10/29/2021
DON'T WAIT - SUBMIT YOUR JD YEAR 1 APPLICATION AT OLSAS IN ADVANCE OF THE NOV 1 DEADLINE
Every year candidates miss the application deadline unintentionally.
The 3 reasons why this happens - and why you can avoid them easily, are:
#1) SUBMITTING ON THE LAST DAY, NOV 1
It should come as no surprise that the OLSAS website will be sluggish on Nov 1 as the volume of candidates attempting to submit is greatest. The lag time for the information you enter to be received and reflected may be considerable, which results in ...
#2) CORRECTING YOUR FORM DATA IN ORDER TO SUBMIT
While you may think that you've entered all of your form data properly, it's more likely that you missed some required information that prevents you from submitting the application.
You'll only realize this when you try to submit and get an error message listing what's still missing. Since the OLSAS website will be sluggish on Nov 1, the amount of time it takes to correct the missing items could take you past the deadline which will prevent you from submitting your application. Likewise .....
#3) PAYING FOR THE APPLICATION ONLINE
With a sluggish OLSAS website, the processing of your online payment (e.g. by credit card) in order to submit, will take longer than you anticipate. It may actually make you miss the deadline, if the payment doesn't clear completely before the deadline. It's not about when you hit 'pay', it's about when the payment has been processed and confirmed.
All of this is to caution that there is no reason to leave things so late and run the high risk of missing the deadline. Wisdom suggests that if you must submit on the last day, then you should submit no later than NOON (Toronto time) on Nov 1. That should allow sufficient time to correct any missed data items and for online payment to clear.
CONSEQUENCES OF MISSING THE DEADLINE - FAIR WARNING
At the stroke of midnight (Toronto time), as Nov 1 turns into Nov 2, the link to apply will not permit you to select the JD year 1 at ANY Ontario law school. Sorry.
You will need to request, in writing, permission to apply late, from EACH Ontario law school of interest, specifying the reason(s) why you missed the deadline.
Given that the application opened last August, the schools have no obligation to grant the request, and there is no entitlement to apply late for any reason. Therefore, please do not miss the deadline.