Law school rankings (2 Viewers)

[Hercules6]

ozford law school.... indubitably

 

[amaccas]

gravedigger!

 

[cannibal.horse]

Don't mean to be a thread necrophile, but has anyone thought of emailing a couple of mid tier/top tier law firms or barristers and asking their opinions of certain unis?

I would but I'm too scared.

 

[subdued123]

what would be the odds of getting a straight answer?

This is wildly optimistic.

I mean, what would be the answer from a top tier be?

"AH, yes, _________, thanks for the letter. How we've waited to unload on [uni]. Anyway, here goes: etc etc"

No firm would EVER quote their opinion on uni for fear of damaging links and reps. They'd give the same cliched response or none at all.

 

[cannibal.horse]

what would be the odds of getting a straight answer?

This is wildly optimistic.

I mean, what would be the answer from a top tier be?

"AH, yes, _________, thanks for the letter. How we've waited to unload on [uni]. Anyway, here goes: etc etc"

No firm would EVER quote their opinion on uni for fear of damaging links and reps. They'd give the same cliched response or none at all.

I haven't really spoken to mid tier/top tier firm employees before but my general experience with legal practitioners is they love to show off and be experts to newbies.

We had one of the leading members of the Newcastle Law Society come to our school. He quite literally introduced himself by telling us how much he gets paid per hour/consultation and all the exciting shit he does.

 

[subdued123]

you've quoted me, but you have not responded to the core argument in my post: it is stupid to write to firms and expect them to tell you what they think. No firm would be dumb enough to shut the door on potential grads by saying what it thought. Nor would it do anything that would make it seem biased, in any way.

The little anecdote you give is nice, but how does that go towards addressing reps of unis?

Do you write to people you know and ask them what they think of you? Of course not.

 

[Cookie182]

It would be hard to rank law schools because there are so many things to consider and what one person percieves to be important another might not. As far as I know (from briefly having a browse through a copy at school) The Good University Guide would tell you about various aspects of each uni but not a lot comparing the courses so it would be up to you to draw your own conclusions.

In terms of uai: (which is an indication of demand I guess)

USYD
UNSW
UTS
Macquarie
ANU
UWS
UNE

Did I forget any?

Id slot UOW above UWS

 

[cannibal.horse]

you've quoted me, but you have not responded to the core argument in my post: it is stupid to write to firms and expect them to tell you what they think. No firm would be dumb enough to shut the door on potential grads by saying what it thought. Nor would it do anything that would make it seem biased, in any way.

The little anecdote you give is nice, but how does that go towards addressing reps of unis?

Do you write to people you know and ask them what they think of you? Of course not.

It doesn't really, I didn't really see it that way. I made a mistake and I apologise.

I find it frustrating though that the only thing you have to go off is 'so and so's friend who knows this guys says X uni is better'

Perhaps you could email a president of a law society? Surely they'd have enough contacts to talk about a variety of firms whilst not having to worry about damaging their reputation as they dont work for the firm themselves.

 

[hfis]

It doesn't really, I didn't really see it that way. I made a mistake and I apologise.

I find it frustrating though that the only thing you have to go off is 'so and so's friend who knows this guys says X uni is better'

Perhaps you could email a president of a law society? Surely they'd have enough contacts to talk about a variety of firms whilst not having to worry about damaging their reputation as they dont work for the firm themselves.

Maybe - and just maybe, I mean, this is a new and cutting-edge thought which has never before been stated on these here forums - the lesson you should take from having 'so little to go off' is that all talk of a university's reputation having any bearing on your job prospects is utter shit?

 

[jainey]

I'm not sure why this is a matter for so much discussion. If you can get a good enough UAI, then go to USyd or UNSW. If your UAI isn't competitive enough to gain entrance at these two places, then go to UTS/MQ. If you are prepared to live in Canberra, then go to ANU. If you got a good enough UAI to go to UNSW, then I'm sure a majority of you will go to UNSW over MQ. Personally UNSW was my first choice in NSW, ANU second, and MQ my last; I also got into Melbourne U combined law at the time, and didn't even apply to USyd. (I did later wish that I'd gone to USyd, because I felt UNSW arts faculty was dying.) But all of these five institutions have good reputations, good enough in the market. I guess a lot of these people who spend ages to argue 'law school rankings' or who's more superior than who, don't actually go to uni. But don't lose sleep over rating law schools or reasserting "superiority" over other institutions. I think that's kind of immature. I know it can be hard to believe, but success in life largely depends on your own excellence, not of your institution.

 

[melsc]

All I know is I can't change the attitiude of people and that includes employers that think some uni's are sub par when everyone learns the same thing so I am going to do my best to prove them wrong.

I work my arse off doing mooting, witness examination, running for law soc, working part time as a paralegal all whilst trying to get good marks. In the end that will stand for something and people who can't see it are going to end up with those students who rely on their uni's reputation.

Employers who fail to see the merits of UWS and UoW's practical based law programs are going to miss out.

And anyone who says you can't get a job if you got to UWS or MQ is wrong. I am a third year and I currently work for two barristers (one of whom is an SC) I didn't let it get in my way and neither should you. Go where ever you can and where ever offers the best opportunities for you, whether that be the closest uni to you so you have more time to study and work and don't sepnd your day travelling or the one that offers what you want.

/ranty speech

Good luck all and I hope that we meet again in the court room

 

[DexJnr]

What do you guys think about the Juris Doctor (JD) at UTS? Solid or soso?

 

[nirvanafreak02]

is it a better idea to do law at mac than usyd education wise if you only want the skills and don't intend to become a lawyer?

 

[doink]

Hang on how come no one has mentioned UND? Surely the shoebox unis law degree is prestige ^ 10000

 

[hfis]

is it a better idea to do law at mac than usyd education wise if you only want the skills and don't intend to become a lawyer?

This question makes no sense. Both are courses in law. Both will earn you a 'law degree.' Neither is less suited to practice or more inclined towards academia than the other.

 

[melsc]

I agree with hfis because everyone at the base level learns the same thing, Law being an acredited degree means each subject must fulfil certain criteria. The same skills are taught!

HOWEVER if mean is one more geared towards practice/philosphy (I don't think you mean skills) i'm not sure what Sydney is like but Macquarie while providing adequate education for those who wants to practice is that it focuses a lot on the philosophy of law (which I personally hate but is often of great interest to those who are taking it pure out of interest).

Just a word of advice, law is a long and tough course especially when its a double degree. Just be sure that you are doing it for interest rather than to say you are doing law or not to 'waste' your UAI, I'm sure you aren't but just for anyone else who is reading this and has such motives. That said you can drop to a single degree but I personally can't imagine spending the extra time for just interest right now, I just can't wait to graduate. Good luck.

 

[nirvanafreak02]

This question makes no sense. Both are courses in law. Both will earn you a 'law degree.' Neither is less suited to practice or more inclined towards academia than the other.

my bad, i'll rephrase
which uni is more fun to do law at?
i heard usyd is really anal

and melsc, thanks
yeah i was partly refering to the philosophy of law
and yeah, i want to do a law degree because it will help me in the future, not so i don't "waste" a high uai...
uai's don't mean anything after january 21 anyway

 

[04er]

my bad, i'll rephrase
which uni is more fun to do law at?

wtf studying law isn't exactly 'fun'.
but playing sport and socialising makes it bearable/more 'fun'.

i heard usyd is really anal

must be true then.
seriously go to the open day and you'll see we don't bite.

 

[neo o]

my bad, i'll rephrase
which uni is more fun to do law at?
i heard usyd is really anal

and melsc, thanks
yeah i was partly refering to the philosophy of law
and yeah, i want to do a law degree because it will help me in the future, not so i don't "waste" a high uai...
uai's don't mean anything after january 21 anyway

I can't speak for Usyd, but UNSW takes alot of time to get to, particularly if you live in the South, West or North West and has compulsory tutorials, and a lot of them. Consequently, I can't imagine that I'd have much fun if I went to UNSW, since I'd spend most of time commuting between home and university for two hour tracts of class time.

Commuting aside though, you're going to have the most fun in law school during tutorials and seminars with teachers you like and during social events and mooting. There are great teachers at all the big universities, so inevitably wherever you go there are going to be courses that you love and hate.

Perhaps what you should be asking is for comparisons between the law societies at different universities, exchange opportunities for law students (since law exchanges are usually a lot more limited that exchanges in other degrees), the amount of electives on offer that interest you and whether there are good opportunities for first years to get involved in witness examination, mooting and other co-curricular activities.

 

[melsc]

^ MQ allows first years to participate in all internal comps (mooting, witness examination etc..)