[oomzee]

I am currently undecided on what I want to do in the coming year. Either Access to Law at College (privately funded), or Legal methods, certificate of higher education at Birbeck, University of London (funded by government).

Can somebody with experience with either of these two courses, please help me in deciding which one is more suited for a good university, and which one should i pick.

(btw I do plan on taking the LNAT)

thank you!

[Wahala]

Do Legal Methods, it is better recognised and far less work plus it makes a nice addition to your cv whereas access does nothing other than get you into uni.

[admbeatmaker]

As a current Legal Methods student, I would agree with the poster above.

I think the Legal Methods course has itself a great reputation, capable of getting you into the elite law schools of the country. I'm going to be going off to York. Whilst not one of those elite top 10 law schools, it certainly lies in the top 20 and considering the university as a whole, it's around the top 10. I wanted to take a shot at Oxford next year, but I decided against this in favour of getting into university and getting on my way to becoming a lawyer. After all, there is no bullet-proof way to get into Oxford.

The LM course definitely provides you with something more on the CV than the access route. However, there are drawbacks to taking the LM course versus the access course. For instance, if you're 110% sure you want to study law, then you can benefit greatly from the LM course. On the other hand, an access course generally allows you to take more than one subject, akin to A levels, and perhaps this will help you to know what you really want to do at university. I personally knew what I wanted to do and I love how the course is 100% legal in nature.

It probably isn't the easiest course ever and to get good grades you're going to need a good command of the english language as all the assessments (bar the final one) are written essays. The essays total to about 12,000 words over the year. It's also quite heavy, and you're going to hit the ground running.

I'd definitely take the LM course if you're sure. Plus, as you've stated, you'll be getting funding for it.

[oomzee]

(Original post by Wahala)
Do Legal Methods, it is better recognised and far less work plus it makes a nice addition to your cv whereas access does nothing other than get you into uni.

(Original post by admbeatmaker)
As a current Legal Methods student, I would agree with the poster above.

I think the Legal Methods course has itself a great reputation, capable of getting you into the elite law schools of the country. I'm going to be going off to York. Whilst not one of those elite top 10 law schools, it certainly lies in the top 20 and considering the university as a whole, it's around the top 10. I wanted to take a shot at Oxford next year, but I decided against this in favour of getting into university and getting on my way to becoming a lawyer. After all, there is no bullet-proof way to get into Oxford.

The LM course definitely provides you with something more on the CV than the access route. However, there are drawbacks to taking the LM course versus the access course. For instance, if you're 110% sure you want to study law, then you can benefit greatly from the LM course. On the other hand, an access course generally allows you to take more than one subject, akin to A levels, and perhaps this will help you to know what you really want to do at university. I personally knew what I wanted to do and I love how the course is 100% legal in nature.

It probably isn't the easiest course ever and to get good grades you're going to need a good command of the english language as all the assessments (bar the final one) are written essays. The essays total to about 12,000 words over the year. It's also quite heavy, and you're going to hit the ground running.

I'd definitely take the LM course if you're sure. Plus, as you've stated, you'll be getting funding for it.

wow thanks guys for the info, i'll be doing the LM course starting september... just a quick question though, how many hours per week were actually spent studying at birbeck UoL? thanks x

[admbeatmaker]

(Original post by oomzee)
wow thanks guys for the info, i'll be doing the LM course starting september... just a quick question though, how many hours per week were actually spent studying at birbeck UoL? thanks x

Contact hours are 3 hours per week, with a Saturday school every few weeks. There's roughly about 4 or 5 Saturday schools. These tend to last about 4-5 hours.

It's pretty light on hours, but you're expected to do some study outside of the classroom. Things like reading up for the classes, reading up for the assessments and then completing the assessments.

Hope that helps, good luck!

[Wahala]

(Original post by admbeatmaker)
Contact hours are 3 hours per week, with a Saturday school every few weeks. There's roughly about 4 or 5 Saturday schools. These tend to last about 4-5 hours.

It's pretty light on hours, but you're expected to do some study outside of the classroom. Things like reading up for the classes, reading up for the assessments and then completing the assessments.

Hope that helps, good luck!

Do you know if anyone in your year got a Cambridge interview?

[eve_22]

(Original post by Wahala)
Do you know if anyone in your year got a Cambridge interview?

I studied for the Certificate of HE at Birkbeck and got into Oxford to study law. I know of a number of other people, albeit for different subjects, who also came here following their Certificate of HE studies at Birkbeck (Economics, English particularly come to mind).

Also, there was a girl in my year who got an interview with Cambridge (also law).

[oomzee]

(Original post by eve_22)
I studied for the Certificate of HE at Birkbeck and got into Oxford to study law. I know of a number of other people, albeit for different subjects, who also came here following their Certificate of HE studies at Birkbeck (Economics, English particularly come to mind).

Also, there was a girl in my year who got an interview with Cambridge (also law).

wow! you got into oxford! that is really impressive, I'm definetly thinking of applying now,(although I'm sure you are smarter than me), I didn't think i had a chance at Oxbridge until you wrote that. May i ask what college you applied to and also, have you done A-levels or not?

I have not done A levels and am currently studying aerospace engineering, this is why i feel so pessimistic applying to top universities when it comes to Law.

Thank you!

[oomzee]

(Original post by admbeatmaker)
Contact hours are 3 hours per week, with a Saturday school every few weeks. There's roughly about 4 or 5 Saturday schools. These tend to last about 4-5 hours.

It's pretty light on hours, but you're expected to do some study outside of the classroom. Things like reading up for the classes, reading up for the assessments and then completing the assessments.

Hope that helps, good luck!

thank you for your reply!

may i ask how you are finding studying law, is it difficult/average/easy? and also, where are you studying at the moment?

thank you, I really appreciate it!

[admbeatmaker]

(Original post by oomzee)
thank you for your reply!

may i ask how you are finding studying law, is it difficult/average/easy? and also, where are you studying at the moment?

thank you, I really appreciate it!

No problem, it's a pleasure to help someone who is in a similar situation to me last year.

I'm still at Birkbeck, still finishing the course. We've about 5 weeks left that consists of two essays and mooting presentation (where you present an argument in a case, kind of like being a lawyer in court).

After getting good marks in my assessments I've been able to secure a few offers , all being at top 20 universities. I'm going to be off to York to stud their law programme in October. I'm looking forward to it!

Where do you hope the Birkbeck course will take you?

[oomzee]

(Original post by admbeatmaker)
No problem, it's a pleasure to help someone who is in a similar situation to me last year.

I'm still at Birkbeck, still finishing the course. We've about 5 weeks left that consists of two essays and mooting presentation (where you present an argument in a case, kind of like being a lawyer in court).

After getting good marks in my assessments I've been able to secure a few offers , all being at top 20 universities. I'm going to be off to York to stud their law programme in October. I'm looking forward to it!

Where do you hope the Birkbeck course will take you?

York is a fantastic university to study law, congratulations. (actually, just checked rankings for law... york is 5th in the country! )

Unfortunately though, due to my mums health I will be only applying to universities near my home in London. I Will try my absolute hardest for Kings/UCL/LSE. I'm still thinking of others to apply for, but they seem to have the best london law schools.

I just wanted to ask one more question, was there any deadline for applying to birbeck for the Cert.HE in Legal methods?, when did you send off your application? I'm afraid i may have left it too late, but there was no clear indication on their website.

Thanks again for your help, I couldn't find much info elsewhere

[tabshiftspace]

(Original post by admbeatmaker)
No problem, it's a pleasure to help someone who is in a similar situation to me last year.

I'm still at Birkbeck, still finishing the course. We've about 5 weeks left that consists of two essays and mooting presentation (where you present an argument in a case, kind of like being a lawyer in court).

After getting good marks in my assessments I've been able to secure a few offers , all being at top 20 universities. I'm going to be off to York to stud their law programme in October. I'm looking forward to it!

Where do you hope the Birkbeck course will take you?

Congratulations and good luck with your degree.

[admbeatmaker]

(Original post by oomzee)
York is a fantastic university to study law, congratulations. (actually, just checked rankings for law... york is 5th in the country! )

Unfortunately though, due to my mums health I will be only applying to universities near my home in London. I Will try my absolute hardest for Kings/UCL/LSE. I'm still thinking of others to apply for, but they seem to have the best london law schools.

I just wanted to ask one more question, was there any deadline for applying to birbeck for the Cert.HE in Legal methods?, when did you send off your application? I'm afraid i may have left it too late, but there was no clear indication on their website.

Thanks again for your help, I couldn't find much info elsewhere

I'm very chuffed with my offer at York, can't wait to get started!

You're conveniently placed within the vicinity of some of the countries greatest law schools. I'd definitely recommend LSE, UCL, Kings, SOAS and Queen Mary. Any of those law schools will be great, but you'll need to get a distinction (pass at 70%) to get into any of those. I'm currently on track for a distinction and to be honest, putting in a few hours a week outside of class, it's not easy to get those marks, but certainly very achievable.

I'm not sure if there is a real solid deadline for the course. Some people have been let onto the course a few weeks in. You've definitely plenty of time to get an application in. I was eager last year and applied in March and received an offer a few weeks later (although at the time, the admissions tutor was on holiday so that caused a delay of a week).

(Original post by tabshiftspace)
Congratulations and good luck with your degree.

Thank you very much! I can't wait to get started!

[oomzee]

(Original post by admbeatmaker)
I'm very chuffed with my offer at York, can't wait to get started!

You're conveniently placed within the vicinity of some of the countries greatest law schools. I'd definitely recommend LSE, UCL, Kings, SOAS and Queen Mary. Any of those law schools will be great, but you'll need to get a distinction (pass at 70%) to get into any of those. I'm currently on track for a distinction and to be honest, putting in a few hours a week outside of class, it's not easy to get those marks, but certainly very achievable.

I'm not sure if there is a real solid deadline for the course. Some people have been let onto the course a few weeks in. You've definitely plenty of time to get an application in. I was eager last year and applied in March and received an offer a few weeks later (although at the time, the admissions tutor was on holiday so that caused a delay of a week).

Thanks alot for the info, I really do appreciate it. x

[oomzee]

(Original post by admbeatmaker)
I'm very chuffed with my offer at York, can't wait to get started!

You're conveniently placed within the vicinity of some of the countries greatest law schools. I'd definitely recommend LSE, UCL, Kings, SOAS and Queen Mary. Any of those law schools will be great, but you'll need to get a distinction (pass at 70%) to get into any of those. I'm currently on track for a distinction and to be honest, putting in a few hours a week outside of class, it's not easy to get those marks, but certainly very achievable.

I'm not sure if there is a real solid deadline for the course. Some people have been let onto the course a few weeks in. You've definitely plenty of time to get an application in. I was eager last year and applied in March and received an offer a few weeks later (although at the time, the admissions tutor was on holiday so that caused a delay of a week).

hey adam, just had one more question... when applying i put in my grades and everything and then the last bit asks me to write "a little about myself"... in your experience, was this similar to writing a personal statement? I'm not sure what i should/ should not include in the box. If you could please just give me some tips on what to write about, it would be greatly appreciated.

thank you! x

[admbeatmaker]

(Original post by oomzee)
hey adam, just had one more question... when applying i put in my grades and everything and then the last bit asks me to write "a little about myself"... in your experience, was this similar to writing a personal statement? I'm not sure what i should/ should not include in the box. If you could please just give me some tips on what to write about, it would be greatly appreciated.

thank you! x

Erm, well, yeah. Pretty much a short personal statement.

I can barely remember what I wrote, but I'm sure I mentioned things along the lines of:

- Why I'm suitable for the course (my skills)
- What I hope to achieve from the course.
- Career prospects and aspirations.
- Something personal about me, a hobby.

I'm not sure if they put much weight on it, as long as you express your feelings towards doing the course and those feelings are not bad, you can't go far long.

Good luck.

[oomzee]

(Original post by admbeatmaker)
Erm, well, yeah. Pretty much a short personal statement.

I can barely remember what I wrote, but I'm sure I mentioned things along the lines of:

- Why I'm suitable for the course (my skills)
- What I hope to achieve from the course.
- Career prospects and aspirations.
- Something personal about me, a hobby.

I'm not sure if they put much weight on it, as long as you express your feelings towards doing the course and those feelings are not bad, you can't go far long.

Good luck.

edited

[GStevens]

(Original post by oomzee)
wow! you got into oxford! that is really impressive, I'm definetly thinking of applying now,(although I'm sure you are smarter than me), I didn't think i had a chance at Oxbridge until you wrote that. May i ask what college you applied to and also, have you done A-levels or not?

I have not done A levels and am currently studying aerospace engineering, this is why i feel so pessimistic applying to top universities when it comes to Law.

Thank you!

I'll add to adm and eve's posts, I also did the Birkbeck Legal Method. I was invited for interview at Oxford (computer said no) and have an unconditional offer to UCL for this Sept. I would definitely say go for the Legal Method, definitely potential for offers from top unis.

Don't worry too much about previous qualifications, as a mature student the unis will be looking at your results on the LM Cert, references and personal statement, they expect mature students to have non standard academic histories. You'll need a distinction if you want the top choices and you need to check minimum required qualifications. For example UCL require a Maths GCSE at B, Oxford just a C. If you don't have them you could probably do them in the same year as your LM Cert. I think UCL will also require a language qualification from next year.

Good luck.

[GStevens]

(Original post by oomzee)

I just wanted to ask one more question, was there any deadline for applying to birbeck for the Cert.HE in Legal methods?, when did you send off your application? I'm afraid i may have left it too late, but there was no clear indication on their website.

We had people starting up to week 6. We also had people on the course who could barely speak English. By the end of the first term about 50% had dropped out. In the last term our class had about 8 people from a starting number of about 25.

The exams are well moderated and respected but Birkbeck are very, er, generous with their initial intake. The first term was frustrating as so many people turned up not having done the reading, asking questions that they should have known the answers to, slowing down progress for everyone else. Many of them had no idea that they would need to do any work outside of the one evening a week and a few obviously had strengths that were other than academic. It settled in the second term, the remaining people were more commited and suited to the course. Overall it was interesting and worthwhile and I doubt I would be starting at UCL this year if I was relying on an Access course.

[oomzee]

Thanks for the info! what were your previous qualifications before you did the LM course?

So far, I have 8 GCSE's, a BTEC in applied sciences and i been studying aerospace engineering, until i dropped out earlier this year.

in your opinion, do i have a chance compared to other potential students? I'm really stressing out that they will say no because i "unoffically" dropped out of kingston.

x