Not quite waiting…

“I am writing to confirm that we have received some documentation in support of your application. We will be in touch in due course regarding the status of your application. Please do not reply to this e-mail.” Not exactly the ‘congratulations and welcome to the LLB programme’ that I was waiting for but at least an acknowledgement for which I suppose I should be grateful...

However you will be pleased to learn that I am taking control of my life, becoming the master of my ship, the captain of my fate, the lord of my destiny and pushing forward with my studies despite not even being accepted yet! How can you do such a radical thing you ask? The university is clever enough to put tons of information on their website to let perspective students take a few tentative steps towards learning before they actually enroll. There are the first few chapters to the study guides, reading lists for a number of classes, etc. Very cool. So I’ve downloaded most of these items and started to dig into them.

I am surprised that I was able to find not only the materials on the university’s website but also on the internet some of the books and articles which the study guide recommends. Not all of them of course, and not easily accessible, but for sure it is a good start especially when you consider that it does not cost anything. On top of this there was a brilliant article in the paper the other day about free university courses available on the internet. To be sure they are a mixed lot in terms of quality and cover a variety of subjects but I was able to find one university that has several good law modules. I’ve ploughed by way through a couple and I am surprised to see how similar it is to what I will be studying. Perhaps it is just that the starting ground is the same for the study of the law but I find it quite helpful. It is also useful for me because as an American I have a less intrinsic feel for the structure of English law than a native might.

In regards to the programme, I’ve decided to study over a period of three years (of course assuming they let me in). The university offers the possibility for those with a degree already (such as myself) to study either in two years or in three. However, given that nine courses are required for the degree (in addition to an extra piece of work to make it a qualifying law degree (QLD)) it seemed a bit too much to squeeze into two years. It’s more expensive studying 3 years compared to 2 but seeing as I am working full-time and there were various warnings about not trying to take on too much at the start, I’ve decided to be safe rather than sorry.

For the first year I plan to study common law, public law and criminal law. I am looking forward to it much more than the second year which holds contract, torts and trust law. The final year requires land law, EU law to satisfy the QLD requirement, and one elective. While I suppose it is already far too early to imagine which elective to choose, I am torn between company law and human rights law. While both are of interest, company law seems to be the more ‘logical’ choice for my background, while human rights law is definitely more from the ‘heart’. I will keep an eye on both and let you know what I decide when I get closer...