What can I do to stand out?

Do you have work experience that is not law related? If you're applying to commercial law firms then experience in 'real world' business is invaluable.

Some. But I want to focus on law related stuff. Could I work at the CAB over the summer?

Some. But I want to focus on law related stuff. Could I work at the CAB over the summer?

That would be a good start. You should note that lots of law students want to volunteer at their local CAB so you should get your application in early and figure out when you can commit some time for them.

What other legal experience do you have? Have you shadowed any lawyers, for example?

Do something interesting...

Going to open days/speaking to recruiters has led me to believe that getting onto vacation schemes are often more about how interesting you are, what experience you have and not just how law orientated your background is.

I'm at LSE and there are plenty of people with exceptional grades, high sporting ability, positions of responsibility and quite often friends in high places. The competition is exceedingly tough.

QMUL is a good university, but my hunch tells me that if you're targeting top firms, you will either need exceptional marks/and or an interesting background, varied experiences/positions of responsibilities etc (please correct me it this is not the case regarding aiming for 'top' firms)

Do something interesting. Volunteer abroad, do an internship (legal or otherwise)

You run the risk of just being forgettable and quickly bypassed by HR. I've always been advised by HR to have a 'hook' something that makes you slightly different to every other candidate who has walked through the door.

Have you been involved much with extra curricular at QMUL? sports? societies?

Going to open days/speaking to recruiters has led me to believe that getting onto vacation schemes are often more about how interesting you are, what experience you have and not just how law orientated your background is.

I'm at LSE and there are plenty of people with exceptional grades, high sporting ability, positions of responsibility and quite often friends in high places. The competition is exceedingly tough.

QMUL is a good university, but my hunch tells me that if you're targeting top firms, you will either need exceptional marks/and or an interesting background, varied experiences/positions of responsibilities etc (please correct me it this is not the case regarding aiming for 'top' firms)

I realise how tough the competition is so i'm not targeting the top firms per say, although I will probably apply just in case. I would be perfectly fine with a smaller or medium sized firm.

Really not sure, it should be 'a just in case' thing. Applications are long and tedious especially if you're not that bothered about whether the applications succeed.

What do you classify as medium firms? mid-city firms are still very competitive.

Do something interesting. Volunteer abroad, do an internship (legal or otherwise)

You run the risk of just being forgettable and quickly bypassed by HR. I've always been advised by HR to have a 'hook' something that makes you slightly different to every other candidate who has walked through the door.

Have you been involved much with extra curricular at QMUL? sports? societies?

Going to open days/speaking to recruiters has led me to believe that getting onto vacation schemes are often more about how interesting you are, what experience you have and not just how law orientated your background is.

I'm at LSE and there are plenty of people with exceptional grades, high sporting ability, positions of responsibility and quite often friends in high places. The competition is exceedingly tough.

QMUL is a good university, but my hunch tells me that if you're targeting top firms, you will either need exceptional marks/and or an interesting background, varied experiences/positions of responsibilities etc (please correct me it this is not the case regarding aiming for 'top' firms)