I am so sorry about the delay on this; life got insane the afternoon that I posted this, and I am finally getting back on track.  1. I agree with Whist on this one. UofA is generally considered to be more friendly than other law schools, but 1L is generally rough. I wish this weren't the case, and I would love for the culture to change, but I find it can be gossipy, and overall mental health goes downhill in 1L, but then things get way better for collegiality in upper years. Things seem to be a bit better this year than in previous years but it's still not amazing.  2. I also agree with Whist on this one. You should dissociate from your grades as much as possible. Everyone goes through a humbling period in 1L of realizing they are not the shit. I had like a 3.1 in 1L but went up to a 3.6 in 2L and I am on track for a 3.8 for my last year. So, all this to say, 1L is not the best indicator of who you are and what you are capable of. I went on to get a very competitive articling position and summer jobs so my 1L grades being perfectly average was absolutely all I needed.  3. That is hard to know. I would say less than half of students work, and most work at most part-time. I did not work until second semester of 3L and instead focused on volunteer efforts and aimed for scholarship. I got over 30K in scholarship during law school so this paid basically as much as working part time. I think either approach is valid but working is definitely a more certain source of income. I would strongly suggest not working in 1L or, at the most, working in first semester and quitting for the winter as your course load goes up by 1.5 in winter.  4-5 I don't have good answers to.  6. So, this is where Whists' info was a little bit outdated! There is sort of a class ranking. The top 10% of students each year get on the Dean's List, and that list is publicly posted to the UofA Law webpage (I assume, in part, to allow firms and such to confirm a student didn't photoshop or fake their grades or something like that). So, basically, you know who is top 10% each year, but nothing more than that. If you're GPA is of a certain amount (because of the curve in law school, I think around the top 15-20% of folks would get this), you also get a designation on your transcript, but this list is not publicized. The top 3 students (based on cumulative GPA across all three years) get medals and a small scholarship. There are also some graduating scholarships for substantial community contributions.

Where do you want to work after law school, Atlantic Canada or the West (or neither)?

Vancouver isn’t exactly a backwater small town, at least by Canadian standards 😂   Asides from a slight disadvantage at Ontario MAG which will be balanced out by a slight disadvantage at BC MAG, there is no advantage to attending Osgoode over UBC for your public/government law purposes. Go where you think you want to practice long term. You can always apply for jobs that really speak to you in the other province. 

Just got waitlisted yesterday!!! 154 lsat and 3.5 gpa. 

Osgoode was initially where I was going to end up until I got my UBC acceptance. I live in Vancouver and would likely want to practice here in the future so I thought it would be a fait accompli that I would go with UBC. However, I just need to make sure it's the right choice.   I am someone who wants to work for the public sector. My preferred choice is the Competition Bureau, followed by DOJ or MAG for civil litigation. Failing that, I would be interested in governmental bodies such as Securities Commissions, Police Watchdogs, and Coroners, or litigation boutiques for administrative/public law.   Even though I live in Vancouver and absolutely love my life in BC, I am concerned that I am missing out on opportunities in Ontario by staying in UBC. Being in Ontario would mean I am closer to the feds. The Ontario MAG would also have more opportunities than the BC MAG. For competition law the Ottawa/Toronto Competition Bureau offices are the biggest, and most competition lawyers are based in Toronto. I also used to live in Toronto and do thoroughly enjoy the city as well. Osgoode also just seems like such a great school with its diverse student body and long history of public service alumni.   Conversely, BC is more at the periphery of Laurentian nexus of Canada, yet there is still a Vancouver office for the Competition Bureau, and there is also a local DOJ office. The tuition is much cheaper (13k vs 26k). Though UBC seems more corporate than Osgoode (though big enough to accommodate non corporate types).   How should I evaluate the lost Ontario opportunities versus the potential BC opportunities to be involved in interesting work related to my fields of interest? Also posted to Reddit.

I don’t want to be too discouraging, but these softs don’t really constitute an “unusually strong holistic factor”. Sure, you’ve got a bit more going for you than the average K-JD, but it’s not uncommon for Applicants to have other degrees, diplomas, work experience, and volunteering under their belt. I’d say your profile is decidedly average. Fortunately, your GPA seems competitive, so a LSAT score in the 160s sets you up nicely for a few schools.

NB is definitely more affordable than BC. The city is much smaller and walkable and you run into classmates or even partners at the local firms just out and about for coffee which is super cool to me. I also think UNB is very underrated academically with leading scholars in a number of areas, as well as a broad network of alumni mentors.  I grew up in BC and am currently attending UNB. One of the profs refers to NB as cheap BC.