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Author Topic: Arts degree and WAM  (Read 11079 times)  Share 

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The Big Aristotle

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Arts degree and WAM
« on: October 19, 2013, 11:35:44 pm »
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Hi there

I'm considering undertaking an Arts degree (most likely majoring in criminology or international relations/studies), with the end goal being going on to undertake the JD. My main concern with this path is part of the criteria; 'academic results from previous tertiary studies'. I've heard the universities are looking for at least a WAM of 70% but in order to be competition an WAM of 75%+ is preferred. My question is how hard is it to maintain such a WAM throughout an Arts degree?

If anyone could help me out that would be top.

Cheers.

ShortBlackChick

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Re: Arts degree and WAM
« Reply #1 on: October 20, 2013, 12:19:58 am »
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I think in Arts its doable. Provided you're not me and not a total lazy ass. Do the work and assignments on time, study for exams and you can do it. The thing with Arts is that you have to keep up with the readings. If you do that you should be fine provided you do the work.
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brenden

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Re: Arts degree and WAM
« Reply #2 on: October 20, 2013, 12:43:07 am »
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Well, I'm not even through my first year yet but I've found it relatively easy to be above that WAM. That said, I love reading and I love my subjects, and I'm a decent writer (Arts is really just reading, writing, and thinking).

P.S: boo crim yay phil
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chasej

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Re: Arts degree and WAM
« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2013, 06:07:59 pm »
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Hi there

I'm considering undertaking an Arts degree (most likely majoring in criminology or international relations/studies), with the end goal being going on to undertake the JD. My main concern with this path is part of the criteria; 'academic results from previous tertiary studies'. I've heard the universities are looking for at least a WAM of 70% but in order to be competition an WAM of 75%+ is preferred. My question is how hard is it to maintain such a WAM throughout an Arts degree?

If anyone could help me out that would be top.

Cheers.

You're probably better off going for a LLB if you can get into one straight out of highschool.
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slothpomba

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Re: Arts degree and WAM
« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2013, 07:53:12 pm »
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You're probably better off going for a LLB if you can get into one straight out of highschool.

I'd listen to this advice. If you can get into it, do it. You dont have to spend 3 years working to only *possibly* get in. That said, if you don't not the end of the world, if you work hard you'll make it.

Thats a decently easy WAM to get. Remember WAM is "Weighted Average Mark". So, sure, you can do crap in a few and it'll be smoothed out by your better subjects.

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ninwa

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Re: Arts degree and WAM
« Reply #5 on: October 24, 2013, 05:55:11 pm »
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Also from what I hear (from students studying the JD), it is tougher in terms of workload because most JD programs are run in trimesters.
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The Big Aristotle

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Re: Arts degree and WAM
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2013, 02:21:52 pm »
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You're probably better off going for a LLB if you can get into one straight out of highschool.

I know I can get into somewhere like ACU or potentially Deakin, I think Monash is a bit too out of my ATAR range. Would going to Deakin or ACU straight into the LLB be better than taking the risk of maybe not getting into the Melbourne jd?

Also from what I hear (from students studying the JD), it is tougher in terms of workload because most JD programs are run in trimesters.

Sorry can you re-explain this? I don't understand what you're saying haha.

slothpomba

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Re: Arts degree and WAM
« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2013, 04:42:06 pm »
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Sorry can you re-explain this? I don't understand what you're saying haha.

A semester is where you divide the year into two periods, semester 1 and semester 2, a bit like unit 1 and unit 2 of VCE. So, you do 4 subjects a semester and 8 subjects in a year (4x2 semesters).

As the tri implies, a trimester is dividing the academic year into 3 chunks. So, you'd have three seperate pools of content to cover in a way. I don't know much more about the deakin trimester system (do you take less subjects etc) than what the word actually means. So, if you want more you might have to email them and ask or something.

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ninwa

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Re: Arts degree and WAM
« Reply #8 on: October 26, 2013, 05:06:08 pm »
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I know I can get into somewhere like ACU or potentially Deakin, I think Monash is a bit too out of my ATAR range. Would going to Deakin or ACU straight into the LLB be better than taking the risk of maybe not getting into the Melbourne jd?

What do you plan to do with a law degree?

Re trimesters basically what sloth said ^
It means you finish your degree in fewer years but it's also easier to get burned out
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The Big Aristotle

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Re: Arts degree and WAM
« Reply #9 on: October 26, 2013, 09:19:15 pm »
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What do you plan to do with a law degree?

Haven't narrowed myself to one area yet, but thinking of areas like international law, diplomacy or just practicing.

ninwa

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Re: Arts degree and WAM
« Reply #10 on: October 26, 2013, 11:06:32 pm »
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What kind of international law? If you're thinking human rights law - that is a tiiiiiiiiiiny niche and most people won't get to do it - you need years of experience and potentially a graduate degree, at which point your undergraduate uni really won't matter that much. I believe places like the Castan Centre do have programs where they send graduate students to intern at the UN etc. but these are people who not only have amazing marks, but also do things like set up human rights organisations in their spare time lol. So yeah highly competitive and your uni probably matters a bit there.

Most international law is stuff like international trade law, international maritime law etc. which is about as interesting as it sounds. (And also a very niche area. I wouldn't have a clue how to get into that industry even if I wanted to lol.)

Diplomacy - actually I keep track of DFAT ambassador announcements at work, and very rarely do they have law degrees - most are either economics, foreign language or international relations graduates (with decades of experience on top of that). You don't necessarily need a law degree - I believe the DFAT graduate program takes any discipline - so I can't imagine your alma mater would have as much of an impact, as long as you maintain good grades / experience. I have also heard that government graduate jobs, in general, place less emphasis on your marks/uni and more on just how well-rounded you are / your personality/work ethic etc.

Practice - just in general, the market is extremely saturated right now where even Group of 8 graduates with HD averages are struggling to find clerkships/graduate jobs. If commercial law (big top tier law firms) your objective, then maybe a JD at a Group of 8 would be a better idea than ACU.

Deakin is borderline - their law school is really not that bad from what I've heard. I volunteer with one Deakin student and used to work with another (who is now doing a PhD in law) and they are both very competent people. If you can maintain a very good GPA and combine it with things like mooting competitions, internships and other legal experience, and volunteering, you shouldn't be that disadvantaged especially if you go for smaller firms (which coincidentally also have muuuuch better work-life balance!)
« Last Edit: October 26, 2013, 11:08:17 pm by ninwa »
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The Big Aristotle

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Re: Arts degree and WAM
« Reply #11 on: October 28, 2013, 05:29:35 pm »
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Thanks for the help guys, still a bit stressed about the decision, will talk more with my careers counsellor at school.