How Hard Is It To Get Into Law School

How hard is it to get into law school?

How hard is it to get into law school in the USA?

It depends on the school

You already knew this, but it needs to be said. Some law schools are easier to get admitted into than others. Of course, it is going to be more difficult to get admitted to an elite law school than it would to be admitted to a low-ranked law school. There is a huge gap between the high-ranked schools and low-ranked law schools in the United States. If you want to go to an elite school in the USA, median LSAT scores rage into the low 170s, and median GPAs are over 3.8/4. You can get accepted at a low-ranked law school with an LSAT in the 140s, and a GPA under 3.0. It is, therefore, quite easy to get admitted into a law school, since there are many schools that will seemingly accept just about anyone. Whether you should actually pay the high tuition to attend a low-ranked law school is a discussion for another day.

How hard is it to get into law school in Canada?

I want to focus on Canadian law schools in this article since the question of "how hard is it to get into law school" is more relevant. Unlike in the United States, there aren't any low-ranked law schools that anyone can get accepted to. There are only 20 common law schools in Canada and the vast majority of them hold strong reputations. The good news, for Canadian law students, is that once you get accepted somewhere, you know that you're going to get a quality legal education.

Since there aren't that many schools, law school admissions in Canada are very competitive. You cannot slack off during your undergrad, write the LSAT without much studying, and expect to have a handful of law schools to choose from. Getting into law school will take a lot of hard work. But do not think that it is impossible, regardless of what your GPA is, and what your LSAT score is today.

What about Ryerson's Law School?

Ryerson is the newest law school in Canada as they just welcomed their first class in 2020. Since it is such a new law school, we don't have enough information to know how difficult their admission standards are, and how it will rank against the other Canadian law schools. I was not able to find any admission statistics on Ryerson's website, so I don't know the median GPA or median LSAT of the class of 2023.

If you are considering attending Ryerson's law school, just keep in mind that it will still be a very new law school. This means that you will lack a large network of alumni, and it is unclear how competitive a law degree from Ryerson will be when you apply for your first job. Fortunately, this information is going to be available soon after the first-year class goes through the 2L hiring process. I do not want to discourage anyone from applying to Ryerson, but I would simply encourage you to do more research before you make a decision. I have no doubt, however, that Ryerson is going to eventually emerge as a great law school because of its fantastic location in downtown Toronto.

A high LSAT can compensate for a low GPA

If you look at the admission webpages for each law school, I'm sure that you will notice the GPA and LSAT requirements seem difficult to achieve. I remember being an undergrad student and feeling completely discouraged when I realized that almost every law school in Canada had a median GPA way higher than mine.

From my personal experience, I know that a high LSAT score can compensate for a low GPA. I was accepted into a handful of law schools, with scholarship offers, while only achieving a B average. I also did not have very many extra-curricular activities that could have compensated for my low GPA.

What should you do now to improve your admission chances?

If you have a lower GPA, of course the best thing you can do for your admission case is to raise your GPA. But if don't have enough time for that, you should focus almost all of your energy on the LSAT. For low GPA people, the LSAT is a blessing. It's your second chance to prove to law schools that you deserve a spot at their law school. Just remember that a median LSAT is probably not going to cut it for you. You are going to need to beat the median LSAT at your target school by at least a few points.