QMUL vs Durham for law

I don’t know much about either, because I haven’t applied to them for Law. But, I think a lot of people prefer Durham (because of their ideas of rankings) and because of the location. Yes QMUL is in London, but it’s in a pretty sketchy area*

*by pretty sketchy I mean scarily sketchy.

Reply 2

blow21

OP

6

Original post by anonymous1231231

I don’t know much about either, because I haven’t applied to them for Law. But, I think a lot of people prefer Durham (because of their ideas of rankings) and because of the location. Yes QMUL is in London, but it’s in a pretty sketchy area*

*by pretty sketchy I mean scarily sketchy.

oh dear I see haha, what are your thoughts on bristol then? + between bristol and durham

Reply 3

username3731912

Original post by blow21

oh dear I see haha, what are your thoughts on bristol then? + between bristol and durham

For me they’re pretty equal I guess. Durham is a lot more traditional I hear, but they’re both supposed to be nice areas. I assume you haven’t visited?

Reply 4

blow21

OP

6

Original post by anonymous1231231

For me they’re pretty equal I guess. Durham is a lot more traditional I hear, but they’re both supposed to be nice areas. I assume you haven’t visited?

haha nope only been to the UK once a few years back

Reply 5

harrysbar

Original post by blow21

haha nope only been to the UK once a few years back

I think student life would be livelier at Bristol because it's much bigger than Durham (which is tiny). Both great law schools, I guess Durham is considered slightly more prestigious though

Reply 6

ChemistryGuy1998

12

Durham is more prestigious than the other universities mentioned on this thread. QMUL isn't really a target uni for top law firms so its a no-brainer which uni you should choose really.

Reply 7

Original post by blow21

hello, international student here! just curious, if y'all happen to get offers from both schools, which school are you more likely to firm and why?

based on what i've read, wonder why qmul doesn't seem to be a v popular choice for law despite being situated in london as compared to durham which is q far? esp since qmul has a considerably strong law faculty

also, any insights on student life at durham and qmul? thank you in advance! :-)

As an international student, and also a person who did a degree at QMUL, and also applying for law, I think I can contribute.

Not sure about 'strong', but I do know they have a centre for commerical law studies in central london. In my experience, QMUL is somewhere people go for law if they 'screw up' their LNAT. It doesn't make it bad, but that seems to be the case. Their A levels/IB on average are actually fairly high, with most students having AAA(for the law faculty), at least in my limited exposure to them.

It is not very safe, that much is true. I actually had my laptop nabbed from me while in the KFC in mile end lol.

The only problem with QM, to be really honest with you, is that it is always seen as second fiddle to everyone else. We have imperial(not relevant here i know), UCL, King's, LSE, that are always seen as more prestigious choices for most subjects. So we are not anyone's first choice. It is still really good in terms of quality of students, but due to being surrounded by those other unis, it doesn't make us look very good.

That could be part of the reason it isn't popular. The other part, is that east london is generally not very nice compared to central and west london, where all the other popular unis are.
If i were you, and I really wanted to live in london, I would choose QM. If not, durham is the better option.

Before anyone accuses me of ****ging off my own ex-uni, I would like to add that the people there are generally quite nice(although uni admin is crap), and I made some of the best friends that I hope I will be friends with for life. It's just that QMUL is surrounded by 'much better'(read: subjective prestige) options and also in a 'bad' area.

I know it receives a ton of hate from TSR already, but I feel that this is as objective as an assessment that I can give it.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 8

Original post by ChemistryGuy1998

Durham is more prestigious than the other universities mentioned on this thread. QMUL isn't really a target uni for top law firms so its a no-brainer which uni you should choose really.

Totally forgot about that... used to read loads of threads on target and semi target unis on investment banking threads.
Basically, the consensus is: go to LSE. It's in london, it's one of the 6 targets(at least for investment banking)
Getting in to LSE is an entirely different matter.

Reply 9

harrysbar

Original post by J-SP

QM is a target university for a lot of law firms

So are Bristol and Durham, surely?

Reply 10

Original post by J-SP

QM is a target university for a lot of law firms

Oh. sorry, i didn't know that. I know for investment banking, it isn't a target or a semi target(at least based on 2016 ish knowledge).

Reply 11

QMUL is a low tier university situated in one of the worst suburbs of London (Mile End). Durham instead is a really prestigious institution. We could argue which uni is actually better between Durham and Bristol, but between Durham and QMUL there is no play.

Reply 12

username3731912

Original post by 1Person

QMUL is a low tier university situated in one of the worst suburbs of London (Mile End). Durham instead is a really prestigious institution. We could argue which uni is actually better between Durham and Bristol, but between Durham and QMUL there is no play.

proof?

Reply 13

Original post by anonymous1231231

proof?

Every single league table.

EDIT: For example, https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=law

or: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2019/world-ranking#!/page/0/length/-1/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 14

Original post by 1Person

QMUL is a low tier university situated in one of the worst suburbs of London (Mile End). Durham instead is a really prestigious institution. We could argue which uni is actually better between Durham and Bristol, but between Durham and QMUL there is no play.

dude, that's a bit harsh. It isn't half bad, but isn't the top choice for most people. Maybe in the IB world they see it like that, but it is still not too bad to most people.

Reply 15

Jgradschool

16

Both are great for Law. Mile End isn't that bad, I've been in worse areas. For better or worse, a lot of the 'rough' parts of London are being gentrified.

Durham would be the better option unless you don't like the collegiate system or want to be in a major city.

I saw Bristol pop up earlier in the thread but didn't read it properly. Bristol is also very good.

Unis that I know are generally renowned for Law are Oxbridge, LSE, UCL, KCL, QMUL, Durham, Bristol, Nottingham, Warwick, Bristol, and a few others.

Reply 16

Original post by 1drowssap

dude, that's a bit harsh. It isn't half bad, but isn't the top choice for most people. Maybe in the IB world they see it like that, but it is still not too bad to most people.

Let's just say it's not better than Bristol and Durham then since that is what this thread is really about.

Reply 17

Original post by Jgradschool

Both are great for Law. Mile End isn't that bad, I've been in worse areas. For better or worse, a lot of the 'rough' parts of London are being gentrified.

Durham would be the better option unless you don't like the collegiate system or want to be in a major city.

I saw Bristol pop up earlier in the thread but didn't read it properly. Bristol is also very good.

Unis that I know are generally renowned for Law are Oxbridge, LSE, UCL, KCL, QMUL, Durham, Bristol, Nottingham, Warwick, Bristol, and a few others.

Honestly, living in mile end as an international student for 3ish years has made me reconsider london. Durham's environment is a lot nicer in that sense, at least when i visited it on holiday.
If I am paying £20k per year in fees, i'd rather choose durham.

Reply 18

Original post by J-SP

League tables mean very little when it comes to prestige thanks to the various metrics used to create them.

How do you differentiate between universities then?

Reply 19