Is Law THAT competitive?

I think that's an unfair and gross generalisation. Firstly, Oxbridge does not like applicants to have studied law at A level, as it's considered a soft option for A level.

All the law applicants I met when I applied this year seemed to know a great deal about their subject and had done work experience over the summer.

Don't assume that everyone else applying will be any less qualified than you are. Everyone who applies to Oxbridge knows how hard it is to get in and will have worked very hard for their interview.

Bear in mind that Oxbridge has a very low dropout rate, so it's unlikely that there are many applicants who have 'no passion for the subject'.

If you want a higher statistical chance of getting in, apply for Computer Science or Chemistry or something. A boy in my school who wants to be a lawyer was convinced he wouldn't get an offer for law, so applied for Chemistry at Oxford (with the view of doing conversion to law), and duly got an offer.

Of course that's all a huge generalisation, as i stated and i am under no delusions that a lot of the applicants will have loads of work experience and wider reading. Yes law is a "soft" subject and i haven't taken it either, but i have read around the subject and looked at what various university courses entail. Of course i am basing my opinion upon my own experience - the pupils within my school. Those that are considering law fit the criteria i mentioned above and are looking to apply to law because its a prestigious subject or they are "heavily advised" by their parents. I was just ranting i know that what i've said doesnt apply to a lot of law applicants.

Here's the link for the number of law applicants to cambridge over recent years:

http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/statistics/subjects.html

My maths may be a little shaky but i believe its roughly 5 per 1 place.

Just out of curiousity, how does the conversion thing work? I didn't know it was possible in UK universities? (Adds to my general ignorance about UK unis, I suppose...) And wouldn't Law require completely different A-levels from Chemistry?

-trying hard as a Law applicant not to be offended-

¬__¬;;

Umm, well, in my experience people take Law - and certainly I do - not because we don't enjoy or are good at any of our A-levels but because we enjoy them ALL far too much to be able to choose. I'm applying, personally, because I adore essay-writing subjects but can't face giving up logical, problem-solving-based subjects either and because I like to think I have a way with language which is highly important in Law. Just because we want to try something new and different doesn't mean we're not good at what we do already. And I have no idea where you get the notion that Law applicants will have "no passion for the subject" or are "unlikely to have relevant work experience, done any wider reading etc" - the very fact that we've never encountered anything like Law in our academic lives so far drives us to find out more about it. My dear, if you that (being what you described) is the kind of person you're up against, you're in for a nasty shock.

Certainly there is nothing to suggest that Law applicants are of a 'lower quality' than those for other subjects; they are probably 'about average', if not better (since Law is an academically highly challenging course, and notoriously competitive, and people are put off by those things). Of course it's almost impossible to judge the 'quality' of one applicant over another similar one, let alone whole swathes of people. It's most likely that people who apply for Law, as with all other subjects, have a range of abilities.



Yes, yes it is. Please refrain from doing so again.

Most arts subjects are ridiculously competitive. PPE, English, SPS, Economics, E&M and Philosophy are all similarly competitive.

If you want a higher statistical chance of getting in, apply for Computer Science or Chemistry or something. A boy in my school who wants to be a lawyer was convinced he wouldn't get an offer for law, so applied for Chemistry at Oxford (with the view of doing conversion to law), and duly got an offer.

A further reason for the “low” quality of law applicants can be attributed to the fact that they don’t enjoy any of their AS subjects (once again assuming they don’t take law) and so are looking for an arts subject that “looks” interesting or perhaps they want to take it as it has a practical application (unwisely since I believe that the law courses at Oxbridge are largely theoretical). These applicants will be of a low quality as they have no passion for the subject and are unlikely to have relevant work experience, done any wider reading etc.

I don't think you can infer from the fact that someone studies law at University, and didn't study it as an A-level, that they're drifting into it. Proper law (leaving the only nominally similar A-level in law aside) is only studyable at a University level, so the fact that it has not been studied prior to that tells us little.

Most students at oxbridge take law because they really want to study it: it combines an essay based course with rigourous analysis, as well as superb breadth. *That*, rather than any lack of direction on behalf of those that study it, may explain why it's so competitive...

General rule: if there's an aptitude test in it, it's competitive.

You pointed out that: "Most students at oxbridge take law because they really want to study it" This is exactly right!!!! These are the students who care and show an interest in the subject, that's why they are at oxbridge. I am talking about the others, who don't get in!!! This is linked to my argument that law is not as competitive as it seems since many of the "unlucky" applicants who dont get places have chosen it as a degree option for the wrong reasons, and ultimately this costs them places at the finest universities.

I don't think it's that black and white. Using that though process you could suggest that english is more competitive than law since at the very minimum it requires the ELAT to be taken as well at the very minimum a test at interview and for most colleges written work to be submitted. (specific to Cambridge). However you could apply for law take the LNAT and nothing more, if you were applying to Queens college.
Indeed the additional tests for Cambridge's colleges are far more likely for English where at Corpus you will face: "School/college essay; Test at interview; Preparatory study at interview".

Whereas for law at Corpus it is: "Preparatory study before and at interview"

It seems i'm just trying to convince myself that law isnt that competitive.... oh well...