Hi, i'm doing a LLB at westminster and am supposed to get a first, i've taken part in mooting and the pro bono scheme. I'm planning on doing a LLM. What are my chances of getting into somewhere good like oxbridge or UCL, kings LSE?
I know westminster doesnt have a great reputation lol

Good Evening Cubanarmy

Having just finished my LLB at an ex poly which is in a similar position to Westminister in the league tables and having researched my LLM options for 09/10 application pretty thoroughly over the last few years I believe I can summarise a response as the following...If you get a good first with great references and demonstrate academic ability it doesn't matter where you study your undergrad, you can potentially get into any University. Of course, it is easier to transfer from a University of London college into Oxbridge or similar but admissions tutors recognise that not all of the best students necessarily study undergrad at a 'prestigious' univiersity and, similarly, that not every student at a 'prestigious' university is necessarily a good law student- trust me I have seen much evidence to say that many red bricks have the same spread of students that an ex poly does! Therefore feel free to apply to any institution, free in the knowledge that your undergrad institution will not be held against you!

Just as a bit of evidence for this, a friend of mine from the same institution was accepted to KCL, QMUL, Notts and Manc and he received a 67/68 avg in both second and third years and another got into KCL and Bristol on around a 64/65 avg.

I hope this helps!

Honestly speaking, its not very easy. But if you write an excellent SoP and Have very good references, you may get in. It depends on a lot of things. Competition, especially at Oxbridge and LSE is quite intense. And personally I feel UCL is not worth it even though their admission process in very strict.

All the best
Sahil

Just as an addition to my previous post, having read a few of the older posts I can see that this sort of thing is a regular sort of question- particularly among people from second/third/forth tier universitys asking about Oxbridge. Having a look at those responses may also help answer your question.

Essentially though, what you need to ask yourself is where do you think you could prosper rather than fail. I say this because there could be nothing worse come out of an LLM experience than a low, say 2:2 equivalent grade from Oxford or Camrbridge, which would surely only work to undermine your undergrad degree to some extent. That said, it is important to recognise that the individuality of the Oxbridge programs (the supposed intensity of the BCL and the large requirement for self teaching on the Cambridge LLM) means that, in my opinion at least, the student should be fairly confident he can prosper and not be drawn by the lights and impressive history.

With a First class degree you shouldn't have a problem getting into any of the UoL colleges. I know many people who got in with low scoring 2.1s from red-bricks, as well as some who went to glass-plate unis. I have two friends who went to LSE and had 2.1s from non-red brick and non-RG unis.

However, some UoL colleges are more snobby than others (UCL springs to mind!!).

With respect to Oxbridge, I would say your chances are very slim. I've never heard of anyone getting into Oxbridge from a low ranked UK university, and you have to ask yourself would you fit in there. However, this certainly should not detract you from applying.

All that said, your main stumbling block will not be the reputation of your UG university, but competition with the highly lucrative international student market. Call me cynical, but if an admissions officer (let's hypothetically say at LSE) is presented with a top-of-the-class tier 3 American student and yourself - they won't be picking you.