[woody-wood]

Facts
Studying Law llb - Russel group (top 15 uni)
Grades
A levels
Gov & pol A
P.E A
Critical Thinking A*
English Lit D

GCSE's AAABBBBBBCC
work exp
1 week at a magistrates
1 week at a barristers chambers
1 week at high street solicitors

The question is on reality of going into a legal career. Obviously I'm not brilliantly confident on my chances at an MC/SC firm but I feel like I want to try anyway.
Want to be a solicitor
Would a an LLM in commercial law at a higher institute help also?
Any advice on how to move forward would help.

[nulli tertius]

(Original post by woody-wood)
Facts
Studying Law llb - Russel group (top 15 uni)
Grades
A levels
Gov & pol A
P.E A
Critical Thinking A*
English Lit D

GCSE's AAABBBBBBCC
work exp
1 week at a magistrates
1 week at a barristers chambers
1 week at high street solicitors

The question is on reality of going into a legal career. Obviously I'm not brilliantly confident on my chances at an MC/SC firm but I feel like I want to try anyway.
Want to be a solicitor
Would a an LLM in commercial law at a higher institute help also?
Any advice on how to move forward would help.

I take it you are a fresher?

Don't look at an LLM. Make sure you get a 2:1. Make your cv look as interesting as possible. Try and get some legal advice volunteering. Try and get on the committee of something or other. Get some more work experience.

Start applying for vac schemes later this year.

[Luckypupil]

(Original post by woody-wood)
Facts
Studying Law llb - Russel group (top 15 uni)
Grades
A levels
Gov & pol A
P.E A
Critical Thinking A*
English Lit D

GCSE's AAABBBBBBCC
work exp
1 week at a magistrates
1 week at a barristers chambers
1 week at high street solicitors

The question is on reality of going into a legal career. Obviously I'm not brilliantly confident on my chances at an MC/SC firm but I feel like I want to try anyway.
Want to be a solicitor
Would a an LLM in commercial law at a higher institute help also?
Any advice on how to move forward would help.

Get a first and you will be in a great position. 2:1 is too much of a lottery.

[Crazy Jamie]

(Original post by woody-wood)
English Lit D

You might find yourself needing to justify this in future, whether in interviews or elsewhere. Even if your A-Levels are expressed as AAA*D, the D sticks out like a sore thumb. As and when you reveal that it is in English Literature that would perhaps raise even more of an eyebrow than the grade in isolation, because it has more relevance to a legal career than other subjects. I would hope that there is a good reason for this because the rest of your A-Levels are solid, but either way it is something that you should be prepared to answer questions about.

Otherwise, as has already been said a 2:1 is essentially but a First would be a boost if you can reach that level. It's important to stand out on paper due to the level of competition, and First allows you to do that over the myriad of candidates that will have a 2:1. An LLM would be of little benefit realistically compared to the time and money required to pursue one.

[woody-wood]

(Original post by nulli tertius)
I take it you are a fresher?

Don't look at an LLM. Make sure you get a 2:1. Make your cv look as interesting as possible. Try and get some legal advice volunteering. Try and get on the committee of something or other. Get some more work experience.

Start applying for vac schemes later this year.

I'm a second year, hence the panic.
The masters was perhaps to make myself more marketable and also give me more time to apply well to places. I do intend on attaining more experience. I'm genuinely unsure where my current application would be held by perhaps regional firms. I'm assuming slap bang middle of the pack in terms of other applicants, perhaps lower.

(Original post by Crazy Jamie)
You might find yourself needing to justify this in future, whether in interviews or elsewhere. Even if your A-Levels are expressed as AAA*D, the D sticks out like a sore thumb. As and when you reveal that it is in English Literature that would perhaps raise even more of an eyebrow than the grade in isolation, because it has more relevance to a legal career than other subjects. I would hope that there is a good reason for this because the rest of your A-Levels are solid, but either way it is something that you should be prepared to answer questions about.

Otherwise, as has already been said a 2:1 is essentially but a First would be a boost if you can reach that level. It's important to stand out on paper due to the level of competition, and First allows you to do that over the myriad of candidates that will have a 2:1. An LLM would be of little benefit realistically compared to the time and money required to pursue one.

There are of course reasons for a lovely D grade, couple this with a god awful state school and you get a complete miracle that i'm in university. You do however seem to be more upbeat about my academics than I was expecting, thank you!

[nulli tertius]

(Original post by woody-wood)
I'm a second year, hence the panic.
The masters was perhaps to make myself more marketable and also give me more time to apply well to places. I do intend on attaining more experience. I'm genuinely unsure where my current application would be held by perhaps regional firms. I'm assuming slap bang middle of the pack in terms of other applicants, perhaps lower.

Obviously I don't know how well you will complete an application but nothing about you so far suggests "interview me". At best you are hoping to remain on the "maybe" pile to the point at which all the remaining "maybes" get invited along. I don't think hoping that there are fewer standout candidates than available places is a good thing but I think the best thing you can do is put in some applications and see how they go.

[woody-wood]

(Original post by nulli tertius)
Obviously I don't know how well you will complete an application but nothing about you so far suggests "interview me". At best you are hoping to remain on the "maybe" pile to the point at which all the remaining "maybes" get invited along. I don't think hoping that there are fewer standout candidates than available places is a good thing but I think the best thing you can do is put in some applications and see how they go.

well this is precisely my point, at this stage surely it would be worth pursuing either an LLM ( as it's relevant) or perhaps a business masters. If I fail to stand out now surely I need to remove myself from the mainstream bulk of applicants being AAA and a 2:1 from a solid uni and instead be a 2:1 (or above :P) LLM/Msc AAA candidate of which hopefully would be more eye catching

[Norton1]

(Original post by woody-wood)
well this is precisely my point, at this stage surely it would be worth pursuing either an LLM ( as it's relevant) or perhaps a business masters. If I fail to stand out now surely I need to remove myself from the mainstream bulk of applicants being AAA and a 2:1 from a solid uni and instead be a 2:1 (or above :P) LLM/Msc AAA candidate of which hopefully would be more eye catching

Mooting, legal volunteering, win an academic prize, have your father be the firm's largest client. Standout.