Hello,

I am a Rhodes-Scholar Elect from India, applying for the BCL degree. I'm thinking of applying to Magdalen College. I've heard, however, that Magdalen is highly selective, with a high rejection rate. Would the fact of being a Rhodes Scholar be of any help, and how great a risk is it to apply to Magdalen?

Hi, I am delighted to learn about you...I am a Rhodes Scolar elect from Pakistan. I am also applying for BCL...May I ask you about the subjects that you will focus on during BCL studies...

i know of rhodies who were rejected from magdalen, but to be honest it would be a risk worth taking. magdalen and new college are the two best colleges as a grad student in my opinion, and they are both super convenient for the law faculty. were i in your place, i would definitely go for it! good luck and congrats :)

Is the choice of college that important? Would it affect the academic life and standard? I'm just asking because I'm applying for 2011-2012 LLM in Oxford and Cambridge and thought that giving no specific choice would be the best option.

What do you guys suggest?

it makes a huge difference to the overall experience. it doesn't impact your academic life directly, but it does your personal life. it also makes a notable difference with your professional life when it comes into tapping into networks in the bar/city. i would DEFINITELY make a choice for both oxford and cambridge college applications, making no choice means you will be allocated to the least desirable colleges.

What colleges would you recommend primarily for employment networking and acceptance rate? I'm an excellent student with top 2% class standing albeit in a 18th ranked university in my country.

I'm just enquiring since this is the first time I'm hearing about college choice importance and would love to get some more info about that. Would be great if you could share your views, for both Cambridge and Oxford as well.

Thanx :-)

in cambridge i would say downing and trinity offer very impressive networking opportunities through their law associations. they really do give you a leg up. downing has the largest number of lawyers in cambridge, and is the specialist law college, and the fellows there are brilliant too. trinity is needless to say, fantastic.

re: oxford, i'm not sure which is the best college for law networking, but stick with my recommendations of magdalen and new college for general quality of life, prestige, convenience, and academic excellence.

For oxford, what do you think it's better, new college or st john? i can't make up my mind!

st johns is a wealthy, prestigious college. but i don't like the actual college. new college is also much better located: it's closer to the faculty and also to exam schools (where the lectures are). still st john's is v nice, but i'd take new coll over it.

Cambridge's deadline was Dec 1, right? They must have already closed the applications.

What about Christ Church? Supposed to be the richest and the most prestigious college. Why is Magdalene the top choice here? Also, Balliol?

christchurch is not that great an experience as a graduate. balliol is ok-ish. they have a large community but not facilties are restrictive. magdalen and new college have the best housing, physical campuses, and social life.

Well, in terms of law, the two colleges that have a clear profile is Balliol and University colleges. Balliol is known as the "intellectual powerhouse of Oxford" famous to have produced a large number of prominent judges (including lord Bingham) and the networking possibilities are abundant. University has excellent library facilities. However Balliol is extremely competitive for grad students. In my year I about 70% of the BCL/MJur applicants listed Balliol as their first choice. Balliol tends to choose students with an interest in public/constitutional law and jurisprudence though, so if your interests are elsewhere u should probably also look elsewhere. Also consider that most of the education in the BCL/Mjur programme is handled through the university, so in most topics your college adherence means little. However if you take the programme for the jurisorudence, membership in Balliol or University college gives u an upper hand in getting the best tutors. Magdalen, however, is by far the most beautiful college.

Pick any of the rich, old, big colleges (this information is all publicly available on Wikipedia) and you will have a great time.

But you will have a wonderful time wherever you end up. The College is relatively unimportant for almost all academic aspects of the BCL.

To say that any college is "by far" the prettiest or "by far" the best for law or "by far" the holder of the best reputation is just subjective nonsense.

Hi, I am delighted to learn about you...I am a Rhodes Scolar elect from Pakistan. I am also applying for BCL...May I ask you about the subjects that you will focus on during BCL studies...

"Sorry, I just came back here. I plan to focus on Public International Law, and perhaps dabble a bit in jurisprudence and public law. How about you?"

That looks good...I too intend to focus on subjects of Public International Law like International Dispute Settlement, International Law and Armed Conflict, International Economic Law and the subject of jurisprudence...Btw when can we expect to hear news about our applications?(earlier than March 18?)

That looks good...I too intend to focus on subjects of Public International Law like International Dispute Settlement, International Law and Armed Conflict, International Economic Law and the subject of jurisprudence...Btw when can we expect to hear news about our applications?(earlier than March 18?)

March 18, not earlier. College decisions will be out six weeks later. I ended up applying to Balliol, finally.

Hi, I applied for MSc in Law and Finace before the January deadline. But in two days I received an e-mail saying that my application will be considered for the March deadline. Did anyone else receive the same feedback?