JD Admission Policies

• Statement of Admission Policy
• Application of Admission Policy
• Regular Applicants
• Mature Applicants
• Aboriginal Applicants
• JD Half Time Program
• Half Time Program
• Combined Programs
• Deferral of Admissions
• Previous Applicants

Statement of Admission Policy

The Faculty of Law seeks to identify and select a student body of diverse interests and backgrounds joined by a commitment to academic excellence and intellectual rigour and demonstrating unusual promise for distinguished performance at the law school, and, subsequently, in the legal profession and community.

The law school is enriched and Canadian society is benefited by a diverse student body made up of students from various ethnic, racial, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, from different regions of Canada, as well as from a range of academic disciplines, careers, and community and extracurricular experiences.

The Admissions Committee, chaired by a faculty member and composed of the Assistant Dean, Students, faculty and third-year students, chooses those applicants whom it judges are likely to complete the program with the greatest intellectual return. The Faculty believes that the qualities of mind and personality necessary to satisfy its requirements are:

1. high intelligence,
2. sound judgment,
3. the capacity and motivation for demanding intellectual effort,
4. the capacity and motivation to engage in sophisticated legal reasoning, and
5. an understanding of and sensitivity to human interaction.

As evidence of these qualities, the Admissions Committee looks to a number of factors. These include:

• academic achievement;
• Law School Admission Test (LSAT) score;
• nonacademic achievement;
• the response to disadvantage due to adverse personal or socio-economic circumstances or to barriers faced by cultural (including racial or ethnic) or linguistic minorities;
• motivation and involvement in academic and non-academic activities; and
• the impact of temporary or permanent physical disabilities

The Faculty seeks a diverse, stimulating and highly motivated student body. Thus, the Admissions Committee may also give weight to

• work experience,
• graduate study,
• outstanding accomplishment in a non-academic activity, and
• other special circumstances brought to its attention

While the Admissions Committee gives greatest weight to an applicant's cumulative undergraduate academic record and LSAT score, these other factors may, in some cases, play an important role in the admissions decision. For this reason, applicants are strongly encouraged to bring to the attention of the Committee the above mentioned factors in their personal statements. Such factors will only be considered to the extent that they assist the applicant.

Application of Admission Policy

Admission to the Faculty of Law is selective: approximately 1,900 applications are received for 180 first-year places. There are three categories of admission: regular, mature and Aboriginal. Within each admissions group, an applicant's file is reviewed in its entirety and in comparison to the other candidates within the group seeking admission.

The Committee does not use a weighting formula, 'cut-offs', or an index rank. Accordingly, it is not possible to predict the probability of admission using numerical indices.

The Admissions Committee considers a host of academic, professional and personal factors in its attempt to evaluate each candidate's demonstrated potential for enriching the Faculty and, thereafter, for contributing meaningfully to the legal community and society at large. However, in view of the very large number of candidates whose applications disclose excellent academic records, very high LSAT scores, and worthy non-academic accomplishments, candidates without these characteristics are unlikely to be competitive for admission.

Because of the large number of applications, no interviews are conducted and neither the Assistant Dean, Students, Director of Admissions nor members of the Admissions Committee meet personally with applicants. The Admissions Office staff is available to answer questions in person, by telephone, or in writing. They are extremely knowledgeable about the admissions process and able to assist applicants on all matters regarding their applications.

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT:
Consideration is given to all the features of the application including, where applicable, the choice of academic institution, academic program, and courses within the program. In assessing academic records, the Admissions Committee considers carefully the difficulty and quality of the academic work as well as the grades received in relation to the average course grade. An academic record is reviewed in some detail and applicants are expected to explain any anomalies in their records including false starts, fewer than five full courses over two terms, introductory courses taken in the third or fourth years of a program, and the reasons therefor.

The most competitive applicants are those with a consistent record of academic achievement over three or four years in a challenging undergraduate program, and, if applicable, in graduate work as well. However, in the absence of special circumstances, an inconsistent undergraduate record will normally be less competitive. In borderline cases, a very strong performance in a graduate program may overcome modest weaknesses in an undergraduate record, but will not usually overcome an undergraduate record which is otherwise uncompetitive. An applicant's academic record and LSAT score are considered in tandem. That is, an applicant with a superior academic record may be admitted with a less competitive LSAT score. Similarly, an applicant with a superior LSAT score may be admitted with a less competitive academic record. However, in each case, the threshold is quite high.

The Faculty does not recommend particular graduate or undergraduate courses for those seeking admission. As noted earlier, many outstanding law students come to law school from undergraduate disciplines or other experiences seemingly unrelated to the study of law. It is suggested that students treat these experiences as ends in themselves rather than as preparation for law school.

More information about how the academic record of currently-registered students is assessed can be found in the J.D. Application Procedures section. 

LAW SCHOOL ADMISSION TEST (LSAT) SCORE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT:
In recent years, successful regular applicants had a median LSAT score in the 95th percentile, and a median cumulative undergraduate academic record of about 85% (in the case of applicants with four years' undergraduate experience, this statistic is based on the best three full-time undergraduate years). Very few applicants are admitted with LSAT scores below the 88th percentile and cumulative undergraduate academic records below 80%, unless their backgrounds, other qualifications, or personal accomplishments would, in the opinion of the Admissions Committee, contribute specially and significantly to the class.

More information about the LSAT can be found in the J.D. Application Procedures section. 

Regular Applicants

To be considered for admission in 2010-2011, applicants must have successfully completed three years of an approved course leading to a degree at a recognized university (or equivalent), no later than the end of May in the year of entry. However, prospective applicants should be aware that almost all of our students have completed a four-year degree. In recent years, approximately five applicants a year have been admitted without a four-year undergraduate degree.

Required documents for regular applicants can be found in the J.D. Application Procedures section. 

Mature Applicants

Mature applicants are those who have or will have at least five complete years of non-academic experience by September of the year of entry. The years of non-academic experience need not be consecutive, but must have been undertaken independently of academic work. Such experience may consist of both remunerated work and unpaid labour, including the care and raising of children.

The Committee will consider an applicant's ability to organize his or her life and work, ability to reason, analyze and engage in intellectual inquiry, and past experience. The Committee may place less emphasis on the applicant's academic record where there has been a significant lapse of time since its completion or where adverse personal or socio-economic circumstances, including linguistic and cultural barriers, have affected its development. For those mature applicants with fewer than two years of undergraduate university study, the Admissions Committee may give greater weight to other evidence of ability to study law successfully, such as experience or success in another field of endeavour. However, in view of the large number of qualified applicants who have at some time demonstrated their academic ability in a university program, those applicants with no university will find it virtually impossible to gain admission. Over the last decade no applicants have been admitted without some university background. There is no target or quota on the number of mature candidates admitted, but there has been a steady increase in both the number and the competitiveness of mature applicants. In recent years, approximately 300 applications have been received annually.

Required documents for mature applicants can be found in the J.D. Application Procedures section. 

Aboriginal Applicants

The Faculty believes that Aboriginal people including those of Indian, Métis and Inuit heritage represent unique groups in Canada deserving special recognition in admissions policy. We believe that the admissions policy is an appropriate means of attempting to increase access to legal services for Aboriginal people and to redress historic systemic discrimination against them in Canadian society. The Faculty is concerned that Aboriginal people do not have substantial representation among the ranks of the Canadian legal profession. The Faculty also believes that the ethnic and cultural backgrounds of these students provide valuable dimensions which enhance the quality of legal education.

The Faculty therefore welcomes applications from Aboriginal people and seeks to enhance their participation in legal education and legal practice. If the Admissions Committee believes that an Aboriginal applicant can be successful in our program, he or she will be admitted. In appropriate cases, admission may be conditional on successful performance in the Program of Legal Studies for Native People offered each summer at the University of Saskatchewan. This program is designed as a preparation for formal studies at a Canadian law school. Application forms and further information are available from:

Program of Legal Studies for Native People
University of Saskatchewan
15 Campus Drive
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5A6
Tel: (306) 966-6189
Fax: (306) 966-6207
Email: plsnp@usask.ca
Website: www.usask.ca/nativelaw

Usually, there are approximately 25 to 30 Aboriginal students enrolled in the J.D. program. An Aboriginal Faculty Advisor assists with any academic or non-academic problems which may be encountered, also acts as a resource for information of special relevance to Aboriginal students, such as scholarships and job opportunities. An academic support program is available that provides approximately ten hours per week of tutorial assistance in small groups, or on an individual basis. 

Aboriginal students may be eligible for financial assistance from the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ministry of Justice or the student's home Band Administration office for both the Saskatchewan program and the J.D. program. Financial assistance is also available from the Faculty.

Required documents for Aboriginal applicants can be found in the J.D. Application Procedures section. Aboriginal applicants are also requested to outline in their personal statements their interest in, identification with, and connection to their communities.

Aboriginal applicants may also wish to find out more information about the June Callwood Program in Aboriginal Studies.

Half Time Program

See the J.D. Half Time Program web page.

Combined Programs

See the Combined Programs web page.

Deferral of Admissions

For the policy on Deferral of Admissions, see J.D. Application Procedures.

Previous Applicants

All applicants who have previously submitted an application must re-apply for admission through OLSAS. However, those who are re-applying only to the University of Toronto and who have previously applied within the last two admission cycles need not re-submit LSAT score reports, official transcripts or Personal Statements, included in past OLSAS application(s), except to provide up-to-date documents.

Applicant files are kept for two years after the initial application in the event that an applicant should re-apply. After two years, the file of applicants not admitted are shredded.