Only the fortunate few will gain admission to the first year of TRU’s new law school.

Applications closed Monday for entry into the law program, offered in partnership with the University of Calgary.

Chris Axworthy, dean of Thompson Rivers University’s law school, said the department received 400 applications for 65 spots. Many of those applicants will have applied to a number of schools, including TRU, however.

The next step for the university is creation of an appointments committee. But TRU’s law school is still awaiting approval through the province’s degree granting panel.

Once that step is met, the law school can start hiring faculty. Those faculty, in turn, will help select students who will walk through the doors in September.

Currently the university’s law school is staffed by Axworthy, an administrator and a clerical support worker.

“We will be ready by September,” Axworthy vowed.

But the university may be delayed in accepting students because it is still ramping up. Students are typically informed in April or May where they are accepted.

Axworthy said experience at any law school is the final positions are cemented in the first week of classes.

“We’ll probably be adding to our student body in the first week of class. They (other students) might come here and not like it or can’t make it.”

Despite delays, Axworthy said he is already identifying prospective faculty.