Law Degrees: Common Questions and Misconceptions
This is basically a list of points that I see myself repeating too often. Feel free to discuss below.
~
[Point 1a] The Chambers Student survey is not necessarily a good reflection of reality
Chambers Student is a student's guide to several dozen mid-to-large-sized law firms in the UK. Every three years, it sends round a survey to trainee solicitors at various law firms, asking, among other things, where they studied. It then collects the responses and puts them in a table. This is what I will be referring to as the 'Chambers Student survey'.
[Point 1b] The Chambers Student survey is not a meaningful survey - few conclusions can be drawn from it
[Point 1c] Be careful when using LinkedIn as an alternative to Chambers Student
[Point 2] It is difficult to draw any meaningful conclusions from the salary data we currently have access to!
[Point 3] There are lots of ways in which a law student can figure out whether they would enjoy a law degree
[Point 4] How do I compare law faculties?
[Point 5] League tables are pretty much useless for law
[Point 6] “What are my chances of getting into this course’”
[Point 7] A-level law is no longer a non-preferred A-level subject
[Point 8] “This university is ‘targeted’ more than that university”
[Point 9] Scottish universities are not as selective for law as their entry tariffs suggest
[Point 10] A lot of the University of Law's claims are misleading
~
[Point 1a] The Chambers Student survey is not necessarily a good reflection of reality
Chambers Student is a student's guide to several dozen mid-to-large-sized law firms in the UK. Every three years, it sends round a survey to trainee solicitors at various law firms, asking, among other things, where they studied. It then collects the responses and puts them in a table. This is what I will be referring to as the 'Chambers Student survey'.
Spoiler
[Point 1b] The Chambers Student survey is not a meaningful survey - few conclusions can be drawn from it
Spoiler
[Point 1c] Be careful when using LinkedIn as an alternative to Chambers Student
Spoiler
[Point 2] It is difficult to draw any meaningful conclusions from the salary data we currently have access to!
Spoiler
[Point 3] There are lots of ways in which a law student can figure out whether they would enjoy a law degree
Spoiler
[Point 4] How do I compare law faculties?
Spoiler
[Point 5] League tables are pretty much useless for law
Spoiler
[Point 6] “What are my chances of getting into this course’”
Spoiler
[Point 7] A-level law is no longer a non-preferred A-level subject
Spoiler
[Point 8] “This university is ‘targeted’ more than that university”
Spoiler
[Point 9] Scottish universities are not as selective for law as their entry tariffs suggest
Spoiler
[Point 10] A lot of the University of Law's claims are misleading
Spoiler
(edited 4 years ago)
No doubt this will be an invaluable resource for applicants. Thanks for doing this 
(I've also stickied the thread, thanks @artful_lounger)
(I've also stickied the thread, thanks @artful_lounger)
This is all a bit technical to me, but here's my pet misconception:
People who apply to Oxford for law with a handful of A*s at GCSE and expect to get in...
Students who apply to Oxford for law have an average number of 5.2 A*s at GCSE level.
Successful applicants have an average of 8 or 9 A*s
what a marvellous, informative thread this is going to be! Maybe even as iconic as ecolier's medical thread...
Maybe we should call it "Law Demystified" @harrysbar
People who apply to Oxford for law with a handful of A*s at GCSE and expect to get in...
Students who apply to Oxford for law have an average number of 5.2 A*s at GCSE level.
Successful applicants have an average of 8 or 9 A*s
what a marvellous, informative thread this is going to be! Maybe even as iconic as ecolier's medical thread...
Maybe we should call it "Law Demystified" @harrysbar
(edited 3 years ago)
This is great thanks
Honestly will save people the time and effort in making repetitive threads
Thorough, referenced, data heavy, balanced and nuanced
Wow. How are you devoting so much of your time to giving free advice? Your heart must be made of gold.
Sis come see this!@nathan_nacu
Sis come see this!@nathan_nacu
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by Numb &
Wow. How are you devoting so much of your time to giving free advice? Your heart must be made of gold.
Sis come see this!@nathan_nacu
Sis come see this!@nathan_nacu
Oh wow look at all this tea! Tbh this made me want to firm Manchester even more and really gave me the insight that i was making the right decision, thank you!!!!!!
(edited 3 years ago)
Thank you for this thread, it’s helped me and it’s definitely going to help a lot more people. Once more, thank you!
Original post by nathan_nacu
Oh wow look at all this tea! Tbh this made me want to firm Manchester even more and really gave me the insight that i was making the right decision, thank you!!!!!!
Where is my thank for tagging you to this amazing thread? Jk
Which bit in particular made you want to firm Manchester? Agreed, genuinely think TSR Law forum is insanely useful for applicants like me, who do little of their own research. Schools should recommend this site more often to students (for academic use, I mean). Thanks to the wonderful user for making this!
(edited 3 years ago)
[QUOTE=Numb
(edited 4 years ago)
Sorry but i think your data on scottish institutions are flawed and when the link is clicked it says page not found. Looking through the last few years or so Dundee has a lower entry tariff than aberdeen and aberdeen lower than strathclyde so your analysis might be wrong which would lead me to believe that your comparison of highers and a levels is probably wrong too.
Original post by archie23
Sorry but i think your data on scottish institutions are flawed and when the link is clicked it says page not found. Looking through the last few years or so Dundee has a lower entry tariff than aberdeen and aberdeen lower than strathclyde so your analysis might be wrong which would lead me to believe that your comparison of highers and a levels is probably wrong too.
The links worked at first but I think they might have been tampered with by a Scottish person
No doubt we'll still get the broad and general questions asked, but at least we have somewhere to direct them now! Very informative.
Excellent material as usual.
Addresses the most annoying and major fallacies on this forum and makes me one happy boy.
I still maintain that LinkedIn is a great tool, though, despite all the potential faultiness in the search results.
Addresses the most annoying and major fallacies on this forum and makes me one happy boy.
I still maintain that LinkedIn is a great tool, though, despite all the potential faultiness in the search results.
(edited 4 years ago)
Hi, just a little suggestion to the ‘figure out if u would enjoy a law degree aspect’
There’s this wonderful book i got for £10 called ‘What About Law?’ It’s basically like Letters to a Law student but with MUCH more of the academic aspects. It gives an in-depth explanation of thinking like a lawyer and it has 1 chapter dedicated to each of the 7 compulsory legal modules(tort, contract etc.) where it brings the most notable case from each and explains it, outlines the key facts, motives, origins, reforms etc. at a level a college student can understand. I love it so much and I’m only in the contract law chapter! I even did a little problem question afterwards. I HIGHLY recommend anyone thinking of putting themselves in the place of a law student, analysing cases and judgements and such should buy this book! (The point of this post is to express why i think you should add it to this thread by the way Mr Papi).
It also has a bunch of statutes and stuff +good detail
There’s this wonderful book i got for £10 called ‘What About Law?’ It’s basically like Letters to a Law student but with MUCH more of the academic aspects. It gives an in-depth explanation of thinking like a lawyer and it has 1 chapter dedicated to each of the 7 compulsory legal modules(tort, contract etc.) where it brings the most notable case from each and explains it, outlines the key facts, motives, origins, reforms etc. at a level a college student can understand. I love it so much and I’m only in the contract law chapter! I even did a little problem question afterwards. I HIGHLY recommend anyone thinking of putting themselves in the place of a law student, analysing cases and judgements and such should buy this book! (The point of this post is to express why i think you should add it to this thread by the way Mr Papi).
It also has a bunch of statutes and stuff +good detail
Thanks for this thread, it was very helpful and informative!
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