A Juris Doctor (JD) degree is a three (3) year, professional, undergraduate program required for the practice of Canadian Common Law. It requires prior university study for admission, except in cases where an applicant qualifies for admission under the Work/Life Experience category.
Our Admissions Committee employs a holistic perspective throughout their review and decision-making process. They approach individual files with empathy, seeking your unique qualifications and strengths throughout the assessment process, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that accepted candidates are suited and prepared for the rigours of our academic program.
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Application Timeline
Our cycle is designed to allow us the most time with your application and to ensure that we are giving it the due diligence and attention it warrants. It is also important to note that unless stated as a specific deadline, all dates list below are general guidelines based upon a typical admissions cycle. As such, timelines may be adjusted to reflect the current applicant pool.
We make offers on a rolling basis, starting in the fall, and will continue until the very end of the cycle. And, while we welcome you toÌýcontact usÌýwith any questions or concerns you might have during the admissions process, we are unable to provide detailed status updates before the admissions process is complete and final offers are made.
September
Applications open for classes starting in the fall of the next academic year.
November
The first offers of admissions for the cycle are extended.
January 10
Deadline to submit your JD online application is 11:59 PM AST.
January 15
Deadline for submission of entrance scholarship applications is 11:59 PM AST.
January LSAT Writing
Final LSAT writing considered for September admission in same calendar year. LSATs written after February 1 will not be considered for admission in September of the same year.
February 1
Grace period ends for late application fees and outstanding documents being received.
Late February
First round of entrance scholarship decisions are made.
March 31
Deadline to accept admission offers extended during the first half of the admissions cycle.
April
Admission interviews and final decision assessment begins.
May/June
Admissions interviews occur. Final offers and waitlist decisions are made.
June 30
Final admissions decisions are made (offers and waitlist invitations) and all candidates, including those who were unsuccessful, are notified.
Mid-July
1L (first year) registration occurs, confirmation of enrolment forms available.
Mid-August
Pre-orientation begins.
First Week of September
Deadline for accepting individuals off the waitlist for the 1L class.
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Application Options
By embracing a holistic perspective to assessing applications, we offer you the flexibility to tailor your application to best reflect your strengths and experience. The section below highlights several options you may wish to consider when preparing to apply.
Admissions Categories
All applicants are assessed under our general admissions stream. In addition to this, we encourage applicants to apply under as many of the following categories as you feel you are eligible.
General Applicants
The General applicant category is open to those who have an undergraduate degree or who are within one year of graduation eligibility from a degree-granting university or college recognized by the Â鶹Éç Senate.
Applicants are encouraged (but not required) to share how they have contributed to, are connected to, and/or identify with their community and/or the impact of colonization on their family or their connection to Indigenous culture.
For applicants in this category, non-academic experiences may be given comparatively more weight than traditional measures of academic performance and LSAT scores in the holistic review of their files if that works to their advantage.
Indigenous applicants may also be considered for the Indigenous Blacks & Mi’kmaq Initiative.
The IB&M Initiative prioritizes the admission of students who are either:
African Nova Scotians (Indigenous Blacks): a distinct people who descend from free and enslaved Black Planters, Black Loyalists, Black Refugees, Maroons, and other Black people who inhabited the original 52 land-based Black communities in that part of Mi'kma'ki known as Nova Scotia.
²Ñ¾±â€™k³¾²¹·É: individuals who are Mi'kmaw and were born and raised in Mi'kma’ki or have a substantial connection with a Mi'kmaw community in Mi'kma'ki.
Other Black individuals who were born and raised in Nova Scotia are also eligible for admission and support through the IB&M Initiative.
If, in any given year all qualified African Nova Scotian, Mi'kmaq and other Black applicants born and raised in Nova Scotia have been admitted and there are still spaces available, Black students who were not born and raised in Nova Scotia and Indigenous students who are not Mi'kmaq may be admitted through the IB&M category.
IB&M applicants are required to submit the same application materials as candidates in other admission categories. In addition, candidates will undergo additional consideration for the IB&M Initiative by a separate committee.
Applicants from this category may also be considered for the Historically Underrepresented and Indigenous applicant categories.
The Historically Underrepresented Communities applicant category is open to those who self-identify as members of historically underrepresented communities (other than Indigenous and Indigenous Black Nova Scotian communities for which there are distinct categories).
The following is an illustrative and non-exhaustive list of communities currently included in this category: Black; African descent; additional racialized minorities; 2SLGBTQ+; gender identity; persons with diagnosed mental illness; persons with visible or invisible disability (including physical, mental, intellectual, learning or sensory impairment, that, in interaction with a barrier, hinders an individual’s full and effective participation in society).
This category is intended to recognize the need for greater representation of historically underrepresented communities at the Schulich School of Law and in the legal profession. Having this as a category is also intended to focus the Committee’s attention on the need to not perpetuate the harms of systemic discrimination.
Applicants are encouraged (but not required) to submit a statement or include within their personal statement how they have contributed to, are connected to, and/or identify with their community.
Non-academic experiences are given comparatively more weight than traditional measures of academic performance and LSAT scores in the holistic review of their files if that works to their advantage.
Applicants from this category may also be considered for the IB&M Initiative and/or Work/Life Experience applicant category.
Work/Life Experience Applicants
The Work/Life Experience applicant category is open to those who seek admission and whose work/life experience provides a strong basis for inclusion in the incoming class. These candidates may not have the required number of academic credits to be eligible for the General category; or have the required number of academic credits but based on their academic record alone, they would not be competitive in the General category.
Examples of those eligible to seek admission under this category include (but are not limited to) candidates who:
have been raising children or caring for sick relatives
have been running a local non-profit or similar organization
pursued a trade after high school
completed a university degree where their subsequent work experience and LSAT score may be a more accurate and relevant indicator of current capabilities than their GPA
The Work/Life Experience category is intended to recognize the skills and abilities individuals can gain outside of an academic institution that serve to prepare them for the demands of law school and to ensure that the legal profession is more representative of the communities that it serves.
Applicants seeking admission under this category are strongly encouraged to have successfully completed a College Diploma or at least two years (10 credits) of university studies before applying.
Non-academic experiences will given comparatively more weight than traditional measures of academic performance and LSAT scores in the holistic review of their files.
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Combined Degree Applicants
We have partnered with Â鶹Éç's Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Health Administration (MHA), Master of Public Administration (MPA) and Master of Information (MI) programs to allow students the opportunity to earn two degrees – a JD and a master’s degree – in four years instead of the five required to take them separately.
To be admitted to our combined degree programs, an applicant must satisfy the entrance requirements of both the JD and master’s degree programs separately.
The Schulich School of Law offers a limited number of spaces per year to students who wish to complete their JD part-time, taken over a maximum of seven yearsÌýinstead of as the full-time, three-year program. While we recommend and encourage the first year be completed full-time, it can be taken over two years.
If you are interested in completing the program on a part-time basis, you can indicate such on the online application form. This does not represent a commitment to part-time enrollment as part-time study will be discussed with you after an offer of admission is made.
Please note the following:
It is not a guarantee that all provincial law societies will consider a part-time JD from Â鶹Éç to meet that society’s requirements.Ìý As such, if you are planning on completing the program part-time, we recommend contacting any applicable law societies for their bar requirements.Ìý
The primary focus of the IB&M Initiative is on students who are either:
Indigenous Black Nova Scotians -Ìýindividuals who are Black and were born and raised in Nova Scotia, or who have a substantial connection with a historically Black community in Nova Scotia, or
Mi'kmaq -Ìýindividuals who are Mi'kmaq and were born and raised in Mi'kmaqi or have a substantial connection with a Mi'kmaw community in Mi'kmaqi.
The IB&M Initiative places the admission of African Nova Scotian and Mi'kmaq students as its highest priority. If, in any given year all qualified Indigenous Blacks and Mi'kmaw students have been admitted and there are still spaces available, Black students who are not indigenous to Nova Scotia and Aboriginal students who are not Mi'kmaq, may be admitted through the IB&M category.
IB&M applicants are required to submit the same application materials as other candidates but will undergo additional consideration for the IB&M Initiative by a separate committee.
