Please help me make a decision :( ... its killing me (2 Viewers)

[enoilgam]

This may sound dumb but I'm just putting it out there, have you ever though of resitting your HSC?

As AussieVesti said, this is a terrible idea (no offence). If you do poorly in the HSC, you are far better off going to university and trying to transfer into your desired degree as opposed to wasting a year by resitting the HSC.

 

[4025808]

in UNSW, I was told that in your arts degree, you could do Commerce subjects. Get a WAM of 75+ and then you can transfer into comm/law

 

[erespall]

in UNSW, I was told that in your arts degree, you could do Commerce subjects. Get a WAM of 75+ and then you can transfer into comm/law

Really? what kind of comm subjects could i do since theres really nothing that interests me in Arts all that much

 

[raghusi]

i do know that in an arts degree in UNSW, u can major in economics, along with another arts major. not exactly sure about the commerce units in an Arts degree though. I reckon UTS Business would be the best option, where u can transfer later on to a combined law degree.

 

[Politic]

I heard last year they accepted applicants with UAI's around the low 90s. So you might be just right. I myself transferred in with a credit average.

In terms of teaching style, it is similar to USYD in some respect. I would say the level of marking in particular and the core units (i.e. Jurisprudence) are the best examples. However it is a bit alternative in other aspects, for example, a majority of exams are take home and not sit-ins and International Law is a core subject. A lot of people think that having taking home exams is advantageous, to some extent it actually isn't; I mean yes you have a bit more time to work on it, but the level of marking is a lot higher because of it.

And sometimes it can actually be a disadvantage, take for example my Equity class this summer... The final exam is worth 60%, its 2,500 words and it gets released at 8am and is due by 3pm the same day. Ridiculous.

The bad thing about Macquarie in my view is that it has undergone a lot of financial strain, and it shows. For instance, tutorial times have been cut from two hours to one hour, there is no dedicated "law" building as such and the law school itself has been subsumed into the Faculty of Arts. Otherwise if it's prestige you're after, well.... generality the measure of prestige is based on not only the calibre of graduates but how long the law school has been around for.

Macquarie is the third oldest in NSW after USYD and UNSW.

The verdict? It's hard to say, I've just finished my Arts degree there and one year of my law degree. Some lecturers are absolutely brilliant and know their stuff beyond measure, Penelope and Illija are some of those (I also hear Shayne is brilliant), they are very traditional and you can really learn a lot. Some are super difficult and have a notorious reputation for it, George comes to mind.

But to be honest in the end, a law school is a law school as you have probably heard... you will learn the cases and legislation as anyone else. The teaching styles may differ from school-to-school but at the end of it all you only get out of it what you put in. And if you really are passionate about law, you will thrive.

Even if you went to UWS, if you came out with a Distinction or a HD average nobody is going to say you are not a dedicated or talented individual.

Just a quick question if I may, as i'm wanting to do law. I'll preference MQ combined Arts/Law first with an ATAR of 92.25 - would I have any good chance of getting in at all if its 96 cut off? If that fails I'm also willing to start with an Arts - Psych degree and if I enjoy that and am motivated to do well enough in it I would prefer to finish it rather than internally transfer. Then the option of graduate law is available along with the prospect of further studies in Psych. So yeah general thoughts on my similar situation would be much appreciated if people didn't mind.

 

[andyfg88]

Just a quick question if I may, as i'm wanting to do law. I'll preference MQ combined Arts/Law first with an ATAR of 92.25 - would I have any good chance of getting in at all if its 96 cut off? If that fails I'm also willing to start with an Arts - Psych degree and if I enjoy that and am motivated to do well enough in it I would prefer to finish it rather than internally transfer. Then the option of graduate law is available along with the prospect of further studies in Psych. So yeah general thoughts on my similar situation would be much appreciated if people didn't mind.

I can't really say for certain if you have a shot or not, all I can say is that in the past the university has accepted students with a lower ATAR and certainly lower marks than what they have published as the requirement. This ultimately depends on demand, if they get a 1000 or so students applying for LAW with ATARS of 96+ and they have no reserve or free spots, then logically there is no reason why the university will look to lower ATAR's or marks.

As for transferring, I myself, after doing two years of my Arts degree was dead-set on applying for post-grad law but I managed to get an undergraduate spot in Arts/Law at mq. Should that have failed I would have just applied as a post-grad student after I finished my Arts degree.

Doing it this way you lose about 1 year, unless you can do some summer school. But it also gives you a more competitive advantage, for example... if you were to apply for a combined LLB at UNSW now it would be harder than if you were to apply for the JD as a post-grad student. This is because the requirements change when you're post-grad, same with the graduate LLB at MQ. So in that sense it is advantageous, and all the universities offer accelerated programs, so you can always catch up on lost time.

As far as I know, only MQ offers the Psych/LLB combo, so be weary there - you might be restricting yourself to MQ if you ever want to go elsewhere.

My advice to you if you don't get into law with your ATAR is this:

1. First and foremost enrol in a degree that you know you'll enjoy and you'll be prepared to see it through to the end if worst comes to worst.
2. Aim high, study really hard and try and maintain solid grades... a D should be good enough, a HD is obviously even better.
3. Along the way, at the end of every semester, apply through UAC or Internally for undergraduate LLB programmes at universities.
4. If you get to the middle of your degree and haven't been accepted then you might want to consider your options:

a) usually universities only allow you to be exempt for half a degree and no more, so at this point it might be worthwhile just finishing the degree off and going for the JD route.
b) If you continue with the current degree and you keep applying for the undergrad LLB and get in, you need to be prepared to repeat some subjects. This is because as I said above, the university can only credit so much of your degree. If your ok with that then go for it!

Good luck fellas.

 

[andyfg88]

Again, be careful when your choosing your single-descpline degrees guys, because some faculties at some universities only allow you to do certain subjects. For example at Macquarie, I don't think if you're doing an Arts degree you can do electives from the Accounting and Business faculties... Just like you can't pick law subjects either (in this way, according to the poster above, it differs with UNSW).

Faculties can often be very specific... So you should double check that...

 

[erespall]

Again, be careful when your choosing your single-descpline degrees guys, because some faculties at some universities only allow you to do certain subjects. For example at Macquarie, I don't think if you're doing an Arts degree you can do electives from the Accounting and Business faculties... Just like you can't pick law subjects either (in this way, according to the poster above, it differs with UNSW).

Faculties can often be very specific... So you should double check that...

good point ill be sure to double check that thanks

 

[Omnidragon]

Maybe it's a calling to do something else. Don't take it as a loss, see it as an opportunity to explore something else in life. Remember, if you're good, the dots will connect (variation of what Steve Jobs said).

 

[erespall]

Maybe it's a calling to do something else. Don't take it as a loss, see it as an opportunity to explore something else in life. Remember, if you're good, the dots will connect (variation of what Steve Jobs said).

hmmm true but i dont really have an interest in much else. Arts/sciences dont really appeal to me that much. The only thing that does apart from law is business/commerce which i was going to combine it with anyway lol.
If I ended up with like a atar like 70 or something I would definately pursue music at the conservatorium but thats off on some other crazy tangent haha

 

[erespall]

Thanks for all the input guys! really appreciate it.

incase your wondering i ended up going with B. Business at UTS as my starting point to transfer later on

 

[alstah]

Have you considered the Juris Doctor?

Just do the Business degree at UTS or w/e and attain that distinction average over the 3 years and apply to the Juris Doctor at USyd and UNSW.

JD is basically the postgrad equivalent to the LLB. At Usyd its done over 3 years and at UNSW it can be accelerated in 2.5

 

[erespall]

Have you considered the Juris Doctor?

I have

JD is my "if all else fails" plan haha, if i don't get the transfer to law by the end of the first year, ill see if i can finish off my business degree at UNSW commerce instead and then just JD it at UNSW.

On a side note, I'm planning on majoring in Business Law and Marketing and probably corporate law for the JD/LLB, would this make my business law major in commerce redundant? On the other hand, after i had a look at the course outline for the major, "Foundations of Law" was in it which is part of the core for Law and may speed up the JD course time if I've already done some of the core.

thoughts?