The Melbourne Model: Thoughts and Opinions (2 Viewers)

[aodmjgnwpekignw]

Look kids, uni talk -> in the uni forums.
Moving topic, again.

Its all Trishans fault

 

[GoodToGo]

what do u mean by that??

i was interested in law a while ago, and was researching the field. many law firms do not care where you get ur degree from. law firms will always take a well-rounded person with a degree from a lesser 'prestigious' uni over a complete a nerd who doesn't socialize from a uni like melbourne.

They're lying. Say you had a smart well rounded student from Melbourne and a smart well rounded student from [INSERT INFERIOR LAW SCHOOL]. Most, if not all law firms will take the Melbourne grad. (It's not 50-50).

What you have to understand is that at law school, the nerds are like the rockstars - so provided they can carry the most basic of conversations, they'll succeed. (Oh, and if you're a chick, a hot body and a pretty face will get you far - especially at a big lawfirm - provided you don't mind being ogled by crusty middle-aged men).

Also, the legal fraternity is very traditional and slow to change. Judges and senior partners are old and are from an age when the only law school worth going to was a Group of 8 school.

So if you can manage it, get into Melb/Syd/UNSW/ANU/UQ/UWA/Monash/Adelaide (I've included Adelaide in there, even though it's such a sh*t city to study/practice law).

Probably something like 80% big-firm offers/prestigious associateships/anything else worth going for will be spread amongst 20% of law grads (those from the unis mentioned above).

Obviously grades are very important, but it's naive to think the prestige of the law school does not matter.

 

[gulamali]

They're lying. Say you had a smart well rounded student from Melbourne and a smart well rounded student from [INSERT INFERIOR LAW SCHOOL]. Most, if not all law firms will take the Melbourne grad. (It's not 50-50).

What you have to understand is that at law school, the nerds are like the rockstars - so provided they can carry the most basic of conversations, they'll succeed. (Oh, and if you're a chick, a hot body and a pretty face will get you far - especially at a big lawfirm - provided you don't mind being ogled by crusty middle-aged men).

Also, the legal fraternity is very traditional and slow to change. Judges and senior partners are old and are from an age when the only law school worth going to was a Group of 8 school.

So if you can manage it, get into Melb/Syd/UNSW/ANU/UQ/UWA/Monash/Adelaide (I've included Adelaide in there, even though it's such a sh*t city to study/practice law).

Probably something like 80% big-firm offers/prestigious associateships/anything else worth going for will be spread amongst 20% of law grads (those from the unis mentioned above).

Obviously grades are very important, but it's naive to think the prestige of the law school does not matter.

AGREED...however i'd like to add, im sure its the same for every other course

 

[Conspirocy]

Personally I think it's a pretty good idea.

One main reason is because I have found that the longer I have been at uni, the better I get at my subjects. I'm sure there are a lot of law students who didn't go so well at uni and feel they are disadvantaged and trying to catch up the rest of uni. I think entering a law degree after already having attained one will prepare you for law and so you will get the most out of your degree.

Another benefit is that it allows to to focus on your first degree. I am always hearing "oh I dont do my non law readings etc etc" from law students. Maybe this way you could give your other degree a 'fair go'

I find that some law students say they studied law just because they could. Maybe if people like this were forced to look at something before, they would find something more interesting to study. Another reason is that, lets face it law is a good signal to an employer that you are smart. A lot of people looking to get a job in a non law area still choose to study law even though they have no genuine interest in it.

I also think that in the commerce/law area you will have a big drop of people continuing to study law with this system. Mainly because you will be getting offered money a lot sooner than normal to just stay a commerce grad.

And mostly, the smartest law students I have met at uni are the graduate ones, not the undergrad ones. Simply because they are more mature and committed.

 

[nickt26389]

if you went for a job, and there where 2 potential candiates you and another bloke, both done the same degree and exp same. One from melb uni, and another from lets say RMIT....the employer is 99% of the time going to take the melbourne graduate...and if you say that they take the 'smater' one, obviously again the melbourne graduate is smarter, he/she got the better enter to go there. It's simple.....as much as we hate to admit it, or as much as people don't like melbourne or think its no prestigous...or whatever the reason may be. The MANY employers, will base their decision on where the applicant did their tertiary study.

And what is the basis for these assertions oh wise one? And what about your own personal credentials - what a year 12 student? Gee you must have a lot of experience in regard to who gets employed in white collar jobs. Seriously now. Shutup - you're in VCE, therefore you don't know anything about the real world. Quit talking bullshit about things you don't have a clue about - you just make yourself come across as completely ignorant and unintelligent.

Further, might I suggest you learn to spell and type correctly - I don't think poor grammar and spelling will help get you into any 'prestigous' universities.

 

[liverpool3k]

And what is the basis for these assertions oh wise one? And what about your own personal credentials - what a year 12 student? Gee you must have a lot of experience in regard to who gets employed in white collar jobs. Seriously now. Shutup - you're in VCE, therefore you don't know anything about the real world. Quit talking bullshit about things you don't have a clue about - you just make yourself come across as completely ignorant and unintelligent.

Further, might I suggest you learn to spell and type correctly - I don't think poor grammar and spelling will help get you into any 'prestigous' universities.

Ow.

Reiterating what's been said, I think it's a cash grab too... And there is the possibility that the "prestige" courses become an option for only those with lots of $$$, leading to the whole class divide thing.

 

[§eraphim]

The scholarship is a bribe. You shouldn't be basing your uni decision based on such a small sum of money (a decent scholarship is at least 5k, otherwise it's just tokenism. It should be able to pay for most of ur HECS). You could be earning many multiples of that working instead of taking on an a extra degree you don't really want (and having to incur a debt for it!)

Also, if so many scholarships are being handed out (relative to other unis), it devalues the scholarship. It no longer makes you stand out if many many other students have been awarded the same one too. This is similar to Science degrees that have "Advanced" tacked on to the end. IMO, they would be better off using the scholarship money to fund prizes and industry training/projects to form better links with future employers. In that way, at least those students taking on more degrees have some idea of what industry is.

I think if you have a good idea of what you want to do, go the uni that can get you there the fastest (and with minimal loss of teaching quality, prestige, etc). If you are undecided, do a combined degree. Either way, your preferences should be towards Monash. Melbourne figures highly in Australia because of it's strength in research but that isn't really relevant to an undergrad.

Also, the top employers will interview high achieving candidates from all unis. For the large part, unis are recognised as being top because they attract the best students. All the other stuff kind of follows on from that, like excellent research facilities, industry links, etc. So in the end, it comes to down to the quality of the students, not the university. If you are good, you will make it from any university.

However, I think a Maths/Actuarial program at UoM is a good idea as I think that's the right order in which to become an Actuary. The actuarial syllabus was first designed for Maths Honours students entering insurance companies who worked full time and studied the actuarial maths part-time by correspondence.