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Hi,
Unfortunately, I've been rejected from my top 2 uni's and I'm now starting to think about the uni I'm going to firm.
I'm interested in firming Uni of Nottingham (AAB requirements and predicted A*A*A) and have a few questions about its law course hoping someone could help me. I've done some research but I just want to ask here anyway to see what people say since google etc doesn't rlly give helpful answers.

> Is UoN good for law?
> Does it have a good reputation?
> Will a law degree from here appeal to magic circle law firms?
> It is ranked 18th in the UK, is that considered high?

Also, if anyone who reads this is a graduate or current student, or knows someone who is, please let me know how you find the course, why you chose UoN etc, just to ease the stress a little. Thanks!

Reply 1

username5884157

9

It doesn't matter what university you opt to go for your degree. How you can make yourself stand out from other applicants is what would make you appear magical to firms.
However, 18 is considered high enough in terms of prestige. All Universities have their pros and cons...
You can try speaking to students on UniBuddy or maybe LinkedIn if you don't get a response from anyone here on TSR. I don't know anything about that course nor the university so I can't help you there.
However you should really look and see how the course structure itself appeals to you...
Someone else's experience may not be yours!
Good luck :smile:

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 2

Anonymous #2

Original post by Anonymous

Hi,
Unfortunately, I've been rejected from my top 2 uni's and I'm now starting to think about the uni I'm going to firm.
I'm interested in firming Uni of Nottingham (AAB requirements and predicted A*A*A) and have a few questions about its law course hoping someone could help me. I've done some research but I just want to ask here anyway to see what people say since google etc doesn't rlly give helpful answers.

> Is UoN good for law?
> Does it have a good reputation?
> Will a law degree from here appeal to magic circle law firms?
> It is ranked 18th in the UK, is that considered high?

Also, if anyone who reads this is a graduate or current student, or knows someone who is, please let me know how you find the course, why you chose UoN etc, just to ease the stress a little. Thanks!

First of all rankings mean F*ck all . The complete University Guide had Royal Holloway as having better grad prospects than Oxbridge last year. Historically UoN is a top 12 law school in the UK ( on global rankings it's consistently top 12 for the UK). A high proportion of graduates land Vac's at MC and US firms ( my best mate just landed one at Winston Strawn). I will say this the teaching quality here is a mixed bag and the marking is very very harsh ( 3% of people get a first on the 3 year course and it goes up to 9% if you include to 4 year courses which when compared to similarly prestigious unis like Bristol is a lot lot lower). If you back yourself to get a 2.1 here then come, if you want somewhere a bit more lenient then go Cardiff , Qmul or Southhamptom where you will still get that "RG prestige" but with a lot more generous marking

Reply 3

josesh

12

Original post by Anonymous

Hi,
Unfortunately, I've been rejected from my top 2 uni's and I'm now starting to think about the uni I'm going to firm.
I'm interested in firming Uni of Nottingham (AAB requirements and predicted A*A*A) and have a few questions about its law course hoping someone could help me. I've done some research but I just want to ask here anyway to see what people say since google etc doesn't rlly give helpful answers.

> Is UoN good for law?
> Does it have a good reputation?
> Will a law degree from here appeal to magic circle law firms?
> It is ranked 18th in the UK, is that considered high?

Also, if anyone who reads this is a graduate or current student, or knows someone who is, please let me know how you find the course, why you chose UoN etc, just to ease the stress a little. Thanks!

Hey!

Hopefully you’ve made a decision but if not, you should be incredibly proud of getting an AAB offer from Nottingham! It’s definitely a great law school. Ok it’s not Oxbridge or LSE/UCL/KCL but it really is one of the best law schools aside from those, I’d say it was top 10.

I can’t comment on the university as a whole but law is definitely one of the best courses offered there and national rankings are rather arbitrary. If you take a look at all three major UK rankings as well as QS and THE, you should get an idea of where it’s ranked and I’m pretty sure it ranks fairly high in both the global ones.

As for Magic Circle - the majority will be from Oxbridge and if not Oxbridge, then LSE/UCL/KCL and Durham maybe Bristol. But I’d say Nottingham was right next to that. Have a look at some of the members on some of the firms you’d like to work at and you’d get an idea but I’ve definitely seen Nottingham recruits working at the most prestigious legal firms in the UK. If you went and graduated with a first I no reason why you couldn’t!

Reply 4

Anonymous #2

Original post by josesh

Hey!

Hopefully you’ve made a decision but if not, you should be incredibly proud of getting an AAB offer from Nottingham! It’s definitely a great law school. Ok it’s not Oxbridge or LSE/UCL/KCL but it really is one of the best law schools aside from those, I’d say it was top 10.

I can’t comment on the university as a whole but law is definitely one of the best courses offered there and national rankings are rather arbitrary. If you take a look at all three major UK rankings as well as QS and THE, you should get an idea of where it’s ranked and I’m pretty sure it ranks fairly high in both the global ones.

As for Magic Circle - the majority will be from Oxbridge and if not Oxbridge, then LSE/UCL/KCL and Durham maybe Bristol. But I’d say Nottingham was right next to that. Have a look at some of the members on some of the firms you’d like to work at and you’d get an idea but I’ve definitely seen Nottingham recruits working at the most prestigious legal firms in the UK. If you went and graduated with a first I no reason why you couldn’t!

I will add a little caveat to this. I am a second year law undergrad at UoN. To get a first in law here is near impossible for even the brightest students. I know 2 people who had a first in the first year; generally, the first class rate is between 3-12%. There was an exception last year with a 22% rate but that graduating year had 3 days to do their exams and in some cases 9 (looking at you EU law). The marking is harsh and even if you back yourself to get a first, it will be very hard. However, there are some pros: great year-abroad programs, a wonderful law society and good graduate prospects. My friend is currently on a vac scheme at a very big America firm ( with another one the following week!!!!) and he scored a solid 2.1 first year. I will say coming here makes you a better lawyer than comparable universities like Bristol ( I am biased I know), but it wont always show on paper and you have to accept that unfortunately

Reply 5

intheimageofGOD

12

Original post by Anonymous

I will add a little caveat to this. I am a second year law undergrad at UoN. To get a first in law here is near impossible for even the brightest students. I know 2 people who had a first in the first year; generally, the first class rate is between 3-12%. There was an exception last year with a 22% rate but that graduating year had 3 days to do their exams and in some cases 9 (looking at you EU law). The marking is harsh and even if you back yourself to get a first, it will be very hard. However, there are some pros: great year-abroad programs, a wonderful law society and good graduate prospects. My friend is currently on a vac scheme at a very big America firm ( with another one the following week!!!!) and he scored a solid 2.1 first year. I will say coming here makes you a better lawyer than comparable universities like Bristol ( I am biased I know), but it wont always show on paper and you have to accept that unfortunately

Im a first year law student at uon and i would not consider myself a 'smart' student but I got a few firsts throughout this year, all you have to do is get all the content right, write well and pray you dont get a few stingey markers marking your work. But i guess looking at the stats it is quite difficult to get a first
anyway I believe notts has a great reputation among law firms, I have gotten work experience during the summer at Clifford Chance alongside mates of mine at various city london firms, there are always emails about law events and even when talking to the partners and people who read you application they constantly remind you how its not about the university you attend as going to bristol compared to notts won't matter but what does is your grades and well you as a person.
as my first year ends I would even if i got accepted to any of my top offers would have went to notts.

(edited 10 months ago)

Reply 6

Anonymous #2

Original post by intheimageofGOD

Im a first year law student at uon and i would not consider myself a 'smart' student but I got a few firsts throughout this year, all you have to do is get all the content right, write well and pray you dont get a few stingey markers marking your work. But i guess looking at the stats it is quite difficult to get a first
anyway I believe notts has a great reputation among law firms, I have gotten work experience during the summer at Clifford Chance alongside mates of mine at various city london firms, there are always emails about law events and even when talking to the partners and people who read you application they constantly remind you how its not about the university you attend as going to bristol compared to notts won't matter but what does is your grades and well you as a person.
as my first year ends I would even if i got accepted to any of my top offers would have went to notts.

I will say this , a lot of law firms don’t care where you go ( I personally disagree with this because the difference between what constitutes a 2.1 say at Durham when compared to UWE is going to be very different). Some law firms do, I won’t say too much but some of the American ones do recognise that a 1/2.1 from less prestigious law schools is not the same ( a partner pretty much implied this to my friend on his vac scheme ) , and a lot of barrister chamber’s definitely recognise the difference between a 2.1 at the said universities above . I also would not say your method of praying you don’t get stingy markers is not necessarily the best advice . When you get to second year you will see the average grade achieved for each question on the previous years land law exam. Last year every single question averaged below a 60. There are “nice markers” but they are few and far between in my experience at notts.

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