Law at Aberdeen vs Edinburgh reputation
I really like the feel of Aberdeen University. The campus, etc vs Edinburgh which is much busier. I have been accepted to both for 4 year LLB Law. Do I go with my gut OR is the reputation of Edinburgh, which is stronger than Aberdeen, really something that will have a long-term impact on my law career? Being hired...etc?
If you want to go down the solicitor/barrister route, university reputation is unfortunately very important and will make things easier for you to become fully qualified (as I'm sure you are aware you need a 2 year training contract to be a qualified solicitor and a 1 year pupillage for a barrister). A figure off the top of my head is that only around 1/3 of graduates that apply for a pupillage gain a place (this gives you some indication on the high competition). It would be very disheartening for all your hard work and money to have no outcome. That's not to say you can't have a successful career as a lawyer if you went to Aberdeen, you 100% could. However, I think the journey would definitely be easier if you went to Edinburgh.
I'm going to disagree with Elsie above - I think whether you go to Edinburgh or Aberdeen will have minimal impact on a future ability to pursue a legal career.
They are both strong universities, I went to York which is ranked around the same place as Aberdeen in league tables and that wasn't a barrier to me or any of my friends and peers pursuing successful legal careers in the regions, or London, or even the bar - although the bar is a bit of a special case and all of my friends who made it to the bar stand out as particularly gifted in their own way.
From the solicitor perspective, and OK all hiring managers are different, I review c30+ CVs a year for junior solicitor recruitment into my team (I work inhouse at a large UK corporate), if I saw Aberdeen or Edinburgh I would simply note "good university", check the classification, and then move on to the rest of the CV.
Re choosing between the two, consider course content, uni societies and wider groups to get involved in, and of course fit - where you would feel more comfortable - I enjoyed studying at a smaller campus uni and wouldn't have enjoyed bigger city life as a student - we're all different. Edinburgh *could* make it easier to obtain legal work experience simply by you being geographically nearer more of it - that's the sole advantage in my view, but if you're happy to travel for the all important vac schemes and work exp if you source it outside of Aberdeen, no problem.
In short - Look at the wider picture, what will you enjoy, and where would you feel happy studying and living. If the answer is Aberdeen then go for it it, and don't worry about minute differences in university rankings - it doesn't matter.
They are both strong universities, I went to York which is ranked around the same place as Aberdeen in league tables and that wasn't a barrier to me or any of my friends and peers pursuing successful legal careers in the regions, or London, or even the bar - although the bar is a bit of a special case and all of my friends who made it to the bar stand out as particularly gifted in their own way.
From the solicitor perspective, and OK all hiring managers are different, I review c30+ CVs a year for junior solicitor recruitment into my team (I work inhouse at a large UK corporate), if I saw Aberdeen or Edinburgh I would simply note "good university", check the classification, and then move on to the rest of the CV.
Re choosing between the two, consider course content, uni societies and wider groups to get involved in, and of course fit - where you would feel more comfortable - I enjoyed studying at a smaller campus uni and wouldn't have enjoyed bigger city life as a student - we're all different. Edinburgh *could* make it easier to obtain legal work experience simply by you being geographically nearer more of it - that's the sole advantage in my view, but if you're happy to travel for the all important vac schemes and work exp if you source it outside of Aberdeen, no problem.
In short - Look at the wider picture, what will you enjoy, and where would you feel happy studying and living. If the answer is Aberdeen then go for it it, and don't worry about minute differences in university rankings - it doesn't matter.
Original post by ScotlandLaw
I really like the feel of Aberdeen University. The campus, etc vs Edinburgh which is much busier. I have been accepted to both for 4 year LLB Law. Do I go with my gut OR is the reputation of Edinburgh, which is stronger than Aberdeen, really something that will have a long-term impact on my law career? Being hired...etc?
Hi, this is the University of Aberdeen rep account. Just want to start by saying that the above posters have provided some useful insight on applying to Law specifically, and while I can't advise on things like reputation more than they have I'd like to give some general advice about picking universities.
I would recommend having a look around this site for students of each of the unis you have offers from to see what the general consensus is.
It's also worth thinking about the cities and what appeals to you. Do you want to be close to or far away from family, do you want to be in a big or small city, are there things/places in that city that you're interested in or will be good for any hobbies you have; those sorts of factors should definitely be on your mind as well as the actual courses of each of the universities.
Then it would be worth having a look on each of our websites to see what appeals to you about the courses eg. course content, projects you will get to do through your degree, prospects upon graduation, that sort of thing. If it's of any use we have a form on our website for campus visits, but you can also use this to set up a call with an academic who may be able to give you more information about the course: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/campus-visit.php
I hope this information has been useful and all the best with coming to a decision!
- Matthew, Enquiry Team
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