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What to pick at Durham? Detailed / LAW OR HISTORY?!

Hello, I need a bit of urgent help, which you can offer me through your critical opinions? :biggrin:

Situation:
-6 A* 6A, state Comprehensive, AABD at AS.
-UNIQ Summer School Law (Oxford), Sutton Trust Summer School in Archaeology and Anthropology (Durham)

I was always set on Law, but now, 3 weeks before the deadline for Oxbridge, I am confused and stressed out about my decisions. This is because my History teacher opened my eyes up for another degree, despite of having been stubborn for years. The Durham Summer School gave me a guaranteed offer for any subject, as long as I reach the standard offer in the summer. So, I originally picked:
-Law at Durham A*AA
-Law at Oxford AAA
-Law at Bristol (also another guaranteed offer, AAB - but I live in Bristol)
-Law at Exeter AAA
then something..

BUT recently, Exeter has been replaced by:
-Ancient History and Archaeology at Durham AAA
-Archaeology and Ancient Civilisations AAB

AND I AM BASICALLY DONE WRITING MY PERSONAL STATEMENT FOR LAW! The guaranteed offer scheme requires a personal statement, but Durham also allow one to submit two different personal statements if they so wish. I do not think it would be problematic to write a second one to attach, since I do have an interest in Ancient History and Archaeology. Yet, my reason for this doubt about Law at Durham is that the A* might be hard to reach for me...

So, should I apply the guaranteed offer to Ancient History and Archaeology, or Law? This sort of brings up the question of: (Ancient) History or Law, for a career in Law? Durham is my most favourite university straight after Oxford, so assuming I do not get into Law at Oxford, what would you apply the guaranteed offer to?

I am very sorry that this post is so hectic!
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 1
Original post by Olax98
Hello, I need a bit of urgent help, which you can offer me through your critical opinions? :biggrin:

Situation:
-6 A* 6A, state Comprehensive, AABD at AS.
-UNIQ Summer School Law (Oxford), Sutton Trust Summer School in Archaeology and Anthropology (Durham)

I was always set on Law, but now, 3 weeks before the deadline for Oxbridge, I am confused and stressed out about my decisions. This is because my History teacher opened my eyes up for another degree, despite of having been stubborn for years. The Durham Summer School gave me a guaranteed offer for any subject, as long as I reach the standard offer in the summer. So, I originally picked:
-Law at Durham A*AA
-Law at Oxford AAA
-Law at Bristol (also another guaranteed offer, AAB - but I live in Bristol)
-Law at Exeter AAA
then something..

BUT recently, Exeter has been replaced by:
-Ancient History and Archaeology at Durham AAA
-Archaeology and Ancient Civilisations AAB

AND I AM BASICALLY DONE WRITING MY PERSONAL STATEMENT FOR LAW! The guaranteed offer scheme requires a personal statement, but Durham also allow one to submit two different personal statements if they so wish. I do not think it would be problematic to write a second one to attach, since I do have an interest in Ancient History and Archaeology. Yet, my reason for this doubt about Law at Durham is that the A* might be hard to reach for me...

So, should I apply the guaranteed offer to Ancient History and Archaeology, or Law? This sort of brings up the question of: (Ancient) History or Law, for a career in Law? Durham is my most favourite university straight after Oxford, so assuming I do not get into Law at Oxford, what would you apply the guaranteed offer to?

I am very sorry that this post is so hectic!
Applying for law and history on the same PS is asking for trouble, even if you can submit a separate PS to Durham. The reason they have done that is because - unlike almost every other top-ranked uni - Durham does care about what you do when you're not studying. If you submit a separate PS to them it over-rides the one on your UCAS, in the sense that it is the one they use to assess your application, but they can still see your UCAS PS, so will know that you are applying for two quite different subjects.

Many many many lawyers have undergraduate degrees in history - it is an excellent training for collating and analysing evidence and forming a view! If you are drawn to history, go with that and see where it takes you. It is also worth bearing in mind that - even for law graduates from top unis - it can be extremely difficult to get a training contract, so even if you do the law degree finishing up as a lawyer might prove challenging.
Reply 2
Original post by Minerva
Applying for law and history on the same PS is asking for trouble, even if you can submit a separate PS to Durham. The reason they have done that is because - unlike almost every other top-ranked uni - Durham does care about what you do when you're not studying. If you submit a separate PS to them it over-rides the one on your UCAS, in the sense that it is the one they use to assess your application, but they can still see your UCAS PS, so will know that you are applying for two quite different subjects.

Many many many lawyers have undergraduate degrees in history - it is an excellent training for collating and analysing evidence and forming a view! If you are drawn to history, go with that and see where it takes you. It is also worth bearing in mind that - even for law graduates from top unis - it can be extremely difficult to get a training contract, so even if you do the law degree finishing up as a lawyer might prove challenging.



Thank you very much for your reply - I have taken into account the fact that the GDL conversion course will be too expensive for me. I am going to apply to five Law degrees, and try very hard to get into Oxford, or indeed reach my offer at Durham. :smile: Thank you once more!

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