Uni Advice - Which uni / transferring? (1 Viewer)

[dissipate]

based on first round offers, i'm trying to choose between law at UWA, UQ and flinders.

question 1.
i intend to do as well as i can during the first year and then try to transfer to a better university. should i go with UQ? or UWA? or flinders? i'm not exactly sure how they're ranked with law.

question 2.
i'm a graduate and received graduate offers from UWA and flinders (meaning a 3-year course). UQ's law course is 4 years long. if i am planning to transfer, will first year at UQ affect anything? -since their whole law course is 4 years long unlike other courses. also, i was thinking what if i don't do fantastically well and can't transfer out? -i'd rather complete my law degree in 3 years than 4....

question 3.
final round offers are just one or two weeks away from the start of the semester. i'm currently living abroad (not in australia). for to-be law students, is there any sense in waiting that long for a place at a better university since law is a popular course?

 

[Frigid]

i intend to do as well as i can during the first year and then try to transfer to a better university. should i go with UQ? or UWA? or flinders? i'm not exactly sure how they're ranked with law. - why not stay in one state? remember how different states have different requirements for legal practitioner registration.

i'm a graduate and received graduate offers from UWA and flinders (meaning a 3-year course). UQ's law course is 4 years long. if i am planning to transfer, will first year at UQ affect anything? -since their whole law course is 4 years long unlike other courses. also, i was thinking what if i don't do fantastically well and can't transfer out? -i'd rather complete my law degree in 3 years than 4.... - graduate law is usually 3 yrs. are you sure the UQ graduate law degree is 4 years, not 3?

final round offers are just one or two weeks away from the start of the semester. i'm currently living abroad (not in australia). for to-be law students, is there any sense in waiting that long for a place at a better university since law is a popular course? - you can always accept all offers then later withdraw once you get a better offer in the final round.

 

[melsc]

As Frigid said watch out transfering from state to state, do a quick bit of research to see if you can be admitted as a legal practitioner in the state you intend to practice (that is if you do intend to practice). I'd also think it might be easier to study where you want to practice many laws differ across the state jurisdicitions, for example some states have majority verdicts for some crimes where as it is unanimous across the board in NSW

 

[MoonlightSonata]

UQ's not that bad. His honour Callinan J of the High Court came from UQ

 

[Frigid]

UQ's not that bad. His honour Callinan J of the High Court came from UQ

so did Gibbs CJ

 

[dissipate]

thanks for the advice and for warning me about practicing in another state! i didn't think about that!

graduate law is usually 3 yrs. are you sure the UQ graduate law degree is 4 years, not 3?

UQ doesn't have graduate law unfortunately... and their whole pure law program is 4 years long :/ http://www.uq.edu.au/study/program.html?acad_prog=2042

another issue with going to a better university is that my country allows only the top 30% of the batch a law student in australia is in to practice law back home. i'm not entirely confident i can make it to top 30% at the better ones so i guess i won't wait for other offers..... now it's just a decision between UQ and UWA!

 

[Frigid]

thanks for the advice and for warning me about practicing in another state! i didn't think about that!


UQ doesn't have graduate law unfortunately... and their whole pure law program is 4 years long :/ http://www.uq.edu.au/study/program.html?acad_prog=2042

another issue with going to a better university is that my country allows only the top 30% of the batch a law student in australia is in to practice law back home. i'm not entirely confident i can make it to top 30% at the better ones so i guess i won't wait for other offers..... now it's just a decision between UQ and UWA!

you should read more carefully:

"The LLB is an undergraduate program for students who previously do not have an undergraduate degree. If you have a previous undergraduate degree, then you should apply for our postgraduate Juris Doctor (JD) program. The resulting qualifications of the LLB and JD are the same": International Undergraduates homepage

as to your second issue, i think you will comfortably be in the top 30% of students if you achieve honours in law. which country are you talking about anyway?

 

[BillytheFIsh]

Practicing in a different state to where you did your degree is not a problem at all. Don’t worry about that. All states have mutual recognition.

Transferring in the middle of your course also wouldn’t be a huge problem but you may have to do extra 1 or 2 subjects as sometimes the courses don’t exactly correlate.

But I’m not quite sure about transferring to a “better” uni. UQ and UWA are well respected sandstone (prestigious) unis. The hassle of moving cities and courses wouldn’t be worth changing to any of the other group of 8 unis. (USYD, UNSW, UMelb, ANU ect…) I wouldn't say any other unis in Australia are "better" enough than UQ or UWA to warrant a change. (Note: I'm not biased as I didn't go to either UQ or UWA)

Other than that, the cost of living is cheaper in Brisbane and Perth than Syd + Melb and while I won’t state my biased opinion on Brisbane, Perth is a really cool place and if I was going to move to another capital city it would be there. Only problem is it is a logn way away from anywhere else.

 

[dissipate]

you should read more carefully

doh! didn't look under the international section because i'm not really an international student anymore. i think they should really put that on their law subject page (the one i pasted) :/ thanks for spotting that and letting me know.

EDIT: just read through the whole program description. looks quite tough! only 40 admitted each year and it's a degree that falls between LLB (hons) and LLM!

as to your second issue, i think you will comfortably be in the top 30% of students if you achieve honours in law. which country are you talking about anyway?

mmm gotta work for honours then. country: singapore.

billy: thanks! i got worried after hearing different opinions, many on how the name of university one graduates from is much more important then whether one is at the top % of your cohort.

 

[skeeo]

i'd personally do the 3 year accelerated program. I am a graduate also and am doing a 3 year law degree, for QUT, it just means cutting the crap electives out and only having to do the specific law subjects.

i've transferred from melbourne uni to qut and yeh there is prestige involved and everything, but at the end of the day, in my opinion, most employers look at your grades as opposed to what uni you graduated from. A friend of mine graduated with honours from La Trobe Uni, impressed at his interview for articles, and got a top job at a top law firm in Melbourne.