Arts -> Arts/Law Transfer in 2nd Year?

[aw123]

I am struggling as to whether to put Arts/Law as my first preference or just Arts the single degree. I have an interest in law but I don't think I could classify it as a "great" interest. I don't definitely know whether I want to be a lawyer. Any thoughts?

[lishan515]

The difficulty with knowing whether you actually want to study law is that Law is so different to anything that you will have done previously.

I assumed when I started my course that I would much prefer arts - at school I was a pure humanities student for year 12 doing languages, english/lit and history subjects. I always loved reading for pleasure etc.

But I have found that I actually prefer Law much more than arts. Later year arts subjects are better than early one's, but first year subjects are very general and cover so much stuff in not much depth - so its really not as interesting as it sounds when you sign up. But later subjects are good because they are more focussed - ie politics- US policy, terrorism, a type of political thinking etc

So what do I like about law?
1. Law actually changes the way you think - it makes you think more logically
2. The law school community is really close despite the large cohorts
3. I actually find the cases interesting - you read about real people and their legal issues - for example a case used to describe a principle in Torts involved a blind man falling into a hole and was whether the council had breached their duty of care by not foreseeing the possibility of that occurance; it also makes you more aware of the how society functions
4. Law activities from law ball, law comps, drinks etc - so much on offer

Law is also about a set of skills - you learn to extract principles from cases and then apply them to new circumstances. Also means you can read a lot quickly. Employers like the fact that you have studied a law degree because it is academically rigorous and teaches you transferable skills beyond law degrees. And something like only 50% of law students actually become admitted to practice as a solicitor - hence its not entirely a professional degree with an end in mind as it once was

Hope my ramble helps


 

[aw123]

The difficulty with knowing whether you actually want to study law is that Law is so different to anything that you will have done previously.

I assumed when I started my course that I would much prefer arts - at school I was a pure humanities student for year 12 doing languages, english/lit and history subjects. I always loved reading for pleasure etc.

But I have found that I actually prefer Law much more than arts. Later year arts subjects are better than early one's, but first year subjects are very general and cover so much stuff in not much depth - so its really not as interesting as it sounds when you sign up. But later subjects are good because they are more focussed - ie politics- US policy, terrorism, a type of political thinking etc

So what do I like about law?
1. Law actually changes the way you think - it makes you think more logically
2. The law school community is really close despite the large cohorts
3. I actually find the cases interesting - you read about real people and their legal issues - for example a case used to describe a principle in Torts involved a blind man falling into a hole and was whether the council had breached their duty of care by not foreseeing the possibility of that occurance; it also makes you more aware of the how society functions
4. Law activities from law ball, law comps, drinks etc - so much on offer

Law is also about a set of skills - you learn to extract principles from cases and then apply them to new circumstances. Also means you can read a lot quickly. Employers like the fact that you have studied a law degree because it is academically rigorous and teaches you transferable skills beyond law degrees. And something like only 50% of law students actually become admitted to practice as a solicitor - hence its not entirely a professional degree with an end in mind as it once was

Hope my ramble helps


 

Brilliant. Exactly the kind of information I was hoping to find! Thank you

[RexPP]

could always do arts/law then drop the law component if it's not for you. seems the safer option than just doing arts and potentially regretting your decision not to do law.