Law Part Time LLB Cork Advice!

infinitykarma

Hi all,

I'm currently a sixth year student sitting the leaving certificate in June. At the moment what I'd really like to do is the Part Time LLB in Griffith, as this will give me an opportunity to get a job during the day to move out and to save money.

Fees aren't really an issue as going to Dublin, Maynooth etc would all cost roughly the same - if not more. (As a rough guide, taking accommodation into account, Maynooth would cost about €38,000 and with sporadic hours a job would be harder to tie down vs going to Griffith). Before anyone asks haha, no, I'm not concerned in the slightest with missing out on the student experience i.e excessive drinking, and am more interested in just doing my degree and heading for the FE-1s.

So, I know that Law requires a lot of extra time spent reading material and various cases but would it be fully manageable to work a 5 day week and earn my degree?

TL;DR: Has anyone who may have previously done the LLB in either Cork or Dublin found it easy to manage the degree and working at the same time?

Thanks guys!

Jentle Grenade

I do not know about attending Griffith, but I did do the EBCL in UCC over four years.

With regards to time and study, it is absolutely possible to work full time and study for your degree. I worked 9-5/6 full time while I studied and came out with a first. You need to have (or pick up) time management and basic organisation skills to make sure you get through all of your reading. To minimise stress you'd need to make sure any job you have would see your evenings completely free, it's difficult enough working all day and then heading in for 3/4 hours of lectures and tutorials. When exams rolled around I generally took 1/2 weeks off work to prepare and sit, so ideally you'd need to look for an employer who would be OK with you taking time off during your exam times. In my final year I took 6 weeks of unpaid leave to study and sit the exams. Perhaps excessive in hindsight but it allowed me to prepare thoroughly and relaxed me.

Studying law is quite intense, full time or part time. It's certainly not easy either. It is a great experience though. Best of luck with it.

infinitykarma

Thanks a million for your reply.

Yeah, I personally think working full time and studying would suit me the best, but obviously for a lot of people they'd view it as a total nightmare. I'm prepared to put in the hours, otherwise I wouldn't even bother looking into the evening course. The advice about taking time off work is very helpful though and is definitely something I'll factor into account. While I knew it was perfectly possible to study by night I think this definitely reassured me.

Hopefully I'll be able to find somebody who has first hand experience with Griffith, but your experience with the ECBL really added some clarity. Thanks so much.

infinitykarma

Wondering if anybody else has experience with the Griffith degree or what other law students/graduates may think. Is there much prejudice based on the college you get your degree from? Hopefully commenting will boost this post up further and encourage more people to reply.