Hi, I’m Caroline,I hail from the wilds of county Roscommon and in September I will be a third year Law (BCL) student in UCD Sutherland School of Law.
What is a BCL?
Funny story actually – a BCL is a Bachelor in Civil Law, despite the fact that we are a common law country. Do not fear though, Oxford also award BCL’s so you’re already one step ahead of your LLB-achieving competition. Colloquially, the BCL in UCD is known as doing ‘Pure Law’ as many of your prospective classmates will choose to do ‘Law with…’.Check out the range of options HERE.
Choosing the ‘Law with…’ path doesn’t mean you come out with any lesser of a law degree, it simply means that you also have a minor in your chosen subject, while your Pure Law classmates will have done a number of extra law modules, not explicitly required for the Bar or entry to the Law Society.
Doing the BCL in UCD doesn’t necessarily sign your fate as a future barrister or solicitor. A law degree is a great general degree to have with graduates heading into many different career sectors from business to journalism, broadcasting, finance, and many other areas.
The Sutherland School of Law
Why I Chose Law in UCD
I was by no means born with a gavel in my hand (as I sometimes believe a number of my classmates might have been!). I had been yo-yo-ing from history teaching to law and even at one stage considered doing science before I realised that I hated science in school and I would be miserable doing it in college. (Aside: don’t choose a course just for its job potential or because your parents want you to. It has to be something that will make you happy. At the end of the day it’s your life). In the end, my decision came down to my love of arguing, proving other people wrong, or Youngest Child Syndrome as my older sister likes to call it, and wanting to do something unique to anything I had ever done before.
A big factor in my decision to study law in UCD was the opening of the new Sutherland School of Law, only the second purpose built law building in the Republic of Ireland. The new school boosts some of the best facilities on campus, including two ceremonial moot courts and plugs in the lecture theatres – you’ll understand the significance of this when you’ve sat through a lecture willing the 30% battery in your laptop to last two hours!
Court Room in the School of Law
‘Law? That must be difficult’
The reaction of most people when you tell them you’re studying law. While studying law certainly can be challenging it is far from impossible. Sometimes the amount of reading that has to be done can seem like climbing Everest barefoot, but if you stay on top of it throughout the semester the course is both challenging and enjoyable. Don’t put yourself off it by thinking that you can’t do it. You’re not expected to know anything coming into the course. While the prospect of studying something you’ve never done before can be daunting, your lecturers are aware that they are basically teaching you a new language. Your lectures are there to explain the concepts to you in simple English, while tutorials (small class groups of approximately 15 to 20 people) will get more into the subject, providing an opportunity to ask your tutor questions in a more relaxed setting.
Some light reading!
Subjects like History and English can be advantageous to do for the leaving cert but they are by no means prerequisites. While the research element and essay writing skills gained from Leaving Cert history can make life simpler as a law student, coming out of your first exam in the RDS at Christmas everyone will be on a level pegging, having survived your first semester.
Determination at exam time is crucial!
With 28 out of the 30 Attorney Generals and 9 out of 11 of the current members of the Supreme Court hailing from UCD, if Law is something you’re seriously considering studying, then certainly consider UCD.
*This is a rather unfunny reference to the terrifying yet exhilarating extracurricular know as Mooting, which we’ll get to in time.
