Dear all,
I need some help over the university selection
I have got conditional offers from the following-
1. Manchester-INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AND COMMERCIAL LAW-which I can fulfill
2. Kent-INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL LAW-which I can fulfill
3. Cardiff-COMMERCIAL LAW-which I can fulfill
4. Aberdeen-COMMERCIAL LAW-which I can fulfill
5. Leicester-INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL LAW-which I can fulfill
6. QMUL-CORPORAT E AND COMMERCIAL LAW- 50-50 chances subject to my marks in my final exams to be held in June.
7. KINGS-INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS LAW-50-50 chance
8. Nottingham-50-50 chance.
9. Durham-still waiting for reply.
Given the facts above I am in a dilemma which one to go for. Please note that I would prefer Kings then Queen if I can fulfill my conditions
I have done extensive research on each of the above universities but still cant make up my mind (excluding Kings, Queen, Nottingham and Durham all of whose success depends on my fulfilling the conditions).

Manchesters good points are- its ranked 26 in the world and its location in UK (its an important city after London)
Bad points-has average rankings within UK (times guide) and I have heard that they take lots of students.

Kent- has excellent RAE score but is nowhere in the world rankings moreover I know little about the place.

Cardiff- good RAE rankings but is in WalesI would prefer to study from an UK university. Moreover does the location really matter?

Aberdeen- again has a good rank within UKworld rank 129 but its location is in Scotland

Leicester- no clue.

Hi Sippi. You seem to have a lot of offers to choose from... that's always a good problem. Let us see if I can help in anyway.

About the universities youve got a chance of fulfilling the conditions (as you said in your post):

1. Manchester good law school with good ranking and quite popular amongst LLM prospective students. Id say its probably one of the best options youve got among all this first roll of universities.
2. Kent Dont know much about Kent law school. Ive seen the ranking and the RAE results, but I havent done much research about it. Based on reputation alone, I wouldnt go there if I had the chance.
3. Cardiff Same as Kent, except for the fact that Cardiff is a good university overall and I know a girl who lived in Cardiff for several years and just loved it. And one minor correction, Wales is part of the United Kingdom.
4. Aberdeen Id place it side by side with Manchester (although its not as popular among LLM students). Ive been offered a place on the same course as you have. I was pretty firm about going to Aberdeen but then I got an offer from UCL and because of the pressure I had to choose UCL.
5. Leicester Same as Cardiff.

Among these five universities I reckon you should choose between Manchester and Aberdeen. And personally Id choose Aberdeen cause reputationwise it seems to be a better law school.

Now, between KCL and QM. Id say KCL. Given that we agree on this one, I dont plan to elaborate much. KCLs got a better reputation in law and overall and thats about it!

If you manage to fulfil all the conditions to your offers, Id say go KCL. I love Aberdeen and Ill definitely try to get a PhD or MLitt there afterwards, but for the LLM, except for Oxbridge, nothing beats University of London LSE, UCL, KCL and QM in that order.

Hope to have been of some help!

Dear Beicon,

Thanks a lot for the reply...about aberdeen and manchester-
which is the better one with regard to job opportunities afterwards and btw i what to know why isn't aberdeen popular among the LL.M students vis-a-vis manchester? Is it becuase of the location? Please clarify.

I think as regards career opportunities both give you the same I dont really see a difference other than Aberdeen has been ranked above Manchester on every ranking I can think of right now (I know ranks arent an exact science but theyre surely something to be considered). About the popularity of Aberdeen amongst LLM students I reckon the fact lies simply in the fact that Aberdeen is in Scotland whereas Manchester is in England. Scotland unlike England isnt a common law jurisdiction. They use the so-called mixed system, so Scots have got rules from both systems. If Im not mistaken their tax regulation is all codified (which is something rather uncommon in common law jurisdictions). In addition a person whos graduated from a Scottish law school cant enrol as a barrister (known in Scotland as advocate) or solicitor in England (and Wales). Considering most LLM students are after a job in London, they must think its not a great idea to go to Scotland.

Too many offers so u r confused!
I guess i just know abt manchester and kings.
Try first for Kings then Manchester
....
I have got threw in Manchester ..hope to c u there.... hehehe

"PLEASE READ"
Guys sorry to break the bubble of all those vouching for how good Manchester Uni is (also known as Uniof ) but it is nothing as all of you seem to know of it above .
I got a chev scholarship and made the mistake of choosing Manchester Uni over the london ones being expensive and also because i had some relatives there and due to the costs of living which till date i regret . It is indeed embarrasing but i have to admit that i am appalled at the way LLM is conducted in this uni and for me it broke all my expectations at what education in the UK would be like . I have a million reasons not to recommend University of Manchester for LLM ( and only a few to do ) . Althought the rankings of the university have gone down in the past few years ( the rankings only represent the undergrad law school ranking btw) it is far better than what it should actually be . Most of the professors are either retired barristers out of touch with the current happenings in the legal sphere or Phd students who are usually doing it to get grants and are usually not much older (knowledgeable) than you are being stumped at usual interventions . Most of the studies are expected to take place before or after coming to class and the only thing done by professors is enlighten on topics given out of pre printed module sheets . The exams again are not fair as each question carries 33 marks and you are expected to understand and attempt all your semesters learnings at the risky attempt of 3 out of 4 questions which in my view can never justify a students ability . There have been instances where 98% students in a particular class have failed . Classes are usually 2-3 hours a day a maximum of 3 times a week leaving a lot of time for you to wonder . The Class would mostly be filled by South Asian (read India Pak SL Bangladesh) or South East Asian (Chinese Malaysian Korean ) students and a below 10% of east european students and only maybe 2%-3% of British students missing the whole point of getting an international experience as most of the British students take up LPC or training contracts after their LLB's . Finding Jobs are a big no no with a Manchester Uni LLM . Anyways looks like I can go on forever here so if you have any further questions please email me or message me here and i shall be very glad to help you out . Cheers.