There are three major categories of admission into first year: the General category, the Aboriginal category and the Access category. The first-year class consists of about 200 students. Most students are admitted in the General category. Recently, up to 15% percent of students admitted to the first-year class have been from the Aboriginal and Access categories.
General Category
Your academic record and LSAT score are weighed most heavily in this category. The other Admissions Philosophy criteria are weighed carefully in making distinctions between applicants who are equally competitive on these bases.
- Competitive applicants should have at least an “A-” average (GPA 3.7) in their best two years of their undergraduate degree program at a full course load along with an LSAT score of at least 157.
- For a student who does not have two years at full course load (ie. at part-time load), more emphasis will be placed on their CGPA, as calculated by OLSAS, which should be at least a 3.3.
Access Category
Queen’s Faculty of Law is committed to enhancing diversity in legal education and the legal profession. To this end, the Faculty encourages applications from candidates whose backgrounds, qualities or experiences allow them to make unique contributions to the law school community, the legal profession and society in general.
The Admissions Committee will consider these factors:
- disability
- educational and financial disadvantage
- membership in a historically disadvantaged group
- age
- life experience
- any other factor relating either to educational barriers you faced, or to your ability to enrich the diversity of the law school community and the legal profession
You must demonstrate the following capabilities:
- that you have strong potential to complete the JD program
- that you have the ability to reason and analyze
- that you can express yourself effectively orally and in writing, and
- that you possess the skills and attributes necessary to cope with the demands of law school
Traditional measures of academic performance and LSAT scores may be given comparatively less weight in this category, while non-academic experience and personal factors confirming your special circumstances or unique qualities may be given comparatively more weight.
- Competitive applicants should have at least a “B+” average (GPA 3.3) in their best two years of their undergraduate degree program at a full course load along with an LSAT score of at least 154.
- For a student who does not have two years at full course load (ie. at part-time load), more emphasis will be placed on their CGPA, as calculated by OLSAS, which should be at least a 3.0.
Aboriginal Category
Queen’s Faculty of Law is committed to increasing Aboriginal representation within the legal profession and therefore welcomes applications from Indigenous people, including those of Indian (status and non-status), Métis and Inuit heritage.
Applications will be considered based on your interest in, and identification with, your Aboriginal community, as well as other factors, including academic performance, results of the LSAT, employment history, letters of reference and a personal statement. This material will form the basis upon which the Admissions Committee will judge whether you are able to undertake the JD degree program successfully. If there is strong evidence of academic ability in the application, an exception might be made to the academic standards.
PLSNP Program
The Faculty of Law strongly supports the Program of Legal Studies for Native People (PLSNP) at the University of Saskatchewan’s Native Law Centre. The Admissions Committee may admit you to the Aboriginal category unconditionally or subject to successfully completing the PLSNP.
The Admissions Committee will endeavour to make decisions on completed applications early in the admissions cycle for this category to allow time for those with conditional offers to apply for admission to the Program of Legal Studies for Native People.
For further information on the PLSNP, see www.usask.ca/plsnp.