HELP - Canadian going to US Law School

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>Before writing anything, I know that some people already posted things similar to the title but my situation is different. I searched everywhere for help but I never found anything. </p>

<p>I'm going to start college next year (In Quebec, we have 2 years preparation before going to university for 17-19 years old students and it's called college). In college, I will study Law in English not in French.</p>

<p>In America, to apply to Law School, they will see my grades of my last 4 years of high school. So here's my idea, I didn't get a really good score last year so I want to really push myself and get a good score this year (senior year) and same for college, which equal to 3 years. I want them to look at 4 years with really good score, so I thought that I could do another year in university in Canada (Law School) and then transfer to Us Law School.
But my question is, is it possible to do that? Do canadian schools teach American Law or only Canadian Law? If they don't teach American Law, can I still transfer?</p>

<p>Please help me. I really want to study in NYC or somewhere in the US.</p>

<p>Do you want to be a lawyer in the US or in Canada?</p>

<p>Nihaos, your post is somewhat unclear. Are you planning on applying to a Quebec law school as a CEGEP student? You will need excellent grades and an excellent R score to even be in the ballpark and only a limited number of such students are taken at McGill each year, which is where you’d be presumably studying law in English. If by some chance you were able to be one of those fortunate few, why on earth would you want to then switch to a U.S. law school? I know hundreds of lawyers and law students, on both sides of the border, and I don’t know of even one who transferred from a Canadian law school to an American one, let alone someone who entered law school at McGill as a CEGEP student. It just doesn’t happen.</p>

<p>If you want to practice law in Canada, attend a Canadian law school. If you want to practice in the U.S., attend a U.S. law school. Keep in mind, though, that unless you have dual citizenship, getting the immigration issues settled as a Canadian who wants to practice in the U.S., can be difficult. If you want to practice in Canada after going to a U.S. law school, you’ll have to go through the accreditation process with the NCA which can be costly and very difficult and then have to find a Canadian employer who is willing to offer you an articling position, another difficulty. </p>

<p>You need to do a lot more research. I’ll PM you a link to a Canadian law school forum, which would be a better resource for you than CC.</p>

<p>I have to assume that you want to practice common law, because studying law in French in Quebec means studying civil law. Is there a problem with studying law in French? (other than is too weak) </p>

<p>One suggestion I can make if you’re:</p>

<p>1) rejected from McGill Law
2) still have a R-score in the 32+ range (if you have a R-score in the 30-32 range, only Sherbrooke is viable)
3) willing to practice common law in Canada afterward, but without the expense of going to an out-of-province law school (this means that you will have to endure 3-4 years of law school in French though)</p>

<p>is to consider the LLB/JD at UdeM Law or Sherbrooke. </p>

<p>To be honest, for McGill Law, one needs to assume leadership in ECs while in CEGEP, do community service, and, of course, intern in a place where legal work is done. A 32+ R-score, which, in fact, is what best correlates to the grades component of the Quebec undergraduate admissions process, is not by itself sufficient. </p>

<p>You have to decide before you graduate from CEGEP whether you want to practice in Canada or in the US. Unlike civil law schools, who take in account the difficulty of the university-level coursework if one comes in with university coursework done beforehand, common law schools won’t, so pay attention to the potential of earning a high GPA in absolute terms. Plus you might want to attend a T14 school (and preferably a T6 one) should you want to practice in the US, in which case aim for 170+ on the LSAT.</p>

<p>And common law schools won’t see high school grades, unless you think majoring in law at Arizona for undergrad is a good idea, in which case a R-score in the 24 range (and 24+ on the ACT/1700+ on the SAT) will get you into Arizona, but I think it is a costly mistake to make when you can do an undergrad in Quebec for so much less. And even Arizona’s undergraduate law major won’t qualify you to take the bar in Arizona.</p>