As we are approaching the end of our time in law school, we all agree that mentorship has been fundamental to the growth we have had in the past few years - not only as law students, but as individuals. We are proud to announce our long awaited Mentorship Program! Mentees please click here to sign up! Mentors please click here to sign up! Lets build a community! Starting the TikTok series at Legally Brown with a Day in the Life video! I summarized my busiest day of the week this semester, Thursdays. Mind you, when I first found out that I had 8 hours of lectures (two at Osgoode and 1 at Schulich), 3 hours of work I was a little bit worried on how to optimize my day since it is easier to lose sight of what is important when you're in virtual school. But within the first three weeks, I was able to figure out a way to prioritize and gauge what I absolutely need to fulfill on Thursdays. In the fall, I had the opportunity to speak on Professor Haigh's podcast "What's Law Got to Do With It?" featuring my mentor, Felicity Radan. I shared my experience of knowing from the outset that I wanted to be a business lawyer, with a heightened interest in tax law. This interest sparked in undergrad through my fourth year Income Taxation course. However, in law school there are a lot of individuals who have no idea what they want to practice upon graduation, and that's totally fine. No one expects you to have it all figured out! I, myself, would like to explore the field of business law in more depth in my upper years. My biggest piece of advice for incoming students trying to navigate law school is to be open to new experiences. There may be a course or experiential learning experience that reshapes what you want to do with the rest of your life, and that's okay. A year ago, I was not in the JD/MBA program. It was not originally in my ten year plan. However, being a student in this program has really helped me grow intellectually through taking courses I was not able to during undergrad. It's been an enriching experience, and I can't wait to see what's in store next in my law school journey. By: Karen Randhawa Expand your network, broaden your horizons. We decided to reach out to individuals at different law schools to put a face to the name of the school. Interested in a school or program that wasn’t mentioned? Contact us and we’ll feature it!
The following post is an anonymous contribution from a friend who wrote the LSAT during COVID-19.
If you thought writing the LSAT was hard enough, imagine trying to coordinate to write it in the middle of a global pandemic. That brings us to the LSAT-Flex, the Law School Admissions Council’s (“LSAC”) version of the test to write at the ‘comfort’ of your home with a live proctor watching you through your computer webcam. The pandemic meant a few things for the LSAC: (1) in no way could there be any in-person writing of the exams due to lockdowns in most, if not all, countries that the LSAT is administered in, and (2) the LSAC had to decide whether to cancel the LSAT writing for each month the pandemic continues, or administer the test remotely to each person. Hence, the LSAT - Flex was formed as their solution. Structure: the LSAT - Flex was not like your typical LSAT. The exam became 3 sections instead of 5 sections - they removed the experimental section and removed one Logical Reasoning section. This meant that the exam had one section each of Logical Reasoning, Analytical Reasoning (‘Logic Games’) and Reading Comprehension. To maintain the integrity of the exam, no bathroom breaks were permitted during the exam. Administering the LSAT: The LSAC had to hire a third party administrator, ProctorU, to administer the test. ProctorU has been used for many years by institutions trying to administer tests/examinations virtually - but many steps had to be taken by each test taker before Test Day with ProctorU. For one, everyone had to sign up for a time in the day to write the LSAT (not everyone wrote at the same time). On test day, your entire desk had to be clear except for your pencils, erasers, and 5 pieces of blank paper. There would be someone watching you through your computer webcam, watching every move to see if there is any cheating happening behind the scenes. Before the exam began, you had to show the proctor your entire room, show underneath your desk and use another vanity mirror to show that there were no sticky notes on your laptop screen. Furthermore, they download a software on your laptop that grants them complete control of your laptop and can watch where your mouse is moving on the screen throughout the test. Final Thoughts: A shorter exam with fewer sections that I also could write in the comfort of my own home? I thought this exam was a no-brainer, of course I wanted to write this. But be warned - your strategy has to change a bit. For one, now your Analytical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension sections are weighted more (33% now compared to 25% of your LSAT score on a normal test). Some test takers were furious by the change, as for them, Logical Reasoning was their best section and was not being weighted as much this time to their score. Others were upset because they tended to perform better in an exam setting outside their home. For those reading this that have more than one year for law school, consider which one you might perform better in. For those applying in November, your best bet is to prepare for both types of LSATs - amidst the uncertainty of this pandemic, the LSAT-Flex could continue to be administered for some time. Reference letters allow admission boards get a better sense of your character, achievements and experience, from another perspective. They serve to support your overall application and may play a crucial role during the admission process. All law schools in Ontario require at least 2 reference letters. Some schools strongly recommend that at least one of the references be academic while others require it. When using OLSAS, you will be able to input the contact information of each reference and they will receive instructions via email on how to submit a reference letter for each school. Who to ask? Most importantly, your references must know you well enough to describe your academic or professional achievements. During your undergraduate studies, if you had actively participated in a course, reach out to the professor for a reference well in advance of the deadline. We recommend that you seek references from professors that can speak to your character, not just professors of classes you did well in. Your work supervisors may also make good references as they are able to speak on your skills in a professional environment. How to ask for a reference? I recommend that you ask your references a month or two before the application deadline on November 1st. This gives your references enough time to carefully prepare the letter of recommendation and awards you a sufficient amount of time if you need to reconsider your references. While some of your references may be familiar with the process, I suggest that you highlight the key deadlines and procedures so they can better plan. If it has been some time since you’ve spoken to a potential reference, schedule a meeting or phone call to speak about your goals and highlight some of your achievements. It may be useful to send a copy of your resume and transcript such that each recommendation letter can reflect your abilities in a holistic manner. To see program requirements for each Ontario Law School, please visit: https://www.ouac.on.ca/guide/olsas-program-requirements/ By: Lucinda Chitapain Speak now or forever hold the truth. The essays are your chance to add dimension to your application aside from your grades and LSAT score. The essay topics vary from year to year but generally they are questions about your motivation behind applying to law school, life experiences and diversity considerations. The task of encapsulating your existence within a defined character count is a daunting task for many. To help you tackle and excel at this task, we have come up with some tips/strategies that we used... or would have liked to have known during our application round. Below are some tips to ace those essays:
In terms of input, it is vital that you seek feedback from those who excel at constructive criticism. However, it can be overwhelming when you have multiple editors with conflicting feedback. We suggest that you get your application reviewed by two to three people who are strong writers. By: Veena Ganesarasa How we tackled personal statements Karen: God knows how many versions of the personal statement I wrote. I tailored each personal statement to the school I was applying to, emphasizing why I was considering the school. My goal was to personalize the story by linking it to an activity that has been central to shaping me as an individual - karate. I connected karate to various involvements (internships, extracurriculars, and exchange) at the undergraduate level and my goals in a legal profession. Lucinda: Before I began writing my personal statements, I took the time to research the schools and noted a few aspects about each (such as a certain area of specialization or a clinic) that piqued my interest and appealed to my career ambitions. Once I had familiarized myself with the schools I was interested in, I outlined the key points that I wanted to get across and a general structure that I wanted to follow. My statement focused on the reasons why I wanted to go to law school and my potential contributions to the legal community, while highlighting how the respective school would enable me to do so. Depending on the prompt, my responses would sometimes dive deeper into my personal motives and other times, they would hinge more on my professional or academic life. Overall, I think everyone’s approach will differ depending on the message you hope to get across. You should use this as an opportunity to express yourself and to showcase your personal character, your passion and creativity. Veena: Being the person who I fundamentally am, I left my supplementary application to the last minute. I believe I had most of it done before the deadline but the editing (and re-writing) was left to the night it was due. Luckily for me, the creative juices were flowing. My application largely leveraged my work experience as I was enrolled in a co-op program in undergrad as well as my background as a second generation Canadian. The overall theme of my application is that my unique experiences as the first-born child of a refugee community helped me cultivate a passion for the law which was reinforced through my work experiences.
Although the application process doesn’t begin until late August, some of you may be thinking about your applications for the upcoming year. Prior to beginning your applications remember to B R E A T H E. You will be fine, and yes we know you’ve probably heard this many times over but we’re stating a fact.
The Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) is a test designed to assess the analytical reasoning, logical reasoning and reading comprehension abilities of students. There are five sections on the exam but only four of them count towards your score. The remaining section is a trial for the LSAC to test out new questions. There are a total of around 100-102 questions which are more or less evenly split into the five sections.
The LSAT is graded on a scale from 120 to 180. The average score on the LSAT is roughly a 150. Usually, Canadian law schools admissions requirements stipulate a score upwards of 158. However, the admissions processes are becoming increasingly holistic. Law schools take academic performance, extracurricular activities, work experience and diversity considerations into account when making decisions. Below are some frequently asked questions in relation to the LSAT, including some that we had when we were preparing for it. Is the LSAT knowledge based? No, the LSAT does not test your knowledge of the law or any other subject matter. The test is designed to test the skills mentioned previously - namely logical reasoning, analytical reasoning and reading comprehension. Can I bring up my score? With consistent practice and review, it is most definitely possible to bring up your score. A general rule of thumb is that you can increase your natural score (the score that you received at your first attempt without any practice) by 12 points. What is the best strategy to study for the LSAT? There is no foolproof way of studying for LSAT - most people experiment and try to find an algorithm that works for them. Some enrol in a LSAT prep course where instructors help students develop strategies and study habits to help them succeed. Others opt for self-study and use free instructional services such as 7sage. Most use a combination of both methods. We highly recommend that you write a practice LSAT before starting to study to get an idea of your natural LSAT ability. Will my LSAT score be reflective of my performance in law school? Absolutely not! While the LSAT tests individuals on important skills, it is not determinative of their performance in law school. The LSAT is like any standardized test - it tests your performance on a given day. I did poorly on the LSAT. What do I do now? Treat this as a learning opportunity. Some people get their target score on their first try but others have to write it twice or even three times to achieve their goals. What worked? What didn’t? What can you improve on? Now that you’ve written the test in the high stakes environment of standardized testing, you know what you’re up against. I can’t afford to pay the LSAT fee. Are there any resources that can help me? The cost of writing the test is $190. The LSAC offers a fee waiver program for individuals who cannot afford the test. Check this link out for more information: https://www.lsac.org/lsat/lsat-dates-deadlines-score-release-dates/lsat-cas-fees-and-refunds/fee-waivers-lsat-credential By: Veena Ganesarasa |
Legally BrownThree Osgoode Hall Law students sharing their lived experiences and providing *unsolicited* advice. Archives
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