Arts at USYD or Arts/Laws at MACQ (2 Viewers)

[ACKAA]

Hi. I am new to this site but my friends have told me that the people on this site are heaps helpful. I am really interested in politics and history as well as the law so I was planning on doing a combined Arts/Laws degree. I got the ATAR needed for MACQ (96.00), but I have been told that legal firms take into consideration the uni you graduated from because the field is so competitive. So what I was wondering was: is it better to do a single degree at USYD of B Arts (coz I have heard that their faculty of arts is brilliant) and try to get good marks and transfer to Arts/Laws or do Juris Doctor OR just do an Arts/Laws degree at MACQ??

Thank you.

 

[J18134]

Id go to USYD and transfer to Arts/Law after the end of the first year or even do law through a JD. USYD has one of, if not the best, arts faculties in the country whilst also having a very very strong law faculty. The extra time spent, if you have to do it through JD, is well worth the effort as in a profession like law, the uni you came from is important to employers.

 

[alstah]

I would study the Arts degree at USyd, major in government & international relations (pretty much political science) and history (ancient, medieval or modern - USyd offers all of them). If you get good grades (to be competitive since your ATAR is 96, you'd need a near HD average), then transfer. To qualify for a CSP JD place, you'd need a 75-80 WAM.

However, the JD is a difficult course (I would argue it's much harder than the LLB), so if your aiming for top-tier law, then you'll have to work extremely hard for the next 6 years.

All the best.

 

[ACKAA]

Thank you very much J18134 and alstah. Really helpful info. I will stick with my original plan of Arts at USYD

 

[ACKAA]

However, the JD is a difficult course (I would argue it's much harder than the LLB), so if your aiming for top-tier law, then you'll have to work extremely hard for the next 6 years.

All the best.

Is the JD harder because it is simply law flat out for three years or is there harder subjects? ...coz I was always told LLB and the JD are the same except one is undergrad and the other is postgrad

 

[funstudy]

You need to stand out because the law field is so competitive. Doing well at MACQ may seem appealing, but to employers, they would understand the difference in standards and so I would really recommend doing an Arts degree at USYD.

 

[Trans4M]

Is the JD harder because it is simply law flat out for three years or is there harder subjects? ...coz I was always told LLB and the JD are the same except one is undergrad and the other is postgrad

I would say it's harder because it's simply flat law. Suddenly you are doing 4 law subjects in one semester (assuming you are doing full time) and it can be hard to adapt. The LLB is easier because you do less subjects each semester so it's easier to settle.

 

[Omnipotence]

Wouldn't 4/5th year resemble a JD anyways?

 

[izzy88]

What history are you interested in? USYD has good modern history department and good ancient history but it's ancient history is all classics (Rome and Greece). If you want to study ancient Egypt etc Macquarie is the best.

Re uni's I don't think USYD and unsw dominate law in regards to employment as much as they used to. I now see quite a few Mac and Uts grads or paralegals at law firms. I mean theres still lots of usyd unsw students, but i do think uts and mac are catching up more than in the past. In the end, it's a difficult job market wherever you go - you just have to do your best. USYD may give you a slight edge, but if in the end your marks aren't that good, then it's going to be difficult no matter what.

The USYD JD is a great option, you will just want to make sure you get high marks to get a csp spot - full fee JD is very expensive. Regarding transfers, usually the recommendation is an atar of at least 97 and a distinction average, so the transfer may be a little difficult unless you do exceptionally wel in your first year subjects.

Re difference between difficulty of JD vs LLB - they are pretty much the same. JD may give you a bit more of a shock at first because Ta full law - but by JD 2nd/3rd year it's exactly these as LLB 4th/5th year. So not really much difference at all in the scheme of things.

Saying all that - I had a similar-ish decision to make many years ago (art/law Macquarie vs arts/law USYD and in e end chose USYD an loved it. My attraction to Mac was its amazing ancient history department but in the end decided USYD - it was closer to home plus some other things).

 

[RookieLaw]

Wouldn't 4/5th year resemble a JD anyways?

Yep, but when doing a combined degree you would of had experience with 2 law units per semester.

Rather than being hit with 4, so chances are some intro to law and units like torts etc.. making it harder to adapt as someone has said earlier

 

[Newbie]

why not do arts/law at macq and then try to transfer to usyd?
because even if you dont get a transfer, you still will have a law degree at the end of it.

Compared to the arts-> JD path, its also shorter by a year right?
Also as someone said, it sounds difficult to get a CSP JD spot at usyd so if you for whatever reason dont get it, then all you have is an arts degree.

Do they offer CSP for full fee courses?
if so, why not just go balls out and do a full fee arts/law degree at usyd? is 96 enough? - the loan is a free loan anyway and you slowly pay it back when you work.

 

[izzy88]

Do they offer CSP for full fee courses?
if so, why not just go balls out and do a full fee arts/law degree at usyd? is 96 enough? - the loan is a free loan anyway and you slowly pay it back when you work.

there's no full fee for undergrad degrees anymore. Just csp/hecs.

 

[Newbie]

oh i see.. times have changed i guess. badluck

still would be the macq arts/law rather than usyd arts since your putting all your eggs in the transfer basket anyway

 

[ACKAA]

Thanks guys for the advice. I put B Arts at USYD as my first choice already on my preferences. If I were to change my mind and decide to do Arts/Law at MACQ do I accept the Arts at USYD in the main round and change my preferences to Arts/Law at macq to first for the later rounds?? And also does accepting offers in the later rounds put u in a disadvantage when it comes to enrolling for classes as all the good or decent time slots will be allocated to people who enrolled in the main round??

 

[krnofdrg]

Do Arts/LAW at Macq, then you should transfer to USYD after one year of study.

You'll get credited with the subjects also, so you wouldn't be wasting any time! Plus on the bright side, you'll be doing Law subjects.

 

[4025808]

Do Arts/LAW at Macq, then you should transfer to USYD after one year of study.

You'll get credited with the subjects also, so you wouldn't be wasting any time! Plus on the bright side, you'll be doing Law subjects.

^ that. And from there you will know whether or not you want to do law in the future.

 

[ACKAA]

Do Arts/LAW at Macq, then you should transfer to USYD after one year of study.

You'll get credited with the subjects also, so you wouldn't be wasting any time! Plus on the bright side, you'll be doing Law subjects.

Alright, so if I were to decide to change my preferences and received an offer for macq in the late round will I be stuck with crappy lecture times as other have already enrolled ahead of me?

 

[ACKAA]

^ does anyone have an answer to my question, coz I really want to know if accepting offers in the later rounds puts people at a disadvantage when it comes to receiving subject/lecture times??

 

[welbeck11]

coz I really want to know if accepting offers in the later rounds puts people at a disadvantage when it comes to receiving subject/lecture times??

Yeah I am in a very similar position to you ACKAA. But instead of B Arts at USYD I was deciding to do B International and Global Studies or B Arts / B Laws at MACQ.

So can anyone answer ACKAA because it would help me to.

Thank you.

 

[izzy88]

^ does anyone have an answer to my question, coz I really want to know if accepting offers in the later rounds puts people at a disadvantage when it comes to receiving subject/lecture times??

It doesn't for USYD because USYD automatically puts you in lectures. You just pick your subjects and it's fine.

However not sure how Macquarie does their timetabling. Perhaps ask a specific question on the macq forum.