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Caleb Raymond is the President of Carleton University's Law and Legal Studies Society.
Over my three years with the Society, the opportunities members have told us made the biggest difference are our LSAT preparation sessions and professional development initiatives. From LSAT prep and case brief reading sessions to larger networking events, such as our annual Ottawa Legal Networking Symposium, these programs provide students with meaningful exposure to the legal field, and valuable connections that are intended to prepare them for pursuing legal careers after their undergraduate studies.
The biggest pressure facing pre-law students at our campus right now is the lack of accessible opportunities and financial support. Following changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program, combined with the high cost of living in Ottawa and a competitive job market, many students face significant barriers to gaining the experiences and resources needed to prepare for law school. What people outside the law school admissions process may not fully understand is how difficult it can be to balance the financial realities of being a full-time student with the pressure to continuously build a competitive law school application.
When answering this question, I would like to speak to its essence rather than its exact wording. While I understand that law schools place significant expectations on students because of the demands of the profession, I think we should place less emphasis on the idea that there is one path or profile that makes someone a strong law student. Instead, I would like to see students encouraged to bring their experiences outside of their degrees into their education.
Some of the most valuable qualities a future lawyer can develop come from experiences that have nothing to do with law itself. The experiences students gain outside of law shape how they understand the people and issues they will eventually advocate for. I think pre-law students would benefit from feeling that these experiences are not distractions from their legal aspirations, but an important part of what they bring to the profession.
This question is personally nuanced for me, as I have experienced firsthand how serious the consequences of mental health struggles can be when people do not feel comfortable speaking openly about what they are going through. That experience has shaped the way I think about burnout, mental health, and the pressures students place on themselves.
I think students are becoming more open about burnout and mental health, but there is still a strong pressure to push through silently. In competitive academic environments, students often feel that admitting they are struggling may be seen as a lack of resilience, especially when balancing demanding coursework with the pressure to build a strong law school application. While conversations around mental health are becoming more common, I think we still have a long way to go in making students feel that asking for help is normal.As I mentioned earlier, this question is personally nuanced for me. Losing a close friend to mental health struggles deeply shaped my perspective on the importance of creating spaces where people feel safe and comfortable seeking support. This past year I felt compelled and inspired to establish the Edu Memorial Foundation, with the goal of making conversations around student mental health more open and accessible.
Social media and the growth of digital spaces have definitely impacted pre-law students, as well as the legal field itself. Omitting the latter, social media has made the pre-law experience much more visible, creating more opportunities for connection but also a culture of constant comparison. Students are constantly seeing other people’s achievements and progress, which can make it easy to question whether they are doing enough or falling behind. I think it is important to remember that productivity is not defined by how much someone appears to be accomplishing online, and that everyone’s path to law school looks different.
The financial reality of being pre-law is something I wish more people talked about. With changes to OSAP, the rising cost of living, and a limited job market in Ottawa, students are balancing the costs of university with the expectation of building a competitive law school application. There is often an assumption that everyone has equal access to the same opportunities, when financial circumstances can significantly shape what a student is able to pursue. For many students, the challenge is not a lack of ambition, but having to make difficult financial decisions while trying to keep up academically and prepare for law school.
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