Chances for law school and needing to take a summer course immediately before starting law school

[SCL3456]

Hello friends, 

I am a McGill student entering my last (kinda) year of my undergrad, I just have two questions regarding the application process. 

Firstly, even though I am entering my last year, I still need 33 credits(11 courses) to graduate because I only took 4 courses in my first semester of undergrad. This means assuming I take full course load during my last year, I will need to take a summer course (likely just an easy elective) to graduate right before stating law school the same year. Is that a problem for Canadian law schools in general? Many law schools do not seem to say this is prohibited, but I was wondering if this will hurt my admission chances in any subtle way. 

Secondly, my have a CGPA of 3.75 (out of 4.0 without drop) and a 167 LSAT score. What are my chances of getting into UBC and UVIC? I heard the cycle has been extremely competitive the past few years and this might no longer be good enough for these schools. 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

[Thrive92]

I can't tell if you're a troll or not with those stats, but with a 3.75/4.00 before drops and 167, you will get into uvic and ubc without a problem.

uvic states that their median gpa is 3.81 and the media lsat is 89th percentile (165). ubc average stats are also very similar. With drops, your cgpa will increase to that median, but even if it doesn't you still have a great chance of getting in.

The most recent cycle is considered by some to be an anomaly, and should not be considered the norm for the upcoming cycles.

As for taking courses during the summer semester right before you start attending law school, I suggest you call each of these schools to make sure if it is prohibited or negative in any way.

The uvic admissions contact is: 250-721-8151/lclerk2@uvic.ca and UBC admissions is: 604 822 6303/admissions@allard.ubc.ca

Good luck.

[Avatar Aang]

This isn't med school admissions. No matter how competitive a cycle is, how many people do you really think have both an A- and above cumulative GPA AND LSAT score above the 90th percentile? If your stats aren't good enough for UVIc and UBC, then what do you need; stats to get into H/Y/S? Don't overthink this. Law school admissions is a numbers game and once you pass a certain threshold you are in auto-admit territory. You don't need perfect stats to go to law school in Canada, even at the top schools.

[CleanHands]

I don't know why the above posters are acting like the OP is an idiot or a troll. They have basically median stats for admittance to either of those schools. Meaning their odds are good but we can't really say more than that. It's not a ridiculous question though.

[SYANG09]

I don't think law schools would care if you take more courses toward the end of your UG or vice versa, as long as you complete your degree in time. That said, some schools would drop fewer credits if you're applying in your senior year since the transcripts they receive are incomplete, and that may be turned to your (dis)advantage depending on your existent academic records. Go consult the admissions for individual policies for sure. Hope this can help. 

Edited July 24, 2021 by SYANG09

[SCL3456]

Hi everyone!

I def have no intentionally of trolling. I know my grades are historically competitive for these schools, but I have also heard people with similar grades getting waited-listed this year. I guess I just wanted to know whether the chances are good enough that I don't need to worry about applying for other schools (which wont be ideal because I love living in BC) or the possibility of having to reapply next year. 

But I appreciate all the answers nonetheless and thanks!  

Edited July 24, 2021 by SCL3456

[Pendragon]

What is your GPA with drops for UBC?

[SCL3456]

1 hour ago, Pendragon said:

What is your GPA with drops for UBC?

McGill does not give out A+ so it is rather unclear. I have been assuming 3.81/4.00 (with UBC drops) convert to around 4.00/4.33, which could be further converted to 86% based on the UBC website. If this is the case, I think it will put me in a decent position (around the mean of past years?). But I have also heard that it does not work that way and my UBC GPA could be lower. 

I know that either way there is a possibility that I might get in. But I am just thinking if the odds are around, say, only 50 percent, I should maybe be preparing other plans in case I don't get in or even considering retaking the LSAT (which I obviously want to avoid because of the financial cost).

 

 

Edited July 24, 2021 by SCL3456

[law11111111111111111111111]

sorry to intrude on this conversation but I was wondering was there any reason you dont want to go to McGill for law? 

[SCL3456]

1 hour ago, Peshmerga said:

sorry to intrude on this conversation but I was wondering was there any reason you dont want to go to McGill for law? 

To be honest, I am just vert bad at French and I enjoy the West coast weather more. 

But if you are considering going to McGill for law school, I would certainly recommend it as long as you have some French fluency. I am having  a blast in my undergrad and the atmosphere of the school is great. I also have many friends in McGill law who told me great things about the profs and peers. 

 

Edited July 25, 2021 by SCL3456

[Electricity]

I was in a similar position the first time I applied to law school a few years ago. I didn't apply to UBC or UVic, but the schools I did apply to were fine with me completing my undergrad degree with a summer course immediately before starting law school. I didn't get in that cycle, but it was entirely because of my lacklustre stats and not the summer course thing. Definitely reach out to the admissions to confirm, but this shouldn't be an issue. 

Your stats give you an excellent chance at both schools. Good luck! 

[law11111111111111111111111]

On 7/24/2021 at 7:26 PM, SCL3456 said:

To be honest, I am just vert bad at French and I enjoy the West coast weather more. 

But if you are considering going to McGill for law school, I would certainly recommend it as long as you have some French fluency. I am having  a blast in my undergrad and the atmosphere of the school is great. I also have many friends in McGill law who told me great things about the profs and peers. 

 

Awesome I appreciate the response!