Question about Irish college (answer if you know how the system works; don't answer if you don't!)?

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froggequene

I was wondering what you were talking about because a BA can awarded in several disciplines, not just in Liberal Arts/Humanities. How a Liberal Arts/Humanities degree is perceived depends on the combination of subjects you take up & the grade of degree you receive at the end. There are people who regard Liberal Arts/Humanities as a bit of a cop out. What employers actually look for is the skills that someone acquires when they do a Liberal Arts degree - analysis, research, critical analysis, attention to detail, etc

If you follow this link, it'll explain the different skills an employer would expect you to have based on a particular degree & what jobs/careers would be open to you
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Options_with_your_subject/p!eXbLc

I can't really answer regarding studying law - if you plan to return to the US to study law, you need to contact one of the Universities/law schools to find out what value a BA in Liberal Arts/Humanities would have in the US, what subjects they would expect you to do if you decide to go ahead with that course & ultimately what grade of a degree would be acceptable - usually a first or a two one (2.1).

If you want to study law in Ireland there are courses that just do law. You should try contacting NUI Galway & see if you can discuss if they have a law course you can swap to or what progression there is into law from a BA in Liberal Arts/Humanities.

This is the link for The Law Society in Ireland, they should be able to give you advice as well
http://www.lawsociety.ie/displayCDAContent.aspx?node=125&groupID=125&code=education

ash1

If its law that you want to go into, then i would suggest just doing a law degree. But it might be more points that the arts degree.
I would call NUI and explain to them what you just said here.
If you do end up staying with the Arts degree, there is often options to transfer into another degree after a couple of years. For example, you do the legal science subject for 2yrs as a major, get good marks then you can transfer into 2nd year of a law degree (means you're basically doing an extra year but would be worth it in the end if you get a law degree) Now i dont know about youre particular degree, so again call NUI and ask them if thats an option. Ask to speak to the registrars office, or careers office...or both even to get as much info as you can.

anseo

Im doing a bachelor of arts too, though not wih law in it. I nearly went to galway too. Arts is good if your not 100% what you want to do. So if you go to galway you will have to do law along with 3 other subjects in first year. Then in second year you drop two subjects and specialise in what you want to do. So yes, you could drop law and progress with something else.

First, it is a good degree, if you do a follow up post-grad. or masters in it. other wise its pretty much useless. sorry, but its the same for me, ill have to do it two!

Second, it would be harder to get a job with just a BA, you really need to follow it up with something,

Thrid, we dont have law school over here, its comletely different system, but yes it would be harder to get into our 'law school with a BA, but they take the best, so if you have an excellent score you might get it.

Fourth, this is warning, if you were to go down this road in a law, it could take you up to 5 years, and also that will only qualify you to practice in irelan, no america, you would probably have to do the whole thing again in america if you wanted to practice over there.

I would advise if you one to ireland, do your BA but dont focus on law, at the end of the year, pick the two subjects that you like and drop the two you dont.

Crazygirl

I done it never have.

You I thank very much.

Possibly you like me to a poem write about my experience Irish schooling of?

Ask me tell you I will.

tzddean

As far as I know, in the US you do an arts degree first, then you go to medical school/law school or whatever - is that right? It's different here: if you want to be a lawyer or a doctor, you generally go straight into a degree in law or medicine, then there's further specialist training.

From looking at the NUIG course description, if you do the BA in legal science, you can then transfer directly to the final year of the LLB (bachelor of law) course. This is because the legal science degree on its own is not enough for you to become a solicitor or barrister in Ireland. You have to have the law degree before you can be accepted into the professional training courses.

See http://www.nuigalway.ie/courses/undergraduate/courses.php?cCode=gy101&cName=Legal%20Science and scroll down about three-quarters of the way, and look at the section headed "Legal Science".

paulred2

Generally , an arts degree here will be used to become a teacher, or as a stepping stone to post-grad.
An arts isn't as prestigious as a focused Ba, as it' only a 2-3 year course. A BA in law is a 4 year minimum, focusing Only on Law, as a full time course.
An Arts, is focused on several subjects ( though you can make all of them law related if you try ), with less credits ( less time spent in class) it's a shorter course at only two years sometime.
Essentially, An Arts in Law will not qualify you to become a member of the bar. It's usually just the basics, for flavor on your CV, for jobs relating to law, but not requiring bar status etc.

Essentially, you'll need to do post grad to take the Bar exam, no question. In a job relating to law, A civil law degree will be more impressive, but a lot more work while in collage.

Orla C

If you wanted to study law, why didn't you just apply to Law directly? You can do that, you know.

If you don't complete your BA degree, regardless of the subjects you do, you can't call yourself a Bachelor of Arts. However, it may be possible to transfer, and the best way to find out about this is to phone the faculty of Law at UCG (assuming there is one, otherwise you could go to another NUI college) and ask them about this.

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