To all the people who have made it into law (2 Viewers)

[Jackson94]

Are you all brilliantly talented or do you consider yourself just average people, what was your experience in getting such a high entrance mark, do you put it down to hard work or a mix of hard work and intelligence?

Also about law at Sydney University are you happy with your choice and do you believe the social misconceptions are true about the university to any realistic extent. Do you believe that it offers a superior law course than NSW Uni, and finally do you believe that you, with completion of your law degree you are financially set for life?

 

[17028354]

Are you all brilliantly talented or do you consider yourself just average people, what was your experience in getting such a high entrance mark, do you put it down to hard work or a mix of hard work and intelligence?

Also about law at Sydney University are you happy with your choice and do you believe the social misconceptions are true about the university to any realistic extent. Do you believe that it offers a superior law course than NSW Uni, and finally do you believe that you, with completion of your law degree you are financially set for life?

not from USYD but i will give you the perspective from a law student at USYD.

hard work is better than intelligence.
Albert Einstein put it brilliantly when he remarked 'it is no use to be a genius, when you have an attitude of a pig'

what social misconceptions of university?

yes USYDs law course is superior than NSWs.

no,
a law degree does not guarantee you money.

you will probably make more money becoming a plumber.

if you are in it for the money, you will most likely fail.

 

[izzy88]

Are you all brilliantly talented or do you consider yourself just average people, what was your experience in getting such a high entrance mark, do you put it down to hard work or a mix of hard work and intelligence?

I worked hard at school- but i never expected that i would get the uai that i did (i was hoping for somewhere between 95-98). All I can say is just to work hard.

Also about law at Sydney University are you happy with your choice and do you believe the social misconceptions are true about the university to any realistic extent.

I'm not entirely sure what 'social misconceptions' you are talking about, so that is a difficult question to address.

Do you believe that it offers a superior law course than NSW Uni, and finally do you believe that you, with completion of your law degree you are financially set for life?

I really have no idea whether usyd offers a superior law course to UNSW. In the end, its probably very similar.
I chose USYD because it was close to home and I wanted to study ancient history in my arts degree, and UNSW doesn't have an ancient history major, and in my opinion isn't great for arts.
Perhaps think about what you want to combined your law degree with and what the universities are like for that part of your degree.

As for being set up financially- that wasn't my major factor in choosing my university degree. Perhaps, at the end of all this, I'll try and become an academic in ancient history. On the other hand perhaps I will become a lawyer. I really have no idea at this stage, and while I obviously want to be financially stable in life, i'm not going to chose a career based purely on money- i don't believe that will lead to a necessarily happy life. When i decided to do a combined law degree, i did it with the idea that if I didn't like it i would drop it, and just do my arts degree. In the end, i found that I really liked my law subjects, so i've kept it up, and maybe i'll go into law after it all. I guess i'm just keeping my options open.

Do what you enjoy.

 

[bazrah]

Are you all brilliantly talented or do you consider yourself just average people, what was your experience in getting such a high entrance mark, do you put it down to hard work or a mix of hard work and intelligence?

Also about law at Sydney University are you happy with your choice and do you believe the social misconceptions are true about the university to any realistic extent. Do you believe that it offers a superior law course than NSW Uni, and finally do you believe that you, with completion of your law degree you are financially set for life?

You don't necessarily need a high enter mark. My brother got into law with no enter score at all. There are other means of getting in. Law isn't really the money-maker it used to be considered either. Some sectors will make you a lot, others will not. Overall, the average of the entire sector isn't that high.

 

[17028354]

You don't necessarily need a high enter mark. My brother got into law with no enter score at all. There are other means of getting in. Law isn't really the money-maker it used to be considered either. Some sectors will make you a lot, others will not. Overall, the average of the entire sector isn't that high.

OP is talking about USYD which has an atar of like 99.65

 

[485h324s]

yeah
been studying at law library for the past few days and so many law students. makes me wonder, every single one there must have gotten 99.65 ATAR+ and so many of them. blows my mind, makes me feel dumb, i mean i can catch up with med but law just bringing it to a whole new level...

 

[tommykins]

don't get where the whole idea that law = genius etc. etc. is coming from

 

[izzy88]

The Juris Doctor @ USYD and UNSW makes law very convenient now. If you don't get straight in after HSC, you can always finish an undergraduate and do a JD. The only difference is it will take you one more year in total, but if you have a passion for law, it shouldn't be a problem.

e.g.

1. B Arts @ USYD - 3 years

2. B Arts/L.L.B. @ USYD - 5 years

3. B Arts @ USYD + JD @ USYD - 6 years

You finish with both an Arts and Law degree at the end of the 6 years, and the only extra you will be paying is a year worth of Art subjects which, from my knowledge, are not as expensive as law subjects anyway.

of course, this is no different to how it operated as the Bachelor of Laws (its not that it is more convenient now then before, its the same).

Just out of curiosity, are there any Arts subjects you can pick that can count as credit points towards the elective units in the JD?

I don't believe so. Of course, at USYD they haven't really figured out all the rules for the JD anyway yet, but i'm fairly sure you couldn't have any arts subjects count as credit in the LLB, and I doubt that will change with the JD (because they aren't really changing many of the subjects).

 

[Existential]

do you need top marks to go into graduate law(JD)??? ie. is it competitive or does everyone applying get in?

 

[izzy88]

do you need top marks to go into graduate law(JD)??? ie. is it competitive or does everyone applying get in?

No, not everyone gets in.

I got this off the USYD Law school website: How to apply for the Sydney LLB - Domestic students - Future students - The University of Sydney

Applicants to Graduate Law will be considered on the better of either their tertiary qualification alone or the combination of their tertiary grade point average (75 per cent) and ATAR (25 per cent).
Entry is competitive and experience suggests you require an ATAR in the 90s and/or a tertiary grade point average in the high credit to distinction range. The tertiary grade point average is based on the grade achieved in each subject of your completed degree. If you have more than one degree, the tertiary record will be based on the best degree.

Applicants who have completed a research degree, a master’s coursework degree or an honours degree may improve their chances of receiving an offer. If applicants do not have a ATAR or equivalent, admission will be based on the tertiary average alone.
Successful applicants for Graduate Law are not permitted to defer their offer of a place. If they cannot take up their place, they must re-apply the following year.

 

[luckylollies]

As for social misconceptions,
I think you mean the whole usyd students are really snobby and study all day?
We're really not! Seriously, we have exams in four days and we all went out last night. Law is very social! Unlike other faculties, everyone has really bonded. As for the people, they are great! Very chilled and not snobby at all - although ye, its true, a majority of the people who do law are from privates schools or selective schools... although I think that's just because they were able to get higher marks?
I have personally been told that I don't sound very smart, I usually get the whole "wow, you do law... are you sure?" reaction. But, having said that, there are a few people who you just talk to and think "wow... your a genious!"
One thing I can say about how I feel is that it's such a big change coming from high school where your like top of your year to usyd law where its so much more competitive and suddenly your like bottom.
I hope that helps... if you have any more q's, feel free to ask!

 

[57o1i]

Are you all brilliantly talented or do you consider yourself just average people, what was your experience in getting such a high entrance mark, do you put it down to hard work or a mix of hard work and intelligence?

Mixture. My feeling is that natural intelligence means you just have to work a bit less than everyone else for the same marks, but if you really want to do well you should try just as hard anyway. ATARs are based on a year's worth of work. You don't just hand UAC a copy of your MENSA certification and expect immediate access to every degree on offer.

Also about law at Sydney University are you happy with your choice and do you believe the social misconceptions are true about the university to any realistic extent. Do you believe that it offers a superior law course than NSW Uni, and finally do you believe that you, with completion of your law degree you are financially set for life?

I'm really happy with it. I don't know if the course is superior to UNSW's but I'm confident that I made the best decision I could have done (and it was a close call between USYD and UNSW for a while there).

You'd have to be a bit more specific about the social misconceptions, though.

And no, having a law degree does not equal financial security. At all.

 

[random-1005]

don't get where the whole idea that law = genius etc. etc. is coming from

lol, memorise some constitutions or some shit, its a mad bludge once you get into law

 

[timrie6]

Are you just trying to show off that you got into Law?

 

[random-1005]

Are you just trying to show off that you got into Law?

lol, i didnt see his signature, i just saw hsc 2012, and went wtf is this guy asking for, guy must be smart doesnt even know which year he did his hsc, they just let any noob into law these days