UBC vs UOttawa

[indecisiveapplicant]

Hello everyone, 

I am extremely grateful for an A from both, however I am having some difficulty deciding and figured opinions from others with more experience and insights may help. First, a big factor, I am unsure of where I want to practice but I imagine it would be either BC or Ontario. For reference I am from a town roughly 45 min from Ottawa so there is a desire to leave but I did not do my undergrad at UOttawa so it would be slightly different from my undergrad regardless. I am particularly interested in human rights, Indigenous, environmental and international law. I hope to pursue these fields career wise, with minimal interest in corporate, IP, or contract law. Both schools offer similar L1 courses and both have social justice clinics later in the program, with UBC (and BC in general) having a more Indigenous law focus and UOttawa having a more international and public sector focus being in the capital. UOttawa offers a great program that is close to my family (big factor) and opportunities being so close to a lot of political action and NGOs and specializes quite a bit in social justice, environmental, and international law which I am very interested in, however borderline in my opinion unbearable, cold, slushy, winters. UBC also offers an amazing program (higher ranked than Ottawa but that's not too important to me, but the potential implication for career opportunities are important to me) and environment (lived in Van for 2 summers, but also that's just summer, I've heard of the rainy winters), however I understand it's more rounded in terms of specialization, definitely offering great opportunities in Indigenous, environmental, and human rights law but also corporate, criminal, and contract law aspects, being the only law school in Vancouver. I see benefit of being in Ottawa potentially around more students with similar interests (social justice) but also the benefit of diverse opinions being with a mix of people interested in other types of law like corporate and contract, however might not be as fun. Both offer small groups in L1 however as I understand UBC sets groups of 50 students you do all L1 courses with whereas Ottawa mixes you up among classmates with different groups for different classes but still in small groups, which seems fun. In terms of location, UBC and the mountains have me as I love hiking and camping, but Uottawa is close to family. Basically I'm wondering if either are stand out from each other (or how they differ) in terms of future opportunities in human rights law with focus of environmental and international law and would one be an obvious choice? Quality of life and enjoyment throughout my degree is pretty big so any opinions of overall program are very welcome as well. My heart is telling me to run to BC and live in the mountains but my head doesn't want to hinder any international / NGO opportunities UOttawa may bring. I've been warned to go where I want to practice however I am unsure. Would it be considerably more difficult to move back to ON after my degree in BC/ or after a few years working or is it simply less common because fewer people attempt to move after? Thank you so much for all responses and best of luck to all applicants during this and future cycles.

 

summary: A from UBC and UOttawa. Interested in social justice/ human rights law, mainly Indigenous, environmental, and international law. Quality of life, enjoyment, and location also matter to me, but don't know where I want to practice. I'm from near Ottawa (but undergrad not at Uottawa) with family close (benefit) but really love Vancouver. I don't want to hinder future opportunities and each school, although similar, present different opportunities regarding location/ connections, specializations, and courses/clinics. Which school is better regarding future employment in human rights law, Indigenous law, environmental law, and international law (a little less important but still up there). 

[Goldenbears19]

On 3/13/2023 at 11:32 AM, indecisiveapplicant said:

Hello everyone, 

I am extremely grateful for an A from both, however I am having some difficulty deciding and figured opinions from others with more experience and insights may help. First, a big factor, I am unsure of where I want to practice but I imagine it would be either BC or Ontario. For reference I am from a town roughly 45 min from Ottawa so there is a desire to leave but I did not do my undergrad at UOttawa so it would be slightly different from my undergrad regardless. I am particularly interested in human rights, Indigenous, environmental and international law. I hope to pursue these fields career wise, with minimal interest in corporate, IP, or contract law. Both schools offer similar L1 courses and both have social justice clinics later in the program, with UBC (and BC in general) having a more Indigenous law focus and UOttawa having a more international and public sector focus being in the capital. UOttawa offers a great program that is close to my family (big factor) and opportunities being so close to a lot of political action and NGOs and specializes quite a bit in social justice, environmental, and international law which I am very interested in, however borderline in my opinion unbearable, cold, slushy, winters. UBC also offers an amazing program (higher ranked than Ottawa but that's not too important to me, but the potential implication for career opportunities are important to me) and environment (lived in Van for 2 summers, but also that's just summer, I've heard of the rainy winters), however I understand it's more rounded in terms of specialization, definitely offering great opportunities in Indigenous, environmental, and human rights law but also corporate, criminal, and contract law aspects, being the only law school in Vancouver. I see benefit of being in Ottawa potentially around more students with similar interests (social justice) but also the benefit of diverse opinions being with a mix of people interested in other types of law like corporate and contract, however might not be as fun. Both offer small groups in L1 however as I understand UBC sets groups of 50 students you do all L1 courses with whereas Ottawa mixes you up among classmates with different groups for different classes but still in small groups, which seems fun. In terms of location, UBC and the mountains have me as I love hiking and camping, but Uottawa is close to family. Basically I'm wondering if either are stand out from each other (or how they differ) in terms of future opportunities in human rights law with focus of environmental and international law and would one be an obvious choice? Quality of life and enjoyment throughout my degree is pretty big so any opinions of overall program are very welcome as well. My heart is telling me to run to BC and live in the mountains but my head doesn't want to hinder any international / NGO opportunities UOttawa may bring. I've been warned to go where I want to practice however I am unsure. Would it be considerably more difficult to move back to ON after my degree in BC/ or after a few years working or is it simply less common because fewer people attempt to move after? Thank you so much for all responses and best of luck to all applicants during this and future cycles.

 

summary: A from UBC and UOttawa. Interested in social justice/ human rights law, mainly Indigenous, environmental, and international law. Quality of life, enjoyment, and location also matter to me, but don't know where I want to practice. I'm from near Ottawa (but undergrad not at Uottawa) with family close (benefit) but really love Vancouver. I don't want to hinder future opportunities and each school, although similar, present different opportunities regarding location/ connections, specializations, and courses/clinics. Which school is better regarding future employment in human rights law, Indigenous law, environmental law, and international law (a little less important but still up there). 

Something that was important to me when deciding between UBC and U of A was both family and financial stability. I wanted to have support close to me knowing how intense the next couple years were going to be. I couldn’t bring myself to go that far from my support system. Vancouver is also astronomically expensive, so much so that I was worried about quality of life even on a decent lawyer’s salary. It may not be the most desirable place to be if you can’t afford to do any of the fun things that Vancouver has to offer. I have friends that are starting to move out of Vancouver simply because they can’t afford to be there anymore. UBC is an excellent school, but it definitely comes with a lot more to consider around your personal life and enjoyment throughout your studies there. I also don’t know what your transportation would be like in Vancouver, but UBC is not connected to the rest of the city by Skytrain. You would have to take buses out there, which are usually unreliable and sometimes don’t show up, so it would be smart to have a vehicle there (which also means you’ll likely pay a pretty penny to park it as well). Good luck with your decision!

[FranksRedHot]

The specializations you're interested are hard fields to break into, so I don't think either school would give you a leg up, you'll have to work just as hard and network a ton no matter where you go. 

Transit it not nearly as bad as goldenbears is making it out to be, there are a handfull of times when it sucks, but overall I've been happy with it. 

UBC has decent financial supports, and there's free food in the building at least once a week of you look for it. 

UBC has tons of clinics you tan take part in, and they do cover what you're interested in. There are loads of clubs to join, and many outdoor focused ones. Ski trips are regularly organized, as are other activities. 

I can't speak to the abiliy to move back to ON after a few years, although I know people at UBC from ON who love it here so much that they will not be going back. 

I love it here, and I can't imagine being anywhere else. 

Good luck!