[CanuckTO]

Hey guys, great to be posting on here finally because I've been lurking for a while.

I've decided to post and get some opinions because I have pretty much made up my mind that I will be going to law school in the UK for Fall 2013.

Currently I am finishing up my third year of my four year undergrad. I'm studying political science at McGill university in Montreal, Canada. Before September rolls around and I have to start using UCAS to apply I thought I'd look at some of your opinions as to which schools I should be applying to.

On the Canadian forums I read it seems as though that most people like me who probably don't have a shot at the better schools such Oxbridge, UCL, KCL, LSE, etc, look at schools like Leicester, Birmingham, Queen Mary, etc.

I was wondering from a UK opinion what are some of the better schools that are just below the top tier and should get international recognition along with good UK recognition. I'm not sure whether I am going to return to Canada, or stay in the UK.

I want to make an informed decision on which five I should be applying to next year. I am real fortunate to have found this forum because it has a wealth of information.

Thanks for any replies in advance.

[PVisitors]

Newcastle, Birmingham, Manchester, Exeter, Leeds and Sheffield are probably the ones which would come underneath the likes of UCL/KCL/LSE/Durham/Bristol/N'ham. Certainly the first 3 on the list, anyway.

I can't really say much about international reputation, but I would be surprised if the likes of Leicester are well known outside of the UK. Even in the UK most aren't aware that Leicester is a good university overall and that Law is one of it's strongest subjects.

I would imagine the ones most well known, looking at it logically, would be the large UK major city universities.

Edit; Don't just go off league tables. Take them with a pinch of salt as most of them can be skewed completely; for example Manchester is around 40th place in some tables, which is clearly false.

[M1F2R3]

Here is a recent list for you:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/...sity-guide-law

[CanuckTO]

Thanks for the replies so far guys!

Yes, I heard the same about tables. Although I do think they have some value.

Can anyone help me out with some general opinions on student life and what the towns are like? I'm going to be studying hard, but I've lived in big cities all my life (Toronto and Montreal) and I don't know how I would feel in a desolate town. I don't mind smaller towns, as long as they seem lively.

I was not that informed on Bristol and Nottingham, I have a friend who is on exchange in Nottingham who I can definitely ask about. Although, I don't think I would be competitive to get in as it looks like a top top school.

[Miracle Day]

Please come to Cardiff.
Please!!!

I really want a Canadian friend

[CanuckTO]

(Original post by Miracle Day)
Please come to Cardiff.
Please!!!

I really want a Canadian friend

Ahaha I was thinking of Cardiff as well, tooooo many schools for just five spots I wish I could apply to more!

[PVisitors]

(Original post by CanuckTO)
Thanks for the replies so far guys!

Yes, I heard the same about tables. Although I do think they have some value.

Can anyone help me out with some general opinions on student life and what the towns are like? I'm going to be studying hard, but I've lived in big cities all my life (Toronto and Montreal) and I don't know how I would feel in a desolate town. I don't mind smaller towns, as long as they seem lively.

I was not that informed on Bristol and Nottingham, I have a friend who is on exchange in Nottingham who I can definitely ask about. Although, I don't think I would be competitive to get in as it looks like a top top school.

Yeah. Bristol and Nottingham are perhaps the lower echelons of the elite law schools in the UK, although it does seem the former is slipping in recent years. Although this won't affect you or anybody for at least another 10 years at least given reputation doesn't just decline on a yearly basis. Plus Bristol is a fantastic university on the whole too. Could be worth a shot? Bristol is a beautiful city too.

Student life is always going to be fantastic in the big major cities, although I have heard some pretty crappy things about being a student in London in regards to social life. I live in Manchester and can verify that it is an amazing student centric city with plenty going for it. This will be the same for all the major cities and Newcastle is renowned for it being the 'party city' of the UK. Although, I can't really comment on Canadian cities but I assume Montreal and Toronto are huge and have numerous 'skyscrapers'. In the UK don't really expect that aside from London. Most of our large cities still have a lot of their late 19th century architecture intact.

The likes of Leicester and smaller cities in my opinion won't have the same vibe of the large cities and I would say will be worse, but they're not going to be poor by no means. Only you can really decide, but in that case I would exclude the likes of Warwick/Lancaster where their campuses are based outside of tiny cities. (Coventry city is awful and about 5-8miles IIRC from Warwick's campus, and Lancaster in the town centre had one nightclub which was owned by the student union).

[Miracle Day]

(Original post by CanuckTO)
Ahaha I was thinking of Cardiff as well, tooooo many schools for just five spots I wish I could apply to more!

Cardiff is seriously amazing. And the Welsh love Canadians, you should have saw how loved they were when they visited my school for their rugby tour

The Uni is amazing, they have high job prospects afterwards, they have an amazing student union, an amazing town.. seriously everything you'd want in a Uni.

Come to Cardiff god damnit! If you do we'll both be doing LAw together because I'm applying then.

I'm also applying to BIrmingham though.

[roh]

Leicester has a lot of Canadian students (pretty much the whole senior status), championed by a Canadian academic in Troy Lavers, and thus I imagine has built up a reputation over there.

These links should help:

http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/law...adian-students

http://www.cls-uk.com/

[Miracle Day]

Cardiff University have a Canadian Society. And I shall personally show you around the city!

[CanuckTO]

(Original post by PVisitors)
Yeah. Bristol and Nottingham are perhaps the lower echelons of the elite law schools in the UK, although it does seem the former is slipping in recent years. Although this won't affect you or anybody for at least another 10 years at least given reputation doesn't just decline on a yearly basis. Plus Bristol is a fantastic university on the whole too. Could be worth a shot? Bristol is a beautiful city too.

Student life is always going to be fantastic in the big major cities, although I have heard some pretty crappy things about being a student in London in regards to social life. I live in Manchester and can verify that it is an amazing student centric city with plenty going for it. This will be the same for all the major cities and Newcastle is renowned for it being the 'party city' of the UK. Although, I can't really comment on Canadian cities but I assume Montreal and Toronto are huge and have numerous 'skyscrapers'. In the UK don't really expect that aside from London. Most of our large cities still have a lot of their late 19th century architecture intact.

The likes of Leicester and smaller cities in my opinion won't have the same vibe of the large cities and I would say will be worse, but they're not going to be poor by no means. Only you can really decide, but in that case I would exclude the likes of Warwick/Lancaster where their campuses are based outside of tiny cities. (Coventry city is awful and about 5-8miles IIRC from Warwick's campus, and Lancaster in the town centre had one nightclub which was owned by the student union).

Ya I completely get that. I wasn't expecting that skyscraper feel, I actually dislike it to an extent. I'm just looking for a good atmosphere where I can have a good time and meet people. Definitely gonna stay away from Warwick and Lancaster, I read some similar things about Warwick, I don't think I could focus in an environment like that.

Maybe I'll give Bristol a shot. It's a shame since I started my undergrad doing a science degree I completely bombed many of the classes and in turn it killed my GPA. I've been doing really well since switching to Political Science, but my GPA still is not great. If I had started in Arts, I'd probably be hovering around a 3.2 which would vastly open up my options.

Do you guys think if I mention things like this they will take it into consideration? As I've head that many of these UK schools are flexible with marks. Also would it be easier to get into the 3 year program than the senior status 2 year that many of these universities offer and I am eligible for? If so I'd prfere going to a better uni and doing a three year then going to a worse one and doing a 2 year degree.

Thanks again for the detailed reply.

[CanuckTO]

(Original post by roh)
Leicester has a lot of Canadian students (pretty much the whole senior status), championed by a Canadian academic in Troy Lavers, and thus I imagine has built up a reputation over there.

These links should help:

http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/law...adian-students

http://www.cls-uk.com/

thanks for those sites. Yes Leicester is probably gonna be one of my five for these reasons. Although I was sort of looking forward to getting away from all Canadians. Sort of looking for something different.

[CanuckTO]

(Original post by Miracle Day)
Cardiff is seriously amazing. And the Welsh love Canadians, you should have saw how loved they were when they visited my school for their rugby tour

The Uni is amazing, they have high job prospects afterwards, they have an amazing student union, an amazing town.. seriously everything you'd want in a Uni.

Come to Cardiff god damnit! If you do we'll both be doing LAw together because I'm applying then.

I'm also applying to BIrmingham though.

yes Cardiff sounds excellent from what I've read. Still more inclined to England though.

[Tsunami2011]

Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Sheffield, Leicester, York, Queen Mary's, etc are all strong law schools which aren't as difficult to gain entry into as the top 10, but still well regarded.

[roh]

(Original post by CanuckTO)
thanks for those sites. Yes Leicester is probably gonna be one of my five for these reasons. Although I was sort of looking forward to getting away from all Canadians. Sort of looking for something different.

Still plenty of non Canadians around, on law and definitely throughout the uni, particularly if you pick certain halls(though these will be mainly 18/19 yr olds and I dunno if that might put you off), however there are a significant number of Canadians due to the heavy recruiting they do there. But, if you do want to get away from Canadians you'd be better off at Birmingham (incidentally great shopping and night out) or somewhere.

Staying in the UK there's negligible difference between those two regarding jobs. Getting onto the three year course the demands tend to be higher for that (AAA or equivalent) than the two year (2:2 or equivalent).

[CanuckTO]

(Original post by roh)
Still plenty of non Canadians around, on law and definitely throughout the uni, particularly if you pick certain halls(though these will be mainly 18/19 yr olds and I dunno if that might put you off), however there are a significant number of Canadians due to the heavy recruiting they do there. But, if you do want to get away from Canadians you'd be better off at Birmingham (incidentally great shopping and night out) or somewhere.

Staying in the UK there's negligible difference between those two regarding jobs. Getting onto the three year course the demands tend to be higher for that (AAA or equivalent) than the two year (2:2 or equivalent).

Thanks my preliminary list right now is something like Queen Mary, Leicester, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle.

Is it possible to apply for the 2 year and they offer you the three year program? Or would you simply get rejected? I definitely have time to make up my mind on that though.

[roh]

(Original post by CanuckTO)
Thanks my preliminary list right now is something like Queen Mary, Leicester, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle.

Is it possible to apply for the 2 year and they offer you the three year program? Or would you simply get rejected? I definitely have time to make up my mind on that though.

I'm not sure, the numbers on the 3 year for British students are limited by how much funding there is available whilst those taking a second degree don't get government loans, hence the higher entrance requirements.

To be honest most British unis aren't as fussed about the qualifications of the international students as they make a profit on them, so the more the better. Some, such as Oxbridge, are still very demanding but most won't ask for as much as they would of British undergrads. If you email the admissions teams at each uni I'm sure they'll say whether a rejection from the 2 yr is then passed on to see whether you may be eligbile for the 3 yr instead.

[jacketpotato]

Be careful, remember that an English law degree might not translate directly back to Canada

[kidoo]

(Original post by CanuckTO)
Hey guys, great to be posting on here finally because I've been lurking for a while.

I've decided to post and get some opinions because I have pretty much made up my mind that I will be going to law school in the UK for Fall 2013.

Currently I am finishing up my third year of my four year undergrad. I'm studying political science at McGill university in Montreal, Canada. Before September rolls around and I have to start using UCAS to apply I thought I'd look at some of your opinions as to which schools I should be applying to.

On the Canadian forums I read it seems as though that most people like me who probably don't have a shot at the better schools such Oxbridge, UCL, KCL, LSE, etc, look at schools like Leicester, Birmingham, Queen Mary, etc.

I was wondering from a UK opinion what are some of the better schools that are just below the top tier and should get international recognition along with good UK recognition. I'm not sure whether I am going to return to Canada, or stay in the UK.

I want to make an informed decision on which five I should be applying to next year. I am real fortunate to have found this forum because it has a wealth of information.

Thanks for any replies in advance.

If you want to play it safe and go for a degree which -will- be recognised internationally I know that Manchester University are quite far up on the global front - Especially in the USA and Asia.
However nationally I think its in the top 30's which is not fantastic but not bad either, I don't think national rankings do the university justice though - National league tables place emphasis on different areas of performance and Manchester suffers from a slightly below average course satisfaction level (mainly because there are so many people at the uni!) although it is respected by employers being a Red Brick and Russel Group Uni, it was the #1 target uni by employers a few years ago.

[CanuckTO]

(Original post by jacketpotato)
Be careful, remember that an English law degree might not translate directly back to Canada

Yup, I'm well informed on this. I also participate in some canadian forums with people who have gone through the same thing. For coming back to Canada we need to do 5-7 exams and then find an articling position which can be difficult. But England really is my first choice as I'm not sure if I want to return to Canada and I'm looking to move to England or somewhere else abroad.