As a Canadian entering UK (ENGLAND) to study Law... WHICH SCHOOL IS THE BEST?

Good afternoon all. I am a 17yr old Canadian who has spent his entire life in dream-like state, fantasizing about going to study Law in England. My dream has recently come true; my father says he can finance my education whilst offers have been arriving from various schools in England. However, I begin to question which Law school is best in terms of reputation, costs, and student life. The schools that I must consider include... -London School of Economics -Queen Mary, University of London -London Metro -Warwick University -Southampton University -Liverpool University Thanks!

Public Comments

1. If you are going to do an undergraduate degree in law, it won't much matter which university you attend. You won't learn much of a practical nature, that comes later. Many solicitors and barristers ( barristers receive instructions from solicitors on behalf of their clients in a court case and rarely deal directly with clients) do an undergraduate degree in another subject and then do a so-called conversion degree of one year which provides them with an equal qualification to an undergraduate law degree (arguably a better route). Following this, there are periods of pupillage and training which take varying amount of years. So the particular degree itself is not that important. Having said that I would rate amongst your choices , LSE tops (as part of the University of London), next Queen Mary (also Uni of London), then Warwick, then the others. Good luck.
2. I am a Canadian attending law school in England. What helped me as a reference tool (even though some feel they are controversal and sometimes inaccurate) were league tables. There are basic rankings of universities based on a number of diferent categories. Newspapers and different institutions usually compile them. Here are a few to check out: The Independent http://education.independent.co.uk/higher/az_degrees/article9713.ece The Guardian http://browse.guardian.co.uk/education?SearchBySubject=false&FirstRow=0&SortOrderDirection=&SortOrderColumn=GuardianTeachingScore&Subject=Law&Tariff=0 The Times http://www.timesonline.co.uk/displayPopup/0,,13425,00.html Academic Rankings of World Universities http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2006/ARWU2006TOP500list.htm BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/education/rae/2001/subjects/rating/36.stm The most important thing is to do your research. Do you want to go to school in a large city, medium sized city or a small town? Do you want to study in London (most expensive place in the UK to live and study)? Do you want to do a year abroad at another school in Europe? The answers to these questions will help you narrow down your list. Don't apply to all the 'top' schools. You have a diverse list of schools, which is good; applying to schools of various types helps to keep your options open. Additionally, don't be disappointed if you don't get in to all of them: competition is tough to get into many law schools (ie: Cambridge, Oxford, LSE, Bristol). As long as you have decent marks (I had high 80's), and have spent some decent time on your personal statement, you shouldn't have any problems. A lot of schools let you know what they are looking for in potential students, check out their websites. Money wise, law school in England is not ridiculously more expensive than staying in Canada. My tuition (when you do the currency exchange) was about the same price as going to U of T). Good luck in whatever you decide to do. I hope some of this is helpful...sorry it's so long.