Been wait listed since April 27, what's next?

[takemebacktothe2000s]

As the title suggests, I have been put into the wait pool since April and it's now approaching July. Any particular reason Osgoode takes this long? Does COVID make them sanitise each application twice and force them into quarantine for 2 weeks before they read it or something?!

I've also read from other posts here that people are commenting they view the applications in alphabetical order or some bullshit order where they don't take a look at everyone before sending out acceptances? Is this true? I have zero idea how the Osgoode and Ontario-at-large application system works. Seeing the way I've been treated this entire admission cycle makes me very glad that I am not attending law school there. Can anyone provide any insight as to whether this is typical Ontario behaviour or just plain stupidity on the part of the admission department?

[PacificOcean]

2 hours ago, takemebacktothe2000s said:

Can anyone provide any insight as to whether this is typical Ontario behaviour or just plain stupidity on the part of the admission department?

Yes

[luckycharm]

7 hours ago, takemebacktothe2000s said:

As the title suggests, I have been put into the wait pool since April and it's now approaching July. Any particular reason Osgoode takes this long? Does COVID make them sanitise each application twice and force them into quarantine for 2 weeks before they read it or something?!

I've also read from other posts here that people are commenting they view the applications in alphabetical order or some bullshit order where they don't take a look at everyone before sending out acceptances? Is this true? I have zero idea how the Osgoode and Ontario-at-large application system works. Seeing the way I've been treated this entire admission cycle makes me very glad that I am not attending law school there. Can anyone provide any insight as to whether this is typical Ontario behaviour or just plain stupidity on the part of the admission department?

Osgoode takes that long because there are many applicants and all the spots are FILLED by now.

There won't be new offers unless someone CHANGED their mind.

Alphabetical order is bullshit.  

I think OLSAS sent the files to U sorted in certain order (GPA and LSAT ?). 

The admission department are a group of very hard working and dedicated person. They have to handle thousands of applications

within a limited time frame.  Often Professors/students will  assist in the selection process. 

The Admission department has been trying their best to fill the class with the best candidates ( merits/ holistic.)

I have met and dealt with some of the staff at OZ admission and I can tell you they are very friendly, helpful, competent , knowledgeable and professional.

But definitely not stupid.

There are basically two reasons why you are still waiting;

1. no new spots because no one has rescind their acceptance/offer yet (provisional or firm acceptance)

2. Your stats or EC etc are not as competitive as the last person who got an offer.

I have went through the same process twice and was rejected by OZ on the first time and waitlisted on the second time. The wait was

tough but I blamed myself for not scoring high enough on LSAT and a higher GPA but I didn't the Admissions.

Good luck and hope you can get in somewhere.

[Thelight]

12 hours ago, takemebacktothe2000s said:

As the title suggests, I have been put into the wait pool since April and it's now approaching July. Any particular reason Osgoode takes this long? Does COVID make them sanitise each application twice and force them into quarantine for 2 weeks before they read it or something?!

I've also read from other posts here that people are commenting they view the applications in alphabetical order or some bullshit order where they don't take a look at everyone before sending out acceptances? Is this true? I have zero idea how the Osgoode and Ontario-at-large application system works. Seeing the way I've been treated this entire admission cycle makes me very glad that I am not attending law school there. Can anyone provide any insight as to whether this is typical Ontario behaviour or just plain stupidity on the part of the admission department?

I am not suggesting that Osgoode is always like this but in this cycle, something seems really off with the way they handled applications. Based on their email responses to me, I have a strong hunch that they filled up the class without even reviewing the files of other candidates first. There are people with very competitive stats (3.7 GPA, 170 LSAT) who have yet to receive a formal decision. They can at least get waitlisted but the fact that candidates like that aren’t even getting waitlisted hints that they possibly didn’t even get to some people’s files before filling up the seats. And if that is true, then it’s completely bullshit. You are paying an app fee; you deserve to at least have your app seen. Unless you are well above the presumptive admit threshold, they should be reviewing everyone’s files simultaneously and making decisions about files that are comparative. Is that a hard task? Ofc, especially given the marked increase in apps this year. But that’s literally their job. Don’t do it if you can’t do it right. But ofc it seems like a pair of reviewers get a file in some random order and then they just admit without first reviewing other files in queue which may be more competitive. It’s not fair if your file gets reviewed later because if your file is finally getting reviewed in April when spots are a lot fewer than January, then now you are vying for a smaller number of seats through no fault of your own and directly because of them. Besides, how the hell are some folks getting accepted off the waitlist while others are still in queue? We are in June. That’s insane. And before others think I am just bitter—you are right I am. I have a 164 LSAT, 3.77 GPA, good ECs but I don’t feel too bad when I hear ppl with better stats than mine haven’t even heard a peep. If you are gonna fill up the class before even seeing other people’s files, don’t claim to be this mighty, fair institution that conducts their application review process in an objective, holistic manner and collect an app fee on top of that. At least be honest that you can’t keep it fair all the time. 

[takemebacktothe2000s]

10 hours ago, Thelight said:

If you are gonna fill up the class before even seeing other people’s files, don’t claim to be this mighty, fair institution that conducts their application review process in an objective, holistic manner and collect an app fee on top of that. At least be honest that you can’t keep it fair all the time. 

THANK YOU!!! 👏 I have been thinking of the same thing! I have zero idea how Osgoode does their application process, but I agree, it seems super suspicious that people with 170+ LSAT scores still have not heard back. Your scores/grades are quite competitive so it's shocking that you haven't heard either. 

I agree, something is super fishy with the way that Osgoode is conducting their admissions this year. So this sums up my impression of their admission department, which is that it is clearly incompetent and stupid. I get that Ontario thinks that they are god's gift to the earth, but this just seems comical at this point.  

[takemebacktothe2000s]

15 hours ago, luckycharm said:

Osgoode takes that long because there are many applicants and all the spots are FILLED by now.

How do you know all the spots are filled by now? And if they are, what guarantee do we have that they took a look at everyone's application? I paid over $300 like everyone else on here to have my application viewed by their department and the fact that people with 170+ scores haven't heard zip from Osgoode points to the fact that they are clearly incompetent morons. 

I don't doubt that they are friendly individuals, but that hardly justifies their lack of decision-making skills this late into June. This entire process seems like one big joke and scam to me. There's something super fishy about the way they have handled their admissions this year. 

[BlockedQuebecois]

The entitlement in this thread is palpable. 

They haven’t given you an admissions decision yet because you weren’t good enough to get in during the previous waves and you weren’t bad enough to get outright rejected. 

They likely have a higher yield rate than usual, so they’re waiting to see if things shift over the summer before rejecting you or adding you to the waitlist (which is, for all intents and purposes, a rejection).

If you wanted a faster admissions decision, you should’ve been a stronger applicant (or a worse one, if you wanted a fast rejection). 

[LMP]

2 hours ago, takemebacktothe2000s said:

THANK YOU!!! 👏 I have been thinking of the same thing! I have zero idea how Osgoode does their application process, but I agree, it seems super suspicious that people with 170+ LSAT scores still have not heard back. Your scores/grades are quite competitive so it's shocking that you haven't heard either. 

I agree, something is super fishy with the way that Osgoode is conducting their admissions this year. So this sums up my impression of their admission department, which is that it is clearly incompetent and stupid. I get that Ontario thinks that they are god's gift to the earth, but this just seems comical at this point.  

I doubt it's anything suspicious, it's likely just an abundance of caution. I fully believe that everyone who applied has had their file read. What I have noticed is that the number of rejections seems to be quite low, so if anything I'd assume that they are just holding off on sending out that wave until things firm up in early July. 

 

[Thelight]

7 hours ago, BlockedQuebecois said:

The entitlement in this thread is palpable. 

They haven’t given you an admissions decision yet because you weren’t good enough to get in during the previous waves and you weren’t bad enough to get outright rejected. 

They likely have a higher yield rate than usual, so they’re waiting to see if things shift over the summer before rejecting you or adding you to the waitlist (which is, for all intents and purposes, a rejection).

If you wanted a faster admissions decision, you should’ve been a stronger applicant (or a worse one, if you wanted a fast rejection). 

Actually, it seems if I wanted a faster positive decision, I should’ve also been a candidate with a sub 3.3 GPA and sub 160 LSAT. It seems like if you want to guarantee yourself a spot, you have to have crazy numbers (3.9+, 168+ LSAT—which I admit I couldn’t get) or you need to have really subpar numbers but be holistic in other aspects. And who knows what that means nowadays? If we are using the acceptance posts from the old forum as any sort of indication, it is quite shocking to see the high number of people with such poor stats relative to applicants in my range (the 3.7s and low to mid 160s—-which you expect a typical admitted student at Osgoode to have and I am sure many of your classmates also had around my stats but they just got lucky they didn’t apply in my cycle). It’s really disconcerting to see the low number of people with stats around mine. I know not everyone posts on the forum but still. And It’s funny because my stats are slightly above their historical median and so that means a lot of admitted students from previous years got in with my numbers. If anything, they should be showing sympathy and thanking the heavens they didn’t have to apply this cycle. We got unlucky, i understand. 

[Squirtle]

I think some folks are having trouble wrapping their heads around the fact that law school admissions have gotten much more competitive over years (especially this cycle) and continues to do so.

There are a bunch of applicants with high stats (3.7+, 160+) that have not received a decision yet. Perhaps, schools have become more holistic. Certainly higher stats gets you an earlier review but if you're not admitted yet it could point to a weakness in the rest of your application. I think there's a fair point to be made that yes, everyone should be patient but on the other hand, there are more applicants every cycle, the bar of competition has increased -- so law school admission offices need to adapt accordingly going forward. Expand their bandwidth, increase the efficiency of the process all while maintaining fairness. This can be done. 

Edited June 28, 2021 by Squirtle

[Disbarred]

On 6/27/2021 at 1:49 AM, takemebacktothe2000s said:

As the title suggests, I have been put into the wait pool since April and it's now approaching July. Any particular reason Osgoode takes this long? Does COVID make them sanitise each application twice and force them into quarantine for 2 weeks before they read it or something?!

I've also read from other posts here that people are commenting they view the applications in alphabetical order or some bullshit order where they don't take a look at everyone before sending out acceptances? Is this true? I have zero idea how the Osgoode and Ontario-at-large application system works. Seeing the way I've been treated this entire admission cycle makes me very glad that I am not attending law school there. Can anyone provide any insight as to whether this is typical Ontario behaviour or just plain stupidity on the part of the admission department?

You don’t necessarily get a response either way once you’re on the wait pool. You were waitlisted because you aren’t a competitive enough candidate. A wait list is essentially a rejection, no point holding out hope

[Apple]

Osgoode is one of the most competitive schools to get into and those who make it in are distinguishable in one way or another from the average applicant. For Osgoode specifically, your states (based on your posting) make you an average applicant if not a below average applicant in any cycle let alone this one. From my review of this cycle, people seem to be more competitive generally and there are more applicants. These two factors alone explain why some people with average GPAs and high LSATs (yes even those 170s) are not being accepted. 

To suggest that the admissions committee is stupid or that something fishy is going on because you, and others, have not been accepted or rejected is just you displaying your entitlement, ignorance and immaturity. You have absolutely no basis to support these childish claims. Every cycle for the last years has had students waiting past the point in time that you are. You're just whining because you haven't been accepted. And since Ontario schools have not given you what you wanted and expected you turn to childish antics of decrying that the whole province think they're the centre of the universe. If you truly think this why'd you apply here to begin with? I'll tell you why. You did because you thought you'd get in. Now that you've met reality, instead of humbly accepting the results and asking yourself "why is it that I, such a model student, has not been admitted to any Ontario school" you've doubled down on your attitude of entitlement and stupidity.  

You applied to Osgoode knowing your stats weren't the most competitive. If you didn't know this then you failed to do your homework and that's your fault. It is completely normal for someone such as yourself to not have heard back from Osgoode. I understand your frustration, but your insulting attitude towards the admissions committee is an embarrassing display of immaturity, ignorance and entitlement. Osgoode's admissions committee has clearly reviewed your application and has given you a response. They've told you you're not good enough to get in before others do. If you're not happy with this and want greater certainty then drop out of the application pool - that'll give you the certainty you feel entitled to. 

To adapt a quote from yourself that is quite fitting, "I get that [you think] that [you] are god's gift to the earth, but this just seems comical at this point". 

[Thelight]

1 hour ago, Apple said:

Osgoode is one of the most competitive schools to get into and those who make it in are distinguishable in one way or another from the average applicant. For Osgoode specifically, your states (based on your posting) make you an average applicant if not a below average applicant in any cycle let alone this one. From my review of this cycle, people seem to be more competitive generally and there are more applicants. These two factors alone explain why some people with average GPAs and high LSATs (yes even those 170s) are not being accepted. 

To suggest that the admissions committee is stupid or that something fishy is going on because you, and others, have not been accepted or rejected is just you displaying your entitlement, ignorance and immaturity. You have absolutely no basis to support these childish claims. Every cycle for the last years has had students waiting past the point in time that you are. You're just whining because you haven't been accepted. And since Ontario schools have not given you what you wanted and expected you turn to childish antics of decrying that the whole province think they're the centre of the universe. If you truly think this why'd you apply here to begin with? I'll tell you why. You did because you thought you'd get in. Now that you've met reality, instead of humbly accepting the results and asking yourself "why is it that I, such a model student, has not been admitted to any Ontario school" you've doubled down on your attitude of entitlement and stupidity.  

You applied to Osgoode knowing your stats weren't the most competitive. If you didn't know this then you failed to do your homework and that's your fault. It is completely normal for someone such as yourself to not have heard back from Osgoode. I understand your frustration, but your insulting attitude towards the admissions committee is an embarrassing display of immaturity, ignorance and entitlement. Osgoode's admissions committee has clearly reviewed your application and has given you a response. They've told you you're not good enough to get in before others do. If you're not happy with this and want greater certainty then drop out of the application pool - that'll give you the certainty you feel entitled to. 

To adapt a quote from yourself that is quite fitting, "I get that [you think] that [you] are god's gift to the earth, but this just seems comical at this point". 

I am assuming this response isn’t intended for me because clearly the following link shows my stats are clearly above their previous year’s median. I don’t know—you are just flat-out wrong buddyhttps://www.osgoode.yorku.ca/programs/juris-doctor/jd-admissions/first-year-applicants/eligibility-requirements/
 

obivously this is last year’s but I doubt that their medians skyrocketed this cycle so much so that i am now well below their median. At any rate, it was really rare for candidates with my stats (3.77, 164) to not hear anything or even get waitlisted in previous years. I am not saying it never happened, but it surely didn’t happen to the large extent that it has this year. I am just frustrated that I just happened to apply in such an odd cycle whereas I would have been pretty much an admit in any past cycle. Y’all act like Osgoode is uoft or UBC who very clearly have median requirements that are above my stats. Do you see me complaining for not getting into those schools? No. Because it makes sense to me. This doesn’t make sense, especially considering they seemingly continued to admit the same amount of “holistic” applicants in the most competitive year, probably to date but spat at the face of students who literally have better stats than half or most of their current student body. 

Edited June 28, 2021 by Thelight

[Apple]

1 hour ago, Thelight said:

I am assuming this response isn’t intended for me because clearly the following link shows my stats are clearly above their previous year’s median. I don’t know—you are just flat-out wrong buddyhttps://www.osgoode.yorku.ca/programs/juris-doctor/jd-admissions/first-year-applicants/eligibility-requirements/
 

obivously this is last year’s but I doubt that their medians skyrocketed this cycle so much so that i am now well below their median. At any rate, it was really rare for candidates with my stats (3.77, 164) to not hear anything or even get waitlisted in previous years. I am not saying it never happened, but it surely didn’t happen to the large extent that it has this year. I am just frustrated that I just happened to apply in such an odd cycle whereas I would have been pretty much an admit in any past cycle. Y’all act like Osgoode is uoft or UBC who very clearly have median requirements that are above my stats. Do you see me complaining for not getting into those schools? No. Because it makes sense to me. This doesn’t make sense, especially considering they seemingly continued to admit the same amount of “holistic” applicants in the most competitive year, probably to date but spat at the face of students who literally have better stats than half or most of their current student body. 

You’re right it wasn’t for you, it was for OP. This likely should have been clearly tipped off by the reference to OP’s own quote and their comments regarding the admission committee. OPs stats are average according to last year’s and given the competitiveness of this year’s cycle they are likely below average. So despite your assurance that I’m plainly wrong I stand by my position regarding OP, buddy. 
 

But for you, I’ll say it is surprising you have not been admitted, but even still that is the way things fall sometimes. Osgoode is a holistic school and therefore reliance on raw statistics isn’t a guaranteed way to be comfortable. From my experience with Osgoode many of the students that got admitted very early on were those who had statistics far above any median (I.e 3.9+ cGPAs combined with mid to high 160 LSATs). Those who were admitted later on in cycles often had average statistics with some sort of exemplary extra-statistical factor. 
 

[takemebacktothe2000s]

14 hours ago, BlockedQuebecois said:

The entitlement in this thread is palpable. 

They haven’t given you an admissions decision yet because you weren’t good enough to get in during the previous waves and you weren’t bad enough to get outright rejected. 

They likely have a higher yield rate than usual, so they’re waiting to see if things shift over the summer before rejecting you or adding you to the waitlist (which is, for all intents and purposes, a rejection).

If you wanted a faster admissions decision, you should’ve been a stronger applicant (or a worse one, if you wanted a fast rejection). 

I don't think that the point we're making is that we are somehow way above or below the average. We're 2 days away from July and I have yet to hear back. I'm not even asking to get in, I'm just asking for a decision. I think that it's easy to claim that we're being entitled - but the fact is that going to law school is more than just the school involved. It involves moving logistics, finding an apartment, moving your family (if you have a partner/kids), making plans for the fall. 

Again, I understand the notion that we're faulting Osgoode because it's somehow superior than other schools (it's not), all we're asking for is a decision. For us to move forward with our decisions on other schools. It's not a lot to ask that if you submit your application in November, to get an answer back by June at the latest. That's literally just asking the admissions department to do their only job that year. 

[takemebacktothe2000s]

6 hours ago, Squirtle said:

I think there's a fair point to be made that yes, everyone should be patient but on the other hand, there are more applicants every cycle, the bar of competition has increased -- so law school admission offices need to adapt accordingly going forward. Expand their bandwidth, increase the efficiency of the process all while maintaining fairness. This can be done. 

I agree with you 100%. That's the point I'm making, not that everyone needs/deserves/should get in, but that everyone needs/deserves/should get an ANSWER as to whether they are in or out. The waiting, the indecision, the unknown is what is driving everyone mad, not the decisions that the admission departments make on applicants.

I actually think it's unfair and borderline misleading practices to take students' money and demand their application by November, only to be sitting well into the summer without a decision from them. If I didn't fork over hundreds of dollars, I wouldn't care. But the fact of the matter is that I spent money to have "qualified professionals" look over my application and make a decision. It's June 28 - this is getting a bit ridiculous. 

The admission process can absolutely be sped up to the benefit of both students and the university alike, but for some reason they have decided to stick their head in the sands instead of adapting to changing application trends.

[takemebacktothe2000s]

13 hours ago, LMP said:

I doubt it's anything suspicious, it's likely just an abundance of caution. I fully believe that everyone who applied has had their file read. What I have noticed is that the number of rejections seems to be quite low, so if anything I'd assume that they are just holding off on sending out that wave until things firm up in early July. 

 

That's a fair point, I get that they might let applicants know after July 1. But clearly this July 1 arbitrary deadline needs to be moved up. I am not understanding how schools/students can justify getting an acceptance and deciding on the school well into the summer. Everyone on this forum seems to think we all live in Ontario or it's just easy to get up and move. It's not, and there's a lot of planning and logistics that goes into this. I don't imagine it's to anyone's benefit to wait this long.

[BlockedQuebecois]

12 minutes ago, takemebacktothe2000s said:

I don't think that the point we're making is that we are somehow way above or below the average. We're 2 days away from July and I have yet to hear back. I'm not even asking to get in, I'm just asking for a decision. I think that it's easy to claim that we're being entitled - but the fact is that going to law school is more than just the school involved. It involves moving logistics, finding an apartment, moving your family (if you have a partner/kids), making plans for the fall. 

Again, I understand the notion that we're faulting Osgoode because it's somehow superior than other schools (it's not), all we're asking for is a decision. For us to move forward with our decisions on other schools. It's not a lot to ask that if you submit your application in November, to get an answer back by June at the latest. That's literally just asking the admissions department to do their only job that year. 

You know, in all my years wasting time on forums like this, I don't think anyone's ever so thoroughly missed the plot as you have in your response to me. How someone can read me saying "be way better or way worse" and think I'm accusing you of being way better or way worse is beyond me. 

Regardless, I don't understand what you're whining about, in particular. The other user can at least say "hey, could you tell me a decision, be that an acceptance, rejection, or waitlist?"

But you got your answer. You asked Osgoode on a date. Osgoode said "thanks, but I'm not interested". But then Osgoode said "hey, I'll keep your number, and if all my other dates fall through, maybe I'll give you a call and you can take me for dinner if you're still interested". That's your answer. They don't owe you anything more than that, and the assertion that they do is just your own (unjustified) entitlement. 

Edited June 28, 2021 by BlockedQuebecois

[takemebacktothe2000s]

12 minutes ago, Apple said:

You’re right it wasn’t for you, it was for OP. This likely should have been clearly tipped off by the reference to OP’s own quote and their comments regarding the admission committee. OPs stats are average according to last year’s and given the competitiveness of this year’s cycle they are likely below average. So despite your assurance that I’m plainly wrong I stand by my position regarding OP, buddy. 

Not sure how many ways I have to say the same sentence: I'm not asking for admission, I'm asking for a DECISION. 

There is a difference here. I agree that my stats are average for their applicants. I never claimed I was entitled to get into the school. However after paying hundreds of dollars in application fees, I'm absolutely entitled to a decision. It's weird that you think I'm not even entitled to a response from the school. And again, my qualms are not with who they admit or don't admit, it's the fact that we are 2 days away from July and I along with many others have heard zip from the school. I don't think anyone on here is demanding to storm the halls of Osgoode and be admitted as students, we're asking for an answer. And I agree, the school may be competitive and they may have lots of applicants, but they need to offset the large number of applications with an equally robust process to give students an answer in a reasonable amount of time.

[takemebacktothe2000s]

8 minutes ago, BlockedQuebecois said:

You know, in all my years wasting time on forums like this, I don't think anyone's ever so thoroughly missed the plot as you have in your response to me. How someone can read me saying "be way better or way worse" and think I'm accusing you of being way better or way worse is beyond me. 

Regardless, I don't understand what you're whining about, in particular. The other user can at least say "hey, could you tell me a decision, be that an acceptance, rejection, or waitlist?"

I didn't think you were accusing me of being way better/worse. Must just be miscommunication there.

I also don't understand how you're accusing me of "whining". I think paying hundreds of dollars and applying for law school is a serious endeavour. Whining is reserved for complaining how your Amazon package has yet to arrive. Genuinely inquiring about the status of my law school application and why Osgoode takes so long to make a decision is something I am absolutely entitled to question - since, again, I submitted an application. I paid for a service and I am entitled to getting a decision. Again - NOT admission, but a decision.

[BlockedQuebecois]

You got your decision. You’re waitlisted. You just don’t like it. 

[Sacamano]

The logic utilized here is indicative of why Osgoode hasn't admitted you.

Additionally, if you had done any kind of research on the application process, you'd see students not hearing back until the last week of August. In rare cases, even the first week of September. Welcome to the world where no one cares about your conception of a reasonable amount of time.

[OzLaw16]

A useful lesson that's relevant for law school if you end up attending one this cycle: specific wording choices matter. If you're going to refer to a process as "plain stupidity", "one big joke and scam" and accuse a group of hardworking admissions people as being "clearly incompetent and stupid", then you can't feign surprise at why people think you're whining.

Frankly, BQ using the word whining is far kinder than I would have put it after reading all of this. The rhetoric in here reminds me of a young kid who doesn't get invited to a big birthday party they wanted to go to, and then immediately turns around and tells everyone they know that they think the party is stupid anyways and they wouldn't have wanted to go even if they had been invited.

I understand the frustration on your end and I don't mean to invalidate your disappointment in having to wait, but blaming any disappointment you face solely on the failures of others and assuming that you're not getting what you want purely because people around you are dumb and incompetent isn't the way to go. If you get into law school, you'll likely face more rejection at various points (when applying for competitive extracurriculars, when doing OCIs, etc.) and so this isn't a good habit to be developing.  

[Disbarred]

If all your takeaway is that you got screwed by this “special year” you have a lot of waking up to do. You probably wouldn’t have gotten in last year either. And your responses in this thread indicate why.

[halamadrid]