For local law schools, getting a high GPA merely grants you an audience with the gatekeepers i.e law professors bearing impressive academic records (Harvard Law, Yale Law, Jessup Mooters) and a shot at the written tests. On one hand, a GPA of 3.89 is decent in raising your chances but on the other, the discipline of your diploma, being Mechanical Engineering with no bearing to the reading of Law, sets you back. Weighing these 2 factors, your chance of being granted an interview can only be said to be slim. The scales will tilt in your favour if you are in possession of any, or many, extraordinary co-curricular record.
In the event you do secure that coveted interview, the ball is in your court, with admission depending squarely on your aptitude and charisma.
I would reckon local law schools put you in a much better position than foreign law schools to network; the classmates you study with are the most likely to be the ones shaping the future of the legal landscape in Singapore, as attorney-generals, senior counsels, DPPs and et cetera. I'm not putting down foreign universities but statistically speaking, most of those serving on the bench, or, as AGs, SGs, and SCs in Singapore have graduated from NUS (and possibly in the future, from SMU), barring a few standout Oxbridge grads.
For UK law schools, you would have to excel in the LNAT. This shouldn't be an issue for Singaporean students who have had a rigorous logic-based education pounded into them from birth. The defining factors rest on your flair for the language and ability to organise your thoughts into a coherent structure. As far as I know, quite a few UK Law schools do not conduct interviews, opting instead to evaluate candidates solely on their GPAs and LNAT scores. A few notable and dare I say, exalted, UK law schools are Oxbridge, KCL, UCL and LSE. These universities are perpetually in the crosshairs of high-achieving Barrister/Solicitor aspirants.
Ascertaining your chances of admission into these notable schools is a task too monumental for any dweller of this forum for too many things depend upon your individual abilities, character, and way with words. An enquiry submitted in the direction of the admission committees of these universities would serve you much better than the ramblings of a stranger on the Internet.
For the other less exalted UK law schools in the same tier as Nottingham, Bristol and Birmingham, admission chances are generally more favourable, although securing training contracts after graduation will be a struggle based on anecdotal observation. The Ministry of Law is constantly axing foreign universities from the list of approved universities - - which I will henceforth refer to as the "List" - - so even if a foreign university, say University of Manchester, was to be on the List on the year of your matriculation, it could well be scrapped off the List by the time you graduate. Granted, you would still be eligible for the Bar Exams but your credentials will not be viewed on a equal footing with the local law and foreign law degrees still on the List. Hence, foreign universities, especially the ones teetering on the edge of expulsion from the List, are a huge gamble. Opt for the traditionally more prestigious universities to save yourself unnecessary sorrow, regret and a scroll unable to live up to its promises, in the future.
For Australian law schools, I am unable to provide an informed opinion because I've neither an Australian law grad among my acquaintances nor have I heard of any successful jurist practicing as a member of the local bar. That said, I have seen very successful in-house counsels in large international firms, albeit not as solicitors and advocates of the local bar. Admission chances to Australian law schools are the most favourable; if you got the dough, it's a go.
The last option in the event you fail to gain admission to any law school would be to enrol in a reputable university, obtain at least a Second Upper degree in a degree of choice excluding Law, then finally, enrol in either the Juris Doctor postgraduate course at SMU or the equivalent at NUS. This is a perfectly legitimate, if not the best path, to a degree in Law because without maturity of mind, excelling as a Lawyer will be next to impossible. An undergraduate degree exposing you to the tenets of critical thinking and the real world will go far in preparing you for law school. In fact, the US only permits the reading of Law as a postgraduate, attesting to the rigors of a law degree not for the immature mind. Lawyers represent the brightest of society and are tasked with the noble role of upholding law and order; It is not a role to be taken lightly.
Hope this piece helps even if it comes across as being excessively proud and confident of the legal profession's prestige. It is a prestigious profession for sure but the subject of Law animates my writing to the point where I sometimes hyperbolise my points as a way of emphasis.
Sent from my bowels to your mouth using GAGT
