SUSS Law Programme 2017 (Formerly UniSIM)

nestasan

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just wondering if anyone applying for this? any thoughts/concerns?
 

Havok_ex

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I believe majority of their intake will be those with career background in social services. Stated on their website for the bachelor of laws:

"Accordingly our student recruitment will focus on and give preference to applicants who have a fair amount of work experience. Preference will be given to applicants who have worked for some time in related fields such as social work, law enforcement, and the prison service.

Other applicants who can show current involvement in community work connected with Criminal Law and Family Law will also be given preferred consideration."

It looks like its not directed to fresh poly/JC school leavers, unless they have demonstrated the above. Most of their curriculum are also directed to family and criminal law. Theres a shortage right now in those areas. Because you don't earn as much as corporate law. But if you really are looking towards corporate law, unisim might not be the place for you.
 

ftft58

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http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/unisim-law-school-gets-overwhelming-response

UniSIM law school gets overwhelming response

Interest in SIM University's much- awaited law school - due to open next year - is so high that it had to hold an extra briefing session on its courses yesterday.

More than 450 showed up for two two-hour briefings detailing the school's law programmes at UniSIM's annual open house - double the expected number.

The UniSIM School of Law, Singapore's third law school, will aim to address a predicted shortage of lawyers in the fields of criminal and family law.

There are a total of 60 places available on its two courses, 48 of which will go to mature students seeking a mid-career switch to law. The other 12 will go to A-level school leavers and polytechnic diploma-holders without work experience.

Paralegal Latifah Hassan, 32, who has been working in family law for 12 years and has a diploma in law and management, said that it would be a "tough fight" for those like her applying for the LL.B course.

"There were a couple of concerns from the crowd today about how many of us will be admitted for the LL.B. course because there were a number of people with diplomas," she said.

She added that they were assured that the final percentage of those admitted to the respective courses will still depend on the profile of applicants.

Professor Leslie Chew, the law school's dean, was "very encouraged by the tremendous interest".

"Not everyone makes a good family or criminal lawyer. We hope to attract a special breed of students who have relevant work experience, strong hearts and helping dispositions," he said.

"From the turnout today, I am particularly encouraged that many come from the type of backgrounds we are hoping to attract."

UniSIM president Cheong Hee Kiat said earlier this month when the school was announced that it hopes to draw mature individuals with experience in related fields, such as social work and law enforcement, who want to make a switch to a second career in law.

Students will be selected not just based on academic ability but also aptitude, attitude and interest in the practice of family and criminal law.

Legal executive Sheryl Keith Nuqui, 26, said that many of the prospective applicants had experience working in criminal and family law.

"There was an overwhelming number of people today but I'm not surprised because many of us had been waiting for such a programme," said Ms Keith Nuqui, who has six years of working experience and holds a diploma in law and management as well as a bachelor's degree in law from the University of London.

"I can meet the criteria for the JD programme, but I'm pretty sure there will be loads of people like me with even more experience."

But she is undeterred by the competition. "The applicants are all people who want to do their part for the community, and we can all learn from one another's experience."

Applications for the law school will open on Tuesday and close on July 31.
 

ftft58

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Press Release from Ministry of Law:
<Singapore’s Third Law School to Accept Students from 2017>
https://www.mlaw.gov.sg/content/min...-law-school-to-accept-students-from-2017.html


The Straits Times:
<UniSIM law school to open in January>
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/unisim-law-school-to-open-in-january


The Straits Times:
<No conversion course for external law degree holders>
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/no-conversion-course-for-external-law-degree-holders


The Straits Times:
<UniSIM Law School: Why mature students are preferred>
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/unisim-law-school-why-mature-students-are-preferred
 

calliope

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just wondering if anyone applying for this? any thoughts/concerns?

Are you thinking of applying? There will definitely be a lot of competition but if you're already working in the legal industry as a paralegal or something you should give it a shot.
 
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just wondering if anyone applying for this? any thoughts/concerns?

LNAT is a requirement I heard. Good luck with that. No amount of promise of the pay will compel me to do a repeat of a lousy version of a timed exam stuck somewhere between O and A -levels to get into a part time law school that does not even teach you the full set of things. (I apologise for this sentence that has ran away but whatever. I don;t like the GMAT/LNAT/SAT with a passion :D)

i.e. unless and until it gets recognised as a qualifying certification somewhere outside of singapore, it is still far insuperior to NUS/SMU and heck even some of the 2nd tier non-london based law school IMO.

I just don't want to torture myself with idiotic general scholastic test created by some old dude that does not even resemble to shadow of your easiest law exam question.
 
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nestasan

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Are you thinking of applying? There will definitely be a lot of competition but if you're already working in the legal industry as a paralegal or something you should give it a shot.
yes had been giving it some serious thought.
but i'm not from the related social service/law enforcement/legal industries that they were hoping to attract candidates from. i attended the talk and the impression i had was that it wouldn't particularly count against me, just that if they had more than enough candidates from the preferred industries then that would likely be their first cohort there.
 

nestasan

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LNAT is a requirement I heard. Good luck with that. No amount of promise of the pay will compel me to do a repeat of a lousy version of a timed exam stuck somewhere between O and A -levels to get into a part time law school that does not even teach you the full set of things. (I apologise for this sentence that has ran away but whatever. I don;t like the GMAT/LNAT/SAT with a passion :D)

i.e. unless and until it gets recognised as a qualifying certification somewhere outside of singapore, it is still far insuperior to NUS/SMU and heck even some of the 2nd tier non-london based law school IMO.

I just don't want to torture myself with idiotic general scholastic test created by some old dude that does not even resemble to shadow of your easiest law exam question.
haha yes the LNAT does look rather tricky. I was thinking it's a one-off thing and i'll just take it and see if i get a decent score. I dont suppose their qualifying criteria would be too stringent seeing as how some oxbridge law students score in the low 20s...

hmm any other suggested routes to a law degree apart from this part-time unisim programme? part-time being the operative word here... :)
 
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haha yes the LNAT does look rather tricky. I was thinking it's a one-off thing and i'll just take it and see if i get a decent score. I dont suppose their qualifying criteria would be too stringent seeing as how some oxbridge law students score in the low 20s...

hmm any other suggested routes to a law degree apart from this part-time unisim programme? part-time being the operative word here... :)

In an alternate universe where there's another separate country also with the name Singapore you will find another part time law programme.

In all seriousness, I suggest you look through the minlaw site the decide if you want to go the ITC/Stensfield route to find yourself outside of the definition of what constitutes a qualified person. If HKU cannot make the cut, I do not see why ITC/Stensfield or even UniSIM in this case should be given special treatment. For starters, the programme at HKU I am willing to wager is full time and much more vigorous putting aside the legal system differences. Once again I repeat, If you do not see structural engineers and doctors who became that on part time degrees, the expectation is that the same applies to lawyers but obviously not seeing how you are asking :D
 
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calliope

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haha yes the LNAT does look rather tricky. I was thinking it's a one-off thing and i'll just take it and see if i get a decent score. I dont suppose their qualifying criteria would be too stringent seeing as how some oxbridge law students score in the low 20s...

hmm any other suggested routes to a law degree apart from this part-time unisim programme? part-time being the operative word here... :)

Considering that there aren't many places and there's a fair amount of interest in this programme I do think it might be hard for you to get in, but you can always try. Maybe if your personal statement sets you apart or something haha.

There isn't another part-time programme that will qualify you to be a lawyer, but having said that I know of people who take up part-time law degrees from private schools here and go on to become in-house counsel etc. Of course you won't be able to get called, which means you won't be able to go to court and represent clients, but there are other job opportunities in the legal industry that you could explore.

Not a lawyer but have some knowledge of the legal industry so if you have any other questions, you could always PM me and I'll see if I can help
 
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Considering that there aren't many places and there's a fair amount of interest in this programme I do think it might be hard for you to get in, but you can always try. Maybe if your personal statement sets you apart or something haha.

There isn't another part-time programme that will qualify you to be a lawyer, but having said that I know of people who take up part-time law degrees from private schools here and go on to become in-house counsel etc. Of course you won't be able to get called, which means you won't be able to go to court and represent clients, but there are other job opportunities in the legal industry that you could explore.

Not a lawyer but have some knowledge of the legal industry so if you have any other questions, you could always PM me and I'll see if I can help

I would imagine said in-house counsels had to 1) work their butts off more so that the slave driver hours already in place for the NUS/SMU grads 2) start at a way lower salary. Think very low for the same work and hours spent.
 

hazard89

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wondering if anyone has got in? or been through the admission interview? Mine is tomorrow, really nervous!
 

hazard89

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Aww sorry to hear that :/ just out of curiosity, what kind of questions did they ask?

No worries mate. They asked the standard "why you?" questions. Plus also some other qns related to drafting matrimonial and criminal court docs.
 
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