Law work expereince/ extra curricular activities

I am thinking of applying to the following universities:
1. University Of Birmingham
2. LSE
3. Durham University
4. Warwick University
5. Coventry University
As of yet I have only done around 61 hours of work experience(no part-time jobs or any extracurricular activities e.g. NCS or Duke Of Edinburgh Award). I was wondering whether this would be enough. However, during my work experience placement I did go court and observe around 5 cases and talked to 3 barristers. I was thinking of doing a part time job during the summer holiday, but I was wondering whether I should just focus on my studies as I want to obtain 2 A*'s and an A.

Thank you for your help.

Reply 1

username2313507

This is fine - 61 hours is more than most applicants will have (not the the universities will really care about how long you've done it for)
Most universities don't consider extra-curriculars as part of your application unless they specifically relate to the course you're applying for
Grades + law work experience is all you need

(Coventry will give you an offer regardless of work experience)

Reply 2

returnmigrant

You do need to show that you understand what a career in Law involves so the court observation stuff is excellent and so is the 'talked to barristers'. You need to use this to illustrate a bigger point rather than just 'I did these things'. Use one of the cases you saw in court to explain how you feel about a career in Law and why you want to do this job - overcoming social inequalities, representing the less articulate/confident etc. If you can do any other 'observation' stuff like this over the summer, go for it - watching more court cases, a few days shadowing a solicitor etc.

Don't forget that you need to show that you understand the need for 'people skills' so any part-time/volunteer work is useful as a way to explain this. Even doing something like a Race for Life or any other sponsored/charity event can be used to show that you have a sense of social responsibility, will see a task through to the end, enjoy a challenge, don't give up easily etc.

There are Law lectures available to watch/listen to online :
QMUL (http://www.law.qmul.ac.uk/events/podcasts/),
Edinburgh ( http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/people/joshaw/podcasts),
Gresham College (http://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch/?subject=law),
and BBC R4 Law in Action (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tgy1/episodes/downloads)

You also need to read some Law books. This is partly so you can mention this in your PS but also so you are sure you want to spend 3+ years reading this stuff! Its hard work and you need to certain you are really interested before you start the degree. Ideas of stuff to start with .... 1) https://www.amazon.co.uk/What-About-Law-Studying-University/dp/184946085X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467309684&sr=1-1 , 2)https://www.amazon.co.uk/Law-Very-Short-Introduction-Introductions/dp/0198745621/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1467309770&sr=8-18&keywords=university+law

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 3

ORW

Screw Coventry as a choice, its not respected at all as opposed to your other choices. Durham and LSE require A*AA for Law and LSE are incredibly picky on so many A*s at GCSE. In place of Coventry, Leicester would be good, AAB which is lower than the others and still respectable for Law despite not being Russell Group.

Reply 4

returnmigrant

Original post by ORW

Sxxxx Coventry as a choice.

All applicants should have a lower grade choice - no matter how confident you feel about your grades, you will need a lower grade offer for an Insurance choice, or if you get no offer from your other choices (it happens).

I would agree that Coventry is possibly not the finest alternative choice for Law - but people make choices for all sorts of reasons and do not deserve the derision of others.

To find a 'lower offer' choice (or possibly two), a good place to look is WhatUni (http://www.whatuni.com/) as you use a grade range (ie. BBB) as a filter. Look at Brighton, Derby, Keele, Gloucestershire, Worcester as possible alternatives. Remember all LLB degrees are accredited by the Law Society - ie.therefore all these 'lower' Unis still have to be training to the required high standard the Law Society requires.