Should I do law? Would I be overwhelmed?
I have no idea whether I should do law or a humanities/social science degree. I really do enjoy debating and thinking of rebuttals on the spot so I have thought about law but I have no idea if I would be overwhelmed by the more detailed and boring bits of law or the long hours of studying/working. What are the flags that show that you're unsuitable for law or show that you'd be good at studying for law and could actually do it without hating it. Feel free to ask me any personal questions to help figure it out
(edited 6 months ago)
Original post by antique-prescrip
I have no idea whether I should do law or a humanities/social science degree. I really do enjoy debating and thinking of rebuttals on the spot so I have thought about law but I have no idea if I would be overwhelmed by the more detailed and boring bits of law or the long hours of studying/working. What are the flags that show that you're unsuitable for law or show that you'd be good at studying for law and could actually do it without hating it. Feel free to ask me any personal questions to help figure it out
History as a subject both at secondary school what was it like for you what about History if anything is appealing to you
Original post by Mohammed_80
History as a subject both at secondary school what was it like for you what about History if anything is appealing to you
Yeah I love history, predicted a 9 in it. Always thought of it as a fun/interesting subject.
Hi there,
I am a law student currently in my third year of university.
I can confidently say that I am not smart enough to study law. Although I haven't been receiving the best grades, I have achieved reasonable grades throughout my time at university.
When I began studying law, it was a big, LIKE A HUGE JUMP from a-levels. There was and still is A LOT to read. This includes reading textbooks to understand the principles of law, cases and statutes, journal articles etc. You begin to learn different aspects of law such as criminal law, contract law, tort law, the legal system etc. It was very overwhelming for me for the first few weeks in year 1. I literally would go home after a workshop or a lecture and just sit in my room crying and contemplating whether I'm smart enough for this degree. It especially hurt when a few of my peers would score better grades than me. However after a few weeks, I realised that after speaking to some of my peers, they were also on the same boat like myself, feeling pressured and overwhelmed. I got to a point where I should just put my head down, and began working from the start, and now here I am in my third year.
What improved my mental health and wellbeing especially was by realising, life isn't about just completing the degree. I decided to involve myself in other activities and roles. I became a student ambassador of Coventry University and met many wonderful student ambassadors like myself, as well as amazing supervisors. I slowly started building my network with my peers and lecturers and now am I committee member of the law society in my university. Just to clarify, I am not a top student, yet I still managed meet so many amazing individuals and built connections within university as well as outside university.
My top tips:
(1) Take the very first day of your lecture and workshop seriously and take notes. (Some university begin their uni experience for 1st years with a freshers week, where some students don't have to attend lectures at the start, whilst other students too. It depends on the university.)
(2) If you are struggling with anything, whether it's about the coursework, or something in relation to your personal life, please speak to your lecturers, or student success coaches, or anyone that's available.
(3) Get involved in as many activities as possible but remember to not overwork yourself. You could become a student ambassador, or student rep, or a general/committee of the law society or any society.
(4) Build as many connections as possible during your time at university. Build connections with your course mates, your lecturers. Attend networking events within and outside of university. (LinkedIn is a great way to network and build connections)
(5) Some individuals may have studied law in their a-levels, providing them with that basic knowledge of law. However it's fine if you didn't pick law. You begin your law degree by understanding the basics.
(6) And remember to take some time off for yourself.
I really hope this helps.
Best wishes,
Narusha
Coventry University Student Ambassador
I am a law student currently in my third year of university.
I can confidently say that I am not smart enough to study law. Although I haven't been receiving the best grades, I have achieved reasonable grades throughout my time at university.
When I began studying law, it was a big, LIKE A HUGE JUMP from a-levels. There was and still is A LOT to read. This includes reading textbooks to understand the principles of law, cases and statutes, journal articles etc. You begin to learn different aspects of law such as criminal law, contract law, tort law, the legal system etc. It was very overwhelming for me for the first few weeks in year 1. I literally would go home after a workshop or a lecture and just sit in my room crying and contemplating whether I'm smart enough for this degree. It especially hurt when a few of my peers would score better grades than me. However after a few weeks, I realised that after speaking to some of my peers, they were also on the same boat like myself, feeling pressured and overwhelmed. I got to a point where I should just put my head down, and began working from the start, and now here I am in my third year.
What improved my mental health and wellbeing especially was by realising, life isn't about just completing the degree. I decided to involve myself in other activities and roles. I became a student ambassador of Coventry University and met many wonderful student ambassadors like myself, as well as amazing supervisors. I slowly started building my network with my peers and lecturers and now am I committee member of the law society in my university. Just to clarify, I am not a top student, yet I still managed meet so many amazing individuals and built connections within university as well as outside university.
My top tips:
(1) Take the very first day of your lecture and workshop seriously and take notes. (Some university begin their uni experience for 1st years with a freshers week, where some students don't have to attend lectures at the start, whilst other students too. It depends on the university.)
(2) If you are struggling with anything, whether it's about the coursework, or something in relation to your personal life, please speak to your lecturers, or student success coaches, or anyone that's available.
(3) Get involved in as many activities as possible but remember to not overwork yourself. You could become a student ambassador, or student rep, or a general/committee of the law society or any society.
(4) Build as many connections as possible during your time at university. Build connections with your course mates, your lecturers. Attend networking events within and outside of university. (LinkedIn is a great way to network and build connections)
(5) Some individuals may have studied law in their a-levels, providing them with that basic knowledge of law. However it's fine if you didn't pick law. You begin your law degree by understanding the basics.
(6) And remember to take some time off for yourself.
I really hope this helps.
Best wishes,
Narusha
Coventry University Student Ambassador
Original post by antique-prescrip
I have no idea whether I should do law or a humanities/social science degree. I really do enjoy debating and thinking of rebuttals on the spot so I have thought about law but I have no idea if I would be overwhelmed by the more detailed and boring bits of law or the long hours of studying/working. What are the flags that show that you're unsuitable for law or show that you'd be good at studying for law and could actually do it without hating it. Feel free to ask me any personal questions to help figure it out
Law isn't really about coming up with rebuttals on the spot, it's about doing consistent dedicated research on your essay topics and crafting a good academic argument for your essay. This is also true of any other humanities or social science courses.
Also worth bearing in mind you can become a solicitor without doing a law degree in any event (and a barrister with just doing a conversion diploma) so there's really no reason to do a law degree specifically unless you are particularly interested in the academic study of black letter law. Since you could just as well do e..g history or anthropology or classics or whatever else floats your boat and still go into the same careers.
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