Starting this year, the Faculty of Law will be undertaking a considerable shift towards increasing recruitment and diversity outreach to augment its existing equity and admissions programs. The new policy comes on the heels of last year’s changes in admissions policies and grading practices.
“We have recently taken a more proactive approach to recruiting in general. We feel we are in a different world,” said Dean Mayo Moran.
“We have decided to dramatically increase our outreach in order to improve our class. We do not want to be complacent and rest on our laurels,” explained Professor Ben Alarie, Associate Dean of the First Year Program and Co-Chair of the Admissions Committee. “We want to go out and make sure we are getting the very best, most diverse, most talented class that we can possibly get.”The Faculty has brought on board a new admissions director, Neel Joshi. Coming from York University where he worked on recruitment, he is well versed in the world of higher education admissions and diversity outreach.
Joshi’s job is tripartite: admissions, recruitment, and diversity outreach. “It is interesting because we are the only university in Canada that actually has a role that integrates all three components and looks at the relationship between the three and makes a conscious effort to connect the three areas,” said Joshi.
“There are peers in the U.S. that have been doing this for many years. It is a very thoughtful approach and it is new territory in law school environment here [in Canada]. It is not to say that we were not doing diversity recruitment or recruitment activities in the past. They were definitely done, but we are looking at it from a different perspective,” he said.
In addition to its existing programs for low-income students, consisting of LAWS for secondary school students (launched in 2005) and the LSAT prep program for pre-law students (launched in 2012), the law school is looking forward to a new program to coach students through the first few years of undergraduate education.
From what the law school has seen, many students come to the LSAT prep program when it is too late for them to submit a competitive polished application.
New changes this year to admissions also include an automatic application fee waiver on OLSAS to “make the law school experience affordable and accessible” for those who received the “Canada Student Grant for Students from Low-Income Families” during the past four years.
U.S. Recruitment
U of T Law is also looking south of the border. “This year we are going to New York for the first time in the last few years for the law school forum to attract Canadians that did their undergraduate in the US as well as to speak to Americans who are interested in studying in Canada,” said Joshi.
The law school is interested in both Canadians who went to U.S. for undergraduate studies and are now interested in law school as well as Canadians who are considering going to law school in U.S.
“We get the best students that we can possibly get, and part of that is not only looking inside Canada but beyond,” Moran explained. Every year when I go down to New York, a lot of talented Canadians go to U.S. colleges and they often have offers from U of T law school and fantastic U.S. law schools. So I go down and try and convince them to come to U of T Law. We invite them to alumni receptions in New York. We have done this for years and we are just being more proactive.”
The faculty has also seen an interest from Americans, especially in New York, looking to attend law school in Canada. “It is anecdotal so far, but I have definitely seen an interest in that so far and I think it is because of the strong legal market locally as well as the reputation for schools here in Canada,” said Joshi.
The faculty is also seeing an intake of students both full-time and on exchange from overseas, including from civil law countries such China and European Union members.
“The reality is that law is a much more multi-jurisdictional than it used to be, and at the world of high-level law and policy, it is not a very jurisdictional world,” said Moran.
Admissions Process Becomes More Holistic
Last year saw the Faculty of Law move towards a holistic admission process. The new process consists of academic factors comprising two-thirds and biographical factors comprising the remaining one-third of the evaluation. Academics include the LSAT and GPA, considering the candidate’s institution and program, while the biography includes the statement and sketch. Reference letters are still not required.
“Historically we were viewed as more numerical,” said Joshi. “While our actual admit numbers in terms of GPA and LSAT medians may not be shifting dramatically, the way we approach our assessment and review of a student and their eligibility for admission is quite different.”
This year U of T had an increase in the self-selectivity rate, with the acceptance rate at 16.8% and the yield rate at 68.8% (accounting for deferrals). That is compared to 15.9% and 64.1% from last year, which was the lowest and highest, respectively, in the province, the latest year for which comparable information is available, and in league with top U.S. law schools.
This year was also the first that U of T disclosed its 25th and 75th percentiles for GPAs and LSATs in addition to medians. This year’s entry statistics for the entering class of 2013 were in line with recent years, as Joshi explained, with GPAs for the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles at 83.0, 85.4, and 87.7 percent, respectively. LSATs for the same percentiles were at 90, 95, and 97 percentile, respectively, with the median at least a decile above other law schools in the province.
