<p>I was wondering what people's opinions on the comparison between U of T law or McGill law vs HLS, YLS or SLS vs Berkeley? Would you feel any work placement detriment depending on where you graduated from? Within the scope of these schools obviously. </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>YLS->HLS->SLS->Berekely->McGill=U of T</p>
<p>Now if you’re going for law in Toronto, wouldn’t it make sense to go to school in Canada? If you’re going for law in NYC, wouldn’t it make sense to go to school in the US?</p>
<p>With that said, if you could get into YLS…you’d be foolish to pick anything over it.</p>
<p>As far as I know, Yale Law School is arguably the number one law school in not just the United States, but the entire world. But then again, the number one law school in the United States would by default also be the number one law school in the world, right? At least assuming that you want to work in the United States. Not saying that Canada or the U.K. are inferior, but unless you plan to work there, I think it would be better to earn your degree in the U.S. Hooray for having the highest GDP in the world!</p>
<p>^ Except you don’t have these kinds of articles written in the Canadian press…this is just but one of many (and check out the parent forum if you want to read the opinion of American lawyers on the state of the field right now): </p>
<p><a href=“For Law School Graduates, Debts if Not Job Offers - The New York Times”>For Law School Graduates, Debts if Not Job Offers - The New York Times;
<p>You can’t compare the two sets. In terms of prestige and name recognition, however, YHS law >>>>> any Canadian law school. Even lower T14 (Cornell, UVa, etc.) have more prestige and name recognition.</p>
<p>… if you wanted to practice law in one country, why would you go to law school in another?</p>
<p>Because if you are an American who can’t get into the T14, then you might start pondering on whether to go to UofT/McGill or Oxbridge.</p>
<p>If you want to practice law in Canada, go to a Canadian law school. If you want to practice law in the U.S., go to an American law school. Canadian law grads are eligible to write the bar exam in NY and MA. If you’re an American law grad, you will have to go through the NCA process in order to practice in Canada, even if you are a graduate of YLS. Law in Canada is in a very different situation than it is in the U.S., and that begins with the law schools themselves. It’s difficult to gain admission to law school in Canada and they are all good schools and will provide a good legal education. The same cannot be said for the U.S. U of T’s law school is considered the ‘best’ in Canada but all Canadian law schools will provide you with the education required to get a good job. McGill’s law school is not going to be an option for anyone who does not have a good knowledge of French, nor for anyone who isn’t interested in learning Civil Law along with Common Law.</p>
<p>I am also pretty sure that the unemployment rate for Canadian law school grads is significantly lower than for American law school grads although I cannot cite any stats. At least I have seen no articles in the Canadian media bemoaning the glut of law school grads hitting the market. This could be due to the fact that there are no “third and fourth tier” law schools in Canada.</p>
<p>FWIW in response to IvyPbear re: Oxbridge</p>
<p>Most people who could get into Oxbridge would get into some of the T14. Maybe not HYS, but probably one of MVP or CCN. Minimum entry requirement for Oxbridge is a GPA of 3.75, one requires you to sit the LNAT and the other requires you to sit the Law test plus go through the interview process. Although, I don’t see why a college grad would take this route since its an undergrad degree.</p>
<p>adam0302 - People at Ivies with 3.7+ bomb LSATs. They often apply to UofT/McGill if they can’t get into T14, and to Oxbridge if they can’t get into CCN.</p>
<p>IvyPBear-If they bomb the LSAT, chances are they’ll bomb the LNAT.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If they “bomb” the LSAT, they won’t get into U of T either.</p>
<p>
Very true. LSAT is 167-168 and GPA is 3.85 at U of T. The median at U of T is the 75th percentile at Cornell. A U of T profile might even get you into a T7. With regards to McGill, this is an unlikely option because few people are fluent in French, thus making it an insignificant alternative to the T14.</p>
<p>I heard that they use English at McGill; can anyone confirm this?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>For undergrad, McGill is an English university. For the law school, successful applicants must be ‘passively’ bilingual as many of the classes are conducted in French and much of the readings are also in French. You will not be admitted to McGill Law if you do not have reasonably good French language skills, which, I should add, must be demonstrated, either by undergrad French courses on your transcript or via an interview.</p>
<p>By the way, why is English used more than French at McGill anyway? It’s basically in the center of the most French-influenced place in North America. Is it just because English is more “important” than French?</p>
<p>McGill is an English university. There are hundreds of thousands of individuals in Quebec whose first language is English. There are both English and French schools, and McGill is one of the English ones. The reason for the French requirement for law students is that in order to practice in Quebec, one must study Civil as well as Common law, and much of that study will require readings only available in the French language.</p>
<p>@kevinatrs: Montr</p>
<p>I think we have different idea of what “bombing” the LSAT is.</p>