Three Tips for Applying to an Out-of-Province Law School
The law school application process can be a grueling and uncertain series of events. As a current law student, I vividly recall my own experience applying to law schools and waiting for responses. Some prospective law students are more concerned about getting into law school than they are about where that school is located.
Applying to several schools increases your chances of admission from an odds perspective, and you may even find yourself with multiple offers of admission. For myself, being from Ottawa, Ontario, and now attending law school at the University of Saskatchewan, I can vouch for the many rewards of attending law school outside of your current province. Below are three main tips that I can offer to students applying to a law school outside their current province.
1. Use the personal statement as an opportunity to demonstrate your uniqueness.
The personal statement component in applying to law school is becoming an increasingly valuable element for prospective law students. As certain schools’ application processes become more holistic, the personal statement has evolved into a gateway for highlighting individuality and showing why an applicant’s background makes them an ideal candidate for law school (in addition to their GPA and LSAT score).
For a student applying to an out-of-province law school, the personal statement is even more critical. This is because you are competing with in-province applicants who have ties to the province, and, like you, they are also attempting to demonstrate their uniqueness. However, you can use this to your advantage because you have the “uniqueness element” built-in by virtue of applying from another province. Your reasons for wanting to attend their law school, as opposed to a law school in your province (if you are applying from a province that has a law school), will pique the admissions committee’s interest. From here, you can use the personal statement strategically to set yourself apart from the many in-province candidates. Discussing your accomplishments and experiences as well as relating them to the opportunity of arriving in a new city and law school is a great way to demonstrate uniqueness. For example, talk about personal experiences where you thrived upon arriving in a new location, new environment, and with new people. The “coming from far away” aspect is an element that you can use advantageously, which most in-province applicants will not have at their disposal.
Discussing the law school’s geographic location can be an asset to your application as well. For example, if you have visited and experienced the law school’s city before, you can mention this as a means of showing the admissions committee that you could see yourself remaining in that area for the long term. Even if you do not remain there after graduation, simply showing that you are seriously weighing the possibility of staying can strengthen your application.
2. Discuss what you specifically like about what the law school has to offer.
When applying to law schools, we tend to be hyper-focused on providing the admissions committee with ample reasons for why we are the ideal candidate. However, what sometimes gets lost along the way is informing the admissions committee of why you want to become a part of their community. This is especially important for out-of-province law school applications, because you are elaborating on why you want to uproot your life to attend their school. In conjunction with stating your reasons for wanting to become a lawyer, discussing why the specific out-of-province school is an excellent fit for you is a significant boost to your application because it highlights your interest and authenticity.
For instance, if the school you are applying to has any particular strengths or known concentrations, you could reaffirm your desire to attend that school by expressing your interest in these specializations. This demonstrates to the law school that not only do you want to attend law school, but you want to attend their law school from out-of-province. It also signals to the admissions committee that you are already looking at ways to contribute to their legal community, rather than just listing off résumé items. For example, when I applied to the University of Saskatchewan College of Law, I was very interested in their program strength in Dispute Resolution. Since this is an area that I am interested in potentially working post-graduation, it was relatively easy to connect my substantive interests with attending the U of S because of their recognized strength in this area.
3. Prepare for the possibility of a longer wait.
Since you are applying out-of-province, you must accept that it may take the admissions committee a bit longer to reach your application. Some schools will prioritize assessing in-province students’ applications before they begin admitting large numbers of out-of-province students. This is not to say that you are guaranteed to be waiting until the eleventh hour for your application to be considered. Rather, this tip is more of a reminder that even robust applications can take longer to be offered admission than similar ones from within the province.
In general, becoming comfortable with the waiting game will serve you well in the law school admissions process. However, the best thing you can do for yourself is to pour all of your hard work, passion, and drive into your application. This will provide you with a peace of mind if you tend to worry about the future during the admissions cycle. Ideally, you want to make your application as strong as possible and have no regrets about how you approached it. This will prepare you best for any possible outcome.
Applying to out-of-province schools can enhance your chance of being offered admission to law school. Making the most of your out-of-province application can produce better results, making the extra wait to hear back worth it.
