A Day In The Life of a Law Student (1 Viewer)

[izzy88]

Hey guys, I was considering doing law @ UNSW, but I don't think I'll get 99.65+, so I'll have to transfer.

I think that I can *hopefully* get a ~98.8-99.1-ish ATAR, so what sort of WAM would I need to transfer from UNSW Commerce?

Cheers.

I don't know anything about UNSW transfer so I can't help you with that (and other posters seem to have a pretty good grasp of how UNSW transfer system works).
So just as a side note, I know you were asking about UNSW, but if your WAM isn't as high as necessary for UNSW, and you have a high ATAR (in the range you described), you might be able to transfer into USYD Law - they take into account 50/50 ATAR/WAM or 100% WAM (whichever is higher). There's also no difference for internal vs external transfer applicants at USYD - so you can still do commerce at UNSW, and apply for both UNSW and USYD transfer if you wanted to (just to increase your options/chances if you wanted to).

Also, this isn't really required yet, but if you don't get a transfer, it's not the end of the world - there are lots of options - including the JD at UNSW (or any other university) once you have finished your undergrad degree (I find high school students don't tend to think about grad law too much when considering what they're going to do at uni).

 

[Caligula]

10:30: Wake, proceed to go upstairs and eat weetabix.
10:40: Make a coffee, check my bank account. Wonder how I'm going to stretch it to cover $600 worth of ties when Henry Carter release their new 7-fold grenadine range.
10:50: - Call PayPal as I still haven't seen the $60 they owe me. They blame my bank. Call my bank, money still has another 4 days.
- Read the Sydney Morning Herald to see what those Newtown hipsters suggest we ban this week. Decide I need a more conservative newspaper.
- Admire the economy of the new Chery J1 - serving as both one's car and coffin for under $10K.
- Get on facebook and see that some vacuous ditz I know has got a position as a judge's associate. Wish my breasts were bigger.
- Order a copy of Woe is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English and Bret Easton Ellis' The Informers.
11:30: Girlfriend who currently can't drive messages me. She's in a mood.
11:35: I get a text from friends telling me that they want to do a gym session this afternoon. I tell them that I have an evening with the girlfriend planned.
- Feel bad I can't see my friends, contemplate how awesome my life would be without women as the other girl in my life (my 10 year old beagle) has been barking since 4AM.
- decide it's shower time.
1:00PM: Pander around after my shower.
- For the rest of the day: Have to pick up gf from the train station, which inevitably involves driving past the Audi dealership and wishing I'd done engineering or some more lucrative career. Await the arrival of The Elements of Style, The Elements of Legal Style and Legal Writing in Plain English this afternoon - should make for riveting reading.

 

[inJust]

10:30: Wake, proceed to go upstairs and eat weetabix.
10:40: Make a coffee, check my bank account. Wonder how I'm going to stretch it to cover $600 worth of ties when Henry Carter release their new 7-fold grenadine range.
10:50: - Call PayPal as I still haven't seen the $60 they owe me. They blame my bank. Call my bank, money still has another 4 days.
- Read the Sydney Morning Herald to see what those Newtown hipsters suggest we ban this week. Decide I need a more conservative newspaper.
- Admire the economy of the new Chery J1 - serving as both one's car and coffin for under $10K.
- Get on facebook and see that some vacuous ditz I know has got a position as a judge's associate. Wish my breasts were bigger.
- Order a copy of Woe is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English and Bret Easton Ellis' The Informers.
11:30: Girlfriend who currently can't drive messages me. She's in a mood.
11:35: I get a text from friends telling me that they want to do a gym session this afternoon. I tell them that I have an evening with the girlfriend planned.
- Feel bad I can't see my friends, contemplate how awesome my life would be without women as the other girl in my life (my 10 year old beagle) has been barking since 4AM.
- decide it's shower time.
1:00PM: Pander around after my shower.
- For the rest of the day: Have to pick up gf from the train station, which inevitably involves driving past the Audi dealership and wishing I'd done engineering or some more lucrative career. Await the arrival of The Elements of Style, The Elements of Legal Style and Legal Writing in Plain English this afternoon - should make for riveting reading.

You sir, are living the life

 

[danielau]

I know I'm not a student at UNSW but I've sent them emails on this so I can actually answer this haha. At UNSW, they don't look at ATAR when looking at transferring into Comm/Law- its purely based on WAM. They guarantee 100 internal transfers into the entire law program from other degrees and this is based on WAM. Obviously it depends on the year in question but these were the marks for the internal program cut-offs from 2010-2012:

2010 – 1st rank 89.6, 100th rank 73 (total of 192 applicants)

2011 – 1st rank 88.25, 100th rank 72 (total of 248 applicants)

2012 – 1st rank 91.37, 100th rank 75.75 (total 253 applicants)

Note: Up until 2012, they considered ATAR as well so its possible that this year (being the first year where ATAR doesn't count) will have different numbers because say people with a 90 ATAR before might not have tried properly under the old system because they didn't have a chance but under the new system they do. Also say someone with a 99.5 ATAR wouldn't have had to aim high under the old system but under the new one they do so cut-offs could jump. Their email says that a 78 seems competitive based on previous cohorts but you can never really predict

Hope this helps

Does that 2012 cut off mean the cut off for 2012 to study law in 2013? If so, it has increased just a little bit. I Assume this year it might jump again as more people are aware of the internal transfer program and more may apply. If I can remember correctly, someone got in to law this year with a wam of 75.6 last year.

 

[Spiritual Being]

10:30: Wake, proceed to go upstairs and eat weetabix.
10:40: Make a coffee, check my bank account. Wonder how I'm going to stretch it to cover $600 worth of ties when Henry Carter release their new 7-fold grenadine range.
10:50: - Call PayPal as I still haven't seen the $60 they owe me. They blame my bank. Call my bank, money still has another 4 days.
- Read the Sydney Morning Herald to see what those Newtown hipsters suggest we ban this week. Decide I need a more conservative newspaper.
- Admire the economy of the new Chery J1 - serving as both one's car and coffin for under $10K.
- Get on facebook and see that some vacuous ditz I know has got a position as a judge's associate. Wish my breasts were bigger.
- Order a copy of Woe is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English and Bret Easton Ellis' The Informers.
11:30: Girlfriend who currently can't drive messages me. She's in a mood.
11:35: I get a text from friends telling me that they want to do a gym session this afternoon. I tell them that I have an evening with the girlfriend planned.
- Feel bad I can't see my friends, contemplate how awesome my life would be without women as the other girl in my life (my 10 year old beagle) has been barking since 4AM.
- decide it's shower time.
1:00PM: Pander around after my shower.
- For the rest of the day: Have to pick up gf from the train station, which inevitably involves driving past the Audi dealership and wishing I'd done engineering or some more lucrative career. Await the arrival of The Elements of Style, The Elements of Legal Style and Legal Writing in Plain English this afternoon - should make for riveting reading.

lol

 

[Spiritual Being]

Success in law depends on:

I don't know. It depends on:
- Grades (D average I'd say for top tier)
- Extra curricula
- Who you know
- Appearance (do you have big boobs/pecs? know how to dress CBD?)
- Application (whether the computer picks up relevant key words and whether its eye catching, your CL/resume is appropriately original whilst remaining conservative)
- Social skills

If some blonde hardbody applied to my firm with a D average, 3 scholarships, played water polo for Australia at the Commonwealth games and whose father was wing on my rugby team and she went to UWS I'd probably ask her to forward my resume and look after her application myself.

If I had a UNSW student with a pass average and two fails, no extra curricula bar a BOS platinum account who showed up to my office in a YD suit and pointy elf shoes who spent the whole interview weezing from asthma I'd have him escorted out.

In short, going to UWS might be seen at worst as having a five second handicap in a marathon, you're up against it but certainly not out of the race.

 

[Omnidragon]

Haha, that's a pretty demanding list of attributes for a career that offers you a life of boredom, wasted hours and all-round average-ness.

 

[Spiritual Being]

Haha, that's a pretty demanding list of attributes for a career that offers you a life of boredom, wasted hours and all-round average-ness.

What's life like in the shoes of a lawyer?

Weekdays:
Complete boring and menial work until 2:00AM

Weekends:
Think about completing boring and menial work until 2:00AM

 

[Omnidragon]

What's life like in the shoes of a lawyer?

Weekdays:
Complete boring and menial work until 2:00AM

Weekends:
Think about completing boring and menial work until 2:00AM

Sounds like you were born to do it.

 

[Aerath]

Sounds like you were born to do it.

lol

 

[Spiritual Being]

Sounds like you were born to do it.

lol

 

[Absolutezero]

 

[Spiritual Being]

Sounds like you were born to do it.

Been there, done that.

Got a 99.95 ATAR and got accepted into top tier within ten minutes of my interview.

I remember - the $3900 pay cheque in my hand, and everyone around me grinning like they just won the lottery.

Oh, how far I have come. The other day, I was invited to a royal dinner. Leaving to Hong Kong tomorrow, continuing to expand my investment soon-to-be-hotel portfolio. I might also drop by to get my favourite drink!

I am sure you will make those big bucks, kiddo. Like the one's that you dream of!

 

[Spiritual Being]

The goal is not to make 800k over your lifetime paying off that Chatswood townhouse, it is having $10M before the age of 28.

Rather than trying to emulate the overworked 45 year old who hates his job, emulate the 27 year old with 72 properties, or the 25 year old with $5M in equity, investing in land because he's bored and making 300k net profit in a few months.

There is no doubt that going to a top tier law firm will set you on path one.

 

[Drifting95]

The goal is not to make 800k over your lifetime paying off that Chatswood townhouse, it is having $10M before the age of 28.

Rather than trying to emulate the overworked 45 year old who hates his job, emulate the 27 year old with 72 properties, or the 25 year old with $5M in equity, investing in land because he's bored and making 300k net profit in a few months.

There is no doubt that going to a top tier law firm will set you on path one.

lol noob, people would laugh at your measly 100k a year.

 

[Spiritual Being]

lol noob, people would laugh at your measly 100k a year.

The moment when one is dreaming of a 100k job, as opposed to their current 80k, is when there life is capped. Seriously, 20k?

I know people who are born into incredibly wealthy families, and they will laugh at your 80k a year.

You sound like you fit the profile of a top tier lawyer very well.

 

[Drifting95]

The moment when one is dreaming of a 100k job, as opposed to their current 80k, is when there life is capped. Seriously, 20k?

I know people who are born into incredibly wealthy families, and they will laugh at your 80k a year.

You sound like you fit the profile of a top tier lawyer very well.

You're on your way to financial disaster, like that guy with the car worth 17k and 23k finance owing, yet still wanting to buy a new 55k car.

 

[Spiritual Being]

You're on your way to financial disaster, like that guy with the car worth 17k and 23k finance owing, yet still wanting to buy a new 55k car.

Enjoy the rat race, kiddo.

I am sure you will make those big bucks, like the one's that you dream of!

 

[Spiritual Being]

7:00AM: Just woke up. Have to be in the office in approximately two hours to complete boring and menial work.
7:30AM: My nagging girlfriend wants me to take her to the train station. This is always annoying, as It inevitably forces me to drive past the Audi dealership. Intertwined within, I wish I would have been involved in a more lucrative career such as engineering so I can afford one of those cars.
9:00AM: I have arrived at the firm. Everything is hectic, the printer is not working and there are many case files to go through today.
12:00PM: Boss said I cannot leave for lunch as there is too much work to do. I break away on facebook for a bit, and become envious of all those leading a normal life that does not involve boring and menial work everyday until 2:00AM
3:00PM: Printer is now working again, as I sip the remains of my last coffee. The energy in the firm goes from zero to overdrive in a matter of seconds.
5:00PM: I am now allowed to eat. I go outside. I look at my 45-year old overworked self, and wonder why I so desperately wanted to meet the ATAR threshold when I was a naive 17 year old.
7:00PM: Girlfriend keeps messaging me. I look at the messages and do not reply. She is like my second law job, except, she takes away money rather than give it.
9:00PM: The weather is getting progressively colder outside. I know I would rather be sleeping, but must complete more work.
11:00PM: Boss said that we would have an early 1:00AM leave but we must be here tomorrow at 8:00AM. I have a grin on my face, pondering whether I would drink at night or not.
1:00AM: I exit the law firm, as I make my way to the car I had long saved for. A 1998 Toyota Camry.

Sleep and I separated a very long time ago, and we sure did have an 'irretrievable breakdown'.

 

[Omnidragon]

Enjoy the rat race, kiddo.

I am sure you will make those big bucks, like the one's that you dream of!

Are you having a nervous breakdown? Don't want to drop the ball in the last minute.