You have many factors to consider when deciding which law school is right for you. The Career Development Office at Queen’s Law believes that the best way to make a decision is by thoughtfully self-reflecting on the information you are gathering. A decision-making matrix can simplify and facilitate this process. You can find most of the important information below on each law school’s website. You can also consult with your current career counselor, family, friends, alumni, and mentors. Remember, the final decision is yours!
Factors to Consider
Courses and Practical Learning Opportunities: Reflect on which potential areas of law interest you. Determine which courses and practical learning opportunities, such as legal clinics, are offered to help you explore your interests.
Campus: Visit each campus to get a feel for the location and space. To visit Queen’s book a tour, attend the law open house in March, contact the Admissions Office, or visit on your own. The Faculty of Law building is located on Queen’s University Main Campus at 128 Union Street in Kingston, ON, Canada.
Geographic Region: The location of your law school does not determine the city or province you must practice in. Most recruitment processes are open to applicants from across Canada and many students are able to build and maintain strong professional relationships across provinces and territories. Review the geographic-specific segments of each school’s employment outcome data to get a better sense of where students work following their legal studies.
Housing: Explore the housing options on and around campus and within the city. Assess whether the cost, variety of options, and commute times are compatible with what you are seeking. You can also check social media groups to learn more about potential options for student housing in your school’s city.
Tuition, Scholarships, and Grants: Consider the cost of tuition and look into scholarships and grants available through the university and elsewhere.
Support Resources: Explore the supports available through the law school and the greater university community related to academics, health and well-being, physical health, career development, and more.
Employment Outcomes: Compare employment outcomes to see how many students are placed in articling opportunities, the Ryerson Law Practice Program (Ontario), clerkships, or continuing studies by the end of their third year or shortly after graduation.
Class Sizes: Reflect on which learning environments work best for you and compare that with the class sizes offered at each law school during your first year and during your upper years of study.
Additional Factors: Consider adding additional factors which are important to you and including those in your decision-making matrix.
Weighing Your Factors
Rank your factors in descending order of preference. For example, if you have 8 factors and ‘Campus’ is your primary consideration, assign it 8 points. If ‘Housing’ is your least important factor then assign it 1 point.
|
Courses and Experiential Opportunities |
X Points |
|
Campus |
X Points |
|
Geographic Region |
X Points |
|
Housing |
X Points |
|
Tuition, Scholarships and Grants |
X Points |
|
Support Resources |
X Points |
|
Employment Outcomes |
X Points |
|
Class Sizes |
X Points |
|
Addition Factor (if applicable) |
X Points |
|
TOTAL POINTS |
= Sum |
Rating Each School
The next step is to establish to what degree your law school options meet, exceed, or fall short of your expectations. For each school, rate each factor on a scale of 1 to 5 as follows:
|
Option significantly exceeds my expectations for this factor |
5 Points |
|
Option exceeds my expectations for this factor |
4 Points |
|
Option meets my expectations for this factor |
3 Points |
|
Option falls short of my expectations for this factor |
2 Points |
|
Options significantly falls short of my expectations for this factor |
1 Point |
Creating Your Decision-Making Matrix
Compiling your data into a table will allow you to compare law schools against a hypothetical ‘ideal’ school which meets your expectations. In this instance “meeting expectations” means rated 3 points.
To determine a total score for each school, multiply the weighting you have given each school factor by the school rating score you selected.
See the below chart for an example:
|
Law School Factors |
Weight Value |
‘Ideal School’ Rate Points |
School 1 Rate Points |
School 2 Rate Points |
|||
|
Courses and Experiential Opportunities |
8 Points |
3 |
24 |
3 |
24 |
2 |
16 |
|
Campus |
7 Points |
3 |
21 |
4 |
28 |
4 |
28 |
|
Practice Region of Interest |
6 Points |
3 |
18 |
3 |
18 |
2 |
12 |
|
Housing |
5 Points |
3 |
15 |
5 |
25 |
4 |
20 |
|
Tuition, Scholarships and Grants |
4 Points |
3 |
12 |
4 |
16 |
3 |
12 |
|
Support Resources |
3 Points |
3 |
9 |
4 |
12 |
3 |
9 |
|
Employment Outcomes |
2 Points |
3 |
6 |
3 |
6 |
3 |
6 |
|
Class Sizes |
1 Points |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
|
Totals |
36 Points |
|
108 |
|
131 |
|
107 |
School 1 scored higher than School 2 and exceeded the ideal school point range.