I can’t count how many times I combed through Google search results looking for the answer to the question that makes up the title of this blog post. Each law school is different. But what they all share in common is that a candidates cGPA and LSAT score reign superior to any other stat. Don’t let ‘the internet’ fool you. There are indeed success stories of candidates with poor undergraduate GPA’s or disappointing LSAT scores but I would estimate that the vast majority (>95%) of those admitted into Law School have maintained a minimum of a B+ average (in most cases higher) and performed reasonably well on the LSAT (75th-80th percentile).
Somebody like myself, who didn’t consider a career in law until late in their undergraduate studies (my third year), is likely at a disadvantage stats-wise. Thus, when you hop onto your friendly search engine looking for which criteria law schools consider, you immediately gravitate towards those which you think you personally excel in. I did very well on the LSAT but, if you’ve learned anything from my first blog post, my GPA was hardly anything to write home about. And although I experienced the most academic success of my life in the following two years of my undergrad (yes, I took a fifth year), my first year and a half as a Life Science student was just too damaging to recover from numerically. So when I was trying to fit myself into the Law School admissions criteria, I definitely banked on the fact that many schools take a holistic approach and take into account a student’s non-academic involvement aka what you did when you weren’t studying or in class. For somebody with decent grades and a decent LSAT, they normally notice that they are lacking in these non-academic categories such as “extra-curricular involvement” and “volunteering”. This leads to an influx of resume-stacking in their third and fourth years.
I am so proud that I was immensely involved on and off campus at the University of Toronto. And I can say, undoubtedly, that I was only involved because I enjoyed it – not because it would help me get into law school and not because [INSERT LAW SCHOOL HERE] would like to see that I had a position as [INSERT POSITION HERE]. I was involved because it’s in my blood. My personality traits essentially require that I’m interacting with people and making a difference. And if it wasn’t for this involvement, I think I would have been extremely dissatisfied with my undergraduate experience. Instead, I leave the University of Toronto prouder than I have ever been of my accomplishments.
The point that I am getting to is that I think that it was my genuine involvement with student government and extra-curricular activities that helped me get into law school. I ensured that I only got involved in things that I had a true passion to be involved with. And I was sure to infuse my accomplishments at the University of Toronto into my Personal Statement for Law Schools. In building a statement that demonstrated how I truly made a difference, I think I got the point across that I wasn’t involved for the name but for a distinct interest in bettering the university experience of not only myself, but hundreds of others at U of T.
The one constant, that I CANNOT REITERATE ENOUGH, is pursuing what you are passionate about. In my first year of University, in fact on my first day of Frosh Week, I knew I wanted to be a DJ. I was extremely interested in music and would love staying up late to listen to Live-To-Air Mixes on the Radio. But other than messing around on Virtual DJ on my Computer, I had no true experience as a DJ. But, I knew that University was a whole new world – a clean slate – and that I might be able to pursue this passion.
Somebody like myself, who didn’t consider a career in law until late in their undergraduate studies (my third year), is likely at a disadvantage stats-wise. Thus, when you hop onto your friendly search engine looking for which criteria law schools consider, you immediately gravitate towards those which you think you personally excel in. I did very well on the LSAT but, if you’ve learned anything from my first blog post, my GPA was hardly anything to write home about. And although I experienced the most academic success of my life in the following two years of my undergrad (yes, I took a fifth year), my first year and a half as a Life Science student was just too damaging to recover from numerically. So when I was trying to fit myself into the Law School admissions criteria, I definitely banked on the fact that many schools take a holistic approach and take into account a student’s non-academic involvement aka what you did when you weren’t studying or in class. For somebody with decent grades and a decent LSAT, they normally notice that they are lacking in these non-academic categories such as “extra-curricular involvement” and “volunteering”. This leads to an influx of resume-stacking in their third and fourth years.
I am so proud that I was immensely involved on and off campus at the University of Toronto. And I can say, undoubtedly, that I was only involved because I enjoyed it – not because it would help me get into law school and not because [INSERT LAW SCHOOL HERE] would like to see that I had a position as [INSERT POSITION HERE]. I was involved because it’s in my blood. My personality traits essentially require that I’m interacting with people and making a difference. And if it wasn’t for this involvement, I think I would have been extremely dissatisfied with my undergraduate experience. Instead, I leave the University of Toronto prouder than I have ever been of my accomplishments.
The point that I am getting to is that I think that it was my genuine involvement with student government and extra-curricular activities that helped me get into law school. I ensured that I only got involved in things that I had a true passion to be involved with. And I was sure to infuse my accomplishments at the University of Toronto into my Personal Statement for Law Schools. In building a statement that demonstrated how I truly made a difference, I think I got the point across that I wasn’t involved for the name but for a distinct interest in bettering the university experience of not only myself, but hundreds of others at U of T.
The one constant, that I CANNOT REITERATE ENOUGH, is pursuing what you are passionate about. In my first year of University, in fact on my first day of Frosh Week, I knew I wanted to be a DJ. I was extremely interested in music and would love staying up late to listen to Live-To-Air Mixes on the Radio. But other than messing around on Virtual DJ on my Computer, I had no true experience as a DJ. But, I knew that University was a whole new world – a clean slate – and that I might be able to pursue this passion.
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| My DJ Name + Logo (courtesty of Jamziz) |
On Day 1 of Frosh I asked my Frosh Leaders about who was in charge of the social events at St Mikes (my college at U of T). After meeting the two social coordinators (who are now good friends of mine, Justin & Francesca) and asking if they were looking for DJ’s, I felt confident that they might give me a shot because Justin asked for me to reach out to him with a Demo after Frosh Week. The best part of this story is that Justin didn’t actually respond to my message right away – in fact I didn’t hear from him until 4 months later, but in the meantime I had let my frosh leaders and all my new friends know that I aspired to be a DJ. Eventually, in December of my first year, one of my Frosh Leaders who also happened to be the President of a Student Group at the University offered me a paid gig at the traditional end-of-exams party. I was
extremely nervous but also extremely ecstatic.
I still remember that night at BLVD Room on Peter Street for COLD RUSH 2008. I DJ’d for nearly 600 people, including both Justin and Francesca who were in attendance. As a follow-up to that performance, Francesca reached out to me to spin at the University’s “Welcome Back” Pub Night in January 2009. After another solid performance I truly felt that I had impressed some of my fellow classmates and even my Chemistry TA (who failed me the semester before but was partying to my music!). And with that said, Justin finally answered my message that I had sent him back in September and asked me to DJ the University’s first “70’s-80’s-90’s Wayback” event called Blast from the Past. By the end of my first year I had DJ’d 6 Social Events and verbally agreed to DJ every event at St. Michael’s College for the following school year! I continued throughout my undergrad as a DJ for almost every college at U of T and had the pleasure of DJ-ing over 75 events at the University.
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| January 9th, 2009 - DJing for SMC's Frost Nite at Cabana |
Becoming a DJ opened up doors for me to pursue involvement with student government which eventually opened up the doors for me to find my passion which is to work as a lawyer within the Sports Industry. Safe to say, to answer the question of how to get into law school, one of the first steps is to follow your passions because they open up more doors than you can ever imagine!
UP NEXT: My next blog post will walk you all thru my time on the St. Michael’s College Students Union (SMCSU) and then I’ll go through the successes of the University of Toronto Sports and Business Association.
Shout out to your favourite Frosh leader.
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