Law Conversion Course with a 2:2 Biology Degree

In 2013 I gained a 2:2 Biology Degree from Newcastle univeristy. Up until college I was a 'gifted and talented student' recognised by Cambridge, got 100% in many exams UNTILL I foolishly decided to go a biology degree. It's something I very much regret and know if I had done another subject I would have gained a much higher degree. I now feel stuck as to what to do next and feel my degree is pretty pointless.
I'd love to go into Law and study to become a solicitor and I'm aware that I would likely be accepted onto a conversion course with a 2:2 but I want to know if there is any point in me doing a law conversion with a 2:2. Will it mean I'm unable to get onto a training scheme to become a solicitor regardless of how I perform at postgradutate level?
I ask this as it is something I would realy love to go for but I don't want to be in £10,000 worth of debt and waste a year of my life for it not to get me anywhere.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Reply 1

tsruser3

Original post by Postgradbio

Why do you regret doing a bio degree? Is it because of the difficulty or because you didn't enjoy it?

Reply 2

larusfuscus

why do you want to be a solicitor?

do you have any actual experience of legal practice?

what have you been doing since 2013?

how much research have you done on how hard it is to get a training contract?

you WILL get accepted for the GDL, the only requirements for which are a chequebook and a pulse, but unless you have a very good idea of the risks you are taking I wouldn't start down that road

Reply 3

Postgradbio

Thank you for your reply.

How do I go about establishing the risk involved?

Since 2013 I worked for an oil and gas company in logistics in Australia. I've now returned home and I'm looking at what possible routes I can go down. Law appeals to me as it's well paid, good oppertunities for career progressions and obviously prestigious. This is where you tell me not to chose a career path on them factors but it's better than wasting my time in admin etc being paid hardly anything and im going to have to work anyway. I don't know what job would make me happy I don't know what job I would really enjoy doing. I definitely want to pursue a 'specialist/professional' career as I want to emigrate to another country permanently.

Original post by larusfuscus

Reply 4

Postgradbio

I didn't enjoy the content. It's a million miles away from what the a level was. Also, in top universities science degrees are much more difficult than other degrees due to the work load. I did 12 modules per year where as the average course will do 3 or 4. I know you're now going to say well don't do law expecting less work. But I have bee told many times how I 'don't have a science brain' because what you're doing at that level is applying the concepts so even if you retain all of the knowledge the concepts must be applied in a certain way to score well at exam.
But mostly yes, it was due to a lack of interest and not engaging with the content. But I did take psychology modules etc and scored very highly in them without needing to dedicate much time/attention to them.

Original post by tsruser3

Why do you regret doing a bio degree? Is it because of the difficulty or because you didn't enjoy it?

Reply 5

jelly1000

Original post by Postgradbio

You do realise how limited your options are with a law degree then LPC from presumably England or Wales abroad? Law is different in every country, even in Scotland!

Reply 6

TurboCretin

Original post by Postgradbio

Law is very hard to get into with a 2.2, just warning you. It's hard enough with a good 2.1. As you mention pay and prestige I'm basically assuming you'd be aiming for City law firms. That said, your 2 years of experience working for an energy company will give you an edge many applicants won't have. Just be under no illusions that a 2.2 will be a disadvantage.

If you wanted to do the GDL, I would advise trying to get a training contract before doing the course. If a firm wants you, they will pay your GDL (and LPC) fees, plus maintenance grant. In your position, I would probably not take the risk of self-funding the GDL.

A possible alternative for you would be to do a senior status law degree. This is like an undergrad law degree, but done in two years and generally covering little beyond the core 7 modules required by the SRA (perhaps including one extra optional module). Good universities offer this - Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, Nottingham, Birmingham, QMUL etc.

The benefit of a senior status law degree is that it will have some value to non-law employers if you decide to do something else. It also has some academic clout, unlike the GDL, and so is more likely to counteract your weak degree score. The downside is it has more stringent entry requirements (2.1 generally, although a strong academic reference might help).

Reply 7

Pumpkinpatch96

What did you end up doing ? I also did biology at Newcastle, got a 2:2 and found it a waste of time. I’m currently working as an Assistant at a law firm and I’m thinking about possibly becoming a paralegal- what would you guys advise?