Hello,

How would you rate the LLB and JD programs at Sydney and ANU, respectively? Which one has a better national reputation? Globally, is any of these universities reputable?

Thanks

Within Australia I would say Sydney, ANU and Melbourne are the top law schools. Sydney probably has the best reputation within New South Wales. Internationally ANU is the highest ranked university on account of its strong research e.g. it is ranked 16th in the world by The Times Higher Education and Sydney is something like 38th. Rankings are not everything though. The JD at ANU is a new program. I went to ANU and found that overall it was a good school.

I dont think Sydney Uni has a JD program. its LLB for graduate law. I am currently doing LLM in Sydney law school, It has been a sensational learning experience for me. They have the best lecturers who they can source in the world. I had awesome visiting lecturers from Cambridge University and Georgetown University law centre to teach our courses. Even the local lecturers are the best in the country. The intensive teaching model and the teaching method have been absolutely awesome, u can feel that u have learnt a lot by the end of the semester and be surprised how far you have come after your studies.

Personally, I think Sydney Uni and ANU are both great schools.

What you should be looking at would be which school offers courses which interest you more. Also, your preferences in terms of living in the city or in a less busy area etc etc. Also, in terms of cost (ANU is cheaper than Sydney..)

Cheers,
Greg

UNSW is offering JD from 2010. http://www.law.unsw.edu.au/future_students/jd/index.asp

1. the cost of living as btw sydney and canberra is roughly equivalent and any one that tells you that sydney is more expensive is lying. Canberra is the most expensive city for rent in Australia. Food is more expensive in canberra, the quality is terrible, the variety worse. But, because you do less (because there is less to do, the costs works out roughly the same). I've lived in both cities now as a student, so i've first hand experience.

2. ANU has the best reputation internationally. Within Australia it's probably tied with Melbourne. Sydney is up there as well. However, for local jobs, you probably should go to the uni that is best tailored to your interests. eg. ANU has a public law focus whilst sydney is more corporate commercial. My feeling is if the person interviewing you is neutral toward law school it will not matter. If your interested in an international career, it's anu.

3. BE WARNED. ANU is hard. it is very very hard. do not be fooled by the lower UAI. part of the reason for that is because the ANU is located in CANBERRA (and nobody wants to live here, with very good reason - it is a boring city). the UAI IS NOT A GOOD INDICATOR of the quality of the law school. it is ONLY an indicator of how many people want to go to that law school.

4. ANU has huge classes in ALL of the compulsory subjects. Even in the grad program (where compulsories are taken with undergrads) up to 300 people in a class. Often times only 100 will show up. but you are still competing against 300 people. I can't speak first hand of sydney. I do however have friends who go to NSW (probably 4th or so - and class sizes in the graduate program are much smaller there - around 70-90)

5. The larger the class the harder it is to do well. Larger classes will necessarily be marked by more than one teacher. often times grad students will mark papers. this is not a good thing. it results in inconsistent marks. sometimes huge inconsistencies.

Sydney has up to 40 people per course I think. There is a limitation of enrollment on each course. If the course is full, you cannot enroll in that course in that semester.

Just wanted to know. How about Bond JD? It can be finished in 2 yrs time instead of 3. I have been struggling coz I wanna finish it earlier however, I have been worrying the teaching quality and school reputation. What do people think about Bond JD?

Cindy 1986

From what you said...you sound like someone who specializes in Tax...maybe even Asian...or likes to play games...??

Cindy 1986

From what you said...you sound like someone who specializes in Tax...maybe even Asian...or likes to play games...??

Gregor2009

roflmao. we will see. rofl

hello, does anyone recieve an admittion for JD program from ANU in July,2011?

yes, I've been admitted. if anyone else has, what information have you received regarding enrollment etc.? basically, anything past accepting your offer...

thank u very much, nwilling.. btw could you tell me how long did it take to accept offer from your application?

I don't know what that means. I accepted by paying my deposit about 4 weeks after receiving the letter.

oh, nwilling... i am so sorry that i could not tell you about what i wanna hear from u....
i am glad if you could tell me how long did it take for you to recieve the offer from ANU after you submitted application.? thank you again for ur response.

Yes, that makes sense now. I applied early November, and got accepted early January. But my situation is a little different, as I applied for a first semester start, but was accepted for a second semester start.
Hope that helps.

wooow..thank you very much for your response and time, nwilling..
wishing you success in law school..^^..

http://www.llm-guide.com/board/108731

Don't go to USYD.
UNSW is better. More theory and more debate is needed at Aus law schools.

Just thought I'd leave some feedback after a semester at the ANU JD. I don't have any experience with other law schools, so this feedback is very isolated to the ANU experience only.
Very good teaching. They have very qualified instructors and tutorial leaders, and most (not all) are happy and willing to discuss any issues - academic or otherwise - you may have.
Their tuition rates are also very reasonable. A good 10K less than USyd or UNSW, so definitely a good value for money considering the ANU still has a good reputation amongst the profession.
On the negative side, their assessment methods are terrible. They leave little to no comments, and the ones they do leave are usually incomprehensible. If you approach a tutorial leader after this point, you'll likely get a good alternative explanation, but it means you have to approach the professor, and each time I did it I felt like I was highlighting myself as a "problem" student who just complains. I appreciated the additional feedback, but not as much as I would have appreciated not having to get to that point at all. They should be doing it properly the first time.
Also, the JD program is more of an illusion than something better than the LLB. They market the fact that you can take their master's courses as electives, but in reality it is only a very very small list of approved master's courses. In addition, you are limited as to when you can take them because of an odd overload policy they have, and the fact that all these master's courses are offered intensive over 2-3 days, with a large assignment due a month later. I thought it would make sense to take one of these courses during a normal term alongside my regular courses, since the open month would give me time to do the assignment while I continue with the regular courses. Unfortunately, the ANU says that I would have to drop a regular term course in order to take one of these master's courses, which on the plus side leaves me plenty of time to complete my one large assignment, but on the negative side leaves unusually large gaps in my schedule and a term with little contact hours during the week.
Also a con to the ANU, the administration. Not good at all. It takes weeks to get a response about anything administrative, from program questions to financial issues to wondering if your computer can even access their internet. Their internet services are way too over-secure, and hardly ever work properly anyway. There are exceptions within, but for one of the nation's top universities they really have no excuse. They spend way too much time working on their research and way too little time focusing on students. On the other hand, it's pretty obvious the ANU (along with most other "good" universities these days), are more interested in making money than properly training students. Corporate educational services. It is unfortunate that this has to paint the ANU as such a mediocre school, when it really could be a great one.

Would I recommend someone coming to the ANU? Yeah, but I would warn them not to expect anything special, and definitely nothing near what the ANU boasts it's law school to be.

I may be too late to reply on this post. But it will certainly help other prospective students looking for a quality program in International Law or International Security Law.

ANU has one of the best international law program in the world which matches the standards of the best of its peers in USA and UK. And you realize this fact when you go to universities like Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Oxford. The faculties and students in these students perceive ANU as an only Australian institution which matches their standards.

I would suggest every prospective student who is interested in pursuing International Law from one of the best universities in world to seriously consider ANU. The cost effective structure at ANU is also an additional bonus for students with a tight budget as the tuition fees and accommodation costs in Canberra is lowers than other of its international peers.