Help! MacQ or UTS Law? (1 Viewer)

[miss-smexy]

Hi!

I'm doing my preferences right now, and I can't decide on which uni I should put first out of these two (disregard my signature below). The courses I want to do are:

Commerce/Law (Macquarie)
Business/Law (UTS)

From my understanding of these courses (correct me if I am wrong), Commerce and Business are essentially the same degree.





So, when comparing the Commerce and Business part:

* Macquarie has a reputable, strong business school and ranks higher than UTS in terms of this.




With regard to the Law part:

* I looked at the Macquarie website and it seems that their focus is on Business Law etc - and not for if you want to eventually practice as a lawyer.

* UTS Law = Supreme Court of UNSW professional recognition... does Macquarie have this too or not?

* UTS incorporates practical work in their program. Does Macq do this too? Because practical work is highly valued, right? - when applying for jobs at law firms.

* I was reading a BOS thread a few months ago and I remember someone saying that some law firms didn't even consider graduates from UTS. Is this true? =/ It sounds a bit extreme...



I think I'm interested in corporate law - although of course this may change later! So, another separate question: If I wanted to pursue this later, then would Macq or UTS be better?

UTS' uai requirement is higher than Macq... although I think this is because it is located in the city? Or is it because their law course is actually better? On the world scale, Macquarie as a whole also ranks higher than UTS.




So.... I need advice from my fellow BOSers! Anyone doing either of these courses? Do you enjoy them/regret enrolling in them?!

 

[miss-smexy]

u shud do Bus/Law at UTS

i'll elaborate later on(im at work atm..boss about to come in).

if u hav any q's feel free to pm me too

Ooh thanks. Do you go to uts?

[edit] oh i see you do law/international studies there. Is it good? Do you like it? [/edit]

 

[Frigid]

in short, it doesn't matter.

UTS and Macq are about even in terms of their law schools. At UTS you can do Practical Legal Training (PLT), a short course after you finish LLB, as part of the LLB program. The other universities, including USyd/UNSW, do not; PLT is done externally with College of Law. The upside of not doing PLT during your degree is that at the other universities you can do more electives (8 law electives as opposed to 4 at UTS). However, you can choose not to do PLT at UTS; you will still have to do it after you graduate.

ultimately, i think it depends on where you live. a law degree is a heavy workload; you don't want to travel another 2 hours per day just to get to UTS/Macq, as the case may be.

 

[miss-smexy]

I live in the hills. So Macq is way closer. And UNSW is like my second choice in terms of commerce/law... >.< ... all the way in Kensington!

 

[Rorix]

You should go to Macq, the Commerce degree is better. Law at UTS and Macq is probably about the same.

 

[melsc]

I agree with most here Mac and UTS Law are about even. Living in the hills would make Mac heaps easier, people I know who live in the hills who go to the uni's in the city spend ages travelling. Mac has a reasonably active law society, participates in lots of moots and seems to have some good lecturers some aren't great but that happens at all law schools.

 

[lovethehsc]

UTS does have a slight edge over macquarie law (as a whole uts is ranked higher then mac and in terms of prestige, uts remains a 'city' uni).

However if you aren't at UNSW or USYD and your aspirations are the High Court of Australia, then you probably won't cut it. Try postgrad or dfee? If you are only seeking to be a solicitor or mid tier firm lawyer then mac, uts, even uws (or any uni really) will suffice.

 

[melsc]

^ I like to believe anything is possible with good grades and extra curriculars. I can tell you that there is no real difference in the education USYD offers and MACQ does (At the very least in Contract Law). I was on a mooting team against USYD and we narrowly lost, after the judgement the Supreme Court justices asked us what year we were in and after realising that we were second years and they were third years, they decided the extra experience was the sole factor where we differed.

Personally I wouldn't pay dfee, I don't think its worth it especially just for prestige. I think the OP living in the hills would tire of travelling to the city every few days for five years, most public transport there is terrible and if you drive its difficult and expensive to park. Most of my friends at UWS and Mac were from the hills because it was easy to get to an much cheaper to park at than the city (UWS $50 per year, Mac $130 per year).

 

[Newbie]

but why is bacc your first pref miss smexy

unsw coop/cadets are much better hehe

 

[Season]

However if you aren't at UNSW or USYD and your aspirations are the High Court of Australia, then you probably won't cut it. Try postgrad or dfee? If you are only seeking to be a solicitor or mid tier firm lawyer then mac, uts, even uws (or any uni really) will suffice.

Hmmm... have a family friend who went to UTS and is currently working as a fairly successful barrister and she is quite young. I doubt she would turn up and be turned away because she went to UTS after having such a good working career.

Go for the uni closest to you, don't underestimate the amount of effort it takes to travel long distances every day, put that time into getting good grades and you'll be better off.

I'd choose UTS because its next to the markets

 

[Tabris]

http://melbourneinstitute.com/publications/reports/dr_aus_uni/Paper_Rating.pdf



The rankings for the law schools are on page 11, but a cavaet, stats can be dubious and doesnt mean a thing if u end up getting the university medal compared to mediocrity from a marginally more prestigous uni.

If travelling 3 hours back and forth a day is bothersome and inteferes with your studies, maybe you should goto Macq.

 

[melsc]

^ Do remember you may want to fit in work, study and some form of social life, unless you can read (on public transport obviously u cant while driving) and absorb it with all the distractions the travel time will generally be wasted time.

 

[RogueAcademic]

I doubt she would turn up and be turned away because she went to UTS after having such a good working career.

The further away from law school you are (in time), the more they will look at your professional achievements rather than go back years to base their decisions your academic records.

 

[aileenli]

At Macq, you don't do actual law subjects till like second year. The have some crap-ass subject like Jurisprudence and then Legal Ethics. Heaps of people end up getting discouraged after Jurisprudence 'cause its all vague and fuzzy and seemingly pointless.

Passing over that, at our first law lecture of the year, the head of our student law society said: "People who want to study law go to Sydney or New South, the partybirds come to Macq".

Make of that what you will...

 

[aleachim]

this is an intriguing question that I've been asking myself - something unrelated I wanted to know: what is the difference btwn Bachelor of Jurisprudence and Bachelor of Law? Does it help to do this degree at, say, Bond if you don't reach to uai cutoff or a bachelor of law degree?
Sorry if this has already been asked

Referring to your q, the good unis guide said that UTS has a lower graduate starting salary. but the UAI for UTS is higher, as previously mentioned. Is demand is a reflection of the course quality?

I did work experience at Piggot Stinson and the registrar clerk was transferring from UTS to Mac bs administration / law. Perhaps dissatisfied with the UTS course?

o'all it doesn't make a marked diff whether u go to either (but I'm leaning towards Mac: close to home and amiong the few unis offering arts psych / law). Hope this rant gives more answers than questions