OPINION
Monday, November 17, 2014 9
Confessions of a 1L
The 0L Admissions Process, Holistic or not?
camille walker › contributor
OL Experience
A
rou n d t h is t i m e last year, myself and
the other 290+ students of the Osgoode Hall
Class of 2017 had the grueling task of tack ling law school admissions. As we spent
countless hours trying to decide exactly what a law
school admissions committee would be looking for in
an application, we asked past students, current students and prospective students to try to gain some
insight. We asked ourselves many questions: “where
do we start?”; “what do we say?”; “are our GPAs too
low?”; and “what about the LSAT?!!” For many of us,
these questions boggled our minds up until we got
our very first acceptance into law school. I remember
sitting with a current Osgoode student expressing my
concern that maybe my GPA just was not high enough
or that my LSAT score was not high enough and wondering how holistic the Osgoode admissions process
actually was. I also remember being told by countless sources, including Professional School Support
councilors, that the law school admission process was
merely a numbers game…oh no!
Prior to starting law school, many prospective
students, myself included, believed that this holistic approach was non-existent. We grappled with the
long-winded task of aiming high on the LSAT and
trying desperately to not sound completely ridiculous
on our personal statements. Dealing with the grueling task of answering the question: “why do I want to
go to law school?”
Then 1L!
In discussing with some of my fellow Osgoode 1Ls
this seemed to be the shared view prior to starting at
Osgoode. It seemed as though the holistic process was
non-existent or a sheer mechanism that admissions
committees used to accumulate more applications
or to give prospective students an immaterial sense
of hope of getting accepted. We all invested time in
trying to make our applications as great as possible
and hoping that someway, somehow, this was not
true.
Hoping that someone, anyone, would accept what
we had to say.
As I entered the Class of 2017, I was greeted with
familiar faces and students from somewhat unexpected walks of life including mature students,
students coming directly out of undergraduate programs, and students with several graduate degrees.
I was quite happy to realize that the class also consisted of students who had amazing previous careers,
including past firefighters, professional soccer players, architects, and chefs. I was puzzled and completely excited to understand just how the Admissions
Committee and the Osgoode administration had done
such a great job in putting our class together.
ADCOM
I got my answer when I was given the opportunity
to sit on the Admissions Committee as a first year
Student Caucus representative. Suffice it to say, I
was glad to realize that the Admissions Committee
ê Those with a 4.0 GPA and 180 LSAT score may fill the halls of U of T, but here at Osgoode we value a different kind
of law student.
comprised of very friendly faces and individuals who
were encouraging and welcoming of a wide range of
applicants with excellent academic and LSAT results
but also with other significant achievements. The
admissions policy
identifies applicants who are able
to demonstrate
how their academic abilities and
varied experiences can contribute to the law school
and the legal community.
This mythical holistic approach has now materialized as a fact! Osgoode has moved away from the
traditional approach of the “numbers game” and
has adopted an admissions policy, which focuses on
measuring all applications against the very same criteria. The holistic approach to admissions includes a
balance of individual and collective considerations.
Academic excellence and social diversity are incorporated to maintain open and transparent procedures,
which broaden the criteria of assessment.
Part B of the admissions, personal statement criteria, allows students to acknowledge factors relating to
equity and diversity highlighting considerations that
may be related to systemic barriers faced by applicants to equal access to education. Applicants, in the
work or life experience section, are able to highlight
ways in which their experiences demonstrate that
they possess the skills necessary to succeed in law
school. Additionally, students can highlight any circumstances or non-academic commitments that
have negatively
affected a portion of an applicant’s academic
performance.
The admissions
policy and procedure is founded on notions of fairness
and equity. Each applicant is encouraged to demonstrate any equity, diversity and performance considerations related to the skill sets needed to succeed in
law school.
And to the fellow 1Ls of the Class of 2017, as we
get ready to sit our first law school 100% exams,
remember that Osgoode Hall Law School’s admissions policy and procedure identifies an outstanding
class of students whose academic abilities and varied
experiences make a continuing social and intellectual contribution to the law school and the legal
profession.
“This mythical holistic approach
has now materialized as a fact!”
So best of luck and not to worry, we’re all gonna do
great! u