Perspectives of a Transfer Student
Last semester, I transferred here, to U of T Law, from Queen’s Law. I had an amazing time so far here surrounded by amazing friends and colleagues. Ever since I joined Ultra Vires, I couldn’t help but compare and contrast between both law schools based on my personal experiences being a student at Queens and U of T Law. Who’s the winner? See my thoughts below! Here, I will break down my experiences related to my time at both schools based on social, academic and lifestyle factors.
Social and Extracurricular Involvements
From my experience, I would say that my social life has been much more active here at U of T Law than at Queens. However, this is also contributed by the fact that my 1L year was more intense in terms of my workload—there was a significant learning curve, as is characteristic of 1L.
Here at U of T Law, I have joined clubs, such as the Asian Law Society, and occasionally attended Call to the Bar nights where I made friends. The atmosphere at these events was collegial, friendly, and warm. The school also gives us opportunities to meet people outside our program through events, such as the Students’ Law Society organized Med Mixer and opportunities to network with practicing lawyers and professors through networking sessions.
To compare, Queens has a “Call to the Bar” equivalent event known as “Smokers” that runs every week with different themes. I found the “Smokers” to be more creative and playful than Call to the Bars since we had fun themes every week. In addition, Queens also allowed students to meet others outside of the law program through the med and law games. However, in terms of networking, I personally felt that clubs at Queens placed a greater emphasis on giving students more networking opportunities with practicing lawyers along with a greater variety of stress-relief activities, for instance trivia nights, board game nights, casino nights, and hackathons. However, a lot of events were virtual instead of in-person.
Overall, while I felt that Queens did give me more “opportunities” to socialize through the voluminous amounts of fun-themed activities and networking clubs, I have ironically felt a more sociable atmosphere from students at U of T Law, which may be due to a greater emphasis on having in-person activities.
Academic and Career Support
My experience with my 1L professors at Queens was phenomenal. They truly were each so passionate in academia and teaching, and I found myself feeling more engaged in class at Queens than at U of T Law. For instance, my criminal law professor at Queens turned each legal concept of murder, defences, mens rea and actus reus into a memorable story from the humourous jokes he was able to make so that we could be able to manage to engage with course content. In addition, my contracts professor at Queens broke down the legal reasoning behind each case we read clearly, provided his own interesting perspectives to case decisions, and truly challenged students to think critically and theoretically. Overall, I had a very positive experience with all the professors at Queens as their passion in teaching was truly reflected in their patience for us, the 4-hour office hours professors were willing to have before exams, and interesting methods of teaching they used to turn law into a living and breathing subject for students! On the other hand, professors at U of T Law are mostly practitioners who bring practical perspectives to the laws which are also very useful.
In terms of the Career Development Office, I have experienced more support and resources at U of T Law. Before the recruits, I booked multiple mock interviews with academic advisors and have gotten lots of very useful and honest feedback. Many info sessions and important firm data (that did not seem available at Queens) were also posted before the recruits to ensure all students were well-informed of the process. Overall, the staff at the CDO have been so supportive, compassionate, and genuinely interested to see students succeed, making me feel that I was in good hands during the busy recruit period. They gave me the confidence I needed to do well in the recruits, and also followed up after the recruits which I found so heart-warming!
To conclude, I did find my experience at Queens to be more academically engaging, yet I felt more supported by the CDO at UofT along with a wider array of resources for career development.
Lifestyle
I find myself enjoying the lifestyle in Toronto much more than in Kingston due to multiple factors: (1) greater diversity in food choices, (2) more activities, such as cocktail bars, and fitness classes, and (3) I am closer to my family. When I was in Kingston, the winter felt slightly more humid and slushier, and I also found myself to be living on frozen microwaveables and cereals much more than I have in Toronto. In Kingston, there was also a smaller selection of cafes I could study at, and so I just ended up studying at home instead more often. In addition, the commutes back to Toronto where my family is located took two to three hours each time which made it more difficult to visit.
Overall, I had great experiences at both law schools—each for different reasons!