Upper Year Admissions

How to Apply

The deadline for upper year applications is May 1^st for studies commencing the following September.

Law school applications to Western are processed centrally by the:

Ontario Law School Application Service (OLSAS)
Ontario Universities' Application Centre
170 Research Lane
Guelph ON N1G 5E2
Telephone: 519-823-1940
Fax: 519-823-5232
Email: olsas@ouac.on.ca

You may apply to Western Law on-line from the OLSAS website at www.ouac.on.ca/olsas

Assessment of Foreign Transcripts

Applicants who have undertaken undergraduate studies outside of Canada and the United States must have their foreign transcript assessed by World Education Services or equivalent.

Applicants who have undertaken graduate studies outside of Canada and the United States are not required to have their foreign transcript assessed by World Education Services or equivalent, although such assessment may be requested.

Candidates from the National Committee of Accreditation will not be required to have their foreign transcripts assessed by World Education Services of equivalent www.wes.org/ca

Categories of Applicants

For the upper year program there are four categories of applicants: Transfer, Advanced Standing, Letter of Permission, and National Committee on Accreditation. Admission procedures vary depending on the category and are set out below.

A major consideration in these admission decisions is the availability of places in the second and third year classes. Applicants for whom English is not a first language are required to achieve a satisfactory score on either the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the Test of Written English (TWE).

Transfer Applicants

Students currently enrolled in first year at another Canadian Law School may be admitted to the second year of the program as transfer students. If admitted, students who successfully complete the last two years of the program will be eligible to receive a Juris Doctor degree from Western.

Given the limited number of spaces available, consideration will be given to the best qualified applicants and those applicants who, for compassionate reasons, seek a transfer to The University of Western Ontario.

Advanced Standing Applicants

Students who have successfully completed part or all of their legal education outside Canada may be considered for admission with advanced standing. Except in extraordinary circumstances, a student will not receive more than one year's advanced standing. If admitted, students will be required to satisfy the program requirements of the Faculty. Upon successful completion of the program, students are eligible to receive a Juris Doctor degree from The University of Western Ontario.

Letter of Permission Applicants

Students currently enrolled at a Canadian law school can apply to study for one academic year at Western on a letter of permission. Typically, these requests are made by second-year students, seeking to study at Western in their third year.

Students currently enrolled at a recognized law school who present a letter of permission from that school may be admitted to the Faculty of Law in a program of courses approved by their home school.

Students who successfully complete the approved program on a letter of permission do not receive a Juris Doctor degree from The University of Western Ontario. Rather, the student will receive a law degree from his or her home law school.

National Committee on Accreditation Applicants

Applicants who are qualified for practice in a jurisdiction outside Canada and who seek admission to practice in a Canadian province should first apply to the:

National Committee on Accreditation

c/o Federation of Law Societies of Canada
World Exchange Plaza
1810 - 45 O'Connor Street
Ottawa ON K1P 1A4
Canada
Telephone: (613) 236-7250, ext. 229

www.flsc.ca/en/foreignLawyers/foreignLawyers.asp

This Committee assesses the applicant's credentials to determine the Canadian legal education required to bring the applicant to a level equivalent to the Canadian Bachelor of Laws or Juris Doctor degree.

Based on this assessment, the Committee recommends the courses the applicant requires.

A person admitted in this category does not receive a Juris Doctor degree from The University of Western Ontario.