Hello!
I plan go to study LL.M in Melborne, Australia. I would like to have information which university is best one, there are several. Please kindly assist me. Thank you!

Hi!

Hard to say. I did my masters degree at Monash University which I think was pretty much okay, particularly because I liked the subjects they offered and because I could get a specialised degree in my field of interest.
However, if you ask me to compare Monash- and Melbourne Uni, then Melbourne Uni is probably the more traditional one and Monash might be a little more modern and takes the more international approach.
Let me know if you want to know more.

Joseph

Joseph
Thank you for useful answer! I just have some more questions if you have time. Do you know about this La Trobe university, they seem to be big? Regarding LLM students I would like to know more if they are many from countries Japan, China, etc. do you know?

I think most Australian universities are quite good. La Trobe may not be as high in the rankings as the University of Melbourne, but it is still ranked 142nd in the last "Top 200 World University Rankings" by The Times Higher Education Supplement, see http://www.apmi.com.hk/news.php

Hello,

I am studying at La Trobe doing graduate entry law. I have also done my original undergraduate degree at Monash.

In terms of prestige, in my opinion the rankings in Victoria are:
1 - Melbourne
2 - Monash
3 - La Trobe
4 - Deakin
5 - Victoria Uni

I admit that if I could have got into Melbourne or Monash, then knowing that snobery is alive and well in the legal field I would have chosen these in order of prestige in order to launch my career more easily. Many law firms in Melbourne are believed to take only graduates from Monash and Melbourne, or to have policy to take 98% of their graduates from these Uniiversities.

All that said, I have spent the past 18 years working in the social welfare field, and having an interest in environmental and socially focussed subjects, and admitedly without first hand knowledge of other programs, I find that La Trobe has the humanitarian bent that sits well with my ethics.

As a relatively new law school, judging the success of the teaching at La Trobe by the senior posts held by Monash Alumni is somewhat futile at this point in history, as you are not comparing schools which have Alumni with the same number of years since graduation.

On an aesthetic note, I travel to Uni from a temperate rainforest where I live, and I love the gum trees and wide open lawns which the campus is set amidst. It is a restful campus condusive to study.

Still, though I'm loathe to admit it, I am there because I lack the marks to get into the others, all be it that there's only a few ponts in it.

Good luck

Lawmum, I'll be starting my graduate entry Law this semester after my Melbourne BSc/BA. I was actually accepted into Monash Graduate Entry Law as well as La Trobe, but I chose La Trobe because it was closer than Monash (which can be an issue). That may seem like an odd reason, but Monash can be difficult to travel to.

Lawmum, Can I ask: do you think I should wait a year and reapply to Monash for their 2006 intake rather than begin at La Trobe? Or Remain at La Trobe and hope to get a transfer to Melb or Monash at the end of my first year?

My opinions are based on the LLB program more than my knowledge of the LLM, but I feel like I can give fairly accurate judgement on the three universities because I have attended/worked at all 3 for my LLB. (melb/monash/latrobe).

In terms of reputation, It'll have to be 1)melb 2)monash 3)La trobe, in terms of quality of teaching, i would rank it 1)Monash 2) Melbourne 3)La trobe. Overall environment, if you like busy packed campuses, goto melbourne or monash, La Trobe is more laid back.

That said, my year at La Trobe was not "bad" , and the lecturers/tutors I had were more than competent and there were several practicing members of the bar (if your lucky enough to be in that lecture) who are very good.

If your goal is to work in the US, I would advise you goto La Trobe; Melb and monash do have visiting US prof. who give seminars/lecturers, but they are hardly going to offer to let you study at Harvard, however, La Trobe does have a "informal" exchange with Penn U, and you'll find that PennU is in the top 5 us unis for many subjects (and overall) including law. Melbourne has an exchange with Duke, but good luck getting approval from the administration, and those that have tried will know what I'm talking about.

Hello ex melb.

How time flies when your busy. Sorry to take so long to return to this site.

I would begin your studies at La Trobe. Especially if you have nothing better to do this year. So I hope you enrolled and have been turning up to lectures.

As for transfering - well that's up to you later. There's certainly something to be said for short travel times. Some students I know at La Trobe have the marks to transfer to Melbourne but choose not to. One of these took up a scholarship and ?London University for six months but chose to return to Bundoora rather than transfer to Parkville. She lives in Hawthorn, but feels she is getting a good education at La Trobe. I probably would transfer because with my busy life, being spoon fed would be great. And I would enjoy relaxing on the train rather than driving. But that's just me. I could also do without spending hours at the photocopier getting a degree in copy prowess.

From the few people I know who have studied at Melbourne, the general consensus is that it is easier and you are spoon fed. Lucky buggers!

See you next year maybe (I've got this year off).

Hi lawmum.

Wow, I feel a little less guilty about choosing La Trobe for transport issues!! I can't speak for law subjects, but I was FAR from spoon fed during my science/arts degree at Melbourne. Seriously. Nothing was ever handed to anyone on a silver platter, and I have friends at Swinburne and RMIT who say that they are fed the answers to many of their assignments. I spent about 70% of my honours year in front of the photocopier in the basement of the library! But, ofcourse, I can't speak for law students.

LLBatm, thanks for the info - what is it about Monash that make it much better than Melbourne in teaching style? And did you manage to transfer from La Trobe?

I did transfer from La Trobe to Monash, travelling to Monash takes me about 1/3 of the time it takes for me to get to La Trobe, so it was more convienent.

I found that some of the subjects I took at Melbourne were not as indepth as the equivalent units (e.g. contract law) at Monash, there were many areas which were covered too briefly at melbourne (and other which were not covered at all). Have a look at many of the text book you'll use at La Trobe/Melbourne/Monash, Bronitt and McSherry (crim), Principles of contract law (paterson) etc are all all written/part written by lecturers and academics at Monash uni. I was lucky enough to be in some of their lecturers, and it might be a personal preference, but I would rather be taught the contents of the textbook from the person that wrote it rather than a person who read it a year or two before you did :P

Of course which teaching style/person you'd perfer is determined mainly by your personality and experiences with the lecturer, if you really want to transfer, just find out when a lecturer in the same subject your taking at the moment is running at melb/monash and sit in on it and see what you think, forming your opinion is probably best.

Hello, i have a few things to say to all the posters in this forum.
Firstly i should disclose that i am a first year Law/Com student at Deakin. Im not sure why your all ranking Deakin lower than Latrobe when 1) it's an older law school than Latrobe (even just be a few years) 2) the entrance scores are higher for undergraduate entry (my course was about 94, while Latrobe was around 91 or something) 3) the Deakin course specialises almost exclusivley in commercial law (whereas latrobe appears to be a more generalist degree, which may appeal to some yet is not as attractive to employers in COMMERCIAL areas, which most jobs ARE). Although admittedly i would have rathered Monash as it was closser i have found the teaching quality at Deakin to be of a good standard.
The real attraction of the Deakin law school for me was how small it is. I think acceptance is 180 new undergraduates each year so it's less than half the size of the other law schools.
Anyway that's all i really wanted to say. As far as a masters goes i have no idea!!

Oh yes and just as a side note i have spoken to employers of a number of the large commercial firms who have taken a number of Deakin law grads. If a firm chooses to discriminate against graduates from a particular institution then it's their loss. I know undergrads at all the law schools in Victoria and i can honestly say that all of them will have their good and their lesser graduates.

Hello, i have a few things to say to all the posters in this forum.
Firstly i should disclose that i am a first year Law/Com student at Deakin. Im not sure why your all ranking Deakin lower than Latrobe when 1) it's an older law school than Latrobe (even just be a few years) 2) the entrance scores are higher for undergraduate entry (my course was about 94, while Latrobe was around 91 or something) 3) the Deakin course specialises almost exclusivley in commercial law (whereas latrobe appears to be a more generalist degree, which may appeal to some yet is not as attractive to employers in COMMERCIAL areas, which most jobs ARE). Although admittedly i would have rathered Monash as it was closser i have found the teaching quality at Deakin to be of a good standard.
The real attraction of the Deakin law school for me was how small it is. I think acceptance is 180 new undergraduates each year so it's less than half the size of the other law schools.
Anyway that's all i really wanted to say. As far as a masters goes i have no idea!!

thankyou i knew they where close i wasn't sure which was first :)

University of Melbourne is definitely the best in Victoria. I got my BSc and LLB from there and was in employment in the legal field pretty much straight away. I think the quality of my Melb degrees helped me to get into a world class university in Europe to do an LLM.

I got accepted into Melbourne for an LLM in Banking and Financial Services Law. I came to this board for assistance in deciding which uni to enrol in. I'm glad that Illy has spoken so highly of it. I'm curious though, are there any graduates in this LLM?