Law Students - Chat Thread

It is similar in some ways to house of cards, but with less emphasis on intrigue and more emphasis on sex, violence, and dragons.

House is a good one to get into if you're looking for things to watch. It's good but also there are 177 episodes so it lasts a while.

Haha sounds good. I really want to start House actually and Grey's, but I think my chance of a 2.1 would go out the window if I did. Also really want to restart Buffy from the beginning but that is definitely a degree death wish.

I dunno. Having something I can just chill out with for an hour or two each evening helps me out in exam term. I can't cope with putting away my books and going straight to bed (unless exams are really imminent), so I figure there's no harm in having something good to watch in between. House is particularly good for that because the episode story-lines are self-contained to a greater degree than in other shows, so there's not as much pressure to watch 'just one more' episode.

Haha sounds good. I really want to start House actually and Grey's, but I think my chance of a 2.1 would go out the window if I did. Also really want to restart Buffy from the beginning but that is definitely a degree death wish.

buffy was my post-exam treat. i finished my exams two weeks before anyone else, and i'd been craving rewatching from the beginning, so the day after my exams finished and i had sod all to do (having been in an insane 16-hour revision day pattern for 6 weeks) i replaced revision with buffy, tearing through it at an alarming rate - so good though!

house is a great rec for something that you can binge watch, but don't need to - every episode can standalone but does also have greater series arcs. was gutted when house ended - one of my favourite ever tv shows.

I wanted to start Breaking Bad but not sure it looks good enough to binge watch currently, I could be wrong though!

16 hour days?! God. I have one exam and 4 weeks to prepare for it, I would quite like a first though so might have to do something similar. I'm shockingly bad at problem questions so need lots of essay fodder. Definitely going to rewatch Buffy in the summer, might try House for over exams. I wanted to start Breaking Bad but not sure it looks good enough to binge watch currently, I could be wrong though!

Anyone have any experience writing a 'law reform' project? 5,000 words, haven't been told much about it other than that we have to do it, sigh.

Yes, I am still awaiting consideration.

16 hour days?! God. I have one exam and 4 weeks to prepare for it, I would quite like a first though so might have to do something similar. I'm shockingly bad at problem questions so need lots of essay fodder. Definitely going to rewatch Buffy in the summer, might try House for over exams. I wanted to start Breaking Bad but not sure it looks good enough to binge watch currently, I could be wrong though!

buffy was my post-exam treat. i finished my exams two weeks before anyone else, and i'd been craving rewatching from the beginning, so the day after my exams finished and i had sod all to do (having been in an insane 16-hour revision day pattern for 6 weeks) i replaced revision with buffy, tearing through it at an alarming rate - so good though!

house is a great rec for something that you can binge watch, but don't need to - every episode can standalone but does also have greater series arcs. was gutted when house ended - one of my favourite ever tv shows.

do the reform project on wrongful life/pregnancy and birth?


1st class?

Argh - this wait is so annoying. Don't suppose you've heard anything from any of your tutors/lecturers about when we might hear back?

Had the 'eureka' moment with my dissertation last night. Unfortunately I handed a (shockingly bad) first draft in on Monday, but was told if I am not happy with it to resubmit on Friday, as my tutor will not be able to read it until Monday. I now have about a day and a half to rewrite 10,000 words.

Also, just a quick question - what's the general consensus on using 'I' in dissertations? I have avoided doing this so far but have just read a friend's dissertation and he got 85 on it. I also read his second year writing credit on which he also scored 85, and he has used 'I' throughout both. He did go to a different but still reputable university though. I would really rather use 'I' in my dissertation, mainly because I think it reads better than the frequent use of 'It is contended here...' with other synonyms for 'contended' etc. Any thoughts? Think I will do it and if my tutor dislikes it I can just change it?

I'm sure it won't affect your mark too much, if at all, either way. I wouldn't use it because I think it's inappropriate in academic work.

You don't have to stick to 'It is contended/ submitted/ suggested/ thought' whatever all the way through. There's a wealth of options. There's 'the better view is'*, 'it seems more plausible that', 'it would be more consistent with those cases/ this reasoning to hold', and many, many more from which you can choose.

*Andrews uses this throughout his contract book as a substitute for 'I think'.

That's what I thought, I was confused though because academics seem to do it a lot in the journals I'm using. Think I'll stick to not using it after all, it feels too arrogant to be using 'I' all the time

Just got 65% in my first year exams at Bristol, was really hoping for a first :/ If I am currently scoring mid to high 2.1s in my first year do i have a realistic chance of getting firsts in my second and third years? I really want to do a masters at oxbridge but am worried what kind of grades they look for :/

Seems like many students manage to improve quite a bit from first to second year (not speaking specifically about Bristol), so yes, would think you can pull 65% up to a 70%. Get feedback if its available!

The general impression I've got from llm-guide is that Oxford do seem to look for consistently good grades when reviewing BCL apps, Cambridge less so. Of course, no-one really knows why they were accepted or rejected, so it will only be speculation. Any offer made will just be conditional on getting a first at the end, if you don't get a first at the end that will definitely be fatal for a Masters at either Oxford or Cambridge (but nowhere else, UCL seems to make all offers conditional on obtaining 65%)

Your first year exams are already over, in February, btw? That seems a very strange system! I know Oxford has Mods exams after two terms, but you can only have had 1.5 so far...

I'm a 2nd year student doing European Legal Studies (LLB) at the University of Kent at Canterbury. I'll be spending next academic year in Europe somewhere, although I haven't decided where yet..possibly Vienna.


Good work, Jon