Hi everyone,
I'm just about to go into my final year in Trinity and I'm planning to do a masters in the UK, hopefully in Oxford or Cambridge. Just a couple of questions.

I got a first in third year which counts for half my degree but my results in first and second year are in the mid 2.1 range, will that count against me?

I know I'm far from guaranteed from getting into Oxbridge but does anyone have any advice to improve my chances.

Apart from my academic record, what sort of other factors do they take into account.

How many other general master programmes should I apply to and which ones would be considered the best.

Thanks

Hi baldur! You seemed to read my mind, because I have the same sort of questions you just made here.

The difference is that I am not planning to go to Oxbridge, but to LSE, Kings College, University of Westminster, or City University.

By the way, does anyone know which could be the best from all these?

Thank you guys.

Nice holidays to you all!

After Oxbridge, I would consider LSE and UCL. Certainly UCL is very good if you want to do a general LLM - at the moment it still offers the inter-collegiate University of London LLM degree.

Thanks for your advice, Jazzman. The thing is, I do not know if those universities accept students with an International Relations degree, even if it has substancial law content.

I guess I just have to ask them.

Thank you once again

The best thing to do would be to speak to the admissions tutors at those colleges you are interested in. Drop them an email and explain your situation - I have found most admissions tutors to be very helpful.

Thanks for your advice, Jazzman. The thing is, I do not know if those universities accept students with an International Relations degree, even if it has substancial law content.

I guess I just have to ask them.

Thank you once again

What subjects are you looking to cover?
Would you consider distance learning?
Are you studying part-time or full-time?
Have you any further qualifications?
Do you have the funds or time to sign up for further short-courses in related legal fields to bolster your academic CV?
Have you had any publications?
How good will are your references likely to be?
How good is the institution you were studying in previously?
Have you ever worked in academia?

Answers to these questions could help you in your search for suitable places to study if you are unsuccessful in reaching your no.1 choice.

Good luck.

Hey baldur,
having gone through the applications process I have the following general observations to make:
1: When applying straight from an undergraduate law degree academics are incredibly important, in fact, the most important part of your application. You have very little else to tell the University at this stage. Where you did your undergraduate law degree is very important as well (but becomes less so with time). Trinity has an excellent international reputation and regularly sends students to Cambridge, Oxford and American law schools.
2: There is a slight difference in emphasis between English/Oxbridge and American law schools that becomes more pronounced the longer you have been out of University. For the English Universities, academics on your undergrad or whatever postgrad you have done will always be the most important part of your application. No matter how many extracurricular activities you have, Cambridge and Oxford will still require a First.
With the American Law Schools, extracurricular and relevant experience tends to become of equal importance one or two years after graduation. For places like Harvard (forget Yale) they tend to admit at least one final year Trinity student every year. This person traditionally also gets a Fulbright Scholarship. They have come first in the class or thereabouts, are Scholars, and have A LOT of extracurricular activites and have been published or were involved in Law Review. For the other Law Schools, like Columbia and NYU, you will need very good academics (probably not the previous extreme I mentioned) and extra curricular activites like mooting and law review and publications (try the monthly Irish Law Times, very easy to get published). Trinity's international reputation helps a lot here as well, as a similar candidate from UCD would have to do that and more to get accepted, and would almost never get in straight from undergrad unless they were the second coming in legal scholarship. Reputation counts, unfortunately, in the applications process.
Another important thing to remember about applying to American Law Schools is that you should ideally have a reason why you want to study there. Have a research project, with lots of detail and look up their websites to see if there are any experts in that field at the Law School you intend to apply for.
This is less important for English Uni's, cause again, their main concern is academics. If you are smart, have proven you are smart in exams, they want you and dont care why you want to go there as long as you get the requisite marks and can pay.
When applying, please also remember that America is very expensive. My fees for Cambridge, including accomodation, phone and internet for the year will be about £9000(stg), versus $60,000 in fees for US not counting accomodation (which for New York would be astronomical). It is just insane. Columbia have very little accomodation. If applying, go for NYU, fantastic area to live in, admit more people than Columbia so better chances, more modern facilities, can accomodate ALL incoming students in beautiful buildings, same rank as Columbia, fantastic Scholarships available, share classes with a lot of Columbia students especially for Intellectual Property so no difference, much friendlier and much more helpful and efficient admissions process. If applying to America, try and get on Law Review this year. It's a question on every form and it is almost a requirement for admission.