Need help with choosing a Law School in Canada Forum

[Maria Wells]

Hi everyone! I am in the High school right now, and im graduating next year. So i decided to pick a law school which i want to attend. I looked through different rangings of law schools in Canada, and thats what I concluded: Toronto, McGill, UBC,Alberta.
But I still cant decide which one I want to go to. I live in Lloydminster, Alberta right now, but my family is moving after this year, so i dont have to be close to this location, and I can pick any location of the university i want.
So I would love if somebody can help me with an advice. The most important for me in choosing the university are: it should be afordable, the variety of scholarships, also i want to be sure to be able to get a good job after finishing the school.
P.S. May be im not right about these schools, and someone has a better idea or suggestion, i will aprecciate any advice.
Thank u in advance

[ad1988]

Hi Maria,

Since you're only in high school, you need to complete an undergrad degree first before applying to law school.

Here is some information on Canadian schools:
http://www.lsac.org/canadiancfc/canadian_homepage.asp

It tells you what marks you need in undergrad/on the LSAT to get in, tuition, etc.

Hope this helps!

[apropos]

It's hard to say. Canadian laws schools will all give you good job prospects (not like the talk about the huge disparity between programs here about US schools). With that said, some obviously open doors more widely. Your list looks good. I would definitely add University of Victoria and Osgoode Hall to the list. Personally I'd rather go to Victoria over UBC and Osgoode over Toronto, but that's just personal preference. You should definitely look at those closely too.

But yeah, you need to get through undergrad first. Or, for Canada, three years of undergrad. So are you asking because you want to do your undergrad where youre going to hope to go to law school?

[Mal]

You are 4 years away from law school, and may never be able to. The vast majority of people in your position don't go.

Editted to add: I don't know a single person that doesn't have an undergraduate degree at my school. Not one.

[imbored25]

isn't law an undergrad degree in canada?

[CanadianWolf]

A law degree is regarded, to the best of my knowledge, as a professional degree in Canada that typically is viewed as a graduate degree. Some Canadian law schools award a JD (juris doctorate) degree while others award a LLB (bachelor of laws) degree. Most Canadian law schools require completion of three (3) years of undergraduate work prior to entry, although one or two only require two years. Many Canadian law schools offer joint graduate degree programs & several offer four year concurrent degree programs with US law schools.

[Maria Wells]

Thank u guys.
I know that i have to get undergraduate degree first, and that it will take a few years, but i wanted to do that at the same school where i will study Law, in order not to move from one place to another. Its not an easy decision, and by the way can anyone tell me how much u spend on average while studing at the university( including food,shopping sometimes and hanging out with people, and i m going to rent appartments)
My average is 95% right now and im going to apply early( in fall or in the beginning of winter), so i was thinking about scholarships.
Also i like big cities and social life, so which place is the best for these?

[apropos]

Well in terms of costs for university, it's hard or impossible to say. Depends on where you end up. Some places are a lot more expensive to live than other places, so it will vary. Universities will have information on estimated costs. Theyre usually not too far off. If you want to be specific, put together a budget in Excel and change the numbers that vary most significantly (rent) to see what different schools would cost.

If you like living in big cities, I guess Vancouver and Toronto are your best bets. And both have good law schools. Montreal too, if you like the french folks. And McGill is great also.

Edmonton isn't small, but I lived there for a little. It doesnt give you that big city feel. Calgary's also an okay size, but I can't say much about it, and it doesnt have any advantage over the other places. That's really it in terms of Big Cities. Kingston isn't terribly small, and Queen's is really nice. Victoria is not big in terms of population or geographic size, but it feels bigger than it is inside the place and is the best city in Canada as far as I can see.

So from everything you've said, I'd suggest going to UBC. Reasons: It really sounds like it's either UBC of UofT. Vancouver is way better. As a lawyer, the high prices won't be bad and will totally worth it. The law school is great. Even though UofT's is better, it's also very hard to get into, so if you don't want to move after UG, UBC is a safer bet without too much compromise. It's also a great UG school. If you end up having the grades and LSAT for UofT law, you could move, but you'd have the option.
But, of course, this decision is going to turn on other factors than the ones youve mentioned. I think the social life at UBC is better than UofT from what I have seen and heard.
The two schools have totally different feels. U of T is right in the middle of the city and is enormous. It doesn't really feel like a campus, and I think the feel of the place suffers for that as well as the social life in the university. UBC is gorgeous, feels like a campus with central areas and some open space. I like that better, but I'm not you.

That's it. Stuff to consider. I also think your underrating moving. Why are you opposed to taking the opportunity to live in different places?

[Maria Wells]

Thank u a lot, u cant even imagine how much u r helping me right now!
And u r right, leaving in different places is good, but still i have to decide where to get my undergrad degree, and from there it will depend on my marks which school to go to.
Just want to make a right decision and not to regret about it later. So right now im really thinking about going to UBC, i like it there (climate, places, people, and u say that school is good there as well).
I think thats right?

[Maria Wells]

Oh one more thing: I m thinking about Business International Law, and undergrad degree - comerce. So what do u think about that?

[justinmcl]

Sorry mods if this is wrong, but Maria check out lawstudents.ca, more indepth information for us Canadians in regards for particular schools to think about.

[lawls]

Well in terms of costs for university, it's hard or impossible to say. Depends on where you end up. Some places are a lot more expensive to live than other places, so it will vary. Universities will have information on estimated costs. Theyre usually not too far off. If you want to be specific, put together a budget in Excel and change the numbers that vary most significantly (rent) to see what different schools would cost.

If you like living in big cities, I guess Vancouver and Toronto are your best bets. And both have good law schools. Montreal too, if you like the french folks. And McGill is great also.

Edmonton isn't small, but I lived there for a little. It doesnt give you that big city feel. Calgary's also an okay size, but I can't say much about it, and it doesnt have any advantage over the other places. That's really it in terms of Big Cities. Kingston isn't terribly small, and Queen's is really nice. Victoria is not big in terms of population or geographic size, but it feels bigger than it is inside the place and is the best city in Canada as far as I can see.

So from everything you've said, I'd suggest going to UBC. Reasons: It really sounds like it's either UBC of UofT. Vancouver is way better. As a lawyer, the high prices won't be bad and will totally worth it. The law school is great. Even though UofT's is better, it's also very hard to get into, so if you don't want to move after UG, UBC is a safer bet without too much compromise. It's also a great UG school. If you end up having the grades and LSAT for UofT law, you could move, but you'd have the option.
But, of course, this decision is going to turn on other factors than the ones youve mentioned. I think the social life at UBC is better than UofT from what I have seen and heard.
The two schools have totally different feels. U of T is right in the middle of the city and is enormous. It doesn't really feel like a campus, and I think the feel of the place suffers for that as well as the social life in the university. UBC is gorgeous, feels like a campus with central areas and some open space. I like that better, but I'm not you.

That's it. Stuff to consider. I also think your underrating moving. Why are you opposed to taking the opportunity to live in different places?

I have friends that went to U of T and my sense was that U of T deflates grades much more than most schools on the NA continent. So going to UBC might also help your applications, since a high GPA is pretty important for Canadian applications. In other words, UBC is a very good suggestion, especially if you aren't bilingual (if you are Montreal is also a very good choice).

Another thing to keep in mind is that with the bigger cities you can go to undergrad at one local school and then law school at another; for instance, York/U of T in Toronto, Montreal/McGill in Montreal, or Simon Fraser/UBC in Vancouver.

[Maria Wells]

Thank u:)
And I know Russian, English, and Im learning French right now, so languages wont be a problem.
But ye guys u really helped me to make up my mind, I m pretty sure that for unedergrad degree i'll go to BC, and then we will see what my marks are, may be move to Toronto:)
P.S. Thank u once again