BCL essay submission

Hello all,

My question is as follows: the rules for applying to the Oxford BCL require a written submission of 2000 words. Does this mean *up to* 2000 words, or must the essay be at or around 2000 words?

For example, if I have a very good essay of 1500 words to submit, must I then extend it to 2000 words before submission or is it ok as it is?

many thanks.

Reply 1

Globallylocal

U can send a private message so that we can discuss more on that to help u out

Reply 2

leage_beagle

If your best piece of writing is 1,500, go with that. If you *want* to bulk out the arguments in it a bit, it probably wouldn't go amiss, but they won't care as long as it is up to standard. That said, I wouldn't want to go any shorter than about 1,500 for fear of just not having enough of a sustained argument.

Reply 3

MidgetFever

If you have an essay of 1.5k words where the required submission is 2k then it suggests you've probably missed out a big chunk of discussion that you probably could have included, imo.

Reply 4

leage_beagle

Original post by MidgetFever

If you have an essay of 1.5k words where the required submission is 2k then it suggests you've probably missed out a big chunk of discussion that you probably could have included, imo.

This isn't how it works with the BCL essay submission. They are looking for a work sample, not a specific essay that everyone has to write.

My submission was about 1,700 words taken as an extract from a 4,000 word essay, so there was no complete argument in it. They just want to see that you can analyse case law, understand how to make a good legal argument in general, have interesting things to say about academic views, maybe some original analysis etc.

If you can show that in 1,500 then that is plenty, and if you have a well crafted essay that has already achieved a good mark, then while there is no harm in adding more material, it's worth bearing in mind the possibility that additional material will muddy the waters rather than add anything in terms of demonstrating your ability.

Reply 5

bathvader

Hey there, sorry to bring up an old post - when extracting from the longer essay, did you just pull a section that sounded like it provided the most material for assessment? Did you fret over the extract not having a proper introduction, conclusion, etc? I've got a 7000 word essay that I'm prepared to extract, but most of the analyses are quite scattered. I'm wondering if its beneficial to extract from each section a few arguments, chop off the signposting paragraphs, and call it a day.