The Melbourne model confuses.. if I want to study Law, what do I have to do?

[darlok]

A JD is a essentially a "professional masters" meaning that there are no prerequisite subjects, meaning you can take ANY course. No course will advantage you or disadvantage you AT ALL. With this being the case, it will be to your advantage to attend UoM for undergrad if you plan on going on to the JD. This is because they know the calibre of the incoming students will meet their standards. I would guess that people coming from undergrad at Monash would not be very disadvantaged in admissions but people from some lower ranked universities will be at a disadvantage.

Also, it has been found that hard science majors score just as well in the LSAT as people that study things such as philosophy and politics. So don't worry about that. UoM say on the website that you shouldn't study for the LSAT, but I would recommend you do as (1) Studying often takes people from the 50th percentile to the 90th percentile (2) UoM only offer 50% CSP places, so a higher LSAT could make the difference between paying $24,000 deferred and $90,000.

The JD is 3 years, although it can be accelerated to 2 years. The degree is not much different to an LLB, and most employers would probably rank you on par with someone that received an LLB from UoM and slightly above someone that received an LLB from Monash. But the difference is so small that I doubt it would ever come in to consideration when going for 99% of jobs. University is not very difficult, as long as you are studying something that you want to learn. I learn't this the hard way after taking an accounting subject last semester. UoM, unlike its US counterparts, is not releasing the median GPA's and LSAT's of their incoming classes. Therefore only anecdotal evidence is available. I would say an 80+ average and a 160+ LSAT give you a very good chance.

[krzysiek]

Thank you for the reply!

I am looking at perhaps entering into Commerce at Melbourne Uni, as it requires a bit of a higher ENTER score to get in, but I would not mind going into anything else. So what happens is, when I go to Uni and Melbourne, I enter into one of the give general Bachelor degrees and then when they are done, I decide which one I want to do a Master's in. Is that how it works?

What If I don't want the Master's, can I leave with a Bacehlor's degree? Or is the Bachelors only a general Bachelors degree, not say, specfic. Ie - If I did engineering, and I wanted to leave after the fourth year, would I have a Bachelors in "Civil Engineering" say I wanted to go down that path, or would i only have a general "Engineering Bachelor" which from my understanding, does not count for much.

[ninwa]

A bachelor of engineering gives you the same qualifications as if you did a general degree --> masters of engineering pathway. Yes you can leave with just the bachelor's, there's no compulsory progression to masters.

And it's true that the JD = LLB. There are a set of basic core subjects every law student needs to study such as crim, torts and contracts, plus a set of quasi-compulsory ones you must do if you wish to practice law in Victoria. So the JD course is pretty much the same as LLB except perhaps more accelerated.

[elle.123]

Does anyone know what the JD intake is?

[darlok]

I've heard it will grow to 300 by 2012 intake

[QuantumJG]

Hey,

Well, as the time of selecting courses approaches, I find myself wondering what it is that I want to do after Year 12.

I have been looking at the VTAC guide, looking up and down some courses, but nothing seems to appeal too greatly, as of yet. I am hoping attending the open day will sway my mind a little, perhaps giving me a firmer idea in what I would like to persue.

Nonetheless, the Melbourne model confuses me. From my understanding, in other Uni's for example, if you want to study Civil Engineering, you simply apply for the course, and if you get accepted, then you're in and that's it. With what I can understand of the Melbourne model, you apply for Engineering (requiring a low ENTER score, potentially wasting your hard study) and you study general engineering, later progressing into a Master's degree.

But at the end of the general three years or so of learning the general engineering, it seems that you will have to fight to get into the Master's degree that you want?

For example, if there is anything that I am interested in, I guess you could say it is Law. Now, if I want to study Law at Melbourne, I need to study what? I think it's Arts that i need to study, also requiring a comparable ENTER of only around 85 - 88 to get in. So, when I get into Arts, what is it that I do? Study the generals or Law, and then after three years, what happens? Do I need to fight and compete with people to actually get into the course / Master's that i want to do? What are the odds of getting in, how hard is it?

Sorry for the questions,

It's all quite a big concern for me.

Regards

Yep I understand what you mean as I am currently doing a bachelor of science and I did not get an ENTER of 95 so I don't know what that means in terms of me getting into the master of engineering if I decide to go into engineering (At the moment in engineering we are looking at digital systems and that is very appealing to me). If engineering interests you, you can still apply for the Bachelor of engineering for next year.

As for law. The melbourne model offers a graduate degree called the JD (Juris Doctor) for students wanting to study law and it will be as hard to get into as veterinary studies or any other medical degree. To be considered for the JD you need to get an exceptional ENTER and basically get perfect results in what you do in uni (yes you could do arts, science, commerce, etc. and as long as you do well you have a chance).

You could also just try and do a law degree through another uni such as Monash where if you get 99.something you can start studying law straight away.