Best A'Levels to study Law

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miltonkeynes
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Best A'Levels to study Law

Post by miltonkeynes »

DS wants to study Law and is considering sitting History, politics and Geography- do you think these are relevant or would you suggest alternative subjects.
KB
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Re: Best A'Levels to study Law

Post by KB »

My hesitation would be over politics because it is considered by some to be of lower academic standing than most ' facilitating' subjects.
That said if DDs is committed and will do really well its not a critical issue.

I would get him to do some research by looking at university subject tables for a few courses that he would be eligible for by virtue of likely A level grades (entry standard of students can be more helpful than just standard offers on web site) and see what they say about preferred A level subjects. For competitive courses I would be lead more by preferred subjects than accepted subjects at this stage unless he feels he could do much better in the accepted subject than the preferred.

Another consideration is if he has ideas about areas of law later on then A level study in eg maths, MFL, economics could be more useful than Politics.
kenyancowgirl
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Re: Best A'Levels to study Law

Post by kenyancowgirl »

Or Latin, if that is an option in his school, as an alternative to politics.
Twinkle
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Re: Best A'Levels to study Law

Post by Twinkle »

Or Maths or a science as an alternative to politics. Law requires analytical skills and maths and science would be good for this
quasimodo
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Re: Best A'Levels to study Law

Post by quasimodo »

miltonkeynes wrote:DS wants to study Law and is considering sitting History, politics and Geography- do you think these are relevant or would you suggest alternative subjects.
I know this is an alternative viewpoint I think what's more important is getting high grades in the subjects and enjoying them. I did the same subjects apart from geography whereas I did economics albeit additionally I did the scholarship exams in History and politics (they don't exist anymore). If you speak to the law departments at universities you will find politics is perfectly acceptable as a third subject provided the other 2 are facilitating subjects even Oxbridge. There is no harm in picking up the phone and speaking to the admissions officers at the Universities you might be thinking about. I had no difficulties with offers albeit many moons ago. The many lawyers in the family came through A levels in many different ways and combinations and at very different Universities. One even took law at A level which is not recommended.
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

Abraham Lincoln
Daogroupie
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Re: Best A'Levels to study Law

Post by Daogroupie »

Things have really changed. Nowadays there are students who get high grades and study what are considered to be traditional heavyweight subjects. In an environment where there is too much choice there has to be a way of narrowing down the field. So if you are neck and neck and one student has the heavyweights then they will have the advantage.

It all depends on where you want to go. Perhaps you like somewhere that does not have such fierce competition for places? DG
quasimodo
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Re: Best A'Levels to study Law

Post by quasimodo »

Daogroupie wrote:Things have really changed. Nowadays there are students who get high grades and study what are considered to be traditional heavyweight subjects. In an environment where there is too much choice there has to be a way of narrowing down the field. So if you are neck and neck and one student has the heavyweights then they will have the advantage.

It all depends on where you want to go. Perhaps you like somewhere that does not have such fierce competition for places? DG
The only thing that has changed is that only a few per cent went to University now almost 50 per cent go to University. Its much easier to qualify as a lawyer with the proliferation of training courses but every year thousands can't and wont be able to get training contracts or pupillage. The competition is fierce.It requires less intellect to qualify these days. I assure you when I've been considering CVs and conducting interviews over the years I haven't been thinking about how many facilitating subjects a candidate had at A level.At a time top universities are chasing students with the top grades for the money they bring the reality is get top grades and as long as they are reasonable A levels you will be fine. .
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

Abraham Lincoln
Daogroupie
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Location: Herts

Re: Best A'Levels to study Law

Post by Daogroupie »

Yes top grades are the most important thing, but if everyone applying has top grades then what is your next selection point? You have to have a way of choosing who to take and what could be more obvious than A level choice? If they all have all A stars at GCSE and A's at AS and predicted A stars at A2 what then is your criteria? You cannot say that Grades alone will get you the offer if everyone has the same grades, you have to set yourself apart from the field. DG
KB
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Re: Best A'Levels to study Law

Post by KB »

I think there is s difference depending on which 'tier' of University you are aiming at. For the top flight where all applicants are looking at 3 A/A* at A2 then you don't want any subjects that are perceived as being less academically challenging as that may give an excuse for you to be weeded out.
However for the mid tier who are indeed looking to take as many qualifying students as possible and have to compete for them then choosing 2 strongly academic subjects along with a 3rd which 'guarantees' you an A grade might be the better strategy.
quasimodo
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Re: Best A'Levels to study Law

Post by quasimodo »

I think the advice from the student room on this link is very sensible.
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Respected_A_Levels" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
In respect to studying Government and Politics it won't stop you going to the very best universities as its on the approved lists. I hope no one takes this personally and its not meant that way but what you can't control is peoples prejudices against some courses whereas others maybe rationally justifiable.
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

Abraham Lincoln
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