Is Law a bad choice?

Hi, sorry if this is the wrong thread. I'm new :s-smilie:

I know it's WAY early for me to worry... I'm going into Year 9. But I really want to do Law. It's my dream job. I've talked about it often. The thing is, the unemployment thing scares me. My two cousins are Law graduates and they both are unemployed.

If I say so myself, I'm quite good in school. I'm Level 7 for Maths, English and Scince and Set 1 for all of them too. I hope to get into Oxbridge. My cousins went to well, not great unis. If I went to Oxbridge, would it make a difference? Plus any tips for a Law career from my age would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ambz

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Reply 1

Clip

Let's say you choose any profession other than law.

Why would you think that your employment situation would be better?

Reply 2

IEatPi

If I took Medicine, I would have a job straightaway.

Reply 3

thelawstudent

this should be moved to the law forum - more informed responses.

but to answer the OP, your two cousins who have not found employment yet could be based on numerous reasons. eg, what uni they went to (yes it's an important factor in law), degree class, or they could've not done any extra-curric' activities at uni or not have had any work exp (vac schemes) too. also, you're only in year 9! the whole economic and legal climate by the time you apply to uni and GRADUATE may be different or better.

Reply 4

Clip

Original post by IEatPi

If I took Medicine, I would have a job straightaway.

Firstly, that's not true. Every so often there are shortages of junior doctor vacancies in hospitals. It happens.

Secondly, comparing medicine and law is simply a case of moving the bottleneck.

It's very easy to get to university to read law. It's not so easy to get training and really quite hard to get a pupillage.

On the other hand, it's easi-er for a medicine graduate to get a job - but it's much harder to get to university.

If you want to boil it down to a numbers game, I don't think it's really all that different.

As for other graduate schemes - I would think that law is actually a relatively smoother ride than generalist schemes in terms of numbers of applicants.

Reply 5

IEatPi

Original post by Clip

My sister got a job as soon as she graduated. The uni provided it. She's a doctor.

Reply 6

Clip

Original post by IEatPi

My sister got a job as soon as she graduated. The uni provided it. She's a doctor.

Your sister got a job immediately - ergo everyone reading medicine will. You've used a specific as a generality.

You started this by doing the opposite. Taking a generality (perceived shortage of solicitor/barrister training) and applied it to a specific (yourself, if you choose to pursue a legal career).

I would also repeat that with medicine, the bottleneck is just elsewhere.

Reply 7

Howbeit

Original post by IEatPi

Hi, sorry if this is the wrong thread. I'm new :s-smilie:

Law is a highly respectable choice to make; even if you don't want to go into Law. If Law is what you want to do then you should go for it. I'm starting Law this year and I'm not even set on a career in the legal sector. Law is an academic subject and the career is very different to the degree itself. You will gain transferable skills for a wide range of industries, with my particular fancy being business.

Original post by IEatPi

My sister got a job as soon as she graduated. The uni provided it. She's a doctor.

And therefore everyone who graduates becomes a doctor?... I haven't heard a more extreme logical fallacy in a while...

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 8

sazzabazza

Original post by IEatPi

I hope to get into Oxbridge.

So does/did almost every other person on this forum, going to Oxbridge for law isn't the be all, end all of law at university. You still aren't guaranteed to get a training contract.

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my Transformer TF101

Reply 9

UnknownPerson

One of the Most respected careers

Reply 10

IEatPi

Why is everyone turning against me? This isn't a debate. I wanted advice. I'm not against Law. I really want to go into Law. I know not all doctors get jobs. I'm just saying that the amount of unemployed Law graduates is fairly high.

Jeez.
Sazzabazza: I know I'm not destined to go there. But I want to.
RobertWhite: I'm not generalising. It's not logic

Reply 11

Cristocracy

I'm just saying that the amount of unemployed Law graduates is fairly high

It could be because just about every uni offers a law degree course, it being relatively cheap to set up (little to no equipment needed).

Reply 12

Flyteryder

Original post by IEatPi

Everybody is turning against you because it's too early for you to be worrying about which university you go to and what employment prospects you have. Everybody think you are arrogant because you don't know your actual ability; you haven't even started your GCSEs yet, but you're talking about wanting to go to Oxbridge.

People on here think that because you say you're level 7 for everything at the moment (which isn't even equivalent to a C grade at GCSE), you think you can just go into any job you want because you know people who have; it doesn't work like that. Law graduates don't always get jobs, medicine graduates don't always get jobs. People studying at university often drop out because it's too hard or too distressing. There might not be jobs available at the time you graduate. You might not even get into medicine or law in the first place. Employment prospects vary over time; one year there might be a lot of openings for law graduates and one year there might not be so many. There are too many variables at this stage in your life for us to give you any advice.

Come back when you've got your real GCSE grades so we can give you better advice. It's no good telling you to go Oxford for example when nobody knows if you'll be able to go there. You might get a string of B and C grades at GCSE, which would stop you getting into law or medicine; you just don't know. Getting good levels in year 9 does not mean you'll get an A or A* in all your GCSEs, which is what you'll need if you want to go to Oxbridge and/or study medicine or law.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 13

IEatPi

Level 7s mean I'm G&T for my age. I'll be choosing GCSEs in early October. I'm not arrogant. I'm not saying I will definitely go to Oxbridge. You're right: I could get Bs and Cs. That's not a reason for you to have a long rant about me.

Reply 14

Flyteryder

Original post by IEatPi

My reply was actually the nicest you've got so far; I was actually trying to be nice to you and I wasn't ranting.

Level 7s mean nothing, and neither does G&T; it's a hyped up status for schools who want to impress their governors. I had level 7 in every subject but I didn't get all A*s in my GCSEs. I was level 7 for English and I got an A* in both English GCSEs. I got a level 7 for History and I got a B at GCSE. Some of my friends got level 8 in Maths and got B grades at GCSE. Good levels now does not mean you'll maintain the same standard at GCSE, which is why everyone is tuning against you.

People think you're arrogant because you think if you have a degree in X subject you can just walk into a job, which isn't true.

Reply 15

IEatPi

Besides, you're going off-topic. All I wanted to know was if Law was a good choice considering the unemployment rates, or if the uni the degree was done at matters. Go save your strong opinions and and massive paragraphs for a debate topic.

Reply 16

Flyteryder

Original post by IEatPi

You can't know the unemployment rates until a few years time. Employment prospects change over time. There might not be a lot of openings for law graduates this year; next year there might be even less or even more, the same with the years after that. Nobody can answer your questions because it's not the right time.

I do not have strong opinions. I have finished my GCSEs, I have finished my A-Level this year and I will be going to university this September. I have been through the system and you haven't. I know that getting good levels in year 8 means nothing when you've got to revise for 10 or 11 subjects at GCSE with much more content and much greater difficulty than years 8 and 9, so there's no point of you asking about university at this stage of your life. You don't even have to revise in years 8 and 9 because it's so easy; it's completely different at GCSE and A-Level and I think that will come as a big shock for you.

You asked why everyone was turning against you and I gave you the answer. If you think my paragraphs are massive just wait until you get to GCSE English and see how people are supposed to write.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 17

IEatPi

Read this article:http://www.forbes.com/sites/jmaureenhenderson/2012/06/26/why-attending-law-school-is-the-worst-career-decision-youll-ever-make/

Well I was talking about now.

Reply 18

IEatPi

I just want to forget about this thread.

Reply 19

Flyteryder

Original post by IEatPi

Read this article:http://www.forbes.com/sites/jmaureenhenderson/2012/06/26/why-attending-law-school-is-the-worst-career-decision-youll-ever-make/

Well I was talking about now.

That's an American website talking about America. In America law is a post graduate degree so you have to go to university and get a 4 year undergraduate degree before you can do a law degree, which takes a further 3 years. It's a completely country and economy with different employment prospects. Unless you go to an amazing law school in America like Harvard or Princeton it's very hard to find a job in law, which is not so much the case in the UK. In the UK if you go to a top 20 university you generally have the same employment prospects as somebody who went a university which is more highly regarded.

Concentrate on your GCSEs before you start thinking you know everything about law and employment because you've read one irrelevant article on the internet.