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Just wondering if any of you have any idea about this. Do they just count the best two/last years?

last 2

I was told in email correspondence that it is now best two (that the best two just normally happens to be the last two for most people; this is why it says last two in their materials. I know- strange).

phidelt,

what chapter are you from?

oh and as far as I know it is LAST 2, but if they are telling people that it is BEST 2 now, than I guess it has changed. Baha is right though, it is usually the case that best 2 are someone's last 2 years.

I saw that they said last two years in all their materials, but when I asked about my GPA as calculated by Queen's I received a response with my cGPA and my best two years. I wrote to inquire whether the latter was a criteria of admission... she wrote back:

they look at the top two years that are at least 2 consecutive semesters of full-time studies per year.
i did a coop program and my best 60 credits are not what queens looked at. they looked at my 2nd/3rd years (30+30). instead of my 3rd/4th/5th years (30+18+21=69 credits in total)

So what do they do when people have no or 1 full year?

That really blows. I'm in the same boat, as I'm completing a co-op program as well.

"We will calculate your cumulative % based off of all the courses you have taken in your undergrad. For the Top 2 Yr, it will be just that, your highest two years (at full course load) it could be both from one program, and a year from one, and a year from another. We will not drop any courses when calculating your %.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Thanks,

Aimee"

When I emailed Aimee about my GPA calculations, she told me that they consider 8 courses a full year. So if you have at least 24 credits then they'll still use that year for your best 2 calculation.

So what are the implications for admissions of this amended "Best 2" policy that has (apparently) been adopted by Queen's? Do they look only to an applicant's Best 2 years exclusively (as part of the academic requirement) when making admissions decisions?

I don't really understand the difference if they still place so much emphasis on the cGPA, as is the case AFAIK. This appears to be only a small change in the veneer of Queen's Admissions mandate.

Full course load = 27 or 30 credits? I'd assume the latter, but that'd really blow because for the first three years of my undergrad so far, I've gone:
1st year - 33 (3 in summer school)
2nd year - 30 (3 in summer school)
This past year - 27 (not doing summer school)
Upcoming/final year - 30

CLARIFICATION PLEASE!

Queen's ONLY looks at your top 2 years (and disregards the cumulative)?

TOP 2. For sure, heard it from admissions myself.

Don't they initially rank by CGPA? Or something like that? I don't think CGPA is totally disregarded.

P.S. Sorry about your rejection - but your average is absolutely amazing...most of us would kill for your GPA! When you break 160, you'll have your pick of schools. But I think you'll get in somewhere this year.

The website says they rank according to average LSAT but from past threads, people have been told by admissions that CGPA is a factor as well. I'm not sure.

Thanks KA2010, I really appreciate that. I hope you hear some (more?) good news as well.

Thanks, Jayleeh! Wow... if I'm correct, we've both been on this forum since 9ish this morning, after being denied from Osgoode (your post in that "rejection" thread was two minutes after mine).

One sec.... so top 2 ONLY? (Bear with me... totally freaking out here after 2 rejections on the same day)

and you're not a failure! As late as it seems to be in the cycle right now, it's not THATTTTTTT late. The whole admission process goes all the way through August, and personally, I know a good handful of people who got accepted the day before classes started (or was it the day before orientation..... hmmm... but you know what I mean). So cheer up! Even if you have to re-apply for next year, it'll give you time to bump up your LSAT mark and get into the school of YOUR CHOICE, as opposed to hanging on to dear life right now to our 4th, 5th choice schools. BUTTTTTT, having said that, THIS cycle right now is still not over yet! There's still hope!

For anyone interested!!!

Initially files go to Committee in the order of Cum % and Average LSAT, although final decisions are based on the top two year and LSAT High.

At this time there is no decision. Our class is not full, so we are continuing to make decisions on files.

Thanks,
Aimee

Whoa, some actual concrete information. That is good news...thanks for posting

Thanks magoo. So what, do they use an index or something? How can they rank by both?

I have no idea. I emailed Aimee regarding that, but no response just yet. Will definitely keep you guys posted once I get an email back.

Wow... I got so excited when she emailed me back, saying that they only look at your top 2 years when giving out offers. (cgpa being 3.1; top 2 - 3.7; lsat - 158) But then again I got dinged from Osgoode, who also takes your best 2 AND whose first-year class size is 290, as opposed to Queen's 160. Back to reality! =(

So why the HELL doesn't Queen's make this public knowledge??????????????? As in on their website.

My best 2 is something like 83%, last 2 below 80% (U of A gave me 3.4), LSAT 163 (average is 157). I got the 163 in Dec.09, so I got it kinda late and had already applied to most schools by then that I figured I had any chance at.

Damn I'm kicking myself for not applying, Sask/Manitoba/ and now apparently Queens were really my only realistic options for this cycle (New Brunswick too I suppose).

I'm happy to be going to Sask and may have went there anyways over Queens (home is in Alberta), but I wanna do criminal law so FML why does it say last 2 on the Queens website!?

For the ones who were involved in a co-op program:

Were you assigned a grade for your co-op? I am in a position where in my final year, I completed a 40 hr/week for 6 weeks placement (which I received a grade for) as well as a 24 hrs/ week masthead class for one semester. My final GPA for that entire year was 3.9/4.0, but that's across 5 courses. Because of the course hour allotments, it would have been impossible to take more courses, and it is certainly considered full course load for my undergraduate program. So much so, that the chair of my program is willing to send a document to OLSAS outlining the breakdown of course hours in my program. Has anyone tried taking this route? It's unfair that this year wouldn't be considered as one of my 2 best years just because each course was longer per week than what is typical.