3 Reasons Why I Chose TRU Law

Hailey Lonsdale
Law School Life and Beyond
4 min readMar 3, 2021

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When I was an undergraduate student, I often felt very fortunate to live in a country with many exceptional law schools. I deeply believe that all Canadian legal institutions are fantastic in their own way. However, TRU Law is especially close to my heart. Here’s 3 reasons why you should choose TRU Law to pursue your JD in Canada.

These were some of the factors of my choice to attend TRU Law, and why I feel so proud and lucky to represent the school as a current student.

A strong, supportive community. In and out of the classroom.

The learning environment was important factor in my choice to attend TRU Law. Coming from a small liberal arts college within Western University (Huron University College), I placed high value on an intimate and supportive community. TRU Law provides opportunities for me to connect with my professors and peers on an individual level.

Within my first week at TRU Law, nearly all of my professors knew me by name, why I wanted to attend law school, and my path to getting there. I felt acknowledged and seen. I remember sitting in my seat during one of my first lectures. I was told by a professor during that class, that I had earned that seat, due to my unique set of experiences, qualities and values. I felt welcomed and most importantly, connected to my new home.

From the 120 1Ls TRU Law matriculates every year, two sections of 60 are formed. This section is your new family, and a group whom you will spend 8 hours, 5 days a week with. Close relationships are formed quickly, and with ease.

Outside of the classroom, I feel an immense connection to those who have come before me. I have had numerous opportunities to connect with TRU Law alumni, in both professional and casual environments. Every interaction has been one of encouragement, support and collegiality. There has been no limit in the offers to assist in my growth and advancement as a law student. TRU Law alumni are willing to invest time and energy into the furthering of your career and the TRU Law brand, wherever possible.

Small school, big opportunities.

As previously mentioned, TRU Law is a small, close-knit community. When speaking with prospective students, I sometimes feel as if this is construed as something that would diminish extra curricular opportunities.

I am here to tell you, it is the opposite.

As a newer, smaller law school, students have the opportunity to access resources and funding from the administration and student councils. The growth and development of student life and involvement is highly encouraged. New ideas for student organizations or events are thoroughly supported. If you can dream it, TRU Law will help you create it.

For me, it is also simple math. If a conference is able to grant 5 delegate tickets per law school, you likely have a greater chance of obtaining a spot if your school has a smaller number of students who are vying for the ticket.

This math can also be extrapolated to apply to research positions. If there are 10 professors who are seeking RA’s, you likely have a better chance if the total interested applicant pool is smaller. At TRU Law, most research positions are unposted, because they are granted more so on the student’s desire to work on a particular project with a professor, instead of the reverse. If there is an issue that particularly excites, chances are, a TRU Law professor would jump at the opportunity to assist you with your research. There is no shortage of possibility at TRU Law. All you must show is your willingness and diligence to achieve it.

Reputation. TRU Law students are known to be humans first, law students second.

TRU Law students are intelligent, academically focused people, with unique sets of experiences. We are known in particular, to be very genuine and grateful for the opportunity to study law.

In my opinion, the holistic admissions system used by TRU Law enables applicants who may have followed a non-traditional path to law school (e.g. anything other than K to JD), to be given the opportunity to fulfil their dream of entering the legal profession. These students, whom may have been overlooked by other, more quantitative admissions requirements (e.g. 165+ LSAT score), to be instead judged by their qualitative values. This is not to say that TRU Law students are made up of the set of picked over applicants, who were not accepted by other schools, as is sometimes thought. Rather, that TRU Law requires more than good scores and GPA for admission, they require you to be a good, genuine person.

This in turn, creates a student body that has been adjudicated on its good character, tenacity, life experience and desire to join the legal profession.

I am often told by members of the legal community, that TRU Law students are some of the most positive, genuine and authentic law students around. I think that comes from being recognized and selected for those qualities, from the very beginning. We are known as kind, sincere and considerate. For me, there is no better reputation.

The decision to attend law school is in itself, a difficult one. Selecting an institution to attend can be even more challenging. I hope these three reasons resonate for you, and hopefully in turn, encourage you to consider attending TRU Law.

If you have any questions about TRU Law, please do not hesitate to contact me via LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/hailey-lonsdale-90a8b897

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