Just completed 1L, happy to answer any questions!

[BirdsArentReal]

Feel free to ask anything admission, school, recruit related or anything else 😁

[Legally_Chase]

Thank you for doing this! I have a few questions

1. How is the workload like? How many pages of readings do professors assign on a weekly basis? 

2. How did you find the IPC part of the curriculum?

3. How is the social culture at LASL since you were likely the first class to have a full 1L experience in person?

4. What was your best and worst part about 1L and who were your favorite professors?

 

Appreciate you taking the time to do this!

[Canlawforumuser123]

34 minutes ago, Legally_Chase said:

Thank you for doing this! I have a few questions

1. How is the workload like? How many pages of readings do professors assign on a weekly basis? 

2. How did you find the IPC part of the curriculum?

3. How is the social culture at LASL since you were likely the first class to have a full 1L experience in person?

4. What was your best and worst part about 1L and who were your favorite professors?

 

Appreciate you taking the time to do this!

Same would be interested in knowing. Thanks for the opportunity!

[NobleP]

Thank you for taking the time! I am interested in knowing how important is in-person attendance! Are any of lectures online or are there any recordings available for them?

[BirdsArentReal]

On 5/19/2023 at 8:09 PM, Legally_Chase said:

Thank you for doing this! I have a few questions

1. How is the workload like? How many pages of readings do professors assign on a weekly basis? 

2. How did you find the IPC part of the curriculum?

3. How is the social culture at LASL since you were likely the first class to have a full 1L experience in person?

4. What was your best and worst part about 1L and who were your favorite professors?

 

Appreciate you taking the time to do this!

Hello @Legally_Chase @Canlawforumuser123 @NobleP

1. Workload: The workload definitely depends on the individual. For most students, it is a stark shift from undergraduate for a few reasons. First, there is a heavy number of readings (probably around 100-300 pages a week). It will become clear very early on that while readings are "mandatory" your time is probably not best spent doing all of them and taking notes in great detail. It is very useful to understand which readings are important and should be done + noted, and which should only be skimmed. Second, if you are commuting, you will find it is tough to keep up with school while spending 1-2 hours a day commuting. You should plan your weeks so you can stay back and complete your work for the next day before going home or doing lighter work on the commute (i.e., readings, assignments, emails). Third, law school is application based, especially our school. Students who come from a memorization-heavy background often have a tough time adapting to the new environment. Exams are open-book, so the difficulty is not remembering certain facts, but rather using your time wisely to apply the facts from the course to the fact scenario provided. With regards to the workload, there are students who dedicate their entire life to 1L and still do average, and those who barely attend class and get all As. If you work hard, you can at the very least achieve average. If you work hard and smart, sky is the limit.

2. IPC Curriculum: The IPC program is pretty good, but still developing. Essentially, each course at the school will have 35-40% weight on assignments. These assignments will be focused on the practical side of law (ex. legal memos, writing/structuring factums, drafting wills, reviewing/drafting/negotiating contracts, drafting a statement of claim). During the school year, you will have one assignment every week. I was not a huge fan of these assignments for a few reasons: (1) they were graded by practitioners, so the grading system varied significantly (the assignment were structured differently across sections, some practitioners would give 80% of the class Bs while others would grade a much wider curve- essentially I believed there needs to be more uniformity), (2) they took about 80% of my time during the school year, so doing the readings or preparing for finals was always a lesser priority, (3) practitioners are not professors, it is very difficult to test practical skills while grading it through an academic, competitive context- so it is important to always seek clarification on assignments and review the grades. Finally, these IPC assignments are draining if you are trying to do above average. You might get a B after spending weeks refining an assignment, and an A on something you put together the night before. It all depends on the practitioner (some just want to give everyone Bs with no feedback), and also yes, the nature of the assignment (it may also be the case that you didn't understand the assignment). To succeed academically, you have to finesse it by thinking about what the practitioner is looking for, looking at precedent documents etc. You are often allowed to copy-paste clauses from past documents- but always verify this with the instructor.

Despite my criticism, I will say that I am using so many of these IPC skills in my 1L placement. I often find myself applying these skills at work and my employers are very impressed when compared to their students from other schools. In that sense, I will admit that while I did wish that I learned more theory (i.e. reading more cases and the theory/development of the law), the skills I got through the IPC program are very applicable in the practical context. Do not lose sight of this when chasing grades. 

3. Social Culture: Social life was phenomenal. I made some life-long friends who I can truly trust and rely upon in almost any way. You will be divided in sections of ~25 people, and you will always have 1L classes with this section. You may also have classes with your sister section (so a total of ~50 students). You will spend the bulk of your year with these people, and with exceptions, very little of your time with people outside of these two sections. I emphasize, please do not mess up your relationship with these people. It feels very much like a tight-knit community, so it is homey but word travels fast. It may feel like you are surrounded with just students but keep reminding yourself with every interaction that the legal industry is small and some of these individuals will be your professional connections when you enter the field, so tread lightly. Make great friends, have fun, enjoy yourself, but just be careful that you are not destroying your relationship with these people.

@NoblePClasses are in-person and mandatory generally. Some instructors may have 1-2 classes as zoom/async per semester. I always found it silly that they were recorded but only provided to students with accommodations. Many other schools have a dual option. We had Fridays off, this means the other four days were heavier.

4. 1L Experience: My favourite part of 1L was being surrounded by like-minded peers who share that passion for the law, but also are interested in so many unique things/crafts. Almost every individual you meet has been put in that class for a reason and it is super interesting to learn about their life. The worst part of law school was commuting. I spent about 2 hours/day commuting to school. For me, it was not that the work was hard, rather that I found myself too tired to do the things that really interested me. However, if I had to do it again, I would still commute because of family and that fact that I save 10-30k by doing so. I also made some amazing 1L friends who commute/carpool with me. 

You do not get to select your professors (your section is assigned a schedule), so I don't think it would be helpful for me to give you my review of them on this public forum. However, please reach out via private message if you have questions and want success under a certain professor and I can help you out 🙂 

Finally, 1L is probably the most important year when it comes to the 1L and 2L recruits (2L recruit apps are due in 1L summer, and interviews are early 2L year). However, please remember to have fun and spend some time building professional/meaning connections. Please make time to do the things you love, go to the gym, as these are longer term investments that play a big role in your success.

Hope this helps! Feel free to reach out in the future. Cheers.

Edited May 21, 2023 by BirdsArentReal

[Pizzaandpasta]

thank you so much for these insights! did you work a part time job while you were in school? do you think it’s feasible especially for someone who is looking to do really well so that they can have a chance during the OCI recruitment? is there enough time in the week to work max 5-10 hours? i have a remote WFH job but if it’s feasible to work during the school year i can probably ask them for an arrangement that prioritizes school over work (and they’re pretty flexible so i’m sure they wouldn’t mind).

i will also be commuting so that’ll take up like at least a couple of hours per day. 

[BirdsArentReal]

On 6/14/2023 at 3:53 PM, Pizzaandpasta said:

thank you so much for these insights! did you work a part time job while you were in school? do you think it’s feasible especially for someone who is looking to do really well so that they can have a chance during the OCI recruitment? is there enough time in the week to work max 5-10 hours? i have a remote WFH job but if it’s feasible to work during the school year i can probably ask them for an arrangement that prioritizes school over work (and they’re pretty flexible so i’m sure they wouldn’t mind).

i will also be commuting so that’ll take up like at least a couple of hours per day. 

Hello!

Apologies for the late response. I would say it's definitely feasible to work a part-time job in law school. If your work really is pretty flexible, I would highly recommend taking the first few weeks of school off work to get used to things and getting school in order before resuming. Working during the intensives (the week between orientation week and first week of classes) should not be a problem as they are super easy and pass/fail. 

At the end of the day, it comes down to what your work is like. If it is super flexible then it shouldn't be a problem, but you will be able to gauge this very quickly into your school year. 

I personally did not work during the school year, however, a lot of my friends did. We had Fridays off so if it stays that way, then you may be able to get your work done Fridays and/or on the commute. If you have a flexible job, then it's worth a shot to see how it fits into school. If it interferes then you can always quit after a few weeks of school.

Feel free to reach out if you have any additional questions, I'll try to be more active during the summer. Cheers.

[Pizzaandpasta]

Thank you for this! Looks like I might be able to work something out that will allow me to work once a week while remaining focused on schoolwork. 

Can you please also share some advice on scholarships/bursaries/grants? Did you apply for them through awardspring? How readily available are grants throughout the year? Did you automatically qualify for some of them based on your school involvement/grades? As someone desperately in need of financial assistance, I would like to exhaust all my options in addition to OSAP and a student line of credit. Any advice i’d appreciated! TIA

[TheWingerGuarantee]

Thank you so much for writing about your experience @BirdsArentReal! I know you spoke to the culture of the school, but I was wondering if you found this culture extended beyond the groups of 25 you are put into at the start of the year. I am coming from Queen's where I have realized how important a supportive culture is to me, and I was wondering if this is an attitude adopted by most students in their first year. While I know this is subjective, and not everyone will have the same attitude, I think a school's culture is self-perpetuating in a sense so I am curious about it. Thank you again for answering these questions!! 

[BirdsArentReal]

100% - I can't speak for the class of 2026/27 but for my year, the culture extended beyond the groups of 25. I believe most 1L students in any law school come in knowing they're going to have to make new friends- so there is usually a greater sense of collegiality in law school. No problem! Shoot me a DM if you want to connect further. 

[jazmin5644]

Thanks for the detailed answers so far! Did you receive lockers? 

[LOUISLITT123]

Hey Question, 

I was wondering if there is a set divide between final exam grade and assingment grade for all of the courses?

[DogLuVR]

On 5/19/2023 at 8:38 AM, BirdsArentReal said:

Feel free to ask anything admission, school, recruit related or anything else 😁

What were your stats like when you got accepted? AND do you know what potential job outcomes are like in Toronto?

[BirdsArentReal]

On 4/18/2024 at 2:39 AM, LOUISLITT123 said:

Hey Question, 

I was wondering if there is a set divide between final exam grade and assingment grade for all of the courses?

There is no set divide but it is TMU (the entire university) has a policy where exams cannot be weighted more than 65%. The law school follows this.
 

20 hours ago, DogLuVR said:

What were your stats like when you got accepted? AND do you know what potential job outcomes are like in Toronto?

You can see my stats from my previous posts! I cannot speak for job prospects as I no longer attend TMU - but they seem decent if you can stand out. 

[DogLuVR]

Why did you leave TMU??