Law Degree or GDL

The general advice is that if you are 100% on going into law, then you should do the traditional law degree and then whatever from there. However in your case it might be beneficial to go via the GDL. One thing i would say is that you probably shouldn't rely upon a company in the future going to fund you through as i presume the chances of this happening are fairly low unless you are excellent.

Basically what the title says!

I am predicted AAB/ABB at A-level. More than likely going to be ABB i think. These aren't the best grades to start off with for law, trust me i know.

So i have been looking to studying criminology. A very interesting subject, which i have always been interested in. Durham or LSE were my two top unis i was looking at.

After doing this I plan to do a GDL (Graduate diploma in law) followed by of course an LPC (Legal practice course). Obviously this route is more expensive, but i have asked some of my parents legal friends, two of them work for Freshfields, and they say that most big law firms will pay for non-law graduates to take these courses, after signing the trainee contract.

Finances aside, do you think this is the best option for me? Is it always better to do a degree in law? Or does the GDL route offer more academic diversity?

I personally don't think there is any point in me doing a law degree, as with the grades i am expecting, i won't be doing it at a very reputable university.

Anyway, any comments and help is much welcomed. Thanks guys!

As a general policy, the law route is better if you know from the outset you want a legal career. In your position, though, I would probably do something similar to yourself. Durham/LSE non-law will look good - firms target these universities on the strength of their law schools.

What will probably be more significant is experience. If I were you, I would utilise my contacts to the greatest extent possible to try to get work experience at Freshfields. That will improve your chances of success in TC applications dramatically.

GREAT. Yeah, I knew that if I was going down the non-law route, I'd 100% need an academically fantastic university.

I will indeed, my sisters friend works for Linklaters too, and I have a whole year to play with.

Thank you very much.

The general consensus is that you are better off getting a good degree from a good university then converting, if you cannot be sure that you will get a good law degree from a good university. So, if you feel you would do better on a criminology course at Durham or LSE then you'd be better off doing this. Saying that if you feel you might do well on a law degree you need to carefully consider doing the GDL at all, it's a concentrated, intense course of the 7 core law modules in one year that us law students take 3 years to study. In other words, the GDL is VERY hard and often undervalued by future employers in comparison to the amount of hard work and effort you will need to commit to in order to do well in it. You could always apply for maybe 3 law degrees and 2 criminology? I'm sure you could work a personal statement to suit both and perhaps have a law offer of AAB first and a criminology offer of ABB second.

The general consensus is that you are better off getting a good degree from a good university then converting, if you cannot be sure that you will get a good law degree from a good university. So, if you feel you would do better on a criminology course at Durham or LSE then you'd be better off doing this. Saying that if you feel you might do well on a law degree you need to carefully consider doing the GDL at all, it's a concentrated, intense course of the 7 core law modules in one year that us law students take 3 years to study. In other words, the GDL is VERY hard and often undervalued by future employers in comparison to the amount of hard work and effort you will need to commit to in order to do well in it. You could always apply for maybe 3 law degrees and 2 criminology? I'm sure you could work a personal statement to suit both and perhaps have a law offer of AAB first and a criminology offer of ABB second.

Concentrated it may be, but only about half of the modules you'd do on a law degree constitute the fundamental elements of legal knowledge. And you don't study the law on the GDL to quite the same depth as on a law degree. So the reality is that you're doing about 12 months' worth of work in about 8, and to a slightly shallower standard. The difficulty comes with getting to grips with a diverse range of topics quickly and simultaneously.

True the GDL is apparently a tough year, but remember there's no big pressure to do anything other than pass (though obviously you'd do the best you can) with TC secured based on your degree results, whereas us law students need to get a 2:1 or better.

I agree but I feel you'd be at a disadvantage as a "pass" GDL student against a 2:1 law student for any given job so you still need to do very well on the GDL to compete. Well for the top firms anyway.

Oh yeah, if you haven't got a TC already you need to get good grades, but if your already sat on a MC TC or similar there's not as pressure, and by the time you are in competition again (NQ jobs) I imagine you're going to be judged largely on your actual work as a trainee.

Oh yes of course. But I would imagine it's quite hard to get a TC as a non-law undergrad, you'd have to do an immense amount of work experience and justify why you didn't take a law degree first seeing as one of the main things they look for is a commitment to a law career. It's hard enough if you HAVE done a law degree let alone if you haven't haha. Which uni do you go to?

Oh yes of course. But I would imagine it's quite hard to get a TC as a non-law undergrad, you'd have to do an immense amount of work experience and justify why you didn't take a law degree first seeing as one of the main things they look for is a commitment to a law career. It's hard enough if you HAVE done a law degree let alone if you haven't haha. Which uni do you go to?

Granted it is tough to get a TC, especially within the MC. From what i have been told though from the Freshfields employees, its roughly 50% law degree 50% non-law degree. They often like diversity it offers them within the company. Having half of your trainees having a degree level knowledge of a completely different subject.

According to them, most of what they know now, is learnt during your TC period. The law degree/non-law degree + GDL just proves you have the academic ability to become a solicitor.

The general advice is that if you are 100% on going into law, then you should do the traditional law degree and then whatever from there. However in your case it might be beneficial to go via the GDL.

One thing i would say is that you probably shouldn't rely upon a company in the future going to fund you through as i presume the chances of this happening are fairly low unless you are excellent.

If you can afford to self - fund the GDL then you should go to the best university possible with the grades you get, it is that simple.