Do I stand a chance for Oxford BCL or LLM at Cambridge, Harvard, Stanford, Berkely?

Like most people who will be applying this year for a BCL/Mjur at Oxford or an LLM at Cambridge, Harvard, Stanford or the University of California, Berkely, I have a first-class LL.B.

So I satisfy the "minimum" academic requirement.

However despite getting five As in my Highers, 3 As in my Advanced Highers (I am Scottish) at school, I had a series of personal problems and a health crisis in the second year of my LL.B. that led me to score some pretty poor grades that are not in keeping with my prior and following academic achievements. I even decided to convert to a Joint Law and History degree (still an LL.B.) and take an extra part-time year to undertake history subjects while I "recovered".

I then pursued a full joint degree and attained above 70% grades in every legal subject, some of them around 77%.

I strongly feel that this terrible phase in my life is a "deal-breaker" and will likely haunt my academic record forever.

It really does look awful on the transcripts and while I did redeem it afterwards (plus the fact that I was "perfect" beforehand), my honours-level law subjects included some "non-traditional" ones that fitted in with my own unique socio-legal approach to research, which is something I would like to take further.

Also, I don't have any "distinctions" or "awards" to my name: just straight As at school, a first-class degree and commercial experience in an entrepreneurial setting, which I am sure a gazillion candidates for the same courses will have in addition to 'scholarships' or 'awards' (which I believe is one of the sections on the forms for these universities i.e. 'please indicate any awards, distinctions, scholarships you have received').

To cut a long story short, should I bother applying to any of these universities for this course? I really don't want to waste money. I have a place reserved at LSE for a different course that I may take up next year if I acquire the right funding and am currently applying for jobs, so it will not kill me to resist applying :wink:

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1

madamemerle

10

Original post by Smurf67

Like most people who will be applying this year for a BCL/Mjur at Oxford or an LLM at Cambridge, Harvard, Stanford or the University of California, Berkely, I have a first-class LL.B.

So I satisfy the "minimum" academic requirement.

However despite getting five As in my Highers, 3 As in my Advanced Highers (I am Scottish) at school, I had a series of personal problems and a health crisis in the second year of my LL.B. that led me to score some pretty poor grades that are not in keeping with my prior and following academic achievements. I even decided to convert to a Joint Law and History degree (still an LL.B.) and take an extra part-time year to undertake history subjects while I "recovered".

I then pursued a full joint degree and attained above 70% grades in every legal subject, some of them around 77%.

I strongly feel that this terrible phase in my life is a "deal-breaker" and will likely haunt my academic record forever.

It really does look awful on the transcripts and while I did redeem it afterwards (plus the fact that I was "perfect" beforehand), my honours-level law subjects included some "non-traditional" ones that fitted in with my own unique socio-legal approach to research, which is something I would like to take further.

Also, I don't have any "distinctions" or "awards" to my name: just straight As at school, a first-class degree and commercial experience in an entrepreneurial setting, which I am sure a gazillion candidates for the same courses will have in addition to 'scholarships' or 'awards' (which I believe is one of the sections on the forms for these universities i.e. 'please indicate any awards, distinctions, scholarships you have received' :wink:

.

To cut a long story short, should I bother applying to any of these universities for this course? I really don't want to waste money. I have a place reserved at LSE for a different course that I may take up next year if I acquire the right funding and am currently applying for jobs, so it will not kill me to resist applying :wink:

Oh my goodness, this is not a "deal breaker" at all! If anything, the subsequent joint degree with high marks is even more impressive and speaks to your persistence and admirable attitude. I would, perhaps, outline the arc as you have here in your applications to US schools, if there is space to do so, as that will help to guide the way that ad comms view it. Obviously, present it positively: despite the setback, you were able to come back from it refreshed and with focus and the shift to a dual degree has benefitted your work, allowing you to cross-pollinate ideas etc.