Southampton or Exeter for law?

I am now in the process of choosing between these two universities as my firm but I can't decide?! I'd like to go to Spain and they both offer that - southampton send me to universidad complutense de madrid -ranked number 1 in spain but exeter send me universidad de bilbao - which is also considered a very good uni. But which law school is better?! They seem so similar! :frown:

Reply 1

Deutsch_Beth

16

Not an expert but 3 of my flatmates do law at Soton and they say the course is good and there's lots of opportunities to do extra, career orientated extra-curricular stuff, but complain about the relatively little support they get outside of tutorials, they say there's virtually no pastoral care going on.

My best friend does law at Exeter and from what she says its very good, though Soton is more helpful for the career stuff.

That's only what I've picked up though, so I definitely don't get the full picture.

Reply 2

jrules0193

OP

2

Thanks

Still puts me into a dilemma :/

Reply 3

jrules0193

OP

2

So which one do you think I should go?

Reply 4

Deutsch_Beth

16

Can't really say. The universities are pretty similar, but Soton is a cheaper place to live and go out in than Exeter (was comparing living costs with my best friend yesterday) and I love the city and uni, so I'm biased. When possible students can't make up their mind the uni allows them to come in for a day to experience the lectures ect, you could try and do that?

Exeter would probably do it as well.

Reply 5

TomU

11

I've got the same choice to make, albeit for my insurance rather than for my firm. I'm going to probably go with Southampton (providing Warwick don't give me an offer!) as they simply seemed to have the most helpful staff of the two. Also, Southampton allows you to apply directly for the degree with the year abroad, whilst with Exeter you have to apply competitively during the course, so getting the year abroad is not guaranteed with Exeter.

They both seem to be similarly ranked and well respected, so I'd say that you're best to choose based on the one you liked the most when you visited (you did visit them both, didn't you?) and whatever one seems the best fit for you.

Reply 6

jrules0193

OP

2

I thought exeter did let me apply to the year abroad (law with european study?) and southampton as well? Yeah I did visit them both. The staff at southampton seemed really helpful!? I thought the ones at exeter were nicer :smile:

Exeter has a really nice campus and people are telling me that seeing as law can be a 'snobbish' career, Exeter definitely has a better reputation in general terms. But then why is Southampton in the russell group?! And Warwick, nice! I was considering to apply there but chose to apply to Bristol instead though I didn't get an offer there :frown:

I think the LNAT let me down. Oh well exeter and southampton are very nice but it's so hard?! Which course did you apply to do?

I did go to these lectures and talks but the admissions tutor at soton didn't seem that nice and the italian one at southampton seemed a bit too focused on 'money' - that's all he said!

Reply 7

nuttynatz

Hey,

I've firmed exeter for law, and I also visited on a post offer day- it looks like an awsome uni and the law spciety and department seemed really active. And graduates also seem to have really good prospects. I didn't apply to Southampton so I can't tell you much about that. But I suggest you look at the Bracton Law Society for Exeter as it has quiete a bit of info about what goes on in the law dept. also on the website, they have the latest issue of 'Obiter Dicta' which is the magazine they publish and it gives you an idea of what type of things go on there.

Good luck with making your choice!

Reply 8

jrules0193

OP

2

Yeah it does seem really nice and I am kind of (slowly) edging towards Exeter. So which other unis did you apply to and what have you put as your insurance? And how did you find the accommodation at Exeter? :smile:

Reply 9

nuttynatz

Original post by jrules0193

Yeah it does seem really nice and I am kind of (slowly) edging towards Exeter. So which other unis did you apply to and what have you put as your insurance? And how did you find the accommodation at Exeter? :smile:

I think you're talking to me :biggrin:

I applied to Durham, Warwick, Oxford, Surrey and Exeter. I got rejected from Durham and Oxford because of my terribly embarassing LNAT score and unfortunatly they were my first 2 choices :frown:

And I got offers from Warwick, Exeter and Surrey. But there was a problem with my fee status at Warwick and besides, I know it has a better reputation- but I visited both and I really fell in love with Exeter. So I have Exeter as my firm, Surrey as my insurance. and there you have it, my own little university/UCAS application story :biggrin:

I only got to see inside Holland Hall (which was obviously awesome, but way out of my budget) But I really like the look of Mardon Hall, and all the students I talked to all said it had a great atmosphere and stuff so I think i'll apply there. :smile:

On the website, there is an online hand book which you can download and it shows all the residences, their facilites and how much they cost etc. Its last year's one, but it says that the 2011/2012 one should be up soon. Do you want catering or self catering?

Reply 10

Cast.Iron

14

I find it hard to differentiate between them in terms of reputation (both of which are solid), so go for which one you prefer personally.

Reply 11

TomU

11

Original post by jrules0193

I thought exeter did let me apply to the year abroad (law with european study?) and southampton as well?

The law with European study does allow you to apply directly actually, I was referring to the Law with International Study course, where you must apply competitively after getting at least a 2:1 in the first year.

Reply 12

jrules0193

OP

2

Yeah I was talking to you :P And sad times :frown:

I applied to Bristol which was my first choice but I didn't get an offer and I think it was down also to my terrible LNAT score. I did the exam twice (first time computer crashed) but I still did bad :/

And well if you're picking Exeter over Warwick then it must be good! I've applied to Surrey too! That is almost certain to be my insurance (ABB offer from there, you too?) I applied to Bristol, Southampton, Exeter, SUssex and Surrey. Sussex is nice but they were asking for AAB and I think I need an ABB just in case.

And thanks Cast.Iron that's a good point and Tom U yeah I suppose that's a good reason for going Southampton.

I'm not quite sure if I'm going catered or self-catered. I think my parents are worried about how bad my cooking is but it really isn't that bad and I've got time to practise! So you can't book for accommodation yet?

Reply 13

jrules0193

OP

2

But there's just one concern I have, I kind of thought Exeter was maybe too focussed on sport? Or maybe that was just my impression.

Reply 14

jrules0193

OP

2

And does the fact that exeter isn't in the russell group whereas southampton is a good reason to go to southampton or is exeter as good or better than southampton? Thanks :smile:

Reply 15

Legen...dary!!

Original post by jrules0193

I thought exeter did let me apply to the year abroad (law with european study?) and southampton as well? Yeah I did visit them both. The staff at southampton seemed really helpful!? I thought the ones at exeter were nicer :smile:

Exeter has a really nice campus and people are telling me that seeing as law can be a 'snobbish' career, Exeter definitely has a better reputation in general terms. But then why is Southampton in the russell group?! And Warwick, nice! I was considering to apply there but chose to apply to Bristol instead though I didn't get an offer there :frown:

I think the LNAT let me down. Oh well exeter and southampton are very nice but it's so hard?! Which course did you apply to do?

I did go to these lectures and talks but the admissions tutor at soton didn't seem that nice and the italian one at southampton seemed a bit too focused on 'money' - that's all he said!

The Russell group is a group of self-appointed unis.. Durham is an excellent university yet it's in the 1994 group. The group in which a uni is should not play a role in deciding if it's good or not.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 16

jrules0193

OP

2

So would you say Exeter is equal or better than Southampton even though it's not in the Russell Group?

Reply 17

angelmxxx

14

Original post by jrules0193

So would you say Exeter is equal or better than Southampton even though it's not in the Russell Group?

RG is a group of unis who lobby for research (ie postgrad/lecturer) funding. When it was originally formed it was only open to unis with medical schools (hence no Durham, Bath, St Andrew's or Exeter, and no LSE until a few years ago).

The media just uses the RG term because they think it's an easy way to categorise unis without having to write "the top 20/fairly elite unis" in their articles!

Every law firm will know that Exeter is a really good uni, the fact that it's not in a union who lobby for research funding is completely irrelevant!

Reply 18

angelmxxx

14

Exeter have magic circle law firms at their law fair so are obviously well targetted! http://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/law/buildingbrilliantcareers/thelawfair/

Their law soc is sponsored by a lot of magic and silver circle law firms: http://www.bractonlawsociety.com/

I'm sure Soton do too, you won't be advantaged/disadvantaged by university name by going to either university. The only that could advantage you is if one university has more societies/democracy/student union/sport opportunities for you to get involved in, as law firms look for positions of responsibility (eg treasurer of a society) and teamwork, etc.