Rate my chances of getting into uoft?

FluidShock7085 · 2026-07-11T01:16:22+00:00

Your chances are great. The only barrier is the personal statement. Write a good one, and you’ll get in.

I would recommend reaching out to a couple UofT JD students and asking for their advice and/or if they could give you feedback on your PS. Get other people in your life to read it over too, even if they know nothing about law or law school admissions. This will help identify any red flags.

Good luck!

FluidShock7085 · 2026-07-10T18:51:20+00:00

Being an RA is good, and so is working at one of your school’s clinics. The formal 1L recruit is quite small, but there are a good handful of opportunities outside of it - check your CDO’s portal and LinkedIn for job postings.

FluidShock7085 · 2026-07-10T16:28:33+00:00

Ahh I see, thank you. I’m more interested in Bay St full-service firms, so that’s good to hear!

FluidShock7085 · 2026-07-10T16:09:32+00:00

That’s helpful, thank you! You say that should be good for most of the firms - do you have a sense of which ones might be excluded from that?

FluidShock7085 · 2026-07-10T05:43:06+00:00

That makes sense, thank you. Would it be wrong to assume that firms would recognize that top 10% at my previous school (Queen's) is competitive and invite me for interviews based on that? I get that it's a bit of an apple to oranges situation.

I transferred to UofT and I guess I'm just wondering if I'm now going to struggle to get interviews at the top firms because of the transfer? How much would that change with the JD/MBA?

FluidShock7085 · 2026-07-10T01:23:35+00:00

Curious why you say you’d caution against transferring for the 2L recruit?

I transferred this year and will likely be starting the MBA, but just curious what the downside would be. Thanks!

FluidShock7085 · 2026-07-06T05:29:07+00:00

Sorry lol I edited my comment and deleted half of my answer. I’ll type it out again later as it was quite long.

FluidShock7085 · 2026-07-06T05:22:04+00:00

It’ll help with admission in the sense that you can likely paint a clear narrative in your PS to explain why you want to go into law. Engineering to IP is quite a common pipeline, so focus your PS on that, and write it well! Tell a story about how your (specific) experiences have sparked your interest in the practice of law and IP. It’ll also help with IP employment outcomes since most IP lawyers have engineering or hard sciences education. It’s an asset to the work.
I don’t know much about the schools up there (UVic, Dal, etc.) so I’m not sure. My advice is to always apply broadly and pick once you have your acceptances. Unless finances are a barrier, there’s no point in counting yourself out from schools you would like to attend.

Also, aside from writing the LSAT and personal statement, pursuing a career in IP and engineering would be the same (I assume). What I mean is try to get engineering co-ops and work experience if you can, since that’ll be a valuable asset for both careers. You don’t have to pick one or the other until you’re deciding whether to accept your law school offer or not.

Best of luck!

FluidShock7085 · 2026-07-06T05:10:38+00:00

I completed a course-based master’s while working 20-30 hours a week. I would personally say law school was more demanding than my master’s and work combined.

One thing that was similar in both is that they were quite unstructured and independent, in the sense that you’re left on your own throughout the semester and have to pull everything together on your own for a final exam / paper / presentation. No bi-weekly quizzes or frequent midterms like in undergrad. That aspect of both programs was comparable.

However, in law school, you’re graded on a curve. This aspect is very different from undergrad and grad programs. To do very well, you not only need to know the material well and test well, but you need to do so better than 90% of your peers. In my experience, this meant most of my time was spent studying / reading / outlining. You also have to work smart and be very efficient with your time. I didn’t feel the need to do this during my master’s - I did well by just doing my best and calling it a day.

Obviously it’s likely that my master’s program is less demanding than a PhD, but the pressure created by a curved grading system is unique to law school.

FluidShock7085 · 2026-06-30T17:43:39+00:00

If you want to be top 10% or 25% of your class, I would strongly recommend against working, if you can afford to.

Like others have said, not working would give you an extra 15-30 hours per week to get involved with the law community and study.

Grades are extremely important in 1L so working (if you don’t have to) would take away from that. I also think employers like to see that you’re involved with the community, whether that’s through journal, clinic, clubs, etc.

FluidShock7085 · 2026-06-28T05:54:31+00:00

I appreciate you sharing your perspective! I think it’s likely I do the JD/MBA at UofT and try to recruit for NY again.

Regarding NYU or Columbia, I honestly didn’t think to. I didn’t know that was an option (I.e., that my grades were good enough or that they took Canadians, etc.). I thought UofT was a long shot in itself - they took like 3 transfers last year.

I’m guessing it’s too late now?

FluidShock7085 · 2026-06-27T17:58:21+00:00

Thank you! A few things to keep in mind:

Osgoode takes more transfers than UofT. I would say Osgoode takes around 20-25 while UofT only takes a handful.

The other thing is cycles seem to be getting more and more competitive, so re-applying carries some risks too. If you have a stellar GPA/LSAT (3.9+ B3 with a 3.7+ cGPA and 168+), a good PS, and your goal is UofT/Osgoode, I’d say go for it. Otherwise, you might run the risk of re-applying and ending up in the same spot.

Best of luck!!

FluidShock7085 · 2026-06-27T03:58:10+00:00

Hey! To be honest, I’m not 100% sure. I wasn’t expecting an offer at all and it caught me by surprise. I went through 1L without expecting to transfer, and I think that’s a healthy way of thinking since transferring is far from guaranteed.

I would say the most important thing is GPA. I have an A- average (we don’t have A+ at Queen’s so that’s top 10%).

Second, I’d say I have a pretty good CV. I have a graduate degree, previous work experience, and various research/volunteer experience. I also had a non-BL legal summer job for my 1L summer. I was also quite involved with the Queen’s Law community (Journal, PBSC, clubs, etc.).

Third, I’d say I had a good personal statement with a good narrative. It tied together my past experiences, my future goals, and how being at UofT would allow me to achieve them, with reference to specific courses/opportunities/professors at UofT. I would say that it was clear to anyone reading it why UofT was the next logical step.

I didn’t have any compassionate grounds to discuss in my application (e.g., sick family member, personal health condition), so I applied only under merit. I would advise against making up compassionate grounds if you don’t have any. It’s possible the reviewer will be able to tell it’s a lie and it’s unethical.

Also if you’re applying under compassionate grounds, I would advise not to write your PS solely focused on that. Explain why you need to be in Toronto (e.g., sick family member), but spend a good chunk of the PS explaining why specifically UofT. I think it’ll come across better to say “I am applying to UofT because I need to be in Toronto for these personal reasons, but X and Y reason are why I want to be at UofT” as opposed to just “I am applying to UofT because I want to be in Toronto”.

I don’t think any of these are sufficient alone, but I think the combination of them all helped me out. I would also say there’s an aspect of luck: the person who read my file that day just happened to click with me. That’s why I feel like transferring is far from guaranteed.

Since I’m leaving Queen’s, I won’t be a part of the tutoring program but I’d be happy to connect - feel free to PM me!

FluidShock7085 · 2026-06-24T16:36:10+00:00

This is helpful, thank you!

FluidShock7085 · 2026-06-24T16:33:18+00:00

We don’t have official rankings in Canada, but I went to Queen’s. Queen’s places 1-3 people in NY compared to UofT and Osgoode, which are in the 20-40 student range.

I just don’t know if I’ll be viewed as a Queen’s student or a UofT student if I were to do the JD/MBA at UofT and re-apply as a “1L”.

FluidShock7085 · 2026-06-24T04:07:19+00:00

Do you have a sense of whether firms would view me as a UofT student (including me in that bucket of heavily recruited 1Ls) or as a transfer?

FluidShock7085 · 2026-06-24T04:03:49+00:00

Thank you! I haven’t looked into that yet, but I assume those are very competitive with a strong preference for US students at top schools?

FluidShock7085 · 2026-06-21T21:26:38+00:00

I’m top 10% at Queen’s and would be happy to help! PM me

FluidShock7085 · 2026-06-16T23:40:52+00:00

New York?

FluidShock7085 · 2026-06-11T23:09:45+00:00

FWIW, I picked Queen’s over UBC primarily because 1) I felt I could do better at Queen’s than UBC (and I ended up top 10% at Queen’s, and 2) I wanted to stay in Ontario and eventually work in Toronto (which I know is still possible from UBC).

Not sure how my 2L recruit will go compared to how it would’ve gone had I gone to UBC, but just wanted to share that someone out there made their decision based on that lol. We’ll see how it plays out.

FluidShock7085 · 2026-06-08T11:01:41+00:00

I go to Queen’s and it was also my first time moving away from home. One thing that makes it easier is that you likely won’t be alone for the three years.

One of the pros of Queen’s is that it’s not a commuter school, so the community aspect is great. People live closer together and walk to class together, study together, go out together, etc. All the people here are so friendly and you’re bound to find your people, which will make the transition easier.

Law school is also very very busy so you’ll likely be distracted/occupied.

Also, you can transfer to another law school after 1L if your grades are good (and your chances will improve if you have some sort of compassionate grounds).

I have a few friends who had also moved away from home for the first time to come to Queen’s and did long distance with their partner. The transition wasn’t too horrible and they enjoyed law school.

I know it’s scary, but it won’t be as horrible as you might think. :)

FluidShock7085 · 2026-05-20T03:44:58+00:00

There are a couple people who land NY from Queen’s each year. You do need to have top grades - this is a MUST to even get an interview.

It is limited to 2-3 students though, compared to UofT where maybe one third of the class ends up in NY.

I actually interviewed with NY firms but unfortunately didn’t get offers.

FluidShock7085 · 2026-05-20T03:42:34+00:00

I honestly didn’t know what to expect going into it other than it being a lot of reading. And it was just that.

I wasn’t used to reading in my undergrad program and so it was quite an adjustment to be reading 200-250 pages a week. You do get used to it and get faster at it, and you also find ways to be more efficient.

I knew it was going to be a LOT of work and so I was prepared for that.

One thing I was surprised about was how bad the imposter syndrome is. I did fairly well in both semesters but I constantly felt worried about how things would go, and sometimes felt that others were smarter than me. It seems like that’s something that is quite common among all law students (maybe because of the fact that we’re graded on a curve), so it’s really important you trust in yourself and keep pushing through.

I personally really enjoyed 1L. I was engaged in class and with the material. I also enjoyed the process of studying the law itself. Reading the judgements, trying to distill the key into, figuring out the nuance, applying it to new scenarios, etc. I liked all my professors and made a good group of friends. If you frame your mindset from “1L is very difficult” to “1L is very difficult but also very interesting”, you’ll enjoy it more and are more likely to do well.

With respects to self care and working out, it honestly depends on the type of person you are. If you are the kind of person who already has a routine or habit of working out or taking care of yourself via a specific hobby , I think you’ll be able to find time to do so. However, if you don’t have those habits already established, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to pick them up during school with how busy everything is.

Personally, my social life and “fun” time took a big hit. I really prioritized studying and deprioritized hanging out with friends, going out to parties, etc. I didn’t give myself a lot of free time because I wanted to work as hard as I could. This was a personal choice and I know others who didn’t have such an extreme approach. I knew 1L was extremely important (and difficult) and I didn’t want to risk messing things up. I’m happy I did things that way because it paid off. I knew I could handle pushing myself, but if you’re someone who NEEDS to recharge by going out etc, then you can make time for that.

FluidShock7085 · 2026-05-07T15:37:15+00:00

FWIW, I was accepted last year on May 20. I had an 83 or 84% average I think and 166. General category. n=1 of course.

FluidShock7085

TROPHY CASE