omg you guys have to read

[STUDENT4]

hi, this is probs the wrong section(move in a few days please) to post this but considering all of you are commerce people, you guys are the only opinions that i want.

My ATAR isnt going to go in my favour and wondering does it really matter what UNI campus you go to? Because i intially wanted to go to deiken commerce law at burwood with is 92 but since i am probs going to get like 80 ATAR now, should i just go to the other campus which is only 72, like does it matter?

[I-Banking]

Honestly...yes.
For high competition jobs like legal practice and banking etc. recruiters are only going to take people at the top of their class for 'target schools' e.g. Melbourne, Sydney, UNSW, ANU.

That's not to say you have no chance getting a job as a lawyer if you do not go to a 'target schools' but you would be an absolute exception if you did. You would need straight HDs.

This is all assuming you want to be a lawyer of course...for other professions, the university you go to means a lot less, your scores are more important.
But, in conclusion, if you went to deakin or this other campus, I would be surprised if you got a position with a good legal firm after finishing

[STUDENT4]

thanks that was really helpful

so if i want to become a solicitor not a lawyer would it matter that much about uni?
and also, does the campus(not uni) matter? and would you recommend just going to monash and business(law) and try transfering :S

[I-Banking]

yeah well a solicitor is a lawyer...so yes.
I mean, a top university isn't strictly required, but it will give you a good crack at the 30% admission rate of legal uni students into legal practice. If you received very high marks at Deakin and networked effectively (friends, family, random calls), you still have a chance, but still it is low.

As for the campus thing, if they are both Uni Deakin campus', I don't understand how there is different admission rates for the same degree... make sure they are the exact same degree.
If they are the same, then I really don't think it matters which campus you are at, from an employer's point of view.

[I-Banking]

as for your question about transferring..
A law degree is typically 4 years (without a double degree).
If you are really set on becoming a lawyer and there's nothing else you want to do, then yes I would recommend going to Monash and doing a related degree to start off with and then transferring after 1 year (or even the first semester). It would only add on an extra 6-12 months, but uni is awesome anyway. Monash is very highly respected by law firms in Victoria and Australia and is probably more progressive than even Melbourne. In my opinion, in 2 or 3 years, Monash will be the number on University for Law in Victoria...so yes it is a very good option.
To transfer, make sure you get a reasonable ATAR and maintain good results in the first part of the Business degree

Hope this advice hasn't changed your life too drastically but to be honest, unless you become some sort of law prodigy at Deakin, you won't get recruited straight out of uni...which is what you will want...

[STUDENT4]

wow thanks you have really cleared up alot of things

business(law) is 82 in monash and apparently if u do commerce subjects you get 2+ aggregate points which is really good
so i will hopefully get into that. But is transferring difficult? i heard at the monash open day that you have to get high distinction and she said it very hard to maintain that for the year, and that not many ppl do.

[I-Banking]

I honestly don't know how hard it is to transfer. It shouldn't be as hard as she said because I know quite a few people that have just breezed through a first semester or year of university in order to do a different degree. I doubt you need high distinction average...but maybe you do by Monash's rules.

But yea, if you can get the 82 ATAR, this is definitely your best option if you want to actually practice law.   

[lynt.br]

ahh didn't read this thread, hope OP is still around!

well you would have gotten your ATAR now so that should help you decide but here are my 2cents:

I don't think firms place as much emphasis on your uni as has been suggested in the thread. HR isn't so narrow minded as to think what uni you went to is such a decisive factor. Ultimately grades and even moreso, extra curriculars and relevant work experience are more important.

Deakin's law program for example has a heavy focus on commercial law which may be something firms want. It spruiks itself as being very focussed on getting its grads into commercial law firms so you may want to look into this.

The best thing you can do to get a job as a lawyer is have decent grades (say D average or higher), extra curriculars (mooting, law competitions, work with the law student society, other uni involvement) and nice work experience (volunteering at CLC's, part time work at law firm or general admin/office jobs). From this you should be set to secure a clerkship and from there it's much easier to land a job. Maybe it will be harder for the absolute top tier firms but a job there is hard for everyone. There a heaps of mid-tier firms that you can look at, you don't need to work for the big 5. I myself am aiming to work for a particular mid-tier firm over a top tier firm. The Australian legal job market isn't so saturated that it is impossible to get a job. You'll only have serious problems if you don't out any effort into making yourself employable.


As for Business (Law), if that is the Caulfield course, I think that is basically a commerce degree but you are forced to do a business law major. In which case, DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE. The reason is if you are intending to transfer into say commerce/law, you'll end up with wasted units. People studying law can't do business law subjects so any work you have done towards that major will be lost if you apply to transfer. On the other hand, if you just did a commerce degree and proceeded with a different major, you could transfer into law without any loss.

the other option you mentioned is Deakin Law. The advantage of this is you may get credit for some units if you transfer. This means Monash may recognise some of the Deakin law subjects as equivalent to Monash law subjects so you don't have to re-do them, so a transfer won't set you back as much. The disadvantage of this option is that it is harder to do an external transfer than an internal transfer.

IMO, the best option is to take a commerce degree if you can get into it, or a business degree (which is basically identical to a commerce degree except its at caulfield so the ATAR is really low) and work away at it as you would as though you were doing commerce/law. Do all the first year subjects in your first year EXCEPT for business law. tbh if you put a reasonable amount of effort in, a HD or high D average isn't too difficult for first year commerce subjects. Marketing and management are pretty easy HD's if you are okay at writing essays. The others aren't terribly difficult either. With a HD average an internal transfer should be successful and hey presto you're in commerce/law without any setbacks to your degree! Even if you don't make it first time, you can keep trying each year (although it will get harder because your grades will probably fall).

anyway wrote all this while super tired so hope it makes sense and gl with applications!