Is it possible to transfer from American law school to Canadian law school?

[Esmeralda77]

I keep getting 150 for LSAT, and got rejected from Canadian law schools (Windsor, Ottawa). I am wondering if I start law school in USA for my first year - can I transfer to Canadian law school in my second year?

Thank you!

[cactusjack6]

The short answer is yes. However, if you are struggling to get above a 150 you will be limited to which American law schools you get in to. You have to keep in mind how much more expensive an American law degree is and you will be hit with a STEEP price tag just to try and transfer after year one. If things do not work out on the transfer route you are now likely stuck at that American law school with that price tag for another two years, while being limited to which law schools you can attend because of the LSAT. My advice would be to do whatever you can to try and bring your LSAT up and put all your time and energy into raising it. In the long-run waiting another year and putting everything into the LSAT will be worth it over going to an American law school that is not in the top 50. Best of luck to you and keep working hard.

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[omigone]

Transferring will be extremely rare if not impossible. You have a 99% chance of not being able to transfer.  If you go to a bottom tier American law school you'd need to be prepared to face $150,000+ costs and abysmal job placements. Coming back to Canada through the NCA process is very difficult and you'd face extreme competition from Canadian students for placements. 

Based on the costs and the ROI of the American degree, plus the extremely slim chance of transferring, I would not do it. 

I second what cactusjack says. It is 100% possible to score an extra 10 points on your LSAT to be competitive for Canadian law schools. Take this opportunity to see what worked well for you and what didn't on the test. Explore resources like Khan Academy's free LSAT course, 7Sage's moderately priced LSAT course, or private tutoring if it's in your budget range. 

Don't give up! Boosting your score is totally achievable and will come with time, practice and adjustments to your strategy.

[scooter]

Definitely do not do this. The US law schools that will accept you with a 3.2/150 are predatory. They will charge you insane tuition and provide you with a useless degree. Most of their students don't even pass the bar exam.

How many times have you written the LSAT/what have you tried to do in terms of improving your score?

[CleanHands]

There was an idiot on the old forums who asked about transferring from Cooley to an Ontario law school (I think he was even talking about UofT or Oz, if memory serves), he was indignant when people gave him pessimistic responses, then he later posted claiming to have successfully transferred.

Always hoped that was a troll but I don't have enough faith in law school admissions to be sure.

[Whist]

I will echo what other people are saying - do not do this. Many Canadian schools won't accept transfers from outside Canada. Even if they do, the types of American schools that'll accept you with your current stats are ones probably not worth attending, and transferring is already not an easily granted thing. I'm willing to bet the rare American transfers into Canada are from people who attended well-known US schools. You'll get a decent JD education at any Canadian law school, but in the US there are schools who teach poorly and purposefully set you up to give them the most money possible at the expense of your education. Their grads regularly fail the Bar exam. 

I don't know if you've already tried tutoring or a program like 7Sage, but if you haven't, please do. If you've already tried that, and your undergrad GPA wasn't the result of lack of accommodations for a disability/medical problems/etc, I'd honestly reconsider what other careers might be better for you. 

Edited April 23, 2023 by Whist