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[BernieMac]

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[mp99]

I've heard of people using Law, Dentistry, Physiotherapy etc as backups for med school. As far as i know, I don't think (emphasis on think) adcoms care. Take what I say with a grain of salt though because I'm not familiar with the Med school process. 

However, getting high marks in Law school, Dentistry , physiotherapy is probably really tough. So if med schools look at those marks it might be hard to maintain a competitive GPA 

[Exergy]

Or, I could get into law school and love it, continue with it, and end up with a solid job as a lawyer. 

 

I would look into this more, as I've heard that the job market for lawyers isn't that great due to saturation. But then again, that's like every job nowadays. 

[Jess85]

I'm in 4th year UG and I already applied to 2 medical school this year (my second cycle- 0/1 interviews last year as 3rd year UG.) I realize that competition is tough and I am ready to apply again and again after to get in as it is my dream. I am in a typical biology UG and I have never though of a backup because I was ignorant when I started UG thinking I would surely just get in after my second attempt. That is not certain anymore so I need a backup. I don't like research at all so I don't want to do a masters in science. I also don't want to get a lab tech job while I reapply. Over the last couple of days a crazy idea emerged to me. I could apply to law school. I looked at the requirements and my GPA and ECs are what they are looking for and more. All that is left is the LSAT which I can write in December for admission for next fall. I have taken the MCAT so I can review for the LSAT from now until then and write it and hopefully get a good score. I still have 3 weeks until the law applications are due so I can work on them and submit in time. I can use the same people who wrote my references for medical school....assuming this crazy-last-minute idea works out and I get into law school....and not medical school I will go to law school and continue to reapply to medical school. Has anyone heard of others do this? I see in most medical classes there are JD graduates in the program and I have heard of other people doing this same idea where they dropped out of law school after year 1 or year 2. Or, I could get into law school and love it, continue with it, and end up with a solid job as a lawyer. If I do a master's it will be useless as I don't want to do research and it will be done just for my medical school app. Will my marks in law school count towards my GPA? What will adcoms think of this? Thanks

 

It seems like a lot of work to go through if your end goal is to go to med school.  Law school will probably be very intense in first year and interfere with your med school application process/experiences.  I was a reapplicant with a 3.38 GPA, avg MCAT and my advice is to focus on what went wrong with your application.  Start with free resources (friends/family/profs/medstudents/career centre etc.) to help you assess your application and areas for improvement. 

 

In my case, I exhausted all of those resources.  I was very fortunate to meet a mac med student that was honest/generous enough to share with me how they got in as a reapplicant.  Basically it came down to being introduced to the right help to improve my CASPer performance (Which I did tremendously.... I was previously of the mindset that CASPer was a test you could not study for .... like many on here), maxing out my MMI performance and $6,000+ later voila, I'm now a med student at Mac !!! 

 

If I were you, I would save the tuition $$$ you'd spend on law school and focus on improving your med school application! 

[canucks_14]

The people I know who have completed or are in law school all say the same thing, it is extremely time consuming. They all have said studying for law school is all they ever did while in law school, And one person in it now that I know wakes up at 430am and goes to sleep around 1130pm, and that person uses every waking minute to study and go to class. Luckily it's only 3 years but the people I know have showed me that I would be absolutely miserable in the program because of the demands but also just that the content is....well just very boring to me. Frankly it's too demanding for a backup I have no interest in. Add in that some med schools will factor in law school grades into the admissions average. Getting 85-90 percent in law school does not sound like something particularly easy.

 

But then again if you'd like studying that stuff, then that might be different. I just brought up the experiences of people I know because to me law school is an extremely daunting and challenging task and just wanted to share my opinion on it.

 

I'm not saying all law school experiences are like this but rather that they have been for the people that I know (n=over 6). Just my two cents and my own reason for never using law school as a backup.

[Edict]

I'm in 4th year UG and I already applied to 2 medical school this year (my second cycle- 0/1 interviews last year as 3rd year UG.) I realize that competition is tough and I am ready to apply again and again after to get in as it is my dream. I am in a typical biology UG and I have never though of a backup because I was ignorant when I started UG thinking I would surely just get in after my second attempt. That is not certain anymore so I need a backup. I don't like research at all so I don't want to do a masters in science. I also don't want to get a lab tech job while I reapply. Over the last couple of days a crazy idea emerged to me. I could apply to law school. I looked at the requirements and my GPA and ECs are what they are looking for and more. All that is left is the LSAT which I can write in December for admission for next fall. I have taken the MCAT so I can review for the LSAT from now until then and write it and hopefully get a good score. I still have 3 weeks until the law applications are due so I can work on them and submit in time. I can use the same people who wrote my references for medical school....assuming this crazy-last-minute idea works out and I get into law school....and not medical school I will go to law school and continue to reapply to medical school. Has anyone heard of others do this? I see in most medical classes there are JD graduates in the program and I have heard of other people doing this same idea where they dropped out of law school after year 1 or year 2. Or, I could get into law school and love it, continue with it, and end up with a solid job as a lawyer. If I do a master's it will be useless as I don't want to do research and it will be done just for my medical school app. Will my marks in law school count towards my GPA? What will adcoms think of this? Thanks

 

There are definitely people who have done law school before med. The way I see it, only go into law if you want to do law. Its very time consuming to want and apply yourself to two things at once. In the end, you might come away not good enough for either. I think a lot of the people who did law and ended up in med became disillusioned with law school during law school rather than went in hoping for med. 

 

If law is something you can see yourself in, I would choose it. 

[criston]

Your law school grades will count for some schools - such as McMaster.  Other schools, like Ottawa, ignore professional school grades. Most law schools curve to a B (3.0) (usually about 60% of students in a course would get this). Most schools limit A's and A+ to 15% to 20% of the class. And then about 20% or so of students get a C.  If you do go to law school and are still thinking of going to med school after, U of T's grading scheme *might* help, since they grade on a honours/pass/fail basis - I don't think (but I don't know for sure) that this would convert to any number on the OMSAS scale.

 

I finished law school and am now working as a lawyer (and don't have much interest in it). I started developing an interest in medicine part-way through law school - so that's why I'm applying now.  Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.  

 

Law school is not particularly time-consuming (just in the first term of first year when you are learning how to learn) - you definitely can still manage other things in your life. You could continue applying for med while you're there.  But if going to med school is your end goal, perhaps finding a job, doing some travelling, and learning some new skills might be a better option, rather than going to law school to buy time. 

 

Though the best advice I can give, and what most people who have gone through law school would give, is that you ONLY should do law school is you are truly passionate about law and working as a lawyer - please don't do it as a backup if you don't have the passion! Before accepting your law school offer please (I beg you!) try to find some family/friends/connections who are lawyers, and learn about what they do on a daily basis; what they like and dislike etc.   Check out lawstudents.ca and search up google for both good things about being a lawyer, and also why people want to leave the profession.  

[PremedToronto]

I'm in 4th year UG and I already applied to 2 medical school this year (my second cycle- 0/1 interviews last year as 3rd year UG.) I realize that competition is tough and I am ready to apply again and again after to get in as it is my dream. I am in a typical biology UG and I have never though of a backup because I was ignorant when I started UG thinking I would surely just get in after my second attempt. That is not certain anymore so I need a backup. I don't like research at all so I don't want to do a masters in science. I also don't want to get a lab tech job while I reapply. Over the last couple of days a crazy idea emerged to me. I could apply to law school. I looked at the requirements and my GPA and ECs are what they are looking for and more. All that is left is the LSAT which I can write in December for admission for next fall. I have taken the MCAT so I can review for the LSAT from now until then and write it and hopefully get a good score. I still have 3 weeks until the law applications are due so I can work on them and submit in time. I can use the same people who wrote my references for medical school....assuming this crazy-last-minute idea works out and I get into law school....and not medical school I will go to law school and continue to reapply to medical school. Has anyone heard of others do this? I see in most medical classes there are JD graduates in the program and I have heard of other people doing this same idea where they dropped out of law school after year 1 or year 2. Or, I could get into law school and love it, continue with it, and end up with a solid job as a lawyer. If I do a master's it will be useless as I don't want to do research and it will be done just for my medical school app. Will my marks in law school count towards my GPA? What will adcoms think of this? Thanks

 

Like others have said, I think it's best to think of a "worst possible" situation.  If you do not get into med, will you be totally content completing Law school and taking on that as a career?  If you truly believe so, then I don't think it's a bad idea at all.  Best wishes.

[Moonwing]

I usually just browse this forum but made an account to comment on this post. I am in law school right now. It is an absolutely terrible idea to pursue a rigorous professional program like law if your goal is to go to medical school afterward. Classes are curved to a B, most student get grades in the C to B range and only the top 10-15% in a class will get an A. It is very time-consuming, a lot of work, lots of readings and quite difficult for most people. There are easier ways to make yourself stand out to medical school admissions committees than to go to law school. Feel free to PM me for additional information.