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Top Universities for Law
A myriad of universities offer various postgraduate Master of Laws (LLM) programs in the world. However, the search for the top universities for law can be nebulous to many students, where the capacious internet is littered with brochures and prospectuses using excellent marketing to highlight beautiful campuses with close cropped lawns, immaculate halls of residence and other accommodation, and many pleasing aesthetics to lure undiscerning students to their universities.
The use of social networking applications such as Facebook and Twitter by top universities to advertise their postgraduate programs is most persuasive, as the advertisements reappear each time you refresh a page, check your friends’ pictures or send a message. These targeted advertisements almost seem to constantly trail many unsuspecting students online, leaving them confused about which university is actually a top university to study law at.
However, distinguishing which is the top law university for you need not be a cumbersome task. A foolproof method to start with is to tailor-match a best university that best suits your needs. Think about the location of the top university you have in mind, is it easily accessible? Find out how reputable the top university is. Also, you need to discover which learning and teaching environment works best for you.
Location
There are many top universities for law worldwide; find out which ones are closest to you in the country you reside, using tools like the league table. In the United Kingdom, many top universities for law are scattered all over the country. If you want to remain in your current home it is important that you choose a university that is easily accessible to you. Law is a complex subject that involves laborious albeit interesting hours of reading Statutes, law case studies and so on. Therefore it would be ill advised to waste hours that could be put into good use of legal research, travelling – either driving in long streams of traffic or aboard cramped carriages of trains during peak periods.
The daily stress of commuting can be demoralizing and stressful to say the least. Even worse if you are in possession of heavy duty law textbooks that are in popular demand by other students, which you managed to borrow from the university library and now have to carry around from one train platform to another to return or renew. Sweating and heaving due to the excessive weight of the textbooks amidst long monotonous travelling where you are not even guaranteed a seat can be a nightmare. Studying in a top university at a location that is convenient, easily accessible and conducive for your legal studies is vital.
It is also important to select a location that suits your particular specialism. For example, if you wish to study an LLM in Maritime Law or Oil and Gas law in the UK, it is wise to consider coastal locations that dovetail such program. Aberdeen is a top location to study LLM Oil and Gas law globally, and has the second largest heliport in the world; with service ship harbor port that oil rigs off-shore benefit from. According to Aberdeen City Council, the city is tagged ‘the oil capital of Europe’. The top Universities to study for an LLM in Aberdeen are: The University of Aberdeen and Robert Gordon University. Overall, it is best to choose a top university whose location suits your LLM program.
Reputation
When choosing a top university for law, it is recommended that you use the league table to check the ranking of the institutions. League tables are an effective tool to chronologically arrange the top universities. Four of the top universities for law in the world are: Harvard University (United States); Yale University (United States), University of Cambridge (United Kiingdom) and University of Oxford (United Kingdom). The league table is constantly revised; continually check for the most up-to-date rankings for your LLM program. However it is recommended that you only use league tables as a guide – as many other factors should come into play when you’re choosing what university will best suit your needs.
Learning & teaching environment
When choosing your top university to study law, take into account your preferred learning and teaching environment. As students we thrive well in some environments more than others. For instance some students prefer tranquil and serene environments in a picturesque setting to channel their inner geniuses; environments that are free from commotion and tumult and bring the students close to nature. If you fall into this category, it will be wise to consider top universities situated in the countryside or outskirts of town i.e. University of Warwick in the UK. Vienna University of Economics and Business, in Austria could also be a good choice if tranquility tops your list of requirements as it’s a beautiful, serene campus that sits idyllically outside of town.
On the other hand, some students enjoy the hustle and bustle of the big cities. The varicolored high rise buildings, irregular edifices and the cacophony of throngs of people in a busy environment stimulate their creative minds. If you fall into this category, it is best to consider top universities for law in major cities of the world such as London (London School of Economics) and the University of Melbourne (Victoria), with campuses tucked away in various locations across their respective cities.
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