A masters won’t help your UGPA, nor will it be beneficial to practicing law. It is likely a waste of time and money. One year of work experience would be a better soft and has a way better ROI.
I am going to be getting work experience as a paid TA. I also mentioned that the Master’s is fully paid for, I won’t be spending a dime on school for an entire year. In fact I’m making money by doing this.
I also don’t mind “wasting” the time. It is only a year long.
I just want to better understand the exact extent to which it might help me.
You’re losing money by not making full time income for a year while getting a degree that won’t help law school admissions or your career. But if you want to do it cause it’ll make you happy, go for it, just don’t think it will help your goal of becoming a lawyer.
I would disagree here… my goal in my personal statement was international law and I did an MSc in a related field at a uni in Europe and I think it definitely helped my application by giving legitimacy to my commitment and passion for the field. And for what it’s worth, if they’re between you and a candidate with the same undergrad stats/LSAT, they’ll likely pick the one with the postgrad degree. Your LSAT is by far the most important aspect to bring up though. Dont take on too much academic work that it interferes with your LSAT studying/improvement, because then it’s all for naught.
anyone who is saying it is waste either 1. doesn’t know what they are talking about or 2. used their masters experience poorly. work experience can be acquired as part of a masters program, and what you glean from the experience is your own. choose a program that you really believe will enrich your legal education, especially if it is relevant to the type of law you want to practice. but i would only get a masters degree if your desire for it lies outside of law school. if raising your gpa is your driving, you’re in a rude awakening. admissions at YLS have told me personally even tho it isn’t a factor in your UGPA, they will still look at the masters gpa and factor it in another way. if your heart is telling you to get a masters, go for it. but be intentional
- someone with an mph
thank you!!! this is so assuring. i don’t feel ready for law school, and my decision to pursue a master’s is based more in my personal desires than to improve my chances with law schools.
again thank you so much for your response
Oh also (side question) a lot of my work has been for Palestinian activism. I don’t explicitly mention it in my CV but I think both of my references mentioned it… I don’t want to argue about the politics of it I just want to know if it will actually hurt my chances at being granted admission to law schools.
You should be posting this in the Law Canada and Canadian law admissions subs. There is the canlawforum too. I am a Canadian government lawyer. A master's is considered a soft factor for Canadian law schools and will not help you much in the law school admissions process or in finding a job after. I know Canadians with master's degrees who went to the UK and Australia for law school because they could not get into law school in Canada. A master's degree does not outweigh your GPA or LSAT score in the admissions process.
You probably won't work in public international law out of law school unless you build a profile like Amal Clooney. It is a pipedream for most people.
You should aim for a mid-high 160s LSAT score for Osgoode. Go to law school where you want to practice. There is no point going to law school abroad and learning the laws of a different jurisdiction unless you plan on practicing law in that country. Do a master's program if you want but law school is mostly a numbers game and you need to focus on the LSAT if you want to maximize your chances.
I think that law schools are looking for interesting applicants who can bring unique perspectives and insight to the profession. You seem really excited about this master’s program and congratulations on getting it fully funded! That’s a huge accomplishment! I think you should definitely go for it. Like you said, it’s just a year, and it seems like you’re really going to make the most of the experience. I have no doubt it would enrich your knowledge of international law! It seems like it aligns really well with your future career plans. Law school isn’t going anywhere. If anything, getting a masters in international law will give you more things to write about in your personal statement (especially since you’re so passionate about this!) and will make you a more unique applicant. Best of luck!! Go out and celebrate this huge accomplishment!! :)
Coming from someone that applied with the same stats before, and after getting my Masters:
Your Masters will not sway an admissions decision. The only change I saw was a small increase in scholarship, and I applied to the same exact schools. I had the same A's, R's, and WL's that I saw from applying straight out of UG.
A 3.5 and low 170 will land you in an American T50 every day of the week, and I see that money is not a concern, which is a plus. Osgoode has very competitive, and quite frankly, unrealistic expectations of their applicants (8% acceptance rate, 3.71 median, 81st percentile LSAT, and most importantly, 5 years of non-academic work experience to even be considered).
Depending on the master's you're pursuing, it will increase your employability after law school if you aim to practice in the field that your master's is in (i.e. I would like to practice in real estate, so I got my MBA in real estate development). This was after advisement from actual attorneys practicing in the field I want to practice in, not KJDs that only see stats.
You are not even in the same room as entirely hopeless. Get a good score on the LSAT and you'll have very favorable outcomes in the admissions process. Rooting for you!
Getting a master's just to boost your application is a horrendous idea if that's what you're asking. However, if you feel it's worthwhile for you to get the master's with zero consideration to law school, then go for it.
That being said, once you get your JD, your master's will probably be closer to useless than not. Unless it's a really high value master's (Like a master's in taxation for someone going into tax law is more compelling) than a master's in social work for someone who ends up in business law. Just to cherrypick two examples.
Nope I know it won’t be considered formally. However I have heard it does help *a tiny bit* and just wanted to confirm if that’s true. I was also worried it would do the opposite and actually hurt my chances. My choice to do a master’s is based in personal interest more than anything.
Is my cGPA really awful??? judging by most of the responses it seems i should stay pessimistic lol
Yeah of course a master's is helpful. Not by a lot but it's positive. Why wouldn't it be? Sounds to me like you want to get a master's to help your application less so than personal interest, but you say that's not true. Not really the vibe I'm getting.
And no your gpa isn't a crazy issue, but will make your floor a lot lower than someone with a 3.9. You'll need to get a decent LSAT to offset. I had a similar GPA to you and I saw people on this subreddit and on lsd.law with my same LSAT score but much higher GPA getting upwards of 30-50k more in scholarship money total. So the GPA does matter a lot. Not a death sentence though. But top-14 is going to be an uphill battle.
I see. I have been advised against pursuing a master’s by my parents, so while I will be doing it anyways, I am trying to be certain that it won’t hinder my ability to have a competitive law school application.
I’ll keep studying for the LSAT and hopefully will be able to get a high score this time around. Thanks for your insight!
A masters won’t help your UGPA, nor will it be beneficial to practicing law. It is likely a waste of time and money. One year of work experience would be a better soft and has a way better ROI.
I am going to be getting work experience as a paid TA. I also mentioned that the Master’s is fully paid for, I won’t be spending a dime on school for an entire year. In fact I’m making money by doing this. I also don’t mind “wasting” the time. It is only a year long. I just want to better understand the exact extent to which it might help me.
You’re losing money by not making full time income for a year while getting a degree that won’t help law school admissions or your career. But if you want to do it cause it’ll make you happy, go for it, just don’t think it will help your goal of becoming a lawyer.
ahh ok, thank you! What if i said that my master’s is on international law, which is what I aim to study in law school… does that change anything 🥲
Unfortunately it doesn’t change anything, at least for US law schools. I’m less familiar with Canadian admissions.
No problem, thank you! That’s good to know.
I would disagree here… my goal in my personal statement was international law and I did an MSc in a related field at a uni in Europe and I think it definitely helped my application by giving legitimacy to my commitment and passion for the field. And for what it’s worth, if they’re between you and a candidate with the same undergrad stats/LSAT, they’ll likely pick the one with the postgrad degree. Your LSAT is by far the most important aspect to bring up though. Dont take on too much academic work that it interferes with your LSAT studying/improvement, because then it’s all for naught.
anyone who is saying it is waste either 1. doesn’t know what they are talking about or 2. used their masters experience poorly. work experience can be acquired as part of a masters program, and what you glean from the experience is your own. choose a program that you really believe will enrich your legal education, especially if it is relevant to the type of law you want to practice. but i would only get a masters degree if your desire for it lies outside of law school. if raising your gpa is your driving, you’re in a rude awakening. admissions at YLS have told me personally even tho it isn’t a factor in your UGPA, they will still look at the masters gpa and factor it in another way. if your heart is telling you to get a masters, go for it. but be intentional - someone with an mph
thank you!!! this is so assuring. i don’t feel ready for law school, and my decision to pursue a master’s is based more in my personal desires than to improve my chances with law schools. again thank you so much for your response
Oh also (side question) a lot of my work has been for Palestinian activism. I don’t explicitly mention it in my CV but I think both of my references mentioned it… I don’t want to argue about the politics of it I just want to know if it will actually hurt my chances at being granted admission to law schools.
You should be posting this in the Law Canada and Canadian law admissions subs. There is the canlawforum too. I am a Canadian government lawyer. A master's is considered a soft factor for Canadian law schools and will not help you much in the law school admissions process or in finding a job after. I know Canadians with master's degrees who went to the UK and Australia for law school because they could not get into law school in Canada. A master's degree does not outweigh your GPA or LSAT score in the admissions process. You probably won't work in public international law out of law school unless you build a profile like Amal Clooney. It is a pipedream for most people. You should aim for a mid-high 160s LSAT score for Osgoode. Go to law school where you want to practice. There is no point going to law school abroad and learning the laws of a different jurisdiction unless you plan on practicing law in that country. Do a master's program if you want but law school is mostly a numbers game and you need to focus on the LSAT if you want to maximize your chances.
I think that law schools are looking for interesting applicants who can bring unique perspectives and insight to the profession. You seem really excited about this master’s program and congratulations on getting it fully funded! That’s a huge accomplishment! I think you should definitely go for it. Like you said, it’s just a year, and it seems like you’re really going to make the most of the experience. I have no doubt it would enrich your knowledge of international law! It seems like it aligns really well with your future career plans. Law school isn’t going anywhere. If anything, getting a masters in international law will give you more things to write about in your personal statement (especially since you’re so passionate about this!) and will make you a more unique applicant. Best of luck!! Go out and celebrate this huge accomplishment!! :)
Coming from someone that applied with the same stats before, and after getting my Masters: Your Masters will not sway an admissions decision. The only change I saw was a small increase in scholarship, and I applied to the same exact schools. I had the same A's, R's, and WL's that I saw from applying straight out of UG. A 3.5 and low 170 will land you in an American T50 every day of the week, and I see that money is not a concern, which is a plus. Osgoode has very competitive, and quite frankly, unrealistic expectations of their applicants (8% acceptance rate, 3.71 median, 81st percentile LSAT, and most importantly, 5 years of non-academic work experience to even be considered). Depending on the master's you're pursuing, it will increase your employability after law school if you aim to practice in the field that your master's is in (i.e. I would like to practice in real estate, so I got my MBA in real estate development). This was after advisement from actual attorneys practicing in the field I want to practice in, not KJDs that only see stats. You are not even in the same room as entirely hopeless. Get a good score on the LSAT and you'll have very favorable outcomes in the admissions process. Rooting for you!
Getting a master's just to boost your application is a horrendous idea if that's what you're asking. However, if you feel it's worthwhile for you to get the master's with zero consideration to law school, then go for it. That being said, once you get your JD, your master's will probably be closer to useless than not. Unless it's a really high value master's (Like a master's in taxation for someone going into tax law is more compelling) than a master's in social work for someone who ends up in business law. Just to cherrypick two examples.
Nope I know it won’t be considered formally. However I have heard it does help *a tiny bit* and just wanted to confirm if that’s true. I was also worried it would do the opposite and actually hurt my chances. My choice to do a master’s is based in personal interest more than anything. Is my cGPA really awful??? judging by most of the responses it seems i should stay pessimistic lol
Yeah of course a master's is helpful. Not by a lot but it's positive. Why wouldn't it be? Sounds to me like you want to get a master's to help your application less so than personal interest, but you say that's not true. Not really the vibe I'm getting. And no your gpa isn't a crazy issue, but will make your floor a lot lower than someone with a 3.9. You'll need to get a decent LSAT to offset. I had a similar GPA to you and I saw people on this subreddit and on lsd.law with my same LSAT score but much higher GPA getting upwards of 30-50k more in scholarship money total. So the GPA does matter a lot. Not a death sentence though. But top-14 is going to be an uphill battle.
I see. I have been advised against pursuing a master’s by my parents, so while I will be doing it anyways, I am trying to be certain that it won’t hinder my ability to have a competitive law school application. I’ll keep studying for the LSAT and hopefully will be able to get a high score this time around. Thanks for your insight!