Getting into Law School Explained
Do you know the 3 reasons why studying law is so popular? While most top students may aim for medicine or business as their undergraduate degree, a law degree can create more long-term benefits and help develop your career in one of the most sought for industries. We have asked our Oxford and Cambridge consultants the key to planning for an application for law schools and summarised your preparation into 5 simple steps.
Want to know how a career in law creates long-term opportunities?
3 Reasons Why Law is a Popular Undergraduate Degree
1. No Specific Subject Requirement
Unlike other professional degrees, a law degree does not require students to study specific subjects at high school. Universities acknowledge that both science and humanities students each have their strengths in academic studies. For instance, science students may have better logical thinking and problem-solving skills, while humanities students have advantages in analytical skills and academic understanding.
2. Studying Law Trains Your Transferrable Skills
Every law graduate would agree that studying law is not just about learning legal concepts. The knowledge you learn at law school helps train your conceptual understanding, analytical, and research skills across disciplines such as sociology, philosophy, business, and many more. Such transferrable skills can enable law graduates to develop their careers in multiple industries.
3. Become a Practising Lawyer in the UK and HK
With the rapid development of international trade, it becomes a clear advantage if a law graduate can practice law in more than one jurisdiction. Just by completing a few conversion exams during the terms breaks of your university studies in the UK, you may apply for PCLL (Postgraduate Certificate in Laws) in HK to kickstart your career in law back at home. Otherwise, you can always complete the LPC (Legal Practice Course) in the UK and practice in the UK.
5 Steps to Planning Your Law Application
If you believe that a law degree can create more opportunities in the long term and would like to ensure your application is competitive enough for UK universities, here are 5 steps to preparing your application:
- Academic Grades
- Exploration of Academic Interests
- Academic Research
- Admissions Tests
- Interviews
1. Academic Grades
The first step is to ensure your grade predictions in DSE/IB/A-levels meet the minimum requirements of your target universities. Most universities require an A*AA grade prediction (equivalent to 5*55 in your DSE electives). A higher grade prediction will create advantages in your application, but your overall application profile will be considered before an offer is made to you.
2. Exploration of Academic Interests
UK universities look for students who are academically inclined. As such, students are typically required to spend 1-2 years researching into their areas of interests through internal and external activities. Based on our experience, an outstanding personal statement involves the use of internal roles and responsibilities, external experiences, research opportunities, academic competitions, and other practical experiences to showcase how determined you are in reading law.
3. Academic Research
Simply stating that you are passionate about law may not be enough. Students should delve into an area within law and research into academic topics. If you’re interested in human rights or morality, you may consider looking into the underlying philosophical principles of Jurisprudence or International Law. With the guidance of a tutor/professor, you may better understand how academic theories are applied in practice and analyse historical events or other current affairs to demonstrate your academic skills.
4. Admissions Tests (LNAT)
Your performance in admissions tests is key! The LNAT is used by most top universities in the UK to assess student applications. You must make sure that your admissions test results meet the “cut-off” threshold of each university of your choice. The LNAT covers 42 multiple questions based on reading passages and a 40-minute essay. If you are applying for Cambridge, you will also have to prepare for the Cambridge Law Test (each college at Cambridge has their own Cambridge Law Tests).
5. Interview
With all the preparation above, you have created a competitive profile that will allow you to compete against the other top candidates in your year. The final step is to perform your best during your interview. Universities aim to confirm your academic background through interviews and raise questions relating to Moral Philosophy to better assess your logical thinking and analytical skills.
More Questions?
We know that applying for law is an important decision. For this reason, we have prepared for all attendees a FREE “Complete Guide to Applying For Law” explaining everything you need to know about applying for law schools including entry requirements, career progression, application timeline, external activity suggestions and LNAT FAQs. Additionally, attendees will be offered a 1-to-1 free consultation with our admissions specialists (valued at HK$1,000) in order to better understand your admissions plans.
Conclusion
Studying a law degree can be more beneficial than you think. Other than becoming a lawyer, a law degree open doors across financial and business industries. If you have enough time, you may make use of external and internal activities to strengthen your profile and secure a place at a top law school in the UK
