dichotomy101
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A few comments in this post are simply wrong.I have a similar struggle too, but it's for graduate law (ANU JD v USyd LLB).
If you don't have the kind of ATAR to get in USyd or UNSW, then yes ANU is your choice and you can brag to your friends about it's international rankings despite its non-existence in international reputation.
Answering your question, it is still a pretty good law school. There should be minimal differences in terms of the quality of undergraduate law, whether it be LLB or JD. But if you want to get a job in big cities like Sydney you have to do very well to fight with graduates from notable unis like USyd or UNSW, who might not have worked as hard as you did but would achieve similar or even better goals relative to you due to mere prestige.
It is an unfair world dictated by a monopolized educational system (in this case, oligopolized).
Oh by the way, ANU teaches law related more to ACT than NSW or VIC if it's not common law or federal/ parliamentarily related. Yes I know this is common sense but some people might forget this point.
And by the way, USyd has a reputation of having Australia's best academics yet teach absolutely jackshit and leave all the learning by the students as they are "smart" enough to self-study through the whole fucking degree. That's what I heard. But hey, hearsay cannot be trusted
I used to be a pro- ANU JD person, but lately I've leaned towards USyd LLB. As the deadline creeps nearer and nearer it would be more and more scarier to make the ultimate decision.
Firstly, many subjects at ANU are taught using legislation from various jurisdictions (torts, for instance, is taught via the NSW Civil Liability Act).
Secondly, ANU is the only Australian university to be a member of the International Alliance of Research Universities, which is restricted to ten institutions and includes a few ones you may have heard of - Oxford? Cambridge? Yale? Berkeley?
Having studied at Oxford with students from the around the world, I can assure you the proposition that ANU's international reputation is 'non-existent' is just false.
I would also take issue with your claim that ANU students are disadvantaged in applying for positions in the 'big cities' (gosh, how will they cope outside Canberra?!?!). I think you will find a nice proportion of very senior members of the profession, the bar and the judiciary are ANU alma mater who very much consider the university to be 'notable'.
Please refrain from offering what appears to be an uninformed opinion as advice, lest it actually influences someone's decision.