Ryerson vs. UVic

[ChasingMountains 5]

I'm from Ontario, and I have narrowed down my choices between Ryerson and UVic.

Ryerson:

PROS- better networking in Toronto for human rights law (also will want to practice in ON), not having to article, and the faculty has great reviews on ratemyprof.  

CONS- 22K tuition and 2.5/month rent, and I'm not a city girl.

UVic:

PROS- 11K tuition, 1.5K/month rent, and my dream of living in the mountains will be fulfilled!

CONS- not the province I'll be practicing in.

Throw any of the pros and cons that I've missed! Brutally honest opinions are appreciated lol.

[LawSchoolJock 112]

Generally speaking the prevailing opinion on this site is go to school where you want to practice, but the fact that Ryerson is brand new with no alumni base may change things. 

It seems to me like you would have a better experience at UVic and are only considering Ryerson because you want to work in Ontario. Why not go into the UVic thread and ask if any students from Ontario managed to go back home and what the experience like? I'm sure that they will give you much better advice than the average person on this site.

Also if you're not a city girl why go to school to school in downtown Toronto? Did you consider applying to schools like Windsor?

Goodluck!

[Lawstudent97 220]

Is Ryerson the only school you got accepted to in Ontario? 
 

I would think that if you had the stats for UVic you would get multiple Ontario acceptances 

[Kingifer 56]

I can only give you my opinion but if those were my options 100% U Vic, if only because you will get to live in Victoria. Have you ever been to Victoria? I lived there for a year and it was my favourite city in the world. If my partner didn't own his practice in Edmonton I would have moved there for good (not that I hate Edmonton). 

I might be biased but it is like my dream city. It is stunning. There are amazing walking paths, the inner harbour is gorgeous, the people are friendly and awesome. The campus is magical, there are bunnies everywhere. There are walking paths in an area called Oak Bay where you will literally run into deer just chilling and walking on the road. There are dogs everywhere and you're near the Pacific Ocean. If you need to clear your head you can go out to a place called Clover Point and just relax and take in some fresh sea air. You can see the stars at night. You can hike in the temperate rain forest and see trees that are thousands of years old. You can see whales, seals, and dolphins. You can look in the little tide pools that are just full of tiny ocean life. You can drive up to Tofino and surf. You can go to the beach and collect sea glass. You take a ferry to Salt Springs Island where people smoke weed and dance all day. You can check out the farmers market and see all the goods from Indigenous and local businesses. The weather is rainy, but they have 100 more days of sun than Vancouver, so it's not impossibly rainy. If you're into sustainability it is super green there. For example, there are no plastic bags at any store and people bring their own. There is an AMAZING Taco Food Truck called "Taco Justice" - best tacos/burritos/nachos I've had in my life. I could go on and on lol. 

Yeah, you might have to work a little bit harder to practice when you move back to Ontario, but it won't be impossible to do so, and the trade off would be worth it (in my opinion). That is my very very long response to you. Go where your heart tells you to go. 

Edited April 6 by Kingifer

[Twenty 135]

21 minutes ago, Lawstudent97 said:

Is Ryerson the only school you got accepted to in Ontario? 
 

I would think that if you had the stats for UVic you would get multiple Ontario acceptances 

Yeah, this is such an odd pairing as UVic is pretty competitive to get into. 

I would go with UVic. It has a solid reputation and is significantly cheaper. I think any possible advantage Ryerson provides is outweighed by the fact that it's such a new school. 

I know the general advice is "go where you want to practice", but 1) Ryerson is a wild card and 2) you might change your mind and practice in BC instead. Also, I doubt that ON employers will look down on a UVic law degree. In fact, you mentioned being interested in "human rights law" and UVic markets themselves as a social justice-focused school. 

[Astro 63]

Quote

PROS- 11K tuition, 1.5K/month rent, and my dream of living in the mountains will be fulfilled!

Rent in Victoria is 1.5k per month? 

[TimTheEnchanter 193]

I’ve seen this advice multiple times, and having only scraped the surface of this big, broad field they call “law”, I’ve realized that the advice was right:

Figure out what you mean by “human rights law”.

Do you want to practice in a provincial Human Rights Commission? Do you want to promote human rights abroad as part of the UN or provide HR-related legal advice to a deployed mission (very difficult areas to get in to)? Or maybe it’s not really about human rights per se and more about defending people who are facing the weight of the Crown in a criminal trial? Or about labour law? Or maybe immigration law?

Or maybe you just don’t know yet - and that’s ok! The beauty of first year is that you dabble in a breadth of subjects, meet a lot of interesting practitioners, and get a feel for what “human rights” really means in this field. Then you can tailor your upper year courses according to your interests.

With that said, TO might not be the “human rights hub” you think it is. If I were in your shoes I’d choose UVic because (1) it’s less expensive, (2) the school offers a lot of interesting classes and opportunities that have to do with social justice more broadly, and (3) (I believe) they have a Human Rights Clinic where you can test-drive what it means to work in that area.

I see that you also posted “Ryerson vs TRU”, which doesn’t change my advice: I’d pick UVic over TRU for the same reasons.

Congrats on your acceptances, enjoy the ride!

[yeezy 124]

1 hour ago, Astro said:

Rent in Victoria is 1.5k per month? 

Vic does have a very low vacancy rate but op you should be able to get a nice studio or 1 bed apartment for like 900-1200 @ChasingMountains (Its been two years since ive lived there tho so things could have changed)

[TheAEGIS 199]

Are these schools you've been accepted to or schools you're considering?

If it's the latter, I'd say Osgoode is a better competitor to UVic, and you should consider that over Ryerson. Ryerson is brand spanking new and has no alumni network. It may someday be a great school, but it's not going to be close to UVic by the time you're graduating.

So, beyond annoying travel costs and the high cost of rent in B.C., some of which is offset by the really more expensive tuition you'd be paying in Ryerson anyway, UVic is more advantageous in just about every other way that matters. Personally, I'd be buying a ticket to B.C. ... as soon as we're allowed to fly again that is.

[pzabbythesecond 4283]

Uvic without a doubt. I've also heard their Co-Op has some Ontario placements too, so you can try to put your foot in the door like that.

To be honest, I agree with the general idea of going to school where you want to practice, but Ontario (I am assuming you mean Toronto, because if not my advice would be different) has an ego to it that employers assume people want to be there - even if they went to school somewhere else.

And (accurate or not), it's not TRU where employers might think you went there because you didn't get in anywhere in Ontario. Uvic is a well regarded school that's competitive to get into.

And the financial savings should be much higher in your list than other things, especially in this economy.

[KaiTheStarfish 1]

On 4/6/2020 at 3:58 PM, Kingifer said:

 There are walking paths in an area called Oak Bay where you will literally run into deer just chilling and walking on the road.

Very relatable. I see deers in my backyard all the time. Victoria is literally a fairy tale town. I haven't been to many places on earth but I am pretty positive that Victoria is one of the best places to spend a lifetime. 

On 4/6/2020 at 12:35 PM, ChasingMountains said:

PROS- 11K tuition, 1.5K/month rent, and my dream of living in the mountains will be fulfilled!

You won't need that much for rent. A two-bedroom studio near the campus is slightly over 2k per month. Find a roommate and you'll be looking at a rent of about 1k. Houses are cheaper, I live less than 10 mins of bus away from the campus and I pay 800 a months including utility bill. 

[conge 1124]

On 4/6/2020 at 4:35 PM, ChasingMountains said:

I'm from Ontario, and I have narrowed down my choices between Ryerson and UVic.

Ryerson:

PROS- better networking in Toronto for human rights law (also will want to practice in ON), not having to article, and the faculty has great reviews on ratemyprof.  

CONS- 22K tuition and 2.5/month rent, and I'm not a city girl.

UVic:

PROS- 11K tuition, 1.5K/month rent, and my dream of living in the mountains will be fulfilled!

CONS- not the province I'll be practicing in.

Throw any of the pros and cons that I've missed! Brutally honest opinions are appreciated lol.

Where all have you been admitted? 

UVic in a heatbeat, between these two schools. 

 

[ArchivesandMuseums 272]

On 4/6/2020 at 3:35 PM, ChasingMountains said:

I'm from Ontario, and I have narrowed down my choices between Ryerson and UVic.

Ryerson:

PROS- better networking in Toronto for human rights law (also will want to practice in ON), not having to article, and the faculty has great reviews on ratemyprof.  

CONS- 22K tuition and 2.5/month rent, and I'm not a city girl.

UVic:

PROS- 11K tuition, 1.5K/month rent, and my dream of living in the mountains will be fulfilled!

CONS- not the province I'll be practicing in.

Throw any of the pros and cons that I've missed! Brutally honest opinions are appreciated lol.

I do not think that Ryerson has any strengths in human rights law. Go to uVic; it is a very reputable law school, and it has a particular strength in human rights and Indigenous law.

[CleanHands 1161]

Agreed with everyone that this thread/comparison simply does not make sense. I'm guessing it's hypothetical and the OP wasn't aware of how competitive UVic admissions are, as based on the stats that the OP provided in a previous post, I would be completely baffled if they were actually accepted to UVic under any admissions category (unless they hugely improved since they last posted their stats--but then, that would raise further questions about this thread). If they actually received a UVic offer, they should have thanked their lucky stars and ran with it without a second thought.

[Fian 40]

This is a no brainer. Normally, you attend law school where you would like to practice, but Toronto has three law schools and Ryerson is the newest and will be the lowest ranked of the three (by QS, Times, or any other ranking). U.Vic will serve you better if you practice in Ontario or B.C.

[ChasingMountains 5]

On 7/14/2020 at 11:09 AM, CleanHands said:

Agreed with everyone that this thread/comparison simply does not make sense. I'm guessing it's hypothetical and the OP wasn't aware of how competitive UVic admissions are, as based on the stats that the OP provided in a previous post, I would be completely baffled if they were actually accepted to UVic under any admissions category (unless they hugely improved since they last posted their stats--but then, that would raise further questions about this thread). If they actually received a UVic offer, they should have thanked their lucky stars and ran with it without a second thought.

Prepare yourself to be baffled then because I was accepted to UVic, and this was not a hypothetical thread. 😒

[QuincyWagstaff 3152]

On 7/27/2020 at 6:04 PM, ChasingMountains said:

Prepare yourself to be baffled then because I was accepted to UVic, and this was not a hypothetical thread. 😒

Hello, Ryerson Law marketing consultant with sock puppet account....

Because I can’t fathom anyone else posting this 

[Likethis 4]

I don’t think living in Victoria = living in mountains. Ocean, sure. But mountains, no. 
 

/Calgary snark

 Congrats, btw!

[BlockedQuebecois 4833]

11 hours ago, Likethis said:

I don’t think living in Victoria = living in mountains. Ocean, sure. But mountains, no. 
 

/Calgary snark

 Congrats, btw!

I always forget how mountainous Calgary is: 

[albertabean 123]

1 hour ago, BlockedQuebecois said:

I always forget how mountainous Calgary is: 

Have you even been to Calgary? I can see the mountains from my house, my Dad can see them from his office, I can see them on most of the thoroughfares. There visible in many places throughout the city. 

Weird flex to post one picture from an eastwards angle of the city when the mountains are westwards. The mountains are literally *behind* this camera.