Com/Law

[Mishmosh]

Hey guys

Next year I would like to study com/law at monash but I only got a 39 in English. I have the required atar but I also know that law is very English heavy. During the year I didn't struggle too much in English and I was very surprised at my English score because I was expecting more.

Would I struggle in Law if my English isn't very stong?

Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks

[brenden]

The determining factor will be your work ethic, not your VCE English ability. I'd be worried about you if you got a 27 or something, but 39 indicates you absolutely have the ability to be successful in your degree.

Remember, every year there are a lot of people graduating with a Law degree that speak English as their second or even third language. You'll be fine, I wouldn't waste your time thinking about it

[Alter]

There are also many international students who study law and do well. I agree with brenden; how well you go in your degree will be a product of the time and effort that you put into your study when you have to, not a reflection of your past performance in high school English. Besides, a 39 is still a pretty great score - you reside in the top ~10% of the state, and the fact that you have the ATAR to get into comm/law in the first place indicates that you may have just had a bad day on the English exam, but done well enough everywhere else to secure a place. If it's what you want to study and you meet the prerequisites, don't let that stop you.

Personal anecdote: I'm doing biomed at the moment despite not having done VCE bio and the two prereqs (methods/chem) being my bottom two scores. I try not to let this get in the way of enjoying the degree, and you're definitely in a position where it won't be a problem.

Best of luck and have a nice day.

[zhenzhenzhen]

The determining factor will be your work ethic, not your VCE English ability. I'd be worried about you if you got a 27 or something, but 39 indicates you absolutely have the ability to be successful in your degree.

Agree, I got a 27 study score in English and am finishing my JD degree pretty handily with a top-tier job lined up.

You'll be fine - everyone's legal writing is absolutely terrible to start with and gets better over time.

[Mishmosh]

Thank you so much for all the help!

[brenden]

Thank you so much for all the help!

You're super welcome

Let is know if you ever need more help in the next few days (... or years!)

[jibba]

39 in English is a really good score. A law degree is not really about how good your language analysis, text response skills are. It's about how much you like reading cases, your time management over the semester and how fast you can write in 2 hours. Although in recent years, research assignments are increasingly become more compulsory (a good thing too because that's what partners want from junior lawyers when you reach practice).