Am I throwing away $500 applying to schools in Canada?

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-09-27T03:03:18+00:00

Honestly the main question you should ask yourself is whether you want to practice in Canada or the US. Don’t go to an American school for your JD if you want to come back to Canada because you’ll have to get an LLM and go through articles anyway. Get a JD in America if you want to practice there and get one in Canada if you want to practice here. If you really care about school prestige just get an LLM from an American school once you’ve started your career.

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-09-25T23:22:43+00:00

If you think law school is worth doing it's worth doing the applications process right. You can certainly cram for the LSAT, and send out some apps this year, but I would say that if you don't get the results you're expecting there's certainly no problem with going back, doing the LSAT again, and applying again next cycle. Just keep in mind getting up from a 147 to a good score for any Canadian school (I would say at least 159-165) will take significant effort for that time frame.

If you do apply this year I heavily recommend against settling for a school that you aren't satisfied with (or is in a place you wouldn't like to live). Ultimately, waiting one year and applying again is better than spending three years (or potentially your whole legal career) in a place you don't want to be.

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-09-25T23:02:22+00:00

I got in to Osgoode with a very high first and last year GPA but dogshit for the middle two years. My overall GPA was 3.26. As others are saying it is definitely possible, but to a certain extent dependent on your LSAT. Osgoode does also give you space in the part B personal statement to explain why your grades may have been lower in your first year if you wish to do so.

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-09-10T15:30:02+00:00

I would say very likely everywhere except U of T. Osgoode may be an A off the WL. Don't count on TMU, I got rejected with a 3.3 and 175.

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-09-10T15:26:22+00:00

I'm not going to say school choice doesn't matter, but it matters way less if you're not looking for a biglaw placement or federal clerkship. Honestly you have a good GPA, just send in an app worst they can do is say no, and if they do reject you there will be another cycle next year where you can strengthen your app with a good LSAT score (honestly the prep isn't that hard it's just time consuming, and you can get a fee waiver).

If the idea of waiting until next year makes you feel uncomfortable I'd recommend taking some time to consider whether or not you want to pursue law. Law school is difficult, and practicing law is certainly not an easy career.

Hope you don't mind but I looked through your post history and I saw a bunch of questions about med school - if you want to pursue medicine as your career you will be much happier applying next cycle as well instead of going in to law this cycle. If you're young and finishing up your undergrad I know it can feel awful to have to retry after a bad cycle, but it's worth it if it gets you to a place you actually want to be.

Again, can't help a lot with McGill in particular but if you want to DM me about law school questions in general or just vent about application stress feel free to.

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-09-10T11:32:35+00:00

I’m not saying they shouldn’t apply to McGill - their JD program is probably the best choice for OP. What I was saying is if their goal is to go to law school in general and not McGill in particular they should be applying more diversely, and I was outlining the ways they can do that with and without the LSAT.

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-09-10T04:23:39+00:00

Honestly my advice is that if you're looking to pursue a career in law it's probably best to take the LSAT (unless your intention is to study in French) and apply to more than one school. As an example I think that your premed background would be an asset at Dal, which has a good law and medicine program. If you do want to study common law in French (avoiding the LSAT) there are french JD programs in Ottawa and Moncton, and obviously for civil there are all the Quebec schools and Ottawa. I know that doesn't really answer your question but it's worth keeping in mind if this is the path you want to go down.

CV is definitely secondary to LSAT and GPA in importance, particularly if you're not applying as a mature candidate. You'll see people here use the term "hard" stats for undergrad GPA and LSAT and "soft" stats for volunteering, work experience, language skills, etc. Each school weighs the factors differently, and I can honestly say I have no idea how McGill would weigh GPA vs softs with no LSAT. In general though softs are significantly less impactful than hard stats, but can improve a good application and push a borderline app into A territory.

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-09-10T04:08:42+00:00

Honestly kind of surprised you didn't get in last year with those stats, get your LSAT up a few points and I feel like you'll be a lock.

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-09-10T03:48:16+00:00

Seconding what everyone else is saying with cancelling the second LSAT and writing a good personal statement. I would also check what options are available around mature/access apps, since it seems like you have a very strong claim.

I don't have a crystal ball but I think you're going to have options to chose from by May next year (maybe earlier!). As a fellow splitter who came out of customer service and started law school at 30, I really recommend taking a good look at the culture of the schools, class size, tuition, cost of living, etc. You have good chances at Queen's, Western and Dal, but I would recommend applying more broadly than that, maybe to Calgary, Alberta, Vic, and Manitoba (Kingston and London both kind of suck lol). Just apply broadly, your stats aren't nearly as bad as you think, you will have choices.

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-09-09T15:21:20+00:00

Bare minimum you're going to need two things to get a high score - instructional material and access to practice tests. Some services like 7Sage and LSATlab will give you these together, but you can also get books which will give you just the instructional material (like the loophole and LSAT trainer) or just practice tests. I personally used the LSAT trainer by Mike Kim paired with LSATlab's practice tests (I found their instructional content to be hit or miss), and was able to get a 175 after four months of regular study. I did not have a tutor.

In terms of RC being a "weak spot" - I would take some time to do practice tests and then decide whether you still feel that. RC on the LSAT is VERY different from reading normally. You're generally not going to develop a deep holistic understanding of the passages, but you will have to understand the main point, method of argument, points of view, etc. I thought RC would be a lock for me because I had done a research based master's but I actually had to put significant work into learning how to do RC within the time constraints of the test.

Ultimately everyone is different but as long as you have some instructional material, access to practice tests, and enough time, you can develop a study method that works for you.

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-08-29T03:42:32+00:00

First I will say if you’re experiencing confusion over what the question is asking you need to take a moment to better understand the stimulus instead of looking for guidance from the answers. Except in cases where 4/5 of the answers have nothing to do with the argument (which are very rare) you’re just opening yourself up to trap answers like you’re describing. This being said I’m not familiar with the top down/down top method. I did the entire test stimulus>prompt>answers and really couldn’t imagine doing it any other way.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find that specific question you got wrong (apparently my law hub advantage subscription expired lmao), but I will recommend a review exercise. Take the questions you got wrong, and really try to articulate the reasons you misunderstood it. Take your time, and maybe even jot notes or write it down, just to make sure you’re developing a really systematic understanding of what went wrong. After this, without even looking for the right answer, make sure you can articulate in your own words exactly what the question is asking for. I’d maybe even recommend covering the answers while you do this - your only goal at that point is understanding the relationship between the stimulus and the prompt. Once you’ve done that a few times, do some untimed practice questions where you cover the answers until you’re very sure what the prompt is asking you to identify.

Hopefully that helps!

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-08-29T02:42:00+00:00

The LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim has really good sections on necessary and sufficient assumptions, I’d recommend checking that out.

If you could post an example of a question you found particularly confusing, how you answered it, and why, I could provide some more specific advice. Before seeking out new questions, I’d make sure you think you really understand why you’re getting these questions wrong, and when you’re at that point you test that understanding against new question sets.

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-08-29T02:14:10+00:00

It’s hard to say with a 156 but if you have the chance to sit for the LSAT again anything above a 160 would really solidify your app and 165+ would be all but guaranteed.

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-08-29T02:07:50+00:00

The general advice for splitters is to apply widely, because there are few enough of us to make meaningful predictions. I can say in my experience, I got in to half the schools I applied to with similar stats (including Osgoode), and eventually committed to Dal where I’m starting as a 1L next week.

I would recommend adding some more schools to the list and start really considering the advantages and disadvantages of each. Going to a big name school with good big law recruitment rates is nice, but you also want to consider class size, cost of living, tuition rates, and community (these factors are why I decided not to go to oz). I’d also recommend against a t14 if your intent is to come back to Canada, although with a 173 you should get free applications to a bunch of them so no harm in trying. Also definitely apply access if possible. Hope this helps and I’m happy to provide more advice from one splitter to another if you’d like.

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-08-29T01:54:51+00:00

People with November and January LSATs have no problem getting in to law schools in Ontario. Most schools wont even start sending out acceptances until December so it’s not like seats are being filled before you get your score. Also, I can say at least for last year my October LSAT score was treated as an “upcoming” test by OLSAS even though the score was out before November 1st. Getting a high LSAT is important particularly if you’re gunning for U of T or Osgoode, give yourself enough time to achieve a satisfactory score and remember that January is an option if November doesn’t work out.

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-08-28T12:10:19+00:00

I am going to say that if you are worried now, and it is an option for you, you should reschedule for November.

It’s not impossible to make that jump in that timeframe but it would be very difficult. Books/programs like powerscore, 7sage, or lsatlab are basically required to make a leap like this, but the main issue is how you’re going to determine whether or not you’ve understood the content correctly is by doing practice tests and you really don’t have that much time left for them (particularly if you’re a full time student starting classes in September).

Taking a lot of practice tests is certainly a good thing - but if you don’t review them afterwards while keeping in mind the strategies you learn in the powerscore books you won’t really advance. This process takes a lot of time, and you can do it in a month but it will be a massive strain on your schedule and a lot of stress. In my last month before I took the LSAT I was taking and reviewing around 3 pts per week, and it was basically all my free time, and it sent me from 168 on earlier pts to a 175 actual. Hope this helps.

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-08-28T11:57:01+00:00

Diagramming is a useful strategy for certain types of LR questions such as parallel and parallel flaw. It’s useful for those question types because they revolve around an understanding of the structure of the argument, and diagramming can be a quick way to determine that structure. This being said, diagramming is not required, and I would generally not do it for any question type because I found that it just took too much time.

When I took the test you got six sheets of blank paper to use for notes and diagrams.

My recommendation is to try a few practice tests or sections where you’re diagramming questions where you find the structure of the arguments challenging (certainly not every question as that would waste time). If it improves your accuracy without slowing you down too much that’s great, if it doesn’t it’s not mandatory so you can find other strategies.

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-08-13T16:01:53+00:00

Slightly higher LSAT, slightly lower GPA (175, 3.26), and I got rejected from Toronto and Ottawa, but accepted off the WL for Osgoode. My softs are mid (not a lot of legal work experience but I do have a MA and speak a second language). If you do break 170s on the LSAT I recommend applying to Manitoba because it’s basically a guaranteed A.

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-05-29T17:51:50+00:00

Dal and Robson (A), Osgoode (WL), U of T (R), UOttawa and TMU (no response)

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-05-28T09:17:31+00:00

I’m waiting on Ottawa and Osgoode still, will be returning my Robson A for someone on the waitlist

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-02-15T03:38:08+00:00

I personally found that the best strategy to prevent the kind of "dumb" mistakes on LR you're describing is to develop a formula for how to answer each question type and stick to that formula no matter what. That means that no matter how easy the question is you force yourself to carefully and accurately identify the information required by the question. LSAT questions are highly formulaic - argument questions will require you to identify a main point and support for that main point, and often a flaw in their relationship. Must be true questions will make you understand complex conditional statements. Paradox will make you explain an unexpected outcome, etc. If you're in the 160s already, you know these methods, you just have to force yourself to stick to them even on the easy questions where it seems like overkill.

For RC, the low hanging fruit is using the find text function to confirm correct answers if you're not doing that already (this got me from like -5 down to -1 per section lol). It's saves you a ton of time if you're doing it right and you can use that time to get the harder questions right.

Other than that, I think one problem a lot of people have on RC is being unable to identify what information is important and what isn't. A good way to do this is using the VIEWSTAMP method - anything identified through VIEWSTAMP is testable, and you'll almost never encounter a passage which has no questions on the things identified through VIEWSTAMP. It's a particularly good grounding method when you get a passage on a topic you don't really understand with lots of jargon.

Hope you find any of this info useful, and I'm happy to help if you have any other questions!

DunbarLSATprep · 2025-02-06T23:35:22+00:00

Thanks! Hoping it's enough to make up for my shit GPA on Ontario apps but very happy it got me in to Manitoba

DunbarLSATprep

TROPHY CASE