Hey! I hope you guys will be able to help me out with my all my questions,
Anyways, I am a first year student thriving to (hopefully) become a lawyer in the future. It is also one of my goal to get accepted at U of T’s law school. My first year experience taught me a lot of things indeed and although I can assure you that I did work hard and I did try my best in school, I still found myself struggling to get that amazing GPA.
I currently have a 2.7 GPA and I was wondering if hypothetically, I get to improve my marks in my second, third and fourth year, and if I am able to get close to a 4.0 in the next few years, will I still have a chance to be accepted to U of T law school? (despite my low average in first year) I know how hard it is to get accepted at u of t and i don’t really know what things I need to work on in order to get a better chance of getting accepted (like volunteer work or joining school clubs?)
Also, are there any tips you can give me in terms of ways I can do to improve my marks? Like tips in note taking for example?
Thanks for your help [😊]
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hey there,
standard disclaimer: i am not uoft law school (if i were, i’d probably wear much nicer shoes). i have NO IDEA what actually goes into the admissions process at the faculty of law. all i know is what they’ve published, and even making predictions based on that is a sketchy business. definitely don’t take my words as gospel; think of everything i say more as helpful suggestions.
now, to your questions: you have a lot of time ahead of you; three long years to sort out your marks, and develop your interests and skills. if you can pull up your marks significantly in the next three years, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t graduate with a very respectable GPA. uoft law in particular bases its admissions GPA on your best three years (see “Standards for Admission 2015-2016“). hypothetically, you could apply having had a 4.0 CGPA over your second, third and fourth years. your first year doesn’t even need to have influenced it.
lots of people have very different marks in their first year than they do in their subsequent years. first year is a transition period, and for a lot of people, it can be pretty rough. it certainly was for me.* that being said, you don’t just start your second year and magically turn into a goddess with a 4.0 GPA who somehow finds time to run a charity and go to yoga three times a week. going from a 2.7 to a 4.0 is a big leap, and it won’t come easy.
that being said, the harder you work, the more you seek out help, the better your chances of landing the jump. resources that can help you include the academic success centre, math aid centres, and the writing centre at your college. the more you can get into the habit of asking for help, the better. go to TAs’/professors’ office hours. study with your peers (if you find that helpful). ask questions when and wherever you can.
also, i recommend that you use the summer to reflect on your first year. maybe you’ll decide you need to change what you’re studying for next year. maybe there are some things you need to de-prioritize in order to focus on school, like a job or extra-curriculars or falling asleep watching Netflix (later, i will advise you to join all these things, which i realize sounds contradictory, but it’s all about BALANCE). maybe you need to dial back on social outings in favour of studying. almost everyone adjusts their habits slightly after first year, so don’t be afraid to make the changes you need to to be successful.
finally, your question about what non-academic things you should be doing to get into law school is the least answerable of all your questions. i don’t think the admissions committee even knows what they’re looking for – until they see it. what they want is someone interesting. someone with a compelling story. there’s no one way to be that.
the best piece of advice i can give you is just to do what you’re interested in. if there’s a club you’d like to join, great. somewhere you’d like to volunteer? awesome. if you need a job, do the job. start a band. join a sports team. get involved with student politics. join an activist group. just try and live and study and work to the fullest of your capabilities and interests, and you can’t go wrong.
if you have more questions, i find these pages are helpful introductory primers. and a final tip: don’t let the LSATs sneak up on you. the time to study for them will come up sooner than you think.
cheers,
aska
*i know that’s hard to believe, considering what a perfect, put-together specimen of perpetual light aska is now.