Melbourne JD vs UNSW JD (1 Viewer)

[dishameh]

I am an international student and I have received offers from UMelb and UNSW in their JD programs.

UNSW has offered me 36 credits for my previous study, which means that I will be saving about 8 months and $20,000 if I go to UNSW as opposed to UMelb. My goal after JD is to be placed in Australia. Since I am not sure what my PR status would be at that point (I have not applied yet), it would imperative for me to find an employer that will sponsor my work visa.

I am already paying very high fees as an international student. So I am wondering UMelb is worth paying the 20k more, in terms of job prospects.

Moreover, I believe that it is more important to be a better performer at your law school than to simply go to the top law school (i.e. going to UMelb will not simply convert into a placement.) I also feel that it might be very competitive for me to perform well at UMelb, but I don't know how competitive UNSW would be. Can anyone throw some light on how the teaching and grading styles are at both the places?

In light of all these considerations, which law school should I choose?

 

[strawberrye]

I study undergraduate law at UNSW, and am currently a fourth year. I can't speak about university of Melbourne, but UNSW basically runs law courses in small classes, there's a 80% attendance requirement in each course, otherwise without legitimate reasons for being away for more than 20% (and special considerations)-you can fail the course. UNSW JD has a substantial portion of international students from China. The teaching style will differ from lecturer to lecturer, but basically usual expectation is you do the readings BEFORE coming to class, and the class is for deeper theoretical discussions, and extending your understanding. In almost all core law courses, there is a component for class participation-ranging from 5-20%. We don't have tutorials-i.e. don't have classes specifically on how to do problem questions, this is either integrated throughout the course in lectures or in the last lecture-when you do 'exam revision' and get to practice a past exam paper. Grading style is on a bell curve.

I think I would choose UNSW over Melbourne just because you can save a lot of money and time, but either way, JD is very hard because you are chucked into four law courses a semester, but with hard drive and determination you will succeed. Best wishes

 

[dishameh]

I study undergraduate law at UNSW, and am currently a fourth year. I can't speak about university of Melbourne, but UNSW basically runs law courses in small classes, there's a 80% attendance requirement in each course, otherwise without legitimate reasons for being away for more than 20% (and special considerations)-you can fail the course. UNSW JD has a substantial portion of international students from China. The teaching style will differ from lecturer to lecturer, but basically usual expectation is you do the readings BEFORE coming to class, and the class is for deeper theoretical discussions, and extending your understanding. In almost all core law courses, there is a component for class participation-ranging from 5-20%. We don't have tutorials-i.e. don't have classes specifically on how to do problem questions, this is either integrated throughout the course in lectures or in the last lecture-when you do 'exam revision' and get to practice a past exam paper. Grading style is on a bell curve.

I think I would choose UNSW over Melbourne just because you can save a lot of money and time, but either way, JD is very hard because you are chucked into four law courses a semester, but with hard drive and determination you will succeed. Best wishes

Thanks for your response. Can you also throw some light on two things:
(i) job prospects;
(ii) I am particularly interested in technology law. I see a few interesting electives on that and a cyber law internship. How useful are these going to be for potential career in cyber law research.

I would be really really grateful if we could talk more. My email address is todishamehta@gmail.com. If it's okay with you, please mail me.

Thanks once again!

 

[strawberrye]

I don't know about job prospects cause I haven't graduated myself and I am not a JD. I would say that job prospects from either uni is going to be good, but this is really dependent on what you do with your time at uni, for example, participate in extra-curriculars/leadership positions, get a law related job to get experience, or get a commercial job-if you want commerciallaw-to built up commercial awareness, maybe join law competitions and try to do well, maybe volunteer at paralegal centres, etc.... it is about building up experiences and skillsets that makes you a good candidate when you graduate-like teamwork, legal thinking, etc (You need to also maintain good academic marks along with doing some of these extra-curriculars too to show you manage your time well and am multi-talented). So it basically comes down to what you do during uni and how you balance everything

For example, for the past four years I have been looking for various ways to build my resume and it has helped me to get into an internship-I think uni plays a small factor, the much greater factors comes from your experiences, your personality and your academic excellence.

I think one thing you need to remember is that in a JD degree, most subjects you do are different areas of law, you only get to choose a few electives at the end of your degree. And just having cyber law internship doesn't do much-cause these are also very competitive in reality, and you need related experience/demonstrated interest to get in, for example, maybe participate in Hackathon in uni to demonstrate your interest in this space. I think you shouldn't really be bogged down about just one very specific area of law so early before you even start your degree, and to have a career in cyber law research, pretty sure most people do a masters in cyber law afterwards and even a phD. I would say keep an open mind, but if you want to research, make sure you keep an eye out and ask lecturers-maybe in your second year when you get experience in law subjects, to be their research assistant over summer break or something... (but you need to have proven marks in law to do that... and you would need to approach lecturers personally cause these posiitons are not advertised).

I actually have an exam on Monday that I am studying for right now, so would be freer after Monday to talk. Feel free to email me at strawberrye@live.com.au after that, or you can email me before but I might end up answering after Monday.