Rejected [McGill 2021]

[anc1991 62]

3 minutes ago, somedaylawyer said:

Got the email today

 

LSAT: 173

GPA: 3.92

 

Honestly, I was really surprised and have no idea why. I've gotten in elsewhere, so I'm just kind of baffled... 

Wow okay I was feeling sorry for myself but this is just incredible. I am really sorry to hear that and congratulations on your other acceptances.

[Prospero 703]

7 minutes ago, somedaylawyer said:

Got the email today

 

LSAT: 173

GPA: 3.92

 

Honestly, I was really surprised and have no idea why. I've gotten in elsewhere, so I'm just kind of baffled... 

Yield protection. Go to Yale 

[IlMagnifico 1]

1 hour ago, somedaylawyer said:

Got the email today

 

LSAT: 173

GPA: 3.92

 

Honestly, I was really surprised and have no idea why. I've gotten in elsewhere, so I'm just kind of baffled... 

Do you maybe not French? Seems honestly like the only possible reason why someone with this profile would get rejected!

Your GPA is .22 above their average/median (can't remember which) for gosh sake!

 

[artsydork 5648]

13 hours ago, anc1991 said:

I had health issues during my second year of university and had to late withdraw from 6 courses overall. Though it didn’t affect my GPA, I can imagine it probably didn’t help my application.

Thank you for the kind words and don’t lose hope unless your transcript is full of withdrawals too!

Fwiw, I had 4 Ws sprinkled throughout my undergrad (minor hopped). I didn't explain them at all when I was admitted to McGill back in the day. 

Re: everyone else surprised by other stats. McGill is not just a numbers school. CV, references and letter of intent are all very important. 

[Deko1377 1]

12 hours ago, Prospero said:

Yield protection. Go to Yale 

That's exactly what I was thinking. No way it could be anything else. Good luck with your other applications, @somedaylawyer! Consider applying to Yale/Harvard

[PlayALawyerOnTV 383]

13 hours ago, Prospero said:

Yield protection. Go to Yale 

 

36 minutes ago, Deko1377 said:

That's exactly what I was thinking. No way it could be anything else. Good luck with your other applications, @somedaylawyer! Consider applying to Yale/Harvard

Out of curiosity how common is yield protection for Canadian schools? I'm sure it must exist to an extent, but from what I've gathered on this forum and elsewhere it isn't as much of a thing as it is for American schools given their ranking system.

[polilegal 23]

Probably as long as the applicant says on the application that they've applied to other law schools, McGill will take that into consideration and might reject amazing stats applicant? IlMagnifico does say they've been already admitted to other school(s). 

[McGillObama 15]

Getting rejected with those stats doesn't make sense. Maybe not holistic enough? Anyway, off to a better school...hopefully a much better school.

[IlMagnifico 1]

39 minutes ago, polilegal said:

Probably as long as the applicant says on the application that they've applied to other law schools, McGill will take that into consideration and might reject amazing stats applicant? IlMagnifico does say they've been already admitted to other school(s). 

Not me!

I went all in on McGill - yes I know I'm dumb, 

But my average seemed to be high enough.

[polilegal 23]

Just now, IlMagnifico said:

Not me!

I went all in on McGill - yes I know I'm dumb, 

But my average seemed to be high enough.

Woops! Sorry, I meant to say somedaylawyer  

[artsydork 5648]

2 hours ago, Deko1377 said:

That's exactly what I was thinking. No way it could be anything else. Good luck with your other applications, @somedaylawyer! Consider applying to Yale/Harvard

 

1 hour ago, PlayALawyerOnTV said:

 

Out of curiosity how common is yield protection for Canadian schools? I'm sure it must exist to an extent, but from what I've gathered on this forum and elsewhere it isn't as much of a thing as it is for American schools given their ranking system.

 

43 minutes ago, polilegal said:

Probably as long as the applicant says on the application that they've applied to other law schools, McGill will take that into consideration and might reject amazing stats applicant? IlMagnifico does say they've been already admitted to other school(s). 

It's not yield protection. McGill routinely has people with high stats accepted. Stop the fake news. McGill has all their admission criteria online. Numbers alone won't get a person in. 

People apply to other schools. McGill doesn't give AF if you've applied elsewhere. It's normal to apply to multiple schools.

 

 

 

[erinl2 4953]

2 hours ago, Deko1377 said:

That's exactly what I was thinking. No way it could be anything else. Good luck with your other applications, @somedaylawyer! Consider applying to Yale/Harvard

Agree with artsydork. 

Yield protection is not a thing at Canadian law schools. To speculate that that is a reason for someone not being admitted is not only silly and unhelpful, it's not factual. 

[birdlaww 68]

Refused in Minerva today.

GPA (with Fall Grades): 3.79

LSAT: 171

I think my stats are pretty high and I am beyond (I mean, BEYOND) bummed because this was my number 1 choice by far, but I'd like to add some context to my application to give others some hope. French is my third language and my learning of the language has largely been very informal, which I addressed but likely didn't capture well in my PS. My resume was solid, but that's considering that I am K-JD (i.e. typical strong softs, no real unique work experience) and while I would also say that my PS was well written overall (in that it clearly communicated my desire for McGill and Montréal) and unique because of what I told them I wanted to achieve in my time there, it clearly wasn't enough to set me apart and I 100% understand how the adcom decided that. Overall shocked that it came this early as I thought any rejection would come after a french interview, but given how great a school McGill is, they're putting together as good a class as they can and thats the way she goes! 

Good luck to everyone waiting, and please please don't panic if your stats are lower than mine; Thats not how McGill works and if I'm being honest, the holistic process that likely doomed me is actually what makes the school so strong. 

Edited January 26 by birdlaww

[McGillObama 15]

54 minutes ago, birdlaww said:

Good luck to everyone waiting, and please please don't panic if your stats are lower than mine; Thats not how McGill works and if I'm being honest, the holistic process that likely doomed me is actually what makes the school so strong. 

A list-based acceptance protocol is not only more fair, but brings in the best students. I know people that were accepted who were displeased with the process.

Edited January 26 by McGillObama

[lolschool 122]

what's fair anyway

i was rejected last year, and probably will be again this year, mcgill's holistic process/approach is still one of the main reasons i want to attend

i don't know how much it plays out in real life, but i appreciate that an institution stands behind that idea at least... kinda warms my heart to see "low" stat people post in the accepted threads ❤️

[birdlaww 68]

7 minutes ago, McGillObama said:

A list-based acceptance protocol is not only more fair, but brings in the best students. I know people that were accepted who were displeased with the process.

By list-based protocol do you mean like the standard GPA+LSAT-based admissions? Regardless, I understand that there are tradeoffs to any method of admission and I'm sure that anyone, whether accepted or rejected, could have an issue with the way McGill does things. I'm obviously not thrilled with it at the moment because Montréal is my favourite city in the world and I was dying to live there. However, I still believe that a holistic process is important because even though I rely on stats heavily for my applications, GPA and LSAT aren't the be-all end-all of what makes a smart person/good lawyer and we need at least a few schools that strongly consider that. 

[McGillObama 15]

2 minutes ago, birdlaww said:

By list-based protocol do you mean like the standard GPA+LSAT-based admissions? Regardless, I understand that there are tradeoffs to any method of admission and I'm sure that anyone, whether accepted or rejected, could have an issue with the way McGill does things. I'm obviously not thrilled with it at the moment because Montréal is my favourite city in the world and I was dying to live there. However, I still believe that a holistic process is important because even though I rely on stats heavily for my applications, GPA and LSAT aren't the be-all end-all of what makes a smart person/good lawyer and we need at least a few schools that strongly consider that. 

Yes I was referring to a GPA+LSAT approach. It's not necessarily a show of intelligence, but one of commitment. Hard work should pay off. The holistic approach also has unclear criteria. Just my two cents.

[polilegal 23]

God damn. Refused just few minutes ago. 

GPA 3.77, no LSAT.

Strong ECs (leader of few groups, internship at human rights org), worked as court clerk for gov. Strong references. University applicant.

Generic refusal letter. 

[IlMagnifico 1]

3 minutes ago, polilegal said:

God damn. Refused just few minutes ago. 

GPA 3.77, no LSAT.

Strong ECs (leader of few groups, internship at human rights org), worked as court clerk for gov. Strong references. University applicant.

Generic refusal letter. 

Off, that's scarily close to my stats, how was your French?

 

[birdlaww 68]

1 minute ago, McGillObama said:

Yes I was referring to a GPA+LSAT approach. It's not necessarily a show of intelligence, but one of commitment. Hard work should pay off. The holistic approach also has unclear criteria. Just my two cents.

 I suppose the process may be too subjective for some and I wish all of my hard work paid off for McGill but it has paid off in giving me lots of other great options, and at the end of the day it is just one school! But I see where you're coming from for sure.