Bachelor of Commerce/Law

[thetimeis]

Hey I just wanted to know a little bit more about this degree.

What would I need to do if accepted into this to practise Accounting upon graduating?
If I want to practise accounting and have the option of law also, is this degree a better option than doing Commerce at UoM and then doing law postgrad there?

Thank you.

[aes_999]

Commerce / Law at Monash VS Commerce then JD at UoM is pretty much the same, there's not much difference. The biggest difference is probably that if you get in to Commerce / Law at Monash, you're set on getting those degrees (provided that you don't fail any subjects), while the JD part at UoM is harder to get into since that requires LSAT and you're pretty much facing off with other people who want to do the JD.

If you want to practise Accounting upon graduating, you have to take the Accounting major pathway on your commerce degree. Taking Commerce / Law degrees means you can only do 1 major in your commerce degree. Same thing with Commerce then JD, you'll take some law units at UoM during your commerce degree, limiting urself to only 1 commerce major.

[waffles19]

You will need to major in accounting. Don't worry - you only have to make this decision for 2nd year.

Monash Uni Comm/Law:
+ CSP Place
+ 5 years
+ Won't have the stress of sitting the LSAT
- Less 'prestigious' (highly debatable)
- Teaching quality for comm is slightly lower than Melb. I've talked to my Melbourne Comm friends about this - they do teach better @ melb for accounting.

Melbourne Comm + JD
+ More prestigious (again, highly debatable)
+ Amazing location in the city, easy to get to by train
+ More flexibility to experiment and do breadth subjects and do a double major (you can't double major with Monash Comm/Law), so you can major in, for example, both accounting and finance
+ More time to decide if you actually want to do law
- Extra pressure and uncertainty of sitting LSAT
- More debt to repay: JD is postgrad, costs alot (!) more than undergrad law
- Takes 6 years, whereas Monash takes 5 for the entire comm/law


basically that's what I know so far. I would have gone to melbourne tho, if I made the 99.90 cut off for a full scholarship and guaranteed place in Melbourne's JD You'll find lots of differing opinions, but generally melbourne takes longer, and is more expensive for law.

They are both great!
good luck



edit: it is actually very competitive to get into the Melbourne JD - lots of people wanting to get in and LSAT can be unpredictable

[aes_999]

+ More flexibility to experiment and do breadth subjects and do a double major (you can't double major with Monash Comm/Law), so you can major in, for example, both accounting and finance

That's definitely not true. This 'Melbourne Model' UoM students talk of is totally wrong. Monash allows you do the same anyway, you can experiment through 'electives', which is basically the equivalent of breadth subjects.

As for doing a double major (correct me if i'm wrong, please!), I've been told that it's not possible if you want to do JD, as you need to do law subjects, which limits your major to only 1.

Everything else Waffles says is true.

[waffles19]

As for doing a double major (correct me if i'm wrong, please!), I've been told that it's not possible if you want to do JD, as you need to do law subjects, which limits your major to only 1.

really? oh thanks.. that's nice to know
I used to think that you could double major in commerce (acc/finance) if you went to melbourne instead, because the JD included all the basic law subjects like contracts, torts, crim, etc (JD subjects look very similar to the LLB, has everything). I thought that the 'extra' law subjects would be like Business Law, for example, which is already covered under Contract Law (hence can be IS skipped by Monash Comm/Law kids in their comm degree)

Glad I picked Monash then!!

[Hancock]

You can double major in Commerce then move to JD. You don't have to do law breadths in your undergraduate, as all necessary law electives / subjects for practise are done at post-grad level.

I do like the JD idea, however, I can see why people with full-fee spots wouldn't. You can get a CSP place, which is the same amount per year as studying undergrad law, but you'll have to fight for it (average for the CSP spots is around mid-high 70s, with a decent LSAT).

Honestly, go where you're happiest, but make sure you work where ever you are. I liked Melbourne, so I picked Melbourne over Monash. It's as simple as that.

[sluu001]

Just to clarify, a JD does not require students to have any previous knowwledge in law - thus you do not have to allow for any law subjects in your commerce major = double major if you wish. However, if you do your professional accountancy, you will still need to do 3 law subjects (PBL, Corporations Law and Taxation Law) anyway. Unfortunately, they wont be credited to the JD program.

Also, I always recommend that students who have not done any law units before and are not thoroughly interested in law from the outset - to first do a couple of law subjects first to see if they like it (instead of diving straight in). Law is a very tedious and difficult dicipline and can be a nasty surprise for those who are unprepared for it.

[mystikal]

Technically comm/law at monash is 5.5 years if you dont overload

and comm/jd unimelb can be 5.5 years if you choose to do the trimester structure for jd

personally, if you are not sure if you want to do law i would do commerce for abit, and get abit of workexperience and then apply for mba/jd which is  3 years which is the same duration as jd alone.

[Truck]

I think it comes down to you as a person. If you're set on doing Law, and you don't live more then 2 hours away from Monash, there's no real good reason to not do Law at Monash. If you're uncertain, or you want more time etc etc, it's not a bad idea to just do Commerce at Melb, because even if you don't get into Melb JD. later there's still the Monash JD to apply for.

Also @waffles, the location point is a bit subjective, no? For me personally, going to Monash Clayton will cut my travel time by more then half as opposed to going to Melbourne uni, so for some the location would actually be an advantage.

[waffles19]

I think it comes down to you as a person. If you're set on doing Law, and you don't live more then 2 hours away from Monash, there's no real good reason to not do Law at Monash. If you're uncertain, or you want more time etc etc, it's not a bad idea to just do Commerce at Melb, because even if you don't get into Melb JD. later there's still the Monash JD to apply for.

Also @waffles, the location point is a bit subjective, no? For me personally, going to Monash Clayton will cut my travel time by more then half as opposed to going to Melbourne uni, so for some the location would actually be an advantage.

yeah, I agree. it takes me 15 mins to get to Monash Clayton, whereas it'd take me over 1 hour in total to get to Melb. :p

And yeah I checked - you definitely DO NOT have to do any JD-related law subjects in Melbourne Commerce, so you CAN double major (good idea to still do a few law subjects in undergrad tho). Whereas in Monash, you can't double major in commerce.

0.5 year difference between Monash and Melb - monash is actually 5.5 years, more if you don't follow the compulsory overloading course map.

[tram]

As has already been said, you most definitely CAN double major if you want to do law postgrad at UoM.

In fact, if you do an accounting major, to get as many exemptions for the CA qualification as possible, you actually have to do three law subjects (principles of business law, corporate law and tax law-last one is *particularly 'fun'* from what i've heard ). You can easily fit in another major, even with meeting all accounting major/accreditation requirements. Finance is the usual major to tack onto an accounting major btw.