Uni reputation

Hi, I would like to have some input on University of Laws reputation for LLB degree. My daughter has been accepted there as an international student.
She is also looking at Queens in Belfast.
Thanks.

Reply 1

arrowhead

Original post by cmacd

Hi, I would like to have some input on University of Laws reputation for LLB degree. My daughter has been accepted there as an international student.
She is also looking at Queens in Belfast.
Thanks.

I'd avoid it for the LLB like the plague. She's much better off reapplying in Clearing or applying again next cycle.

Reply 2

MagneMagne

Original post by arrowhead

I'd avoid it for the LLB like the plague. She's much better off reapplying in Clearing or applying again next cycle.

Nonsense, you are not even aware of her situation yet.

Reply 3

cmacd

Original post by arrowhead

I'd avoid it for the LLB like the plague. She's much better off reapplying in Clearing or applying again next cycle.

Oh no, really? What makes you say this?

Reply 4

arrowhead

Original post by MagneMagne

Nonsense, you are not even aware of her situation yet.

Irrespective of her situation, as an international student myself, I would never let my parents shell out £30k+/year for my degree if it wasn't worth something valuable afterwards.

Original post by cmacd

Oh no, really? What makes you say this?

The University of Law is a traditionally great institute for vocational legal training i.e. the Legal Practice Course for solicitors or the Bar Professional Training Course for barristers. It isn't and has never been an academic institute, nor does it have the culture and vibe of a truly academic institute, which, to me at least, is the entire point of university education.

I would strongly discourage a student pursuing an undergraduate law degree there, but the ultimate choice is your daughter's.

Reply 5

cmacd

Original post by arrowhead

Irrespective of her situation, as an international student myself, I would never let my parents shell out £30k+/year for my degree if it wasn't worth something valuable afterwards.

The University of Law is a traditionally great institute for vocational legal training i.e. the Legal Practice Course for solicitors or the Bar Professional Training Course for barristers. It isn't and has never been an academic institute, nor does it have the culture and vibe of a truly academic institute, which, to me at least, is the entire point of university education.

I would strongly discourage a student pursuing an undergraduate law degree there, but the ultimate choice is your daughter's.[

Thanks for your opinion. I kinda thought that was the case with the LLB program. The one key lure to Uni of Law, is tuition is the same for international students as home students.
She also got into City university London and hopefully will get an offer from Queens Belfast. The high cost of London is such a turn off tho.

Reply 6

Crumpet1

Original post by cmacd

Thanks for your opinion. I kinda thought that was the case with the LLB program. The one key lure to Uni of Law, is tuition is the same for international students as home students.
She also got into City university London and hopefully will get an offer from Queens Belfast. The high cost of London is such a turn off tho.

Has she used all 5 of her UCAS choices? If not, get her to add her remaining choices pronto, ideally selecting from the top 20 universities. (Think Russell Group and 1994 Group.) As Arrowhead says, there's no point paying overseas student fees for anything less than a good quality degree.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 7

cmacd

Original post by Crumpet1

She has used all 5 choices. Now, is the reputation for uni of law bad because its not a traditional uni or is it know to produce poor graduates?
I wonder what the law firms think of the grads.

Reply 8

nulli tertius

Original post by cmacd

She has used all 5 choices. Now, is the reputation for uni of law bad because its not a traditional uni or is it know to produce poor graduates?
I wonder what the law firms think of the grads.

It isn't known to produce poor graduates because it hasn't produced any graduates yet. The first LLB students started in 2012.

The College of Law, as it used to be called, never cared very much about entry standards. A pulse and a chequebook were the admission requirements (and they might waive the pulse for a candidate with an exceptional bank statement). In the olden days there were very rigorous professional exams and a lot failed. In modern times, it is much harder to do poorly on professional exams, but since for the most part, law firms in England recruit on degree performance and not scores in professional exams, what the College of Law did didn't matter very much.

Now it has gone into the undergraduate law degree market and hasn't been very choosy about applicants. No-one knows whether a lot of students will end up with poor degrees or whether the degrees will be marked to a low standard or whether it will teach these students very well and they will all prosper. Many people fear the worst.

The College of Law teaches for professional examinations in a highly directed rote learning manner. That has always been the norm for professional law exams. Law degrees on the other hand have always been seen as encouraging students to think like lawyers. Again there is a fear that the teaching at the CoL will be more spoon-fed than elsewhere.

Finally, there is no traditional undergraduate experience. The CoL has no halls of residence, few extra-curricular activities and sports teams and little corporate spirit. People turn up, attended classes and disappear again.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 9

Crumpet1

Original post by cmacd

She has used all 5 choices. Now, is the reputation for uni of law bad because its not a traditional uni or is it know to produce poor graduates?
I wonder what the law firms think of the grads.

Well I wouldn't say that it's got a bad reputation - after all, for the GDL and LPC it has been around for ever and it has a fine reputation. More that (a) it doesn't have a university atmosphere so your daughter will miss out on an important social aspect of university; and (b) people are never keen to try out the untested, so who knows what law firms are going to make of University of Law LLB graduates at least for the first few years.

If I had to answer your question I would say because it is not a traditional uni. It isn't far enough into running the LLB to have produced poor graduates yet.