Hello, I am currently a high school student and i must now choose which university i want to go to. I’ve been accepted into all my choices but I’m stuck between University of Toronto or Ryerson University. I am going to be majoring in sociology and then going to law school (hopefully). I don’t know which school will be better for me so can you guys help me figure it out? Thank you.
Law school? You know UofT is going to be a large GPA-killer (relative to Ryerson)?
More so than in the US, Canadian law schools (even civil law schools, who take into account difficulty of major, in which case sociology will be held against you) put a lot of emphasis on GPA. Want to go to Osgoode Hall? 3.6+/164+ will do it (in the US, a 3.6/164 student may sniff the bottom of the top-25, say, W&M, Washington-Seattle)…
what do you mean about the difficulty of major? law schools don’t really look at your undergraduate aside from your GPA and LSATS? But what do you think is a better choice between UofT and Ryerson?
There is no doubt that U of T is a better school than Ryerson. However, there is no way that anyone here can predict which is better for you and your plans. Many U of T grads go on to law school so I wouldn’t let that worry you. What you’ll need for law school is a good gpa and a good LSAT score, and for some schools, involvement in ECs, good LORs, and an excellent personal statement. As I said, at this point, there is no way to know if you’ll be able to secure the grades necessary for law school. So, visit both, explore the course offerings, and make your decision. Best of luck.
If you believe you could do well at U of T (grades wise), go there since the general consensus is that it’s a better school. However, U of T has the fault of admitting many underqualified people (do not take offense, I just mean that their graduation rate is low, and there kind of have the reputation of admitting many first years that cannot handle the rigor there just for their money and stuff like that), so if you think you might be less than prepared to do well there, go to Ryerson. Maybe tell us your high school stats if you want others’ opinions?
I have an 90% average overall in high school
Currently an Osgoode student. Don’t go to U of T for your undergrad.
I strongly urge you to consider York for undergrad. An 80-89 is an A at York, translated to a 3.8 on the OLSAS scale. York is also a liberal arts school and fairly strong for its arts programs. Canadian law schools only care about your GPA and LSAT score. Undergraduate reputation and what your degree was in does not play a role in admissions.
If you go to York be prepared to lose a lot of class time due to faculty strikes.
Actually, whether undergraduate difficulty is a factor or not depends on the legal system taught. You all assume the OP wants to practice common law, and if that assumption proves correct, then subject matter difficulty will truly not make a difference. (Here McGill is treated as a common law school)
But, if the OP is open to practice civil law (and hence in Quebec), then the reputable civil law schools (UdeM, Laval, Sherbrooke) WILL care about difficulty, in which case the harder the major, the lower the grades required in absolute terms, but they won’t care about undergraduate reputation either.