LLM Program (No Concentration): Thesis Option
Minimum Admission Requirements
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Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies. Applicants must also satisfy the Faculty of Law's additional admission requirements stated below.
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Applicants must have obtained a Bachelor of Laws or Juris Doctor degree, or the international equivalent of a law degree, from a recognized university. Applicants must have a minimum B+ average in the final year of their legal studies. Preference will be given to applicants who maintain this average throughout their legal studies, i.e., throughout their entire law degree.
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Applicants whose primary language is not English and who obtained their admitting degree (Bachelor of Laws, Juris Doctor, or equivalent) from a university where the language of instruction and examination was not English must show evidence of English proficiency by submitting English-language test scores. Several English-language testing services are acceptable. The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and International English Language Testing System (IELTS) are the most common tests:
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The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with the following minimum scores:
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Paper-based TOEFL: minimum overall score of 600, and 5 on the Test of Written English (TWE)
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Internet-based TOEFL: minimum overall score of 100/120, and 24/30 on each section.
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IELTS, Academic module: overall score of 7.5 with at least 7.0 in each component.
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The University of Toronto Academic English preparation course: overall grade of A in Level 60.
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Canadian Academic English Language (CAEL) Online: overall score of 70 with at least 70 in each component.
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Cambridge English Qualifications: overall score of 191 with at least 185 on each section.
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No conditional offers of admission will be given based on successful completion of an English language test.
Program Requirements
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Students must complete a course of studies and a thesis which, combined, are valued at 24 credit hours (equivalent to 6.0 full-course equivalents [FCEs]).
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Students writing a short thesis must:
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Complete 20 credit hours of coursework (equivalent to 5.0 FCEs); and
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Write a thesis worth 4 credit hours (equivalent to 1.0 FCE), and approximately 45 pages or 13,000 words, under the supervision of a graduate faculty member.
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Students writing a long thesis must:
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Complete 8 credit hours (equivalent to 2.0 FCEs) of coursework; and
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Write a thesis worth 16 credit hours (equivalent to 4.0 FCEs), and approximately 175 pages or 52,000 words, under the supervision of a graduate faculty member.
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All thesis students must complete:
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The mandatory graduate seminar for all LLM students who are writing a thesis: LAW1000H Alternative Approaches to Legal Scholarship (3 credits, or 0.75 FCE); and
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The mandatory graduate seminar for all LLM students: LAW7572H LLM Seminar (1 credit, or 0.25 FCE).
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All coursework and the student's thesis are graded using the graduate grading scale as outlined in the University Assessment and Grading Practices Policy.
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The Faculty offers thesis students some flexibility regarding the number of credits allocated to their thesis. Students writing a short thesis can choose to write a slightly longer thesis for additional credit, and students writing a long thesis can choose to write a slightly shorter thesis for fewer credits. Students who wish to reduce or increase their thesis credits should contact the graduate program coordinator before the Fall add/drop deadline.
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The coursework requirements must be completed by the Faculty’s Winter sessional deadline of the academic year of attendance; the thesis must be completed by July 31 of the academic year of attendance.
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With approval of the Associate Dean, Graduate Studies at the Faculty of Law, the program may be taken on a part-time basis over two years, in which case the coursework requirements must be completed by the Faculty’s Winter sessional deadlines of the second academic year of attendance; the thesis must be completed by July 31 of the second academic year of attendance.
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Residence. Full-time students must be in attendance for at least two academic sessions (eight months, September to April). Part-time students must be in attendance for at least four academic sessions (September to April of both years of study).
Program Length
3 sessions full-time (typical registration sequence: F/W/S);
6 sessions part-time (exceptional circumstances only)
Time Limit
3 years full-time;
6 years part-time (exceptional circumstances only)