For prospective law students ...

[vexx]

lynt I think that's a little too complex for people who've never had any exposure to legal studies before

vexx, definitely do not do law if you're just aiming for a high GPA to transfer. Law is probably one of the more likely disciplines to kill your average.
Also intro to legal reasoning is nothing like actual substantive law units - try criminal law, it's probably one of the easier subjects (and more interesting too, who doesn't like learning about murder and drugs???)

Oh no i wouldn't do it for a high GPA, but i'd be trying to transfer to medicine and getting into medicine along the way, just because thats where i want to be. And law would there for interest/backup plan/experience something different.. which is why im not sure if i even want to do it cos its a lot of work/difficult to do well/can be boring.
but criminal law, just watched the start, seems quite interesting actually, im sure i would like this, but the other parts not too sure. i like all this justifying, looking for arguments/issues type thing.

and as lynt.br says that its like year 12 legal studies, which seems horrible haha for my first year experience of law :p

[lynt.br]

lynt I think that's a little too complex for people who've never had any exposure to legal studies before

vexx, definitely do not do law if you're just aiming for a high GPA to transfer. Law is probably one of the more likely disciplines to kill your average.
Also intro to legal reasoning is nothing like actual substantive law units - try criminal law, it's probably one of the easier subjects (and more interesting too, who doesn't like learning about murder and drugs???)

Oh no i wouldn't do it for a high GPA, but i'd be trying to transfer to medicine and getting into medicine along the way, just because thats where i want to be. And law would there for interest/backup plan/experience something different.. which is why im not sure if i even want to do it cos its a lot of work/difficult to do well/can be boring.
but criminal law, just watched the start, seems quite interesting actually, im sure i would like this, but the other parts not too sure. i like all this justifying, looking for arguments/issues type thing.

and as lynt.br says that its like year 12 legal studies, which seems horrible haha for my first year experience of law :p

You'll still do Contract Law in first year provided you aren't doing biomed/law or eng/law or something like that. I find Contracts pretty interesting but then again I also find RAW interesting and sit in random lectures whenever I have breaks so my idea of interesting is probably different to most people's.

[Russ]

Based on the highly accurate sample of my friends Facebook updates, they all hate RAW with a passion lol

[vexx]

nahh i'd only be doing biomed/law..
haha what is RAW?

[ninwa]

RAW = research and writing i.e. learning how to write in legalese, legal referencing etc.

Quite a dry subject. -_-

Still, if you want to transfer you want the highest GPA possible. Doing law really doesn't help you in that respect... I think you really need to make a choice: law or medicine?

[vexx]

RAW = research and writing i.e. learning how to write in legalese, legal referencing etc.

Quite a dry subject. -_-

Still, if you want to transfer you want the highest GPA possible. Doing law really doesn't help you in that respect... I think you really need to make a choice: law or medicine?

haha ahhh research and writing i should have guessed that, as i was looking through the subjects of law yesterday and i read about that..

yeahh i definitely want to do medicine, just perhaps doing something a bit different beforehand is potentially a good idea, maybe i'll just stick with arts subjects then >< though, i'm sure i can do OK at my single law subject per semester and try to just smash my other 3 biomed subjects. maybe GPA won't be that big of a problem? who knows though i could do terrible!
just the interest part is what i'm wondering about..hmm decisions, decisions.

[Russ]

The way GPA is calculated means that getting 100% in some subjects won't really compensate for getting average marks in others, since they convert it to a different scale.

If you want to do medicine and don't get in, I'd have science as my nth preference so that I can at least take similar subjects until there's a chance to reapply/transfer/apply PG

[ninwa]

The problem with law is that it's kind of unpredictable. Just because you are smart and work hard doesn't mean you'll get good marks. Learning how to write law exams is a process all on its own, because the format of law exams is pretty unique.

My friend got an 88 in torts; she didn't go to a single lecture or tutorial. I believe that was the highest mark that semester.
My best law mark was for the exam which I crammed for the night before the exam, after already having pulled an all-nighter the night before that (so by the time of the exam I was on about 50 hours without sleep).
A friend who works his arse off because he genuinely loves studying law (his life pretty much revolves around it, he's always going to law events and seminars and functions and lectures) has two fails on his transcript already.

Also, the GPA system for law is slightly different, the substantive law subjects you do in your initial years (i.e. not RAW or ILR) are weighted twice as heavily as later-year subjects which are mostly one-semester subjects. Thus if you screw up in your first year (which is highly likely, I think first-year drop out rate is something like 30%) your GPA takes a massive beating.

This is why I suggest you make a choice between medicine or law.

Each law unit is weighted according to its value in the Bachelor of Laws:

    * 12 credit point units and compulsory full year units carry a weighting of 1.0
    * 6 credit point units and compulsory semester units carry a weighting of 0.5
    * 3 credit point units carry a weighting of 0.25

[vexx]

^ hmmm i see.
well ive definitely chosen medicine, just not sure how i will get there.
i'm sure doing 1 law breadth per semester won't hurt my GPA too much, if it does as you've said it can be unpredictable, i can always drop the law units and just focus on biomed and push it up. never hurts to try i guess :p.. maybe alittle pain ha
thanks for the replies though, but still unsure.

ok edit, question (sort of similar but meh)
if i was to enjoy studying law, what would i HAVE to enjoy doing?

[ninwa]

Reading, problem solving, studying.

[Nelle]

I hope Deakin law doesn't change to closed book if Monash does. That would be horrible!
Lynt.br I'm opposite, law is dragging me down whilst I'm going really well for commerce. Maybe cause commerce at Deakin is pretty easy. lol

Though I'd just add this as well for prospective law students:
If you're considering Law but might not get the enter score for law at monash or post-grad melb, don't be disheartened about going to Deakin, even if it is considered the less prestigious university. So far I have found the law lectures extremely interesting and law lecturers pretty good quality. The way I see it, if you get good enough grades at Deakin, the prestigious law firms are not only going to accept the good quality law students from Melbourne and Monash but from Deakin as well. (well I hope so anyway)

Also know a couple of people that have transferred from Melb uni commerce to Deakin commerce/law because they believe law adds value to their commerce degree and opens up other opportunities in the commerce field.

[Visionz]

hey brahs I need a back-up. Vic Uni Law or Monash Caufield Business Law. Which would you choose out of these two?
Many people say Vic Uni doesnt have a bad rep, its just so new that it doesnt have a rep at all. On the other hand it is still an accredited law degree.
The Monash course is obviously done at Monash so there is greater recognition however its not a degree that allows you to practice law in the end.
Both I am considering as back-ups if I dont do as well as I hope with an intention to trasnfer to a better course - LLB @ monash, deakin or latrobe - as soon as possible.

Which one would you place higher? - im not interested in you discounting the courses entirely however other pathways/back-ups are welcomed.

[ninwa]

I'd choose business law if you want to go to Monash:
- it's easier to transfer internally
- if you transfer from law at VU you're required to repeat first year law at Monash (i.e. Monash doesn't recognise any first year VU units - at least they didn't when my friend transferred 2 years ago)

Don't know what the Deakin/Latrobe requirements are

[Nelle]

hey brahs I need a back-up. Vic Uni Law or Monash Caufield Business Law. Which would you choose out of these two?
Many people say Vic Uni doesnt have a bad rep, its just so new that it doesnt have a rep at all. On the other hand it is still an accredited law degree.
The Monash course is obviously done at Monash so there is greater recognition however its not a degree that allows you to practice law in the end.
Both I am considering as back-ups if I dont do as well as I hope with an intention to trasnfer to a better course - LLB @ monash, deakin or latrobe - as soon as possible.

Which one would you place higher? - im not interested in you discounting the courses entirely however other pathways/back-ups are welcomed.

Are you considering only doing a straight law degree?
For Deakin if you're considering a double degree like Arts or Commerce with law, you could do the single degree (commerce or arts) in the first year and be able to get into law in your second year, as long as you achieve a D (70) average. My friend has done that, transferring from arts to arts/law with a D average (her double degree will take 6 years though).

Have you also considered doing the law degree at the Deakin Waurn Ponds campus where they have lower enter scores? That's where I'm doing it and the campus is pretty nice and law classes are fairly small (get to know people easily). Also a few people I know have done their first year here and will transfer to Deakin Burwood to move back home for next year (no extra time added to your degree).

But if I had the choice of your two options I would choose Vic Uni law over business law because I don't know where business law would take you or what jobs are even possible with that degree, if for some reason you don't achieve the average to transfer into law. At least at Vic Uni no matter what happens at least at the end of it you'll be able to practice law.
Either choice you make though you've got to make sure you work really hard for your first year of uni and make sure you can transfer. Alot of people have big plans to go well at uni and become really slack, as noone even cares if you turn up or complete your assignments

Good Luck

[Visionz]

hey brahs I need a back-up. Vic Uni Law or Monash Caufield Business Law. Which would you choose out of these two?
Many people say Vic Uni doesnt have a bad rep, its just so new that it doesnt have a rep at all. On the other hand it is still an accredited law degree.
The Monash course is obviously done at Monash so there is greater recognition however its not a degree that allows you to practice law in the end.
Both I am considering as back-ups if I dont do as well as I hope with an intention to trasnfer to a better course - LLB @ monash, deakin or latrobe - as soon as possible.

Which one would you place higher? - im not interested in you discounting the courses entirely however other pathways/back-ups are welcomed.

Are you considering only doing a straight law degree?
For Deakin if you're considering a double degree like Arts or Commerce with law, you could do the single degree (commerce or arts) in the first year and be able to get into law in your second year, as long as you achieve a D (70) average. My friend has done that, transferring from arts to arts/law with a D average (her double degree will take 6 years though).

Have you also considered doing the law degree at the Deakin Waurn Ponds campus where they have lower enter scores? That's where I'm doing it and the campus is pretty nice and law classes are fairly small (get to know people easily). Also a few people I know have done their first year here and will transfer to Deakin Burwood to move back home for next year (no extra time added to your degree).

But if I had the choice of your two options I would choose Vic Uni law over business law because I don't know where business law would take you or what jobs are even possible with that degree, if for some reason you don't achieve the average to transfer into law. At least at Vic Uni no matter what happens at least at the end of it you'll be able to practice law.
Either choice you make though you've got to make sure you work really hard for your first year of uni and make sure you can transfer. Alot of people have big plans to go well at uni and become really slack, as noone even cares if you turn up or complete your assignments

Good Luck

Hey yes Deakin Geelong is also an option. Ill probably list it higher than both these Vic Uni and Business law degrees. I would be looking to transfer asap back to burwood and im not sure I'd want to stay in geelong or make the commute every day. =\

I havent considered putting down arts or commerce single degrees but maybe I should. I have arts/commerce double at deakin but then i'd need to keep a D average over both those degrees wouldnt I? Maybe ill just switch it to arts and spend more time ensuring I get a good enough average to transfer into law.

That being said I will also put arts at uom somewhere in my prefs so I could potentially do an external transfer or at the very least finish an arts degree at a better uni (UoM) then even do a JD. Maybe ill change this one to Monash arts then I can transfer into Monash Arts/Law.

Youve got me thinking. haha.