I agree, a phone call seems appropriate. I can't imagine this would prejudice your application. Not all applicants are required to send in three transcripts, anyway, I think.

The wait seems interminable. Coping strategies, anyone? Watching "Chariots of Fire" didn't help me.

hi everibody!!
I graduated earlier this year, started a traineeship in a law firm and I am teaching assistant at the Univ. from which I graduated. I chose Trinity as first choice( i now realise it has been a mistake because i don't think i have any chance) and magdalene as second choice! the strong point of my appl. is my GPA....I am also applying for Oxford.

At least you'd done enough research to know that Trinity is "the place to be". It was only after I submitted my application that I started trawling these forums and realised everyone seems to have their heart set on Trinity.

I'm also applying to Oxford, but Cambridge is the offer I really want. I've got no rational reason for that though. Realistically, there are a lot more funding opportunities for Oxford, so in the very unlikely event that I received offers to both, that might make my decision for me.

I agree, a phone call seems appropriate. I can't imagine this would prejudice your application. Not all applicants are required to send in three transcripts, anyway, I think.

Anyone in the forum did a paper application. I had missed the Nov 15 deadline so did a paper app, later realised that they were allowing ppl till dec 1 to do the online app. However though all my docs got delivered in time, havent heard from Cambridge, repeated emails have gone unanswered, not a single email from them even intimating receipt of docs. Any suggestions.

Anyone in the forum did a paper application. I had missed the Nov 15 deadline so did a paper app, later realised that they were allowing ppl till dec 1 to do the online app. However though all my docs got delivered in time, havent heard from Cambridge, repeated emails have gone unanswered, not a single email from them even intimating receipt of docs. Any suggestions.

The wait seems interminable. Coping strategies, anyone? Watching "Chariots of Fire" didn't help me.

Yes, too bad we humans can't hibernate until Spring.

Hello Everyone,

cambridge11 - can you give me an idea of the number/profile of "non-traditional" students amongst your current peer group? by non-traditional, I am suggesting people who do not have legal backgrounds and were admitted to the llm programme. many thanks!

I think such students should apply for MSc in law and accounting or law and finance etc, which although is less offerred by Universities but would be more useful.

Is it true that Cam and Oxford tend to accept international students with a 2:1 over EU/UK based students with a first?
And if so, why is that?

Hello Everyone,

cambridge11 - can you give me an idea of the number/profile of "non-traditional" students amongst your current peer group? by non-traditional, I am suggesting people who do not have legal backgrounds and were admitted to the llm programme. many thanks!

I've not met a single student who fits this description. In theory, there could be some, per the Faculty website:

"The LL.M. Admissions Committee does consider applications from those with a non-Law first degree, provided that in addition to their degree they have either substantial relevant professional legal experience or have obtained a professional legal qualification with the equivalent of a First Class result. However, a first degree in Law is the preferred preparation for the Cambridge LL.M."

That said, the bottom line is that those people (if they exist) will also have "legal backgrounds," just not formal legal academic training. This is an advanced degree in law. It's not designed for people who don't have legal backgrounds, and I think such people would find themselves at a significant handicap. To be honest, some civil law students in the class with no experience of the common law system have expressed that they find very common-law-based classes difficult, and they are given little hand-holding. Too, those in international law classes without prior experience of international law have necessary background reading to do to get up to speed. I think it would be foolish in the extreme to attempt this degree without significant prior legal experience (whether academic, practical, or both), and I'd be very surprised to hear that Cambridge was permitting it.

Here is one = me! No legal education, finance and economics degree (1st), more than 10 years of invest banking experience. Was in 09/10 class, graduated with 2.1 - no better or worse than lawyers with 5 years of legal experience. There were a couple of us in 2010 class....

Actually if you have a good finance/accounting/tax/property experience you will have a significany advantage over lawyers - the majority of people in my class could not understand how to apply the law, they just learned bits of legislation verbatum. And when they forgot the number of the clause...tough luck...Non-lawyers with experience knew what we needed to achieve and we worked backwards to get to the right answer...

Actually on my dissertation I was a couple of percentage points away from the 1st...The professor supervising it told me that he ...learned a lot... It was on funds and trusts; implications of AIFM directive, structuring etc.... I do not think a pure lawyer could even comprehend how to approach this topic as it is quite technical... Non lawyers used to pick touch topics, all lawyers wrote on something more...hm... historical

Hey, man, if it went well for you that's awesome. You're in an area of law I have no familiarity with, so I've no idea how a law degree would help (or not). My focuses are on international law, human rights law, and comparative law. I think all three areas would be very difficult without a prior law degree (but if people in those areas show up and tell me the LLM was their first law degree and they rocked it, then that's cool too). But I haven't met anyone in your situation this year yet - it makes sense that there would be only a couple per class.

I did corp finance, tax, commercial equity and corp governance - so finance background was extremely useful,as mentioned, we finance people use corp finance law on a daily basis without knowing the statute numbers, clauses etc but we can easily pick them up as we already know the principles. As far as international law is concerned I would have definitely struggled big time as would not have had any benchmarks but I guess a person who did international relations or politics as his/her first degree might have thought differently ...probably also already knew how to apply the law without knowing what law he/she is applying...but you are right, there are normally only up to 5 strange people in the class...We had an ex army guy, a local community councilor/judge kind of guy from the US, international relations/diplomacy guy from Uzbekistan who went to work for an NGO and myself, I guess...

I am so glad I did LL.M. cambridge 11. Can really feel the difference in business negotiations...Just yesterday someone was trying to bullshit me re floating and fixed charges and I was like....hang on a minute....what was Ferran saying on this matter...I think at the end of the LL.M. was of more use to me, a finance person, than to a lawyer....I picked up a new skill....For that very reason I strongly advise lawyers interested in corp finance....do not do LL.M (you will not really learn new things) but to do MBA or MSc Finance or Accounting instead...I was stunned to discover that our future hot-shot M & A lawyers did not know how to read your basic corporate accounts....And if this happens in Cambridge (with the best students?) what is then happening at other schools?

Now we know where you got your username lol

I did an accounting and finance professional degree and later started my first law degree. I was a bit confused when I was applying for the LLM as I was thinking about going for the MBA or the MSc. Finally I thought that as I had sufficient knowledge of finance i.e. financial instruments, hedging, swaps, corporate reporting etc so I should go for the LLM as it would add to my knowledge of Commercial law rather than repeatedly going through the same mess of corporate finance, which is not that much difficult if you once understand the concepts especially regarding foreign exchange, which is a bit tricky. Keeping these things in mind I opted and then applied for the LLM. I hope my decision is a wise one.