Another Path to Greatness - Part II

[BigWoollyJumpers]

Here we are.

@ChimneyPot Durham offers a year abroad programme. I am hoping DS will be able to spend a year at Uni of Boston

I think this question was asked somewhere? We have just had a yr13 zoom assembly with DS’s School head. Giving an update on exams (still waiting for final clarification) and Oxbridge and Uni offers. He said, his discussions with other Heads suggest around 50% of Uni offers have been made so far, which he says is v similar to previous years at this point.

She has to decide on Georgetown by May1st so plenty of time yet.

I would like her to try and defer either Durham or St Andrews( if she gets an offer there) to have it as a back up if she isn’t happy in the US. Or to defer whatever she gets offered in Ireland.

Chopc she spoke to some people who had taken year abroad s from Durham when she went to an open day there and they said because it is optional you do it between 2nd and 3rd year and when you come back all your friends have graduated and gone. I think if she goes to Durham she would prefer to do the 3years and then a masters abroad.

@ChimneyPot I wondered about this too. However I think you would get to know people in all years and won't feel so much of a stranger - especially at Durham I think it's common to know people in other years in your College?

But yes your DD plan's solid too

DS is a second year student at Durham. Approx half of his friends are taking a year abroad. So enough to return together to continue Uni life in Sep 22. I think DD's happy with the standard 3 year degree.

@chopc

As far I am aware, he did the barristers' qualification course (BPTC) after his GDL (not now current advice) and then did the MLaw in the year before he started pupillage. So although he is in the same school cohort as DD, he had time for the MLaw (and he is very bight!) whereas DD did a 4 year undergrad, the GDL, then BPTC and then straight into pupillage because she obtained hers whilst on the GDL.

One thing I will say - this career takes organisiation and planning. Failure to get what you want is often down to a scattergun approach and not matching your ability and interests with the right chambers. It is important that barristers get financial scholarships from their Inn of Court. This is the first indicator that their peers think they are the next generation and are likely to succeed at the Bar.

As a result, DC definitely need to decide which route at university when doing undergrad degrees for the best outcomes - I think. Solicitor or barrister. Leaving it late, not doing mini pupillages (DD was interviewed by 2 of hers) and not having the best cv you can get might seem marginal but it all adds up. (See my ball organisation comments earlier - she was asked about this!!)

Encourage DC to go to careers fairs, network, look at interests that matter to them and are useful on the cv etc.

Haven’t RTFT so not sure if anyone else has mentioned it but for those with DCs applying for Durham, if they log onto the preference form they used to rank colleges, they can now see their college allocation .

Thank you @PresentingPercy . Very useful message. Thankfully DS is more into the Solicitor route at the mo. He did some work experience following a boring case which he actually found interesting - so was even tempted to do straight law but was discouraged by everyone he spoke to saying it's a bit dry?

However I wonder if he has chosen his career path too early and hope he exposes himself to all possibilities at University.

@chopc
Others know more about the solicitor route than I do. I knew nothing about the barrister route before DD did it! If you get what you want you really have to have sticking power and determination ! DD was not sure about Law at undergrad either. We had a former neighbour's DS who entered Magic Circle after MFL degree at Cambridge. There is no reason why academic grads cannot convert very successfully. He definitely should look around at university but he will need to remember those deadlines! He cannot afford to spend 3 years looking and then decide it is Law.

Yep noted @PresentingPercy . I think he can have a good first year then try and secure some holiday placements and internships with the hope of a training contract towards the end of the second year - unless the process changes which I think they are trying to do at the moment

I think @Xenia is better placed to comment on that than I am. However securing a training position will still be key I think.

If you are going to convert (even using the SQE - the new route for anyone starting uni this year) then you should be applying for internships in the final year of your bachelor's degree rather than the way a law graduate would be applying in their penultimate year.

However, if you can secure any other form of work experience in law centres/citizen's advice or even in smaller firms etc prior to that it won't hurt.

www.sra.org.uk/students/sqe/

DS still waiting for Durham Geography. I see from attached table that in previous year (?) Geography was 93% offer rate, so still seems very hopeful. He had 2x7s at GCSE and the rest 8s and 9s (frankly the 7 in Spanish was a miracle ). His A level predicted grades are all A stars. Whether he could have actually achieved that with traditional A levels is another matter but he should be fine for at least one A star, barring a disaster of course. He is a very steady worker and seems to have the knack of knowing what the teachers want to see without putting in TOO much extra effort. I think he was redirected from Cambridge because it was obvious he doesn't have any particular passion for his subject....I haven't told him that though!

Congrats to those with Durham offers, does that mean you are not waiting for any more?

DS put Collingwood first on the college allocation, and in his words 'the really religious one' last .

D offers are filtering through but haven't seen G yet.

Hi Vargas. DS also applied to Durham, though I’m not sure he still wants to go. Anyway, he’s heard nothing either. Did your DS apply for the BA there or BSc? Yes I also saw that the offer rate there in recent years is ridiculous for Geog - something like 93%. I doubt they can over offer that much this year, or anywhere near that, but by the sounds of it, Durham are like this every year. But what are they actually doing for 4 months, if they know they’re practically going to offer to anyone with the grades anyway. I find it quite off-putting tbh.

Where do you think your DS will go Vargas?

I wonder if they offered to 93% applicants last year and also offered payment to defer , this might be why there have been no standard Geog offers yet from Durham - ie there are actually no places left! Last term, they were making contextual offers only.

@quest1on

It seems to be done in subject batches, with contextual & international dealt with first.

Of DS’s friends waiting Law, Geog & English seem very much outstanding. Two of his friends at a different school, received History offers this evening, so I think they have started on those now.

For many humanities subjects where Oxford make AAA offers and Durham make A*AA offers (and won't budge) there are a number who will firm Oxford and insure another lower offer uni eg. Exeter offer may be same but lowered if they achieve a minimum of an A in EPQ, and thus some do withdraw their Durham application at that point so some say that they wait to see what withdrawals they have too before making offers.

Makes sense Season. Geography BA is A*AA at Durham as well as Cambridge, so maybe they can have a good guess that applications made before Oct 15th are also likely to have gone for Oxbridge and are waiting to see if any drop out on Jan / Feb as it wouldn’t make sense to insure with Durham. Also, this would explain how they can make contextual offers last term, because even if those candidates have applied to Oxbridge too and get offers, they could still insure at Durham with a contextual offer of AAB / ABB if they wanted?

Mind you, UCL are also A*AA, but they made DS an offer in Nov (but it was reduced to AAA).

Evening all, it's nice to hear all the news of offers coming in and college allocations. And it's Friday! And half term! Hurray!

Law isn't the least bit dry as a degree course for intelligent students with a general interest in the world.

Also Percy - may be worth flipping in a slight caveat - you're possibly in danger of generalising from the particular. Your DD has done very well but her way of finding her niche at the Bar doesn't mirror that of all successful pupils/ tenants. Also, different areas of the Bar require different skills and experience. My own DD never organised a ball for example (although she enjoyed many).

I do worry slightly about some of the career advice on these threads re. law (I'm reading backwards :)). Nothing is mandatory for Magic Circle firms, provided you're bright enough. Too many students get wrapped around the axle thinking they need to follow the same path as all the other lemmings. They don't. If they've got the right attributes they can get a Training Contract at a Magic Circle firm with no prior work experience in law; if they don't have the right attributes they can have done all the work experience in the world, and spent every summer vacation grinding away in a CAB - but it won't help them one bit.

An article was written in the law press about the two pre-eminent firms in the City when I was there a long long time ago. It concluded that to get to the sparkiest one you needed to be not just brilliant..... but interesting too :)