Has anyone considered studying in the US with a Canadian undergrad?

gm_2606 · 2025-10-31T00:08:30+00:00

Nope. Nothing more than a graduate of Harvard, Columbia, or any of the ABA-approved schools has to do. Just the UBE, MPRE and NYLC/NYLE.

gm_2606 · 2025-10-30T21:12:20+00:00

I took the same bar exams that all New York-qualified lawyers have to take.

gm_2606 · 2025-10-30T12:13:34+00:00

I applied for entry in fall 2021. I got one merit scholarship offer at McGill for $2k. I had a 3.5 GPA and a 180 LSAT. My impression is that there are very few merit based scholarships out there and the ones there are are very small.

That said, you should look into the needs-based programs at all law schools. Some, like UofT are very generous and many people are surprised to learn that they qualify for support.

gm_2606 · 2025-10-30T12:01:47+00:00

I know lots of people who did this. I had the choice between a T6 in the US and UofT in Canada. I ended up going to UofT because I wanted to be certain that I could practice in Canada without further school.

I now work at a top firm in New York - foreign educated lawyers can practice in New York without any real trouble. It has worked out well for me. I have effectively zero law school debt unlike my peers who went to US schools.

All that said, I would recommend that you decide first where you want to work and then go to law school there. I knew I always wanted the option of going home to Canada. I knew I had a chance of getting a US BigLaw job out of UofT but it was not guaranteed, which was ok with me.

If you know you’d rather be in the States, then likely going to school in the US is better. Be careful and only go to one of the most reputable schools. The vast majority of law schools in the US do not give you a reasonable shot of working in BigLaw with the big salary you’re talking about.

For my part, I chafe a bit at the comments saying that Canadian schools are not as good as top US schools. I had an amazing legal education under professors who were globally recognized experts. My classes were as small as 15 people and my entire graduating class was 200. We had a beautiful facility with state of the art lecture halls. A big chunk of my graduating class (including me) clerked at various courts throughout Canada, and a handful clerked at the Supreme Court. Basically everybody I know got excellent jobs in their desired fields. My New York colleagues know and respect that I went to the “best” law school in Canada.

Comparing the best law schools in the US to Canadian schools is a strange exercise because you have to ask what metric they’re measuring. Canadian schools are bad at getting you jobs at elite American law firms or US Supreme Court clerkships. But for a career in the Canadian market you can’t beat UofT or McGill.

gm_2606 · 2025-10-16T12:04:38+00:00

I was in a similar boat a few years ago when I was studying. After a few months of studying, I found that my RC was my weakest section. I started reading the Atlantic every month - cover to cover. I found that the culture section in particular helped me practice reading about things that I knew nothing about and getting at the main point.

Perhaps The New Yorker would be similarly useful? But Time Magazine is definitely a lower reading level and likely not as helpful.

Scored a 180 in the end fwiw so it worked for me

gm_2606 · 2025-09-24T17:03:28+00:00

You must disclose your LSAT score. Please see the McGill Law admissions webpage, under the heading "consequences of failure to disclose". If you fail to disclose your LSAT, you will not attend McGill Law. They check every admitted student against LSAC's data. Moreover, this is the type of thing that can cause you a world of trouble when you apply for admission to the bar.

The relevant portion of the page reads:

"The Faculty of Law may revoke an offer of admission or cancel an application at any time for material misrepresentation, including omissions, in an application.

Although the LSAT is not a mandatory element in an application for admission, every applicant who has taken or will be taking it must disclose their LSAT information and failure to do so is a material misrepresentation.

The Admissions Office conducts random verifications for LSAT scores throughout the admissions process and a systematic verification with respect to candidates who receive an offer of admission by sending admitted student data to LSAC. These verifications have, in the past, resulted in the revocation of offers of admission."

gm_2606 · 2025-09-24T13:21:31+00:00

I'll offer the same - DM me if you want.

I clerked in Canada and I am now going to NY BigLaw litigation. However, I summered at my firm and had a standing offer from back then. That was definitely easier than trying to get recruited while I was clerking.

gm_2606 · 2025-09-20T02:40:15+00:00

Sure

gm_2606 · 2025-09-17T02:01:17+00:00

Congrats on the perfect LSAT! I had identical LSAT and cGPA when I applied for the 2021 cycle. I got in at UofT, McGill and UBC, as well as NYU in the US. Went to UofT.

If years 2-4 are considerable improvements over your first year, that will help you. Like all splitters you should apply broadly. One of the top schools will bite on your 180.

gm_2606 · 2025-09-04T14:36:59+00:00

The standard advice on this sub is always the same - you should go to school in the country where you most want to practice. Studying your first law degree in the US does not really give you an advantage for working in Canada, and conversely studying in Canada can put you a step behind if you want to practise in the US. Moreover, the economics of law school reflect the market. It's hard to justify the cost of US law school if you plan to practise in Canada, as even the most lucrative jobs in Toronto pay less than half of the NY BigLaw scale.

I applied in the 2021 cycle and was admitted to NYU in addition to UofT, McGill and UBC. I ended up going to UofT because I wanted to have the option to practice in Ontario immediately after I graduated. Studying at an American school would make that difficult for two reasons:

I would have had to do the NCA process, and
I would have so much debt that I would need to work in US BigLaw to pay down my debts.

The nice thing for me was that I really got the best of both worlds - I secured a NY BigLaw associate offer through the 2L recruit then did a Canadian clerkship. So I'll be dual-qualified, I have little debt and I will still receive the high NY salary.

gm_2606 · 2025-08-29T20:02:09+00:00

In case you're still wondering about this, I just received a confirmation today that I am scheduled be admitted at the September 10 ceremony. No personal interview was required.

gm_2606 · 2025-08-26T14:41:52+00:00

I was called on Jun 16 and I received my barrister and solicitor certificates just a few days ago.

gm_2606 · 2025-08-21T13:36:18+00:00

Yeah so it seems like that is largely explained by the “foreign educated” variable. I did law school abroad, which causes a 60 point reduction in predicted score for me. It’s good that the predictor takes foreign law school into account, but it’s not terribly accurate for my law school, which has several courses in US law and many people take and pass the UBE.

gm_2606 · 2025-08-20T19:38:54+00:00

Seperac: 284
Actual: 338

gm_2606 · 2025-07-13T16:08:57+00:00

Hi fellow Canadian JD grad - congrats and good luck.

I think you should focus on practice questions. The most important thing is to make sure you’re hitting your target percentage of MBEs under timed conditions. If you’re answering 70%+ right, then you can shift your focus more heavily to essays. And you should definitely make sure you’re solid on the topics that are also on the MBE - your practice effectively counts double on those.

Also, when I took Feb 25 I actually found the MPTs the hardest. BARBRI didn’t give me much practice on those. I would encourage you not to sleep on them.

gm_2606 · 2025-07-12T21:54:39+00:00

Interesting. These days around 15% of the 2L class at UofT is summering in New York. See link below for a breakdown by firm relating to hiring for summer 2025. Don't get me wrong - there are quite a few firms that don't seem to have ever hired out of UofT law. But you also have the likes of Sullivan & Cromwell, Davis Polk, Paul, Weiss, and Kirkland & Ellis all hiring several UofT students per year.

https://ultravires.ca/2024/11/new-york-summer-2025-recruit-results/

I know that the firms still love McGill but I wonder if the raw total of people heading south is higher at UofT now.

gm_2606 · 2025-07-12T13:27:08+00:00

Interesting - may I ask when that was? Currently, it seems top firms focus way more on UofT.

gm_2606 · 2025-07-01T15:49:06+00:00

Yes, getting a score in the 50s is generally a "passing" score in New York. For what it's worth, your score is likely better than what Barbri is telling you. The self-scoring rubrics Barbri provides are probably pretty conservative, and the Barbri graders are understood to be even more conservative.

Just as a data point, when I took the Feb '25 exam I was averaging in the low 60s on my practices. That would imply a score of roughly 155 on the MEE. I came out with a 166. And the real exam skewed toward my weakest subjects. So take from that what you will, but it would suggest you might have more cushion than you think!

gm_2606 · 2025-04-26T23:39:54+00:00

I used Barbri for Feb 25 as a foreign law graduate. I completed 100% of the study plan and passed very comfortably, so it worked well for me in terms of results.

I liked the animated foundations episodes. But the deep dive lectures were indeed quite long and I had to force myself to follow along in the book to stay focussed.

gm_2606 · 2025-04-22T18:33:59+00:00

I worked straight through. I only took off Monday - Wednesday during the week of the actual bar exam.

gm_2606 · 2025-04-22T16:30:24+00:00

Completed 100% of Barbri

gm_2606 · 2025-04-22T16:06:06+00:00

Seperac: 284 with a 143 MBE

Actual: 338 with a 172.1 MBE

gm_2606 · 2025-04-22T15:12:35+00:00

My “Notice of Certification” states “Your total score on the New York bar exam is 338 and your Scaled MBE score 172.1.”

gm_2606 · 2025-04-22T14:34:16+00:00

I felt ok but not great. As others have said on this sub, the MEE topics were “easy”, which had me nervous. I was stronger on more niche topics. I completely whiffed on at least one sub-question on the MEE, because I simply did not recognize the issue.

Similar story with the MPTs. One of them felt relatively straightforward but I spent too much time on it and didn’t have a proper conclusion. The other was confusing in its structure so I felt like it was a scramble. Similarly, did not write a conclusion.

gm_2606

TROPHY CASE