View the2024-2025 course calendar.

Course selection for graduate students has four stages:

  • Course selection opens - July 11 at 10:00 AM
  • Deadline to select courses - July 25 at 10:00 AM
  • Course selection results viewable - August 1
  • Add/drop period - August 8 at 10:00 AM until September 18 at 10:00 AM

Between July 2nd and July 11th, students have the opportunity to review the upcoming academic year’s course offerings on the Faculty’s website before formally submitting their course selections.  We encourage you to review the courses offered and consider which are of interest to you and/or which you must take in order to satisfy degree requirements prior to the commencement of the course selection period.  

Students should confirm that their courses of interest are open to graduate students (which is true of most, but not all, courses).  For example, first year courses are not open to LLM students.  In order to identify which courses are open to graduate students, please review the course descriptions online.  As depicted below, graduate student enrolment appears in the "At a Glancesection to the right of the course description. 

Please note that pre-requisites and co-requisites do not apply to graduate students.

Identification of course description online

 

Please note that the Faculty offers an incredible roster of intensive courses, which are delivered by distinguished scholars from around the world.

Graduate students may only enroll in one intensive course per year.

 

Degree Requirements 

Students are required to be aware of and ensure that their course selection enables them to satisfy their degree requirements.

Students may not take fewer than the number of credits required for completion of their degree. Students may, however, take one extra credit, where doing so enables them to take their desired courses. Please note that the course selection system requires students to select courses that amount to twice as many credits as they need in order to facilitate the course selection process.

LLM program

LLM degree requirements are listed on each streams' webpages, and can also be downloaded here (PDF).  

  • Full-time LLM coursework students must complete 28 credits of coursework and must enroll in 13 to 15 credits in each term.
  • Full-time LLM short thesis students must complete 20 credits of coursework (8 to 12 credits per term) and write a 4 credits thesis, for a total of 24 credits.
  • Full-time LLM long thesis students must complete 8 credits of coursework (3 to 5 credits per term) and write a 16 credits thesis, for a total of 24 credits. 

LLM students who are registered in a concentration must fulfill additional degree requirements.  Information about these requirements can be found on each concentration webpage:

Please note students admitted into a concentration are given preference by Course Match for the courses offered in the concentration when the allocation is run. Concentration students are not given preference during the post-allocation period.

MSL program

MSL degree requirements are listed on the Master of Studies in Law webpage. Full-time MSL students must enroll in 12-16 credits in each term and are required to complete at least 28 and not more than 32 credits each academic year. 

SJD program

SJD degree requirements are listed on the Doctor of Juridical Science webpageSJD students must enroll in Alternative Approaches to Legal Scholarship. 

SJD Direct- Entry program

SJD (Direct-Entry) degree requirements are listed on the Direct-Entry Doctor of Juridical Science webpageDirect-Entry SJD students must enroll in Alternative Approaches to Legal Scholarship. They must enroll in 2-6 credits in each term and a total of 8 credits during their first year (including Alternative Approached to Legal Scholarship). 

 

Mandatory Courses 

LLM Program

All LLMs must take the LLM Seminar (LAW7572H1F). The purpose of this seminar is to provide an introduction to various theoretical, doctrinal, empirical and critical approaches to legal scholarship, using an experiential pedagogy that integrates academic skills such as legal writing, research and exam-writing. The seminar involves skills-based modules. 

All thesis LLMs must take Alternative Approaches to Legal Scholarship (LAW1000H1). This course provides an introduction to a number of theoretical frameworks that are likely to enhance and inform students’ understanding of other coursework and/or their thesis. Coursework students are also welcome to take this course. 

LLMs enrolled in the short or long thesis program must also select the LLM Thesis course. Students must enrol in order to ensure that the credits associated with their thesis appear on their transcript. 

Students will be added to their mandatory course by the Graduate Program team directly.

SJD Program

First year SJDs must take Alternative Approaches to Legal Scholarship (LAW1000H1). This well-liked course provides an introduction to a number of theoretical frameworks that are likely to enhance and inform students’ research and studies. 

First year SJDs are also expected to participate in a number of mandatory, non-credit workshops and seminars. It is not necessary (or indeed possible) to select these workshops/seminars in the course selection system. We will provide you with the schedules for these workshops/seminars. 

 

Preference Categories 

The course selection system uses a preference category system that allows students to prioritize courses which have special importance to them and their proposed program of study. Students indicate their course preferences by listing the courses in order of preference.  The available categories are the following: 

Great 

The first preference category is "great."  There is no limit to the number of courses students can list as "great."  The system will assume minor preferences for courses based on the sequence in which they are listed in the "great" category, with the highest preference being the first listed course, then the next listed course, etc. 

Good 

The second preference category is "good."  There is no limit to the number of courses students can list as "good."  The system will assume minor preferences for courses based on the sequence in which they are listed in the "good" category, with the highest preference being the first listed course, then the next listed course, etc. 

Acceptable 

The final preference category is "acceptable."  There is no limit to the number of courses students can list as "acceptable."  The system will assume minor preferences for courses based on the sequence in which they are listed in the "acceptable" category, with the highest preference being the first listed course, then the next listed course, etc. 

How to use preference categories 

Be realistic in making choices. While every effort is made to enroll students in the courses they have prioritized, listing a course as the top of the "Great" category does not guarantee enrollment. If it becomes necessary to cancel or reschedule a course, to substitute an instructor, or to make other changes to the curriculum, reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate students' choices. However, after the allocation is run, all students are subject to the mechanics of the waitlist.  

Do not list courses that require applications or permission to enroll.  Students will be placed in those courses by the Graduate Program Coordinator once permission has been given and after the allocation is made.  Rather, students should complete their course selection as if they will not be taking the conditional course.  Then, if admitted, they can drop a course to get under the credit maximum.  

Finally, students should not be discouraged when they find themselves on a waiting list for a course.  There are relatively few courses which close with waiting lists at the end of each course selection period. Be patient. Places often open up as students make changes to their programs during the course change periods in September and January. 

Course Linkage  

Course linkage is done by creating “Rules” which tell the system the student wants one course or the other. Students can create rules link together as many sets of classes as they wish.  The “Rules” section can be found below the “Acceptable” category.

 

Course Selection Instructions 

1) Log in 

Go to the Course Match page (https://www.law.utoronto.ca/academic-programs/course-matchand click on the Course Match for Graduate Students link. 

Once registration opens, students will receive a link to Course Match by email. Please note that the email will be sent to the email address students used to apply to their program, or their UTmail+ email address if activated.  

2)  Course Selection 

The course selection program allows students to make course choices using preference categories. Students may edit their choices as often as they like during the selection period.  Whatever preferences are listed at the time of the deadline is the selection that will be submitted for each student.  

To select a course, click on the course name. To indicate preference, move the course title into either the Great, Good, or Acceptable section of the page.  Remember that sequence within categories is also significant:  the system understands big differences in preference between categories, and minor differences in preference within categories.  

Students should select courses until they have chosen twice as many credits as they need for the academic year to fulfill their credit requirementsStudents must choose courses for both terms during the summer course selection process.

Students will be shown a variety of possible schedule results from each set of preferences.  Students often toggle back and forth between their preferences and the schedules that are generated as they finalize their choices.  The system will not permit students to submit any courses which conflict or overlap on the timetable; or if the number of credits is too low. 

Students may sign-out of the system at any time. Their course selections will have been saved, and will be available the next time they sign-in. Students may continue to make changes until the final submission deadline. Please note that students have to view their list of schedules in order to have rankings saved. 

Students who miss the deadline for course selection will not be able to select their courses until the system is reactivated after the allocation has been run.  

Submitting and confirming your rankingsStudents need to make sure to (1) submit their rankings, (2) review their schedule and (3) confirm their rankings by July 25, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. Students will receive an email once their rankings are submitted, but will still need to review their schedules and confirm their rankings!

3) Post-allocation course viewing 

The course selection system will be closed on July 25, 2024 at 10:00 AM in order to run the allocation. Students will be placed into courses based on what meets the highest number of student preferences.  After the allocation is completed, students may view the courses for which they have been confirmed and/or waitlisted on August 1, 2024. 

4)  Add/Drop Period 

Once the course selection re-opens on August 8, 2024, spots in courses will be available on a first-come first-served basis. 

The maximum enrolment for each course is listed in the course description. Due to the lag time between selection and the processing of requests, the listing could indicate that there are  5 open spots; however, 10 students may be signing up for those spots at any given time. The spots are allocated on a first-come first-served basis.  

When adjusting courses, students should not drop a course with a waitlist in which they are confirmed.  A student who deletes a course with a waitlist and later re-adds the same course, will be added to the bottom of the waiting list. 

Waitlist courtesy to others:Students may keep their names on any course waitlist until the end of the add/drop period. However, in fairness to others lower down on the waitlist, students waitlisted in a course that they have no intention of taking should drop the course.   

 

Adding and Dropping Courses 

Students are given an opportunity to make changes to their programs of study during the Add/Drop period at the beginning of each term.  

Students cannot be added to courses that pose a conflict with their existing schedule or that would bring them over your credit limit.  To address this students should list a "conditional drop" to their waitlist request.   This instructs the system which course the student wish to drop in the event a seat in the waitlisted course with a conflict becomes available. The conditional drop instructs the system to drop the currently enrolled course in favour of the preferred course should an opening becomes available. 

Students will not be able to use the add/drop functions in Acorn, however. They will continue to use Course Match for the duration of the add/drop period.  When the add/drop period is over and course lists are finalized, there will be an upload of students courses into Acorn.   

During the add/drop period, many students attend classes in order to get a sense of the courses. Students who are waitlisted for a course often attend these classes in order to keep up with the material. 

Permission to add or drop courses from your program after the Add/Drop dates listed on the Sessional Dates webpage must be obtained from the Assistant Dean, Graduate Programs.