LSAT Requirement for Int'l Students in Canada?

[SYANG09]

I started this topic elsewhere but I'd like to recap here. So basically I'm applying next cycle to U.S. and Canadian law schools. I've completed my undergrad in a non-English speaking university with a decent cGPA and L2/B2 and graduated with honors. I wrote LSAT in June and scored 82 percentile. However, I heard from many sources regarding U.S. law school admission that a handful of top schools rarely look at gpa from foreign universities (with a few exceptions). Instead, they put much higher emphasis on LSAT since it's the most reliable indicator for academic performance provided that they know nothing about my home institution. Undergrad studies are so dissimilar around the world that foreign gpa may not be readily convertible to U.S./Canadian equivalent. Still such a  policy, true or not, has caused some concerns among int'l applicants that we need much higher LSAT scores and we're now killing for hi160s to 170s. According to the dp reported, even most the students admitted lower T14 from my country scored 170+ (all with strong softs and great gpa). While it's true that T14 are especially competitive from all aspects, it seems that int'l matriculants tend to score much higher than median (not talking about Yale or Stanford, here but T14 gatekeeper like UVa). Understandably, U.S. and Canadian law schools have different admission approach. Like the U.S. counterparts, none of the Canadian law schools has explicitly stated how int'l intake is processed (except for visa/language requirements), but I fear they might as well have a different standard for foreign applicants that cannot be revealed.

I will rewrite in October but I don't think I will score 170+. I also don't feel like targeting UoT since I've no interest in big laws. My goal is to get into a regionally reputable law school like Alberta or Ottawa. However, I'm still concerned that I need a much higher LSAT score than what I have and my high GPA will do less than I expected. I have no idea if in the past int'l admissions to Canadian law school were treated differently. You're free to follow this thread if you have similar experience or an insider perspective.

Edited July 9, 2021 by SYANG09