[CleanHands]

UOttawa isn't "higher ranked" than UofC. Neither school has a better reputation than the other to any meaningfully significant extent. They are both average Canadian law schools.

BC MAG hiring involves a timed written interview and an oral interview, both dealing with substantive legal questions and addressing various competencies. It doesn't make a huge different what school you went to generally; even less so when we're talking about two out-of-province schools that are of similar caliber.

EDIT - I got ninja'd and I agree with the above post.

Edited April 27, 2022 by CleanHands

[ellewoodswannabe]

40 minutes ago, TheDevilIKnow said:

You know Calgary isn't on the West Coast, right? 😉

I would not say that Ottawa has a "higher rank" than Calgary, or that it is perceived as better in Vancouver. U of O placed 10 people in Vancouver OCIs last year, while Calgary placed 9 from a much smaller class. Lots of caveats, of course (such as non-reporting employers and self-selection).

If you want to be a Crown, I would suggest Calgary on the basis that the ACPS does lots of 1L and even 2L hiring. Getting a Crown spot in BC seems to be more difficult. If that's the path you want, you will set yourself up well by perhaps having a better chance to get experience sooner in Alberta. You can then take that experience to the BC Crown's office. From what I understand, getting Crown work is much more difficult in Ontario.

Haha, I guess I just consider all of Alberta and BC the west coast as a citizen of Onterrible. Thanks so much for your feedback that’s super helpful! 

39 minutes ago, CleanHands said:

UOttawa isn't "higher ranked" than UofC. Neither school has a better reputation than the other to any meaningfully significant extent. They are both average Canadian law schools.

BC MAG hiring involves a timed written interview and an oral interview, both dealing with substantive legal questions and addressing various competencies. It doesn't make a huge different what school you went to generally; even less so when we're talking about two out-of-province schools that are of similar caliber.

EDIT - I got ninja'd and I agree with the above post.

Thanks for your response! I put the “higher rank” in quotations because of that. I think the ranking discussion is always sensitive on this forum and I totally agree with you. Thanks so much for the insight, I really appreciate it. 

Edited April 27, 2022 by ellewoodswannabe

[Moms_Spaghetti]

1 hour ago, ellewoodswannabe said:

Haha, I guess I just consider all of Alberta and BC the west coast as a citizen of Onterrible.

Oh man, you’re going to be so disappointed by how small the ocean is in Calgary 

[ellewoodswannabe]

Hahahah! This made me laugh. I definitely worded this post poorly 😂 The mountains an hour away are lovely though.

Edited April 28, 2022 by ellewoodswannabe

[Moms_Spaghetti]

8 minutes ago, ellewoodswannabe said:

Hahahah! This made me laugh. I definitely worded this post poorly 😂 The mountains an hour away are lovely though.

I’m glad you laughed and didn’t get offended 😂 the mountains in kananaskis are 10/10 and, as a UCalgary alumni, the school is great too in my opinion. If I hadn’t heard back from UBC, I’d have gone back to Calgary in a heartbeat. Just my two pennies ♥️

[ellewoodswannabe]

11 minutes ago, Moms_Spaghetti said:

I’m glad you laughed and didn’t get offended 😂 the mountains in kananaskis are 10/10 and, as a UCalgary alumni, the school is great too in my opinion. If I hadn’t heard back from UBC, I’d have gone back to Calgary in a heartbeat. Just my two pennies ♥️

I must say I hope I can join you and your jokes at UBC but if not, thank you for your pennies 😊 All the best!