Admission Questions

Admission questions last updated 16 August 2024.

 

What is the status of the September 2024 entry admission cycle?

Applications (and waitlist) for September 2024 entry are now closed. Applications for September 2025 open on August 22nd, 2024 on OLSAS with a deadline of November 1st, 2024.

Admitted applicants receive a phone call, email and an admissions package in the mail. Deadlines to accept an offer are dependent on the date of admission; details about dates are outlined in the official Offer of Admission letter.  

Those on the waitlist will be informed later in the cycle (May/June).

I was admitted! What is the difference between Provisional and Firm accept?

In Ontario, all law schools work together through OLSAS. If an admitted student firm accepts at one Ontario law school, that admitted student is removed from consideration at all other Ontario law schools.

If an admitted student provisionally accepts at one Ontario law school, they remain open to receive offers from other Ontario law schools. By July 2, any provisional accepts convert to firm - so if an applicant hasn’t closed their application at other Ontario Law schools, it will automatically happen July 2. 

Admitted students need to pay the non-refundable deposit by June 1 to continue holding a seat at the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law. This deposit is paid through the Lakehead portal. 

Admitted students with first round offers have until April 1, 2025 to accept the offer; either a firm or a provisional acceptance by the deadline indicated in the Offer of Admission letter will ensure an admitted student keeps their seat with Bora Laskin Faculty of Law. A $500 non-refundable deposit is due on June 1, 2025 to continue holding an admitted students seat. Deposits are applied to tuition fees.  

I am waitlisted. What are my chances? What can I do while I wait?

Being wait listed is great news - it means we liked an application enough to continue considering it for an offer of admission. We cannot tell applicants where they are on the wait list. 

Applicants who are currently studying need to ensure they submit final winter grades to OLSAS (through the portal) and OLSAS will recalculate your GPA. 

Waitlisted applicants may choose to send a Letter of Continued Interest to the Admissions Committee at law@lakeheadu.ca.

 

Can I transfer to the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law from my faculty?

Due to the requirements of our Integrated Practice Curriculum (IPC), we do not accept transfer students.

Applicants who have started a law program elsewhere (in a different country or another Ontario/Canadian law school) and wish to attend Lakehead are welcome to apply, but are required to take the entire program at Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, will enter in year one, and will not be considered for any transfer credits.

Will I be able to do an international exchange during the three year program?

No, students are not able to leave on international exchanges.

I am only able to study part-time. Can I apply/be admitted as a part-time student?

No, the JD program at Lakehead is a full-time program and we cannot admit part-time students. This may change in the future. 

Is your Faculty of Law accepting international students?

No, we are currently not accepting applications from international students. Applicants must have either Canadian permanent residency status or Canadian citizenship.

Can I do a combined JD/MBA or another combination?

No, we currently offer a JD degree.

What grades does the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law consider?

The Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University is part of the Ontario Law School Application Service (OLSAS) and all applications are processed through their office. OLSAS calculates the applicant GPA on our behalf - they take into account all undergraduate grades (including summer courses) and provide us with a yearly breakdown, a per-university breakdown if applicable, as well as an overall cumulative GPA.  

Competitive applicants have an overall B+/A- average and the admissions committee looks at both the yearly breakdowns and the transcripts themselves and may identify where averages may have been pulled down. Applicants without the indicated average may be competitive through their LSAT score, by showing a steady increase in grades overall, or other aspects of their whole file.

We do not drop lowest grades, nor do we look only at the best two years, but we certainly take into consideration where applicants have lower GPAs due to difficult starts to university, including starting in a different program.

Master program grades are not included in GPA calculations, nor are any college grades. However, applicants must still provide those official transcripts to OLSAS, as they help build the whole picture of an applicant’s post-secondary education.

Can I send extra documents instead of sending them to OLSAS?

Documents sent directly to the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law will neither be acknowledged, reviewed, kept, nor returned.

All documentation that is part of an application, including reference letters, transcripts, personal statements, and more must follow OLSAS' procedures as outlined on their website.

I am currently still studying. How do you assess those grades?

It is the applicants’ responsibility to ensure that an updated transcript be sent to OLSAS once final winter grades are noted on the transcript. With this updated information, OLSAS will recalculate the applicant GPA and will provide us with that updated percentage as well as a copy of updated transcripts. 

This is only valid if you are waitlisted - if you are rejected, we will not reassess your file based on new grade information.

I've never done a university degree. Can I apply as a mature student?

Yes, we have a Mature Category for applicants with ten or more years of relevant work or non-academic experience that demonstrates a strong potential to succeed in the Law program. Please see the Mature Category criteria on the OLSAS website. 

I am studying my undergrad at Lakehead University -- do I still need to provide transcripts to OLSAS?

Yes.

What should my personal statement say?

You must complete the Personal Statement with your OLSAS application.


The Bora Laskin Faculty of Law is committed to the following 3 mandate areas:

1. Aboriginal and Indigenous Law,
2. Environmental Law and Natural Resource Law and
3. Sole Practitioner/Small Town Law practice, including the IPC.

You will be asked to discuss how any or all of our mandate areas fit in with your goals as a future lawyer. If
applicable, also discuss any connection or previous experience you have with any or all of our mandate areas.

We recognize that it may be more difficult for Black and racialized applicants to situate their application given the long history of conceiving settler-Indigenous relations as a relationship between First Peoples and white people.
In light of this history, we want to clarify that we invite reflections on Indigenous-Black relations and the role of racialized people in reconciliation and decolonization. We welcome the thoughts of applicants on the historical exclusion of Black and racialized communities from environmental protection and natural resource development. We also welcome applicants’ thoughts on the challenges and contributions of Black and racialized communities in small town practice or as sole practitioners.

The Personal Statement also provides you with the opportunity to discuss your strengths, capabilities and achievements that distinguish you as a desirable applicant. You may wish to include information about what led you to apply to study law, your preparedness for the study of law and your interest in the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law.
You may also wish to include information about any anomalies within your academic performance, highlight non-academic achievements and note any special circumstances that have contributed to, or adversely affected, your academic and non-academic success.

Your Personal Statement will be considered in the context of the rest of your application. It must be authored entirely by you and must not exceed 8,000 characters in length.

Key points to remember:

  • Take time to write your personal statement. It is a very important component of your application to Lakehead University.
  • Carefully check for grammar and spelling errors.
  • Read your personal statement back to yourself, to make sure that it flows logically and smoothly.
  • Everyone will have an opinion on what "must" be in a personal statement or how to write it. They may or may not be correct, so go with what you feel is best. The emphasis is on the word 'personal'.
  • Do not write what you think we want to hear. Treat the personal statement as the best cover letter you've ever written for the job you want most in the world. 
  • You do not need to use the entire word limit.

My reference letter is from a well known judge/lawyer/politician. Will that help my chances of being admitted?

Probably not - reference letters are best when they are from someone who knows you and your passion for law/justice and your study habits/educational background well.

Reference letters help us build the broader picture of the applicant.

What is the tuition for Lakehead's Faculty of Law?

To view tuition fees for 2024-25, please see the Student Fees Schedule. The Law fees are listed under the Undergraduate Academic Fees. 

Books are estimated for the year to be between $600 - $1000. 

What was the median GPA and LSAT score for admissions?

We do not provide statistics on the median or average GPA or LSAT for any of our admissions cycles. We also do not have "cut-off" points for admission. 

As the admissions committee conducts thorough file reviews and look at all applicants' files holistically, these statistics could be considered misleading due to any number of factors and therefore they will not be provided. 

We do not admit solely on the basis of statistics, and as such, we encourage applicants with a more unique personal story to apply, since we look at all aspects of a file, including work and volunteer history, quality, authenticity and writing style of the personal statement and overall academic achievements.

For further questions, please contact our Student Services Advisor, Anya Scheibmayr at: law@lakeheadu.ca or by phone at (807) 346-7862.

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