The Student Room Group

Really hate my Law degree?...

So I'm a first year studying LLB Law at a Russel Group university and well... I hate it.

There is just so much reading to do, and it's mind-numbing, especially when the law books are written so convoluted.

It doesn't help that my class-mates are so into the subject, and every tutorial they whip out pages upon pages of work that they've done, whereas I barely cope with completing the minimum.

The high school I went to was notoriously mediocre (being nice), and most of the people I'm studying with are from top grammar schools, and the difference in our education is really starting to show.

I'm proud to have managed to get on the degree, and my family in particular have been excited because I am one of the older of my generation, so they look to me to set some sort of precedent I guess.

I don't want to be a quitter, but I'm dragging myself to the tutorials and often it's just an hour of me feeling like an idiot.

I chose Law because I don't have a particular interest in anything, and so decided to get a strong degree and take it from there, but at this rate, I don't even know if I'll pass, let alone manage a 2:1.

I can switch courses I suppose, but the only other thing that mildly interests me is Business related, but getting a good job in that field is going to be difficult considering the amount of graduates in that field.

To summarise, any ideas on what I can do? Has anybody been in a similar position before? (Doesn't have to have been a Law degree specifically).

Appreciate the help.

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Reply 1
Original post by flavius11
x


My first year modules are Criminal Law, Public Law, Contract Law and Legal Foundations.

At the moment, I find Public Law to be the easiest, with LEFO being difficult. It's just that my brain automatically switches off when trying to read something.

Also, the research part is definitely not my forte, which is integral for Law.

I know that my A Levels of ABBB weren't great for an AAA course, and since my mind is only geared towards humanity subjects, Law is the strongest I can get. Essentially, I know that I will never have another chance at this again if I decide to switch, and the only options (with no disrespect) seem to be downwards :/

P.S. Did you need re-sits at any point?
Reply 2
Bump :colondollar:
Speak to your tutors about it
Reply 4
I don't think I'd be helping but I'd kill to have a Law degree (I have a degree in CS).

IMO, with a Law degree can help you and your family with a lot of things.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 5
I also wish I'd taken law, at least you'll get a job some day
Reply 6
Also OP, I'm doing grad work, and doing research; I'd prefer knowing the policies and legal requirements of academic publications and citations; these things can be very tricky and quite valuable to the survivable of your research (probably your well being as well :pinch:)
OP, I was in your situation last year. Exactly the same, in fact. I am now in second year and I still hate it. I urge you to quit uni if there's another course you want to do or something, please do NOT force yourself to stay on law if you hate it already. It gets worse in second year, far more work, less interesting modules...I'm not going to tell you to stay and have a go because I basically was you. And I wish I had quit last year rather than forcing myself through second year, I will end up with a 2:2 because I hate it and I don't want to start another course with a load of 18 year olds when I'll be 21. Do what is best for you.

People saying they wish they had law don't know what it's like. It's a good degree, sure, but it's a waste of your uni experience to be miserable. I know one day I will get a good job with this degree but I will have spent three years of my life on something I despise, it's not worth it. If you did a business degree, maybe something like business management rather than 'studies', I'm sure you would get a good job. It's the 'studies' bit employers are wary of but plenty of top unis do business courses so they're not 'looked down on', they are relevant to any company, any management role etc.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 8
Original post by infairverona
OP, I was in your situation last year. Exactly the same, in fact. I am now in second year and I still hate it. I urge you to quit uni if there's another course you want to do or something, please do NOT force yourself to stay on law if you hate it already. It gets worse in second year, far more work, less interesting modules...I'm not going to tell you to stay and have a go because I basically was you. And I wish I had quit last year rather than forcing myself through second year, I will end up with a 2:2 because I hate it and I don't want to start another course with a load of 18 year olds when I'll be 21. Do what is best for you.


Somewhat true; +ve rep.

OP, talk to your tutor, or maybe you can take a break? Refresh your mind and get a bit of perspective?
Have you talk this to anyone?

I'm sorry that I couldn't give you much help.
Original post by kka25
Somewhat true; +ve rep.

OP, talk to your tutor, or maybe you can take a break? Refresh your mind and get a bit of perspective?
Have you talk this to anyone?

I'm sorry that I couldn't give you much help.


Is Law really that bad? I have offers from top universities, but so many people seem to regret studying Law, Is it the crazy amount of reading?

I'm quite good at English and History and looked into both, but broadly speaking they don't really strike me as definitively more interesting than Law.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 10
Original post by LoseSmallWinBig
Is Law really that bad? I have offers from top universities, but so many people seem to regret studying Law, Is it the crazy amount of reading?

I'm quite good at English and History and looked into both, but broadly speaking they don't really strike me as more interesting than Law.


I don't know :frown:

But even my field has "a lot of reading"; it wouldn't be a field of knowledge if it doesn't have "a lot of reading".
Reply 11
Moving to the Law subforum (in the Social Sciences forum). If you want more general replies then I can move it to University Life.

But what I feel you need to do is talk to academic staff and student welfare about your concerns. I hope you're able to come to a decision one way or the other.

Original post by scrotgrot
I also wish I'd taken law, at least you'll get a job some day


What makes you say that? You do realise the current problem we have (far too many law/GDL gradutes)? So I certainly wouldn't say the OP is guaranteed a job in the legal sector. As for other graduate schemes, law won't necessarily be more favoured than any other social science or humanity, with perhaps some exceptions in areas of advocacy, research, policy and the like .
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by River85
Moving to the Law subforum (in the Social Sciences forum). If you want more general replies then I can move it to University Life.

But what I feel you need to do is talk to academic staff and student welfare about your concerns. I hope you're able to come to a decision one way or the other.



What makes you say that? You do realise the current problem we have (far too many law/GDL gradutes)? So I certainly wouldn't say the OP is guaranteed a job in the legal sector. As for other graduate schemes, law won't necessarily be more favoured than any other social science or humanity, with perhaps some exceptions in areas of advocacy, research, policy and the like .


Everyone I know who studied law at a second-tier university for the subject is in gainful employment six months after graduation. I have heard tell of this problem, but I maintain that at least these people are professionally qualified. If you do any other humanity you have basically spent three years skipping after the birds on an extended gap year. If you are a law graduate who can't find a law job you will doubtless be first in line for your average graduate job, all else being equal, given that a law degree actually involves hard work and the acquisition of commercially important knowledge.
Reply 13
Law isn't really something to do as a safe option if you don't have any particular interests.

Maybe swap to a course you'd actually enjoy?

The other people on your course probably find it as hard as you do but the whole reason they turn up with stacks of work is because they enjoy the subject and are most likely driven to go into a career in law.
Original post by LoseSmallWinBig
Is Law really that bad? I have offers from top universities, but so many people seem to regret studying Law, Is it the crazy amount of reading?

I'm quite good at English and History and looked into both, but broadly speaking they don't really strike me as definitively more interesting than Law.


It's not the amount of reading, it's the content I don't like. There's such a difference between things like criminal law and equity. Also you only get to choose a tiny amount of modules so say you're really interested in family law, you have to learn things like land law (snore) EU law and equity law. Equity is very finance-based which I find incredibly dull. Whereas on English/History, from what I've been told you have much more choice and can choose almost all your modules (you'd have to do a few compulsory ones of course but you would get to pick the rest). There's also a strong emphasis on commercial law at my uni, not sure if this is with the rest, but I have no interest in that whatsoever and I've found those of us interested in family/healthcare etc aren't really catered for at all.

Also different kind of reading for law, I don't know about english/history but law is reading a lot of cases. And articles, SO many articles. I would give my right arm to be told I need to read some novels at this point in my degree.
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by River85
You do realise the current problem we have (far too many law/GDL gradutes)? So I certainly wouldn't say the OP is guaranteed a job in the legal sector. As for other graduate schemes, law won't necessarily be more favoured than any other social science or humanity, with perhaps some exceptions in areas of advocacy, research, policy and the like .


Very good point. If you hate it and don't want to become a lawyer, then don't do it! Do something that you'll enjoy and that will be more useful.

Or at least less useless than an unwanted LLB 3rd.
Original post by LoseSmallWinBig
Is Law really that bad? I have offers from top universities, but so many people seem to regret studying Law, Is it the crazy amount of reading?


No, it's not that bad.

Some people hate it as you can see from this thread but everyone's experience is different. I've loved every minute of my law degree, it's the best thing I've ever studied (I have a previous degree in Maths and now went back to university as a mature student), and I'm looking forward to 3rd year, then a Masters-level course, and hopefully a career. There are many others on this forum who feel the same way. People have different opinions about modules as well. For me equity is one of the most fascinating areas of law. 'infairverona' hates it. There's not really any right or wrong answer.

It's no different from other subjects - I didn't particularly enjoy doing Maths but there were many people on my course who absolutely loved it and I'm sure every subject some people love and some hate (and of course many that aren't bothered either way).

There is a lot of reading on a law degree, obviously, if you don't like reading a lot of academic material and making your own opinions on it then you won't like law. But nor, I suggest, will you like English or History much either.
Reply 17
Original post by Forum User
No, it's not that bad.

Some people hate it as you can see from this thread but everyone's experience is different. I've loved every minute of my law degree, it's the best thing I've ever studied (I have a previous degree in Maths and now went back to university as a mature student), and I'm looking forward to 3rd year, then a Masters-level course, and hopefully a career. There are many others on this forum who feel the same way. People have different opinions about modules as well. For me equity is one of the most fascinating areas of law. 'infairverona' hates it. There's not really any right or wrong answer.

It's no different from other subjects - I didn't particularly enjoy doing Maths but there were many people on my course who absolutely loved it and I'm sure every subject some people love and some hate (and of course many that aren't bothered either way).

There is a lot of reading on a law degree, obviously, if you don't like reading a lot of academic material and making your own opinions on it then you won't like law. But nor, I suggest, will you like English or History much either.


I think, as infairverona says, it's the breath people dislike. I enjoy Law, but I can see the appeal of doing History or English and being able to just really specialise beyond First year in the specific subject you most enjoy (eg. 20th century Russia), rather than doing subjects as different as Criminal and Land.
If you don't want to practice Law, you can do a BA in Law (so it won't be a qualified law degree, you can't practice law with it). But it means you don't HAVE to do all 7 of the foundations of law modules, and you pretty much get to pick whichever modules you like, as it's only a BA, rather than an LLB - perhaps this may interest you instead?

You'd be able to transfer to another university if you wanted to so that you don't have to, essentially, re-do a year.
Can I just ask, what university are you at? I can't wait to study law, the only module I'm not looking forward to is EU Law (Which I've always hated!)