Advice required with regards to potential law degree
At A Level I achieved AAAB in Geography,History,Religious studies and Economics plus aa in English lit and Business AS.I would like to study law in London,hoping to apply to UCL,KIngs,QML,LSE plus LSE for Law and Anthropology.I have a few questions with regards to my potential studies which I would appreciate if you feedback and advice on. 1.I don't have an A* grade which these Unis all require besides for Law and Anthropology (AAB requirements),how specific are they on the A* grade and will the fact that I achieved a fourth Alevel as well as two a grades at AS balance it out ? 2.How important is the LNAT in the application process and how does one go about preparing for it? 3.Any Personal Statement tips which may enhance my application? Many thanks in advance.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by JR29
At A Level I achieved AAAB in Geography,History,Religious studies and Economics plus aa in English lit and Business AS.I would like to study law in London,hoping to apply to UCL,KIngs,QML,LSE plus LSE for Law and Anthropology.I have a few questions with regards to my potential studies which I would appreciate if you feedback and advice on. 1.I don't have an A* grade which these Unis all require besides for Law and Anthropology (AAB requirements),how specific are they on the A* grade and will the fact that I achieved a fourth Alevel as well as two a grades at AS balance it out ? 2.How important is the LNAT in the application process and how does one go about preparing for it? 3.Any Personal Statement tips which may enhance my application? Many thanks in advance.
1. All the mentioned unis are excellent for Law (QML slightly less than the others though), so are extremely competitive to get into. I dontt really think they would lower the A* because they are all so good for Law.
2. Some unis take the LNAT with a bit of pinch of salt and some really put heavy weighting on it as you'll see on forums about what scores uni accept on it. The LNAT is a rather difficult test which many who have done it say you cannot prepare for it. There are some prep books you can get but I found them rather unhelpful and they over-complicated it.
3. Be yourself and do not try and make sweeping philosophical statements on your passion for law as if it was like 'your calling'. I saw it on my friends PS and its just so desperate and unnecessary. The best way to demonstrate passion for law is legal work experience (not essential but one of the best ways to show it), any books/articles you have read, court visits to watch cases or even a mock trial competition. The admissions tutors, especially at the above unis will be very critical and can see when you are making stuff up. Write succinctly and get to the point, do not waffle.
On a seperate point do look around at other Russell Group universities, as although the London RG unis are the best outside Oxbridge, there are so many other solid respectable ones such as Bristol, Exeter, Warwick, Manchester and Birmingham which all ask for AAA. Durham and Nottingham are even better but ask for A*AA. Likes of Cardiff go down to AAB and the best non RG uni for Law is Leicester in my opinion, offers of AAB. Going to Manchester for Law myself in September. Basically do not fix on the London unis especially as although your grades are very good, the lack of an A* will likely be a problem (unless you do Law and Anthropology at LSE). Note London lifestyle for a student is ridiculously expensive unless you would commute and arguably a London student experience may not be as good as living in halls in smaller cities and on a proper campus. Just something else to consider! Good luck!
(edited 7 years ago)
Hi, I didn't do A levels, so I can't give you any detail I'm sorry, but I can tell you about LNAT and Personal Statement
For the LNAT, some schools use it as a very qualifying factor, some put less importance on it, while others don't use it at all. You really can't prepare for it, all you can practice is maybe the skills like time management, reading between the lines and concentration. So I advice that you become aware of your deadline and fix a date where you're mentally and emotionally ready for it. If you're going to apply, pick schools that use LNAT and those that don't just to be safe, and when picking LNAT schools, try to pick at least one that admits many students, that way even if your scores are not so good, you have higher chances of getting in because there are many places.
As for personal statement, you basically need to sell yourself. Talk about what inspired you to study this course, what skills you have that will enable you be a successful student, what you plan to do with the course, etc. If you're going to apply to LSE your personal statement needs to be gold because they don't use LNAT, so once they don't like your PS you won't even move to the next stage. You can always ask trusted people to go over your personal statement to find out if its convincing enough, but ensure that you don't copy or use too much of other people's input, so you don't lose your voice. Hope this helped.
For the LNAT, some schools use it as a very qualifying factor, some put less importance on it, while others don't use it at all. You really can't prepare for it, all you can practice is maybe the skills like time management, reading between the lines and concentration. So I advice that you become aware of your deadline and fix a date where you're mentally and emotionally ready for it. If you're going to apply, pick schools that use LNAT and those that don't just to be safe, and when picking LNAT schools, try to pick at least one that admits many students, that way even if your scores are not so good, you have higher chances of getting in because there are many places.
As for personal statement, you basically need to sell yourself. Talk about what inspired you to study this course, what skills you have that will enable you be a successful student, what you plan to do with the course, etc. If you're going to apply to LSE your personal statement needs to be gold because they don't use LNAT, so once they don't like your PS you won't even move to the next stage. You can always ask trusted people to go over your personal statement to find out if its convincing enough, but ensure that you don't copy or use too much of other people's input, so you don't lose your voice. Hope this helped.
At QMUL, you stand a decent chance of getting in without that A*. Not guaranteed, but a decent chance. The rest you have little to no chance, except for LSE's anthro course. And LNAT is quite important; and you can go about it by reading a whole bunch of newspapers and even judgments to gain a greater understanding of technical academic writing.
As mentioned above, there are a lot of strong courses out there besides the ones asking for A*AA. Oxford is technically AAA, but Bristol is a more realistic AAA. Then you have Warwick, Exeter, and York. Don't focus too exclusively on London, unless you have financial or social reasons for living in London and only in London.
As mentioned above, there are a lot of strong courses out there besides the ones asking for A*AA. Oxford is technically AAA, but Bristol is a more realistic AAA. Then you have Warwick, Exeter, and York. Don't focus too exclusively on London, unless you have financial or social reasons for living in London and only in London.
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