The BSAP is an important part of our commitment to ensuring that legal education is accessible to talented students from all segments of Canadian society and that the legal profession represents the diverse communities that lawyers serve.
PRE-APPLICATION SUPPORT VIA BLACK FUTURE LAWYERS
Current Black undergraduate students who are interested in becoming lawyers are invited to sign-up for membership in our Black Future Lawyers (BFL) initiative. As early as their first year, Black students in an undergraduate degree program at any post-secondary institution may participate.
UofT Law provides for free to BFL student members: mentoring, networking and shadowing with Black lawyers and law students; workshops, speakers, admissions and financing information; LSAT preparation, an annual conference and a paid full-time summer internship.
The BSAP benefit
For Black candidates seeking to enrol in the JD degree at UofT Law, the BSAP provides an optional admission stream for any applicant category: general, mature or Indigenous.
All JD degree applicants are assessed on their post-secondary academic record, LSAT performance and their personal profile. For BSAP applicants, your personal profiles will be reviewed by members of the UofT Law Black community, including our alumni, faculty, students and staff. The review enables us to better recognize the unique perspectives and experiences of Black individuals and their Black communities.
What makes a good BSAP candidate?
We seek students with diverse backgrounds, experiences and interests, both academic and non-academic, who demonstrate the potential to deepen the talent and perspectives in law school. You must meet the same LSAT and academic requirements for admission that we seek from all candidates. The BSAP stream does not have a designated quota for admission.
The BSAP Essay
Applicants who select the BSAP stream must submit both a Personal Statement and the BSAP Essay.
- In addition, you may chose to submit a third piece of self-reflective writing: the Optional Essay.
- We recommend strongly that you submit all three documents in order to use the maximum allowable space to tell your story, since the BSAP admissions committee will read all of your written submissions together.
- In all of your written submissions, try to avoid repetition when you write about your candidacy.
The BSAP Essay comprises of a maximum of 2,500 characters, including punctuation and spaces, of plain unformatted text.
- The BSAP Essay offers a unique additional opportunity to describe your strengths and accomplishments, vision for your own legal education, and to tell your story.
- There is no template to follow to express and describe yourself. Sample topics include describing why you chose the BSAP stream, writing on an issue that you feel is important to the Black community or sharing your motivations and inspirations. Whether or not you choose to use or reference any of those topics, you should relate what you write about to a legal issue and/or the study/practice of law.
- The BSAP Essay is part of the online application form, and is not submitted as a separate document by upload or hardcopy. The text is entered directly on the application form.
How to apply to BSAP?
The BSAP stream is available for admission into either:
- the JD first year, or
- the JD second year, for students who wish to transfer immediately after their first year at another common law school
All candidates apply by the standard First Year or Transfer procedures and deadlines, to the Ontario Law School Application Service (OLSAS). To be considered for the BSAP, on the OLSAS online application, please:
- Select the relevant UofT JD-only program (First Year or Transfer), and if desired, also select any JD combined program(s)
- Proceed to the School Submissions section and locate the Selection Type list of links.
- Select the link for the Black Student Application Process (BSAP) Selection and BSAP Essay
- Confirm that you are selecting BSAP
- Type in the text of your BSAP Essay
Post-Admission Supports & Resources for our enrolled Black UofT JD students
- Black Law Students' Association (BLSA UofT)
The student club for our Black JD students that is a chapter of the Canadian network of BLSA across Canadian law schools.
- Black Students' Faculty Advisor
Our students are encouraged to connect with a Black law professor for academic guidance.
- Black Students' Staff Advisor
Our students are encouraged to connect with a Black member of the Student Services team for advice and support on student life and wellbeing.
- Peer Mentorship Program
Incoming first-year and transfer students may choose to be matched with an upper year student who will mentor them for the school year.
- Alumni Mentorship Program
Incoming first year students may choose to be matched with an alumna/alumnus who will mentor them on the legal profession for the school year.
- BCE Summer Internship for Black UofT JD students
In partnership with Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE), UofT Law offers a 14-week full-time paid summer internship for Black law students. It will provide students with real-world legal industry experience, and an opportunity to build their resumés and build their professional network. Participants will be researching specific areas of law, reviewing case law and legislation, developing written materials for the legal team, analyzing contracts and policies, working closely with business colleagues.
- Entrance & In-course Awards for Black JD Students
Our students are considered automatically for UofT Law needs-based entrance and in-course awards, including:
- JD FIRST YEAR
- The Michael Kelly Memorial Award
- The Siobhan Amani Alexander Memorial Scholarship
- Newton Rowell Scholarship
- ANY JD YEAR
- Ivy Maynier Bursary Fund
- Kris Astaphan Bursary
- Robert M. Yalden Award
You may review the specifications of those UofT Law JD awards, plus university-wide general awards using the online UofT Award Explorer database.
Our Black JD students may also vie for UofT Law in-course awards open to all students which may be based on a myriad of criteria including academic excellence overall or in specific courses/areas of student; involvement/leadership in the law school or greater community; legal areas of interest or participation in extracurricular activities.
Of course, students may apply independently to scholarships and bursaries that are external to the law school.
