I was impressed when Monash told me that they would make a decision regarding my JD application in just 2-4 weeks.

I submitted my application and began the waiting game. The 2-4 week window has come and gone.

Is this typical? Can anyone speculate about the reason for the delay?

Has my application:

a) simply not been reviewed yet due to high volume?

b) been placed on a wait-list without my knowledge?

c) been sent to the rubbish bin?

Mooncalf:

I would not get too concerned. This is a particularly busy time for everyone because of exams. I think that administrative staff might be waiting for an academic to sign off on your paperwork who is unavailable because he or she is busy with their marking.

My advice is to call them and gently ask about the progress of your JD application. They might explain why it is taking longer than they hoped. In my experience, most administrative staff are quite nice to deal with, especially the younger ones (less jaded than those who have been there for years and years and get sick of being asked the same questions over and over).

Good luck with your application. Monash is a great program. Although the top trio are ANU, Sydney and Melbourne, Monash is very close to the pack. I think I read that they did extremely well with government research grants, which is a good sign of their quality. Plus the Monash law school is one of the biggest in the country which means you will be able to choose from a wide number of elective courses once you complete the compuslories. You have made a great choice:)

xxx Laura

I also applied for the Monash JD (Feb 2009 admission). I was under the impression that the deadline for applications was Oct 17 and then we would hear back in 2-4 weeks after that date. That means we are still in the 2-4 week period.

I am very interested in attending Monash's JD program but I find it unfortunate that tuition is roughly 30,000 AUD. If Monash is a step below U of Melb, Sydney and ANU why do they charge more per year? Also, does anyone know why they work on the trimester for the JD?

Hey Murrdah!

Thanks for your comment and best of luck on your application!

I sent in my application well in advance . . . I'd say it's been almost six weeks now.

As per your question, I hear that Monash uses the higher international student tuition to finance it's global expansion. It makes a lot of business sense. There are plenty of people who are willing to pay top dollar to study at one of Australia's best universities.

I also have questions regarding the trimester schedule. In the United States, students use the long three-month summer vacation to gain experiences as clerks. Under the Monash trimester system, the summer break has been reducaed to six weeks. Do students just make due with this short period for summer clerkships or do they take on part-time year-around clerkships in order to gain experience and connections in the business world?

$30,000! That is a lot of money! Does it really cost more than Melbourne? I am suprised.

But the answer to your first question is Monash can charge so much because there are people out there willing to pay. Money is the main reason why Melbourne now ONLY offers the JD (the LLB is dead). It is the reason why other law schools have a JD or will introduce one soon. The only exception to this is ANU. They offer the JD to distinguish it as a graduate law degree compared to the LLB. They do not charge upfront fees. This makes it the best value JD in Australia.

Also, while I said that Monsh is a step behind the big three, the gap is very tight. The Monash degree still has a strong reputation and Monash grads get good jobs.

As for your second question, I suspect that Monash operates on a trimester system so that JD students can get a law degree in less than the 3 years and as few as 2 years. This means students can get out into the workforce faster.

xxx Laura

Laura

Monash and U of Melbourne offer the JD as a graduate entry. Applicants have to have a bachelors degree.

Surprisingly, domestic fees for Australians in Monash's JD program is almost 30 000 too.

From the research I have recently gathered Monash does the trimester to allow students to work during the year. Most classes are Thursday or Friday. Great for working professionals and those with careers already but for someone who wants to study full time and work during the summer it could pose some problems.

I haven't heard anything about ANU. Everyone states it's strong reputation however I haven't seen any results. It's my understanding that ANU receives such praise because it gets the lions share of research funding.

As far as I am aware, Monash does not have a quota for their JD program so I wouldn't worry too much about admission. One of the reasons why Monash charges such a high amount for JD students would be because they have a dedicated centre in the city for postgraduate students which is separate from the main campus (where all the programs are run). Additionally, JD classes are also exclusively available to 20-30 JD students (in ANU JD classes are combined with LLB classes so a cost differential exists). They run it in a Trimester mode to essentially allow students to enter practice faster - the vacations are shorter etc.

All I can say is hang in there and wait for your offer letters - I am sure they will arrive soon. I took a LLM course with Monash and personally think that their administrative staff are incompetent. I have requested for a Certification Letter more than a month ago and have sent approximately 3 reminders to 3 different staff but have yet to receive a reply!

Good luck! I hope you have applied to University of Melbourne as well?


Cheers,
Greg

Dear Murrdah:

You are quite right, the JD is a graduate entry degree. The LLB degree is for high school leavers.

The point I was making about ANU is that they do not charge upfront tuition fees for their JD courses. (One qualification: since JD students need to complete at least two postgraduate (LLM) subjects, they do have to pay fees for these. Even so, this makes it a considerably cheaper option than Monash's $30,000 JD!)

So I was trying to say that ANU offers a JD PRIMARILY to distinguish an undergraduate from a postgraduate law degree. They are not in it for the money like everyone else. (Another qualification: Melbourne still offers HECS places for its JD, probably Monash does too. But they reserve a significant proportion of their offers to full-fee paying students.)

But is ANU any good? I can't answer that directly. But, yes, it does get the lion's share of research funding and it consistently ranks as one of the premiere universities in the world. What I hear is that it is THE place to go for a research experience (eg, PhD). But the big-city law schools of Melbourne Uni and Sydney Uni are THE places to be for a LLB, JD or course-work LLM.

Is there anyone out there doing a JD or LLM at ANU who wants to say whether it is any good as a place to study law?

xxx Laura

Okay, I am still a little confused at what really qualified the ANU JD different then other JD's around the nation.

Also to the best of my own understanding all schools in Oz no longer offer HECS places and what this means is that all the schools will be making a money grab and admitting whoever can pay top dollar this year.

I have also had some problems with the admin at Monash. Especially with those committed to the JD program. I have written email after email with several relevant inquiries with no response.

Dear Murrdah,

No, law schools still offer HECS places. First, under the new Rudd government, universities are not allowed to charge full fees for domestic students, so all LLBs are covered by HECS. Second, even JD degrees have "places" set aside for HECS. According to the Monash JD website, even Monash offers a limited number of "Commonwealth supported places" (ie, HECS places). This is also true of the University of Melbourne. The JD is not exclusively a fee-for-degree thing.

The difference with ANU is that ALL their JD places are Commonwealth supported. Not just a limited number. You don't pay $30,000 for an ANU JD degree. Yes, you are liable for HECS and you have to pay a couple of thousand for two postgraduate LLM subjects that make up the JD program. But that's about it.

At least, that is my understanding based on what I have read. I might be wrong. But ANU never charged full fees for their LLB and I think they are continuing that trend with their JD. At leas, it is worth investigating!!

As for administrative staff, tell me about it. I have had some pretty bad experiences myself. My advice? Ring them. At least you can stay on the line until they answer your query or action what you need them to do. Emails just pile up in some anonymous intray ("admissions@blah.edu.au" or "inquiry@blah.edu.au", etc) until someone bothers to retrieve them.

xxx Laura

I was told by somone at Monash that the Aussie govt is no longer offering full fees for CSP's. Not only that but the change from HECs to CSP's meant that schools now decide how much of thier govt funding will go to CSP's, and in what programs. That's probably why I got the idea that Monash's JD program wasn't offering any CSP's. Actually they are offering very few and never for full fees. ANU can afford to have so many CSP's because they have so much govt funding to devote to thier JD program. Of course like I said before this could be good or bad. I have yet to speak with any graduate of ANU.

By no means did I think that the degrees were a "fee-for-degree thing." That would degrade the admission process for Australians and deter anyone from lower economic circles from pursuing a legal education.

I will call Monash when I get a chance Laura. To be honest I have several contact in the Faculty of Law but they have all been tardy with responses. Not exactly the type of school I want to give 30 000 AUD per year to.

Murrdah

Thanks to everyone who gave advice and offered new perspectives on my situation!

I recently received an acceptance letter from the Monash JD program.

The letter stated that the delay (six weeks) was caused by recent changes to the evaluation process.