American undergrad -> Canadian Law School Forum

[tdot_philly]

I am currently getting my bachelor's degree in the U.S., but am a Canadian Citizen. Could anyone tell me how eager Canadian Law Schools are to accept students who have earned their undergraduate degree in the United States. My university is ranked in the top 100 on the US World and news report website.

P.S. I know that it has a lot to do with my GPA and LSAT, but I'm just curious about how they view applicants from the U.S.

[CanadianWolf]

Since you are a Canadian citizen, you will most likely be viewed as a Canadian applying to Canadian law schools.

[Trequartista]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I have a similar question. I am an international applicant, and am wondering how Canadian law schools will look at my GPA? Will they, like American law schools, predominantly focus on my LSAT when making their decision, or accept my GPA at face value, and treat me pretty much as a local applicant?

[CanadianWolf]

Canadian law schools tend to view one's GPA as more important than one's LSAT score. Many, if not most, Canadian law schools discard applicant's lowest GPA years or terms.
For more information regarding Canadian law schools try lawstudents.ca

[tdot_philly]

Right, but would a Canadian law school view an applicant with a high GPA in an American University differently than they would an applicant with a similar GPA who studied in Canada?

[echo]

Right, but would a Canadian law school view an applicant with a high GPA in an American University differently than they would an applicant with a similar GPA who studied in Canada?

I think it depends on the Canadian school. There is a bigger variation in the criteria used in admissions in Canada than the US. Many of them convert GPAs in different ways (best 2 years, last 2 years, or drops) and different Canadian schools use different grade scales (percentages instead of GPA, or 4.5 scales instead of 4.0).

For the most part I would think a high American GPA would translate to a similar Canadian GPA. There are schools in Canada that pay a little more attention to perceived difficulty of undergraduate program and coursework (University of Toronto comes to mind), while others only look at the numbers.

[firemed]

For more information regarding Canadian law schools try lawstudents.ca

+1

Remember though that many look at last 2 year GPA, making someone with an upper trend looked upon more favorably.

[firemed]

Right, but would a Canadian law school view an applicant with a high GPA in an American University differently than they would an applicant with a similar GPA who studied in Canada?

they didn't seem to care... I got into about 40% of the ones I applied to.