Ottawa or Ryerson (with scholarship)

[ISJ55]

Hi everyone, 

Just some very basic information: I live in Toronto and have not yet decided which area of law I would like to practice.
 

As of today, the situation has changed a little and now I am confused between the above mentioned two choices and would greatly appreciate your input on my situation. 
 

Although I know that Ottawa has a better reputation than Ryerson, however, receiving a scholarship from Ryerson has been influencing my decision to stay in Toronto.
 

Just wondering what would others do in this situation.  Choose Ottawa or take a 1/4 renewable scholarship towards your tution fee? 

Thanks for your time and help 🙂 

[Notworthy]

My opinion would still be to lean towards Ottawa for it’s longer established reputation. However if you have a preference of Toronto and may save on rent from living there then pick Ryerson. Both are great opportunities regardless but if your basing on merit / reputation there’s a clear winner.

[Damages]

Go to Ryerson unless you want to practice law in Ottawa. Save money and there is little to no perceived reputation difference between the two schools. Go to Ryerson if you want to practice law in GTA.

[reaperlaw]

1 hour ago, Damages said:

Go to Ryerson unless you want to practice law in Ottawa. Save money and there is little to no perceived reputation difference between the two schools. Go to Ryerson if you want to practice law in GTA.

There is absolutely a perceived reputation difference between LASL and Ottawa. There are definitely lawyers/law firms in Canada who would not consider a current LASL student. This cannot be said about Ottawa.

LASL is a brand new school with no graduates, no alumni network, and a practically impossible to gauge standard as far as admissions go. Agree or not, it's pretty much a joke to say that there would be no perceived reputation difference between Ryerson and any other Canadian school.

[GoBigOrGoHome]

1 hour ago, reaperlaw said:

There is absolutely a perceived reputation difference between LASL and Ottawa. There are definitely lawyers/law firms in Canada who would not consider a current LASL student. This cannot be said about Ottawa.

LASL is a brand new school with no graduates, no alumni network, and a practically impossible to gauge standard as far as admissions go. Agree or not, it's pretty much a joke to say that there would be no perceived reputation difference between Ryerson and any other Canadian school.

For me, that perceived difference would not be enough to justify added costs of Ottawa in this circumstance. If it were another school then maybe my response would be different. 

If you look at McCarthy’s people directory, they have three summer students from Whatever It Is Called Now (Ryerson).

When TRU launched a law school in BC, I would fairly say that it has the same reputation that Ryerson has now. But over time, you are seeing people land the same jobs. It might be harder for an average TRU grad to get into big law compared to an average UBC grad, but a decent TRU grad can easily get into big law in Vancouver if they really want (if they actually want that). 
 

OP, a heads up that you can apply to transfer to pretty much any school after your first year. The more prestige that school has, the better your grades need to be. You can try out Ryerson, and apply to Ottawa (or anywhere else after). You could go to Ottawa and apply to go to Ryerson.

- caveat I know that Ryerson has somewhat of a unique law program so don’t quote me on transferring in for that school.

Go where you think you will do best. If that means getting away from where you are now to a place that you don’t have connections so you can focus, then go there. If you benefit from support from people you already know and the the reduced financial stress will actually translate to better performance, stay.  
 

even if you realize you made the wrong choice now, it doesn’t have to be your final choice. You can always pivot later. 

 

 

[reaperlaw]

On 5/27/2022 at 12:23 AM, GoBigOrGoHome said:

For me, that perceived difference would not be enough to justify added costs of Ottawa in this circumstance. If it were another school then maybe my response would be different. 

If you look at McCarthy’s people directory, they have three summer students from Whatever It Is Called Now (Ryerson).

When TRU launched a law school in BC, I would fairly say that it has the same reputation that Ryerson has now. But over time, you are seeing people land the same jobs. It might be harder for an average TRU grad to get into big law compared to an average UBC grad, but a decent TRU grad can easily get into big law in Vancouver if they really want (if they actually want that). 
 

OP, a heads up that you can apply to transfer to pretty much any school after your first year. The more prestige that school has, the better your grades need to be. You can try out Ryerson, and apply to Ottawa (or anywhere else after). You could go to Ottawa and apply to go to Ryerson.

- caveat I know that Ryerson has somewhat of a unique law program so don’t quote me on transferring in for that school.

Go where you think you will do best. If that means getting away from where you are now to a place that you don’t have connections so you can focus, then go there. If you benefit from support from people you already know and the the reduced financial stress will actually translate to better performance, stay.  
 

even if you realize you made the wrong choice now, it doesn’t have to be your final choice. You can always pivot later. 

 

 

It's not a smart idea to tell someone to go to a school where a potential transfer is a consideration. Transfers are not that common, are not that easy to get especially if you don't have compassionate grounds, and are not seamless integrations. If you accept an offer, you should be prepared to do all three years there even if you do not want to.

I think you're also implying that there is less of a perceived difference between Ottawa and LASL and other schools and LASL and I would suggest you dissuade yourself of that opinion if you do indeed hold that opinion, especially as someone who has not even taken one law school class yet.

Schools like LASL (and TRU in Ontario) have a perceived difference because they are unknowns. This perceived difference will remain until they build up an alumni network with partners at all the big firms, associates across the countries, lawyers who are recognized in their field, etc., and a known quantity that students have been hired out of these schools and they have matched the same level of quality that all the other schools provide. 

School wasn't even a consideration at all when my firm did hiring for 2022 summer, and I have never found that the students from schools often stated to be superior by people who post on this forum (and on this forum's previous iteration), i.e. UBC, McGill, UoT, Osgoode, to be any better than students from other schools.

I will also add that a 25% scholarship at LASL is not a ton of money compared to other schools when you consider LASL is actually quite expensive (I believe total school fees was $22,000+ a year), which if you also also have to pay rent in downtown Toronto, would negate any tangible cost advantage offered by that scholarship.

[Taiko]

Re transfers: Currently, LASL does not accept upper year transfers. If you accept Ottawa and wish to transfer back to Toronto, LASL will not be an option.

Also, contrast the course offerings between the two schools. As I recally, LASL's program is fixed with few elective options. On the other hand, Ottawa has a huge selection of courses and experienitial opportunities to choose from.

 

 

[beyondsection17]

I would go to Ottawa in a heartbeat. But maybe I'm just a curmudgeon.

[lawess]

i would do ottawa, simply because having an alumni network does help, and ryerson lacks that.