Chance me - brutally honest!

[lawyerlatina]

Hi! 

So I have a long story but here goes - 

I come from a low income family so Ive had to work 2 jobs throughout all of my undergrad. A close friend of mine also passed away abruptly during my second year of undergrad - this took a significant toll on my mental health that is reflective on my CGPA (3.4) but I got help and significantly improved my marks (3.8-9) b2/l2) (I cant see my OLSAS GPA because applications aren't open yet). I have good EC (volunteer, multiple jobs throughout my undergraduate and EDI case competitions). My letter of REC are pretty good I think (good relationship with my professor and the other one would be from my volunteer place). I am also an immigrant and I would be the first one in my family to get a JD. 

I also may apply access, but I don't feel comfortable asking for a death certificate, so im not sure if I am able to do this. 

I am planning on writing my LSAT in August and hoping to get a 160 (I have been scoring around this score). 

What do you guys think my chances are of getting into an Ontario school are (I know UofT is totally out of my reach). 

Thank you! 

[NowOrNever]

You are good for Western and Queen's with 160+ LSAT.

[lawyerlatina]

30 minutes ago, NowOrNever said:

You are good for Western and Queen's with 160+ LSAT.

Through access or general? Good as in like more than 50% getting in or just a maybe? 

[Pecan Boy]

Pretty difficult without an official LSAT. But it goes without saying that you should target B2/L2 schools, where I think you'd have a very good shot *if* you get 160+. cGPA schools will obviously be much more difficult, but maybe not unattainable. 

By the way, you can calculate your OLSAS GPA yourself by going through your transcript, converting each individual class mark to the 4.0 GPA scale (using this: https://www.ouac.on.ca/guide/olsas-conversion-table/), and then averaging out all of those converted individual grades. 

[goosie]

You should be able to convert your GPA to the OLSAS scale here, which should give you an idea of where you stand.

[NowOrNever]

1 hour ago, lawyerlatina said:

Through access or general? Good as in like more than 50% getting in or just a maybe? 

If you qualify for Access then go for it.

Generally law school will "promote" you to General if your numbers are strong even you apply under Access.

Western:

Mean cumulative average:   3.5

Mean "Last 2" average:   3.7

Mean Highest LSAT Score:   161

https://law.uwo.ca/future_students/jd_admissions/class_profiles.html

Queen's:

Statistic                                                         General Category              Access Category

Average LSAT Highest Score                        160                                    159

Average Best 2 Years' Average                     3.73                                   3.63

% of class admitted in this category            87%                                    13%

https://law.queensu.ca/programs/jd/class-stats

[Sleepy Bird]

As others have said, you have a good chance of getting into L2/B2 schools with a solid LSAT. For reference, I was in at L2/B2 schools very early on with a worse cGPA, worse L2/B2, and a 164 LSAT (I applied general). Study hard - you've already demonstrated you're resilient and driven, and that's a large part of doing well on the LSAT and in law school imo.

I would also say don't be afraid to tell your story in your personal statement. Like you, I had a very heavy/ life altering event in my second year that really undermined my ability to perform in school. I highlighted that in my personal statements and I believe telling my story played an important role in my acceptances. The fact that you were working two jobs at the same time you were dealing with the passing of a close friend and still had a 3.8-3.9 GPA in your L2 is incredible to me, as I am sure it would be to any admissions committee. You should be proud about what you've accomplished and feel confident in telling your story.

Be sure to take care of yourself, and best of luck with your applications.

[ZukoJD]

No need to be brutal really. Those stats likely won’t stop you with a solid LSAT score (160+).

Just focus on doing the best you can on the LSAT and try not to speculate too much until you have an official score that reflects your potential. 
 

Based on what you’ve written here, it also sounds like you could write a compelling personal statement. 
 

Good luck to you 🙂 

[ZineZ]

Echoing what has been said above. OP - try to mention these circumstances in your personal statements to schools. During my time on AdComm for Osgoode, we would essentially discount years that were impacted by such hardships amongst students. While we considered overall grades, one central question for my team was has the person shown the aptitude needed for the rigors of law school? Your B2/L2 does meet that mark. Contact the schools themselves re: the death certificate issue. I'd be very, very surprised if that was an issue. 

You certainly can have a decent shot - contingent on the quality of your LSAT/PS. 

[NowOrNever]

Is this the same one?

https://canlawforum.com/topic/599-chance-me-brutally-honest/?tab=comments#comment-6543

[ZineZ]

13 hours ago, NowOrNever said:

Is this the same one?

https://canlawforum.com/topic/599-chance-me-brutally-honest/?tab=comments#comment-6543

Thanks for flagging this. Merged.

OP - only one post on a topic, please.