Osgoode vs Ottawa vs Queen's (vs Western)

[bagelglitter]

Hi all! I've only received offers from some of these schools but I'm expecting to get into almost all. While I'm not actively disinterested in big law, I find the idea of legal academia/constitutional law interesting and I have almost no interest in corporate law. I'm definitely not going to be top of the class at Osgoode but since I might want to clerk somewhere I'm wondering if it's worthwhile to go there, especially given I haven't ruled out big law completely. I also applied to UBC and McGill but I don't expect to get into either of those since my GPA is below 3.8. I'm wondering if anyone who has similar interests to me could explain how they chose/plan to choose? Any other input is also welcome. Thanks!

[cptn_Canuck]

Hi!

I faced a similar dilemma last year when choosing between Ottawa and Western. I ended up choosing Ottawa since that's my hometown, and I have family and friends there. Part of the decision that swayed me was thinking about where I would be living for the next three years (as many others have also said on the forum). 

I visited the Western campus and loved it, but the rest of London did not appeal to me. 

I can't weigh in on Osgoode or Queen's as I didn't have any serious interest in going to those schools.

As for Ottawa, I just finished my first semester and have no complaints. If you are interested in constitutional law, Ottawa is a great school, especially Professor Dodek who has years of experience in that field (although no guarantees he will be teaching PubCon next year). 

At the end of the day, if you are torn between these schools I would suggest visiting them and the cities and determining where you want to live for the next 3 years. 

Best of luck!  

 

[LMP]

I think, given how nebulous your career goals are (not a bad thing at this point), you'd be well served just talking to people who went to each school. 

But also, taking some time to reflect on what you want, not only in your career, but out of your law school school experience can help you solicit the right kind of advice from people. 

[SNAILS]

The age old advice on these forums (which I agree with) is to think about the city you want to end up working in, and the city/area you'd like to be in for three years of your life.

Osgoode Hall is a perfectly fine campus. Not too urban, but close enough to downtown GTA. Great prospects for Bay Street, if that's your thing.

If you have friends/family near Ottawa or Kingston, or you have some other quality of life reason to go there, then do it. The impact on your future career will be negligible.

One more thing - "academia" is mostly for people at the top of the law school class, which is easier said than done. Straight A students in undergrad become B students in law school just because of the density of high achievers. "Constitutional law" in it's pure form (federal/provincial jurisdictional issues, perhaps land claims stuff) is a specialized area of law that might be practiced by >1% of lawyers (and hence few jobs). If you mean that you have a passion for protecting people's Charter rights, then criminal law might be your thing (practiced by a much larger percentage of lawyers).

Edited December 21, 2024 by SNAILS