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Edinburgh Law or not??

I’m considering applying to law in Scotland, aiming for Edinburgh since it’s my dream uni but I’m concerned that it’s extremely competitive and I won’t get in, I don’t have many things to add to my PS that link to it - I did a classroom assistant work placement in a primary school, but obviously that doesn’t link very well, then some volunteer proofreading online but that’s not a lot. I’m willing to do online free courses or watch lectures too, but I know how competitive the course is so I’m worried even that will barely do anything for my application. I got AAAAA in my highers in S5, in English, maths, French, classical studies and art. This year, I’m sitting Advanced higher art and English, and higher modern and history.

Should I go with law, or am I setting myself up for disappointment?? My other thoughts included psychology, I could do a strong application for it however I’m not necessarily sure I want to pursue a masters/doctorate in it so I feel like I’d maybe be wasting my time. Is there any other degrees I’d be suited for?? I’m going to ask my careers advisors I think, but I’d like some other opinions from anyone willing to help me!!

Reply 1

Go for it! Honestly there’s so much work experience out there especially virtual!

It doesn’t matter what you do but what you gained from it. When you were an assistant in a classroom it might have taught you empathy and kindness. Working with teachers gave you teamwork skills and communicational skills which are so important in a career like law. Try get some experience, even just being a tutor for a couple hours, or volunteering for a charity, (I know Bernardo’s are quite good for teens?) Try do a bit of research aswell, even if it isn’t published pick a topic in law, (current topics like the supreme courts ruling on gender?) and make a report on it and state your opinions. That would teach you skills like critical thinking independent working and shows your educated on different topics and are willing to consider Both sides. I know some schools run Law societies which would teach you organisational skills and support other people getting into law. You wouldn’t need to do much but you could even run a murder mystery, it would teach you how to again organise things but would also show you are into building communities!

Also a very important thing to do is to read outside of your class work!

Would recommend reading books from older writers too like the yellow wallpapers and more modern things like My Fourth time we drowned. It would give you a bunch of things to talk about from human rights and again highlights issues we still struggle with nowadays like woman’s rights and migrant rights which would be lovely to show in your personal statement highlighting you do care about the world around you and that you want to make a change as a lawyer!

I hope this helps!

law-work-experience/virtual-work-experience-for-law-students/

Reply 2

Original post
by ahlam18972
Go for it! Honestly there’s so much work experience out there especially virtual!
It doesn’t matter what you do but what you gained from it. When you were an assistant in a classroom it might have taught you empathy and kindness. Working with teachers gave you teamwork skills and communicational skills which are so important in a career like law. Try get some experience, even just being a tutor for a couple hours, or volunteering for a charity, (I know Bernardo’s are quite good for teens?) Try do a bit of research aswell, even if it isn’t published pick a topic in law, (current topics like the supreme courts ruling on gender?) and make a report on it and state your opinions. That would teach you skills like critical thinking independent working and shows your educated on different topics and are willing to consider Both sides. I know some schools run Law societies which would teach you organisational skills and support other people getting into law. You wouldn’t need to do much but you could even run a murder mystery, it would teach you how to again organise things but would also show you are into building communities!
Also a very important thing to do is to read outside of your class work!
Would recommend reading books from older writers too like the yellow wallpapers and more modern things like My Fourth time we drowned. It would give you a bunch of things to talk about from human rights and again highlights issues we still struggle with nowadays like woman’s rights and migrant rights which would be lovely to show in your personal statement highlighting you do care about the world around you and that you want to make a change as a lawyer!
I hope this helps!
law-work-experience/virtual-work-experience-for-law-students/


Thanks for giving me so much advice! Honestly I’m just a bit scared haha, my top uni choices are edi, St Andrews and Glasgow but I’m not doing the LNAT for Glasgow and St Andrews don’t offer law so it kinda feels like a huge risk if I apply to Edinburgh for law, but it’s my top top uni choice that I’ve dreamed of for a while. I’m still toying with the idea of maybe a joint history degree with something else or a straight psych degree but it’s honestly just so hard to pick

Reply 3

Original post
by Anonymous
Thanks for giving me so much advice! Honestly I’m just a bit scared haha, my top uni choices are edi, St Andrews and Glasgow but I’m not doing the LNAT for Glasgow and St Andrews don’t offer law so it kinda feels like a huge risk if I apply to Edinburgh for law, but it’s my top top uni choice that I’ve dreamed of for a while. I’m still toying with the idea of maybe a joint history degree with something else or a straight psych degree but it’s honestly just so hard to pick


It must be a difficult choice! Maybe making your personal statement for both? I know for medicine if you submit a medicine personal statement similar courses like pharmacy will still consider you if you have the grades. I wonder if it’s the same for Law? I would definitely ask a pastoral care/careers advisor if that’s the case?

Reply 4

Original post
by ahlam18972
It must be a difficult choice! Maybe making your personal statement for both? I know for medicine if you submit a medicine personal statement similar courses like pharmacy will still consider you if you have the grades. I wonder if it’s the same for Law? I would definitely ask a pastoral care/careers advisor if that’s the case?


i mean I could try and make it work for Law as one choice and history as the rest I think, but I’m not sure if it would really work tho? I spoke to a careers advisor but they weren’t really helpful, since they did psych it’s all they spoke about but they didn’t really explore my other options so it was kinda useless haha

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