Saint Olave's Law Society Journal ; Issue 01 (Autumn 2013) | Page 26

Saint
 Olave’s
 Law
 Society
 Journal

ENTRY
 INTO
 UNDERGRADUATE
 LAW

CAROLINE
 YUEN

  Hi
 there,
 I'm
 Caroline.
 So
 either
 you're
  thinking
 about
 applying
 for
 Law
 at
  university,
 or
 you
 have
 a
 general
  interest
 in
 the
 legal
 system
 we
 have
 in
  place.
 Whatever
 it
 is
 that
 made
 you
 turn
  to
 this
 journal,
 good
 on
 you
 (I
 never
 had
  this!).
 I'll
 be
 honest
 though,
 I
 can't
 write
  an
 extensive
 article
 about
 a
 particular
  field
 of
 law,
 and
 I
 won't
 pretend
 that
 I
  know
 exactly
 what
 I've
 got
 myself
 into.
  But,
 if
 you're
 looking
 for
 a
 light-­?hearted
  article
 that's
 more
 like
 an
 insight
 into
  the
 application
 process
 (from
 my
 point
  of
 view)
 with
 little
 hints
 and
 tips
 here
  and
 there,
 well
 put
 your
 Hogwarts
 robes
  on,
 because
 I'm
 about
 to
 open
 the
  Chamber
 of
 Secrets!

  LNAT

  I
 hope
 you've
 done
 your
 research
 into
  the
 requirements
 for
 your
 university
  because
 for
 many
 top
 universities
 (incl.
  Birmingham,
 Bristol,
 Durham,
 Glasgow,
  King's
 College
 London,
 Nottingham,
  Oxford
 and
 UCL)
 you
 MUST
 take
 the
  National
 Admissions
 Test
 for
 Law
 AKA
  the
 LNAT.
 (Cambridge
 requires
 you
 to
  take
 their
 own
 test,
 which
 I
 can't
  comment
 on
 because
 I
 didn't
 apply
 to
  Cambridge!)
  -­?DUN
 DUN
 DUN-­?
 if
 you've
 been
 dreading
  this,
 you
 certainly
 have
 good
 reason
 to.
  It
 is
 HORRIBLE
 to
 say
 the
 least.

  The
 test
 lasts
 2
 hours
 and
 15
 minutes.
  Sounds
 like
 a
 lot
 of
 time
 but
 it
 is
 not
  enough
 time.
 In
 fact,
 time
 was
 one
 of
 my
  biggest
 issues.
 The
 actual
 test
 comprises
  of
 two
 sections:
  • Section
 A
 -­?
 42
 multiple-­?choice
  questions
 based
 on
 12
 separate
  essays
  • Section
 B
 (40
 min.
 time
 limit)
 -­?
  write
 an
 essay
 on
 one
 of
 the
 3
  topics
 they
 give
 you
 to
 do
 with
  the
 law

  Don't
 start
 panicking
 though,
 there
 are
  ways
 you
 can
 tackle
 this
 monster
 (and
  I've
 been
 quite
 melodramatic
 here
 so
  that
 you'll
 start
 preparing)!
  Firstly,
 go
 on
 the
 LNAT
 website
 and
  start
 doing
 their
 practice
 papers!
  They're
 difficult
 and
 don't
 worry
 if
 you
  don't
 get
 a
 high
 score
 first
 couple
 of
  times
 round
 (they
 take
 time
 getting
  used
 to).
 Then,
 if
 you
 haven't
 already
  been
 discussing
 this
 with
 your
 other
 law
  mateys,
 then
 you
 should
 get
 started.
  Form
 a
 group
 of
 you
 that
 will
 be
 taking
  the
 LNAT
 and
 meet
 regularly
 for
 a
 cuppa
  and
 compare
 practice
 tests
 you've
 done
  (enjoyable
 and
 useful).
 Ask
 person
 A
  why
 they
 chose
 this
 answer
 and
 why
  person
 B
 disagrees.
 Discuss
 why
 the
  right
 answer
 is
 that
 one.
 Remember
  there
 is
 LAW
 SOCIETY-­?every
 Tuesday
  lunchtime-­?
 and
 go
 there.
 Being
 one
 of
  the
 founders,
 I
 strongly
 recommend
 it!
  Also,
 read
 newspapers.
 I
 mean,
  broadsheets,
 no
 Sun
 or
 Daily
 Mirror!
  Start
 reading
 The
 Independent
 or
 The
  Times
 and
 not
 just
 articles
 to
 do
 with
  law,
 read
 as
 many
 different
 articles
 as
  you
 can!
 The
 essays
 in
 the
 LNAT
 are
  written
 like
 newspaper
 articles
 (rarely
  on
 subjects
 to
 do
 with
 Law)
 so
 get
 used
  to
 that
 kind
 of
 'fancy'
 writing.
 If
 you
 do
  all
 these
 things,
 you
 will
 be
 fine
 and
 do
  not
 over
 stress
 about
 this!
 It's
 one
 of
  those
 tests
 that
 you
 really
 can
 only
 do
 so
  much
 preparation
 for!

  OH,
 one
 more
 thing,
 you
 have
 to
 book
  your
 own
 test.
 It's
 not
 done
 through
  school!

  Personal
 Statement

  Of
 course,
 another
 important
 element
 to
  your
 Law
 application
 is
 your
 personal
  statement!
 Mine
 was
 interesting…
 I'm
  not
 sure
 I
 should
 share
 advice
 here
  because
 I
 don't
 think
 my
 personal
  statement
 was
 exactly
 great
 but
 I
 will

  Issue
 01

 Autumn
 2013

 26