Masters in Common Law

kiwimad

So I did Arts for my undergrad and now it's finally time to decide what I want to be when I grow up! I'm looking at the Masters in Common Law, which is for people without a law undergrad. It didn't run this year though, because there wasn't enough interest in it. Is anyone else thinking of doing it?

Or if anyone's already done it, what did you think? Is it worth the exorbitant price tag? Did you find it useful after you graduated? Is it well-respected? One of the things that's drawing me towards it is the fact that a Masters from a University is probably more useful than a diploma from DIT/Griffith etc, but please set me straight if I've got the wrong impression.

ironclaw

Definitely having UCD / Trinity on the paper would stand to you. Its like the MBA program, you can do one with DBS but its no where near the standard of UCD Smurfit internationally (Nor is the price tag )

It really depends what you want to do. If you want to work in Law, then UCD. If you want to just have it on your CV and dabble in the law world, the I wouldn't invest your time in UCD. A Diploma would be sufficient. If you really want to get into law, I'd recommend contacting the likes of Kings Inn and going from there. Take a look at the long term plan for yourself instead of the course offering.

Also, if anyone from UCD ever reads this, please start offering these courses part time. Its frankly ludicrous that you can't do this part time and in the evenings. I'm crying out to to do this and similar but I can't due to work commitments.

Kiltennel

What area of law do you want to go into? If you want to be a Barrister then yes it's a good course as it is accepted by the Kings Inns as an entrance degree (Not sure what their actual term is), if you want to be a solicitor it is a very expensive and long option as you'll still need to sit the FE1s after which you could study for in your own time instead while attending preparation courses at the likes of Griffith.

kiwimad

That's kind of my problem - I'm not sure whether I'd rather work as a barrister or a solicitor. At the minute, barrister seems to be more attractive, but since I've never studied law I can't be sure. I reckoned the MCL would leave my options more open than the KI diploma would, which, from what I've been told, isn't worth much unless you do the Barrister-at-Law degree afterwards (Again, this is anecdotal, so if anyone has a different opinion, please let me know).

I've also looked at a similar course in Maynooth, the Masters in Legal Science. It's a good bit cheaper which is (strangely) putting me off it a bit. Does anyone know if there's a significant difference between these two courses? I can't help worrying that there's a bit of a catch to the Maynooth one...

kiwimad

So just in case anyone else is considering it, the MCL is going ahead next year 2 years full time, and the fees have been reduced from 20,000 to 12,500, which is fantastic news! Will anyone else be applying?

ironclaw

I wish part time was an option

david_etc

kiwimad wrote: »

So just in case anyone else is considering it, the MCL is going ahead next year 2 years full time, and the fees have been reduced from 20,000 to 12,500, which is fantastic news! Will anyone else be applying?

Are you sure this isn't per year?

david_etc

Ignore the above, you're right it is 12,500 for the two years. Strange it dropped by such a significant amount.

kiwimad

Yeah, I had to email in to check that myself, seemed too good to be true. The price was ridiculously high in previous years though, even compared to other masters courses in UCD. I got a conditional offer there a few days ago, so looks like I know what I'm doing now!

McNuggets

I got accepted into this course a couple of weeks ago. Looking forward to it!

Vinny123456789

McNuggets wrote: »

I got accepted into this course a couple of weeks ago. Looking forward to it!

Hey! Thinking of applying for this next year, having researched the options at DIT, King's Inns...

What are your initial reactions? Workload, quality of teaching, access to materials, etc.?
If you dont mind me asking, what was your background before applying? I'm a recent grad from History at Trinity, was told that there would be quite an overlap in terms of workload, hours and research.
Did you apply for a scholarship or bursary? Any luck, or know of anyone who has?
I know it's probably too early to tell, but do you think the course will adequately prep you for the FE-1's or do you see yourself sitting a prep course afterwards?

Thanks for the help and I hope you're enjoying it! Only discovered this course today and am very excited about it.