Applying after suspending studies

[rocky123]

Hi,

I'm an undergrad non-law student at Cambridge. In April I was forced to intermit before I could take my 2nd year exams after discovering I had a chronic health condition. I'll be returning in January, still technically in 2nd year, but obviously without an academic result from the 2023-2024 year.

Should I bother applying for summer vacs this autumn? For context I did extremely well in my 1st year (ranked in top 5 of ~200), but I have nothing from 2nd yr.

 

[Amma Usman]

Hi @rocky123 ,

Thank you for sharing your situation, and I’m really sorry to hear about what you’ve been through. I hope you’re feeling much better now. Given your impressive first-year results, I definitely think it’s worth applying for vacation schemes this autumn. You can address the gap in your application by explaining the mitigating circumstances surrounding your second year, which should be understandable to firms.

Since you're a non-law student, just ensure you’re checking the eligibility criteria carefully. Some firms welcome applications from second-year non-law students, while others might only consider non-law students in their final year or beyond.

Best of luck, and if you need any further advice, feel free to ask!

@Jessica Booker will have more thoughts on this as well.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @rocky123 ,

Thank you for sharing your situation, and I’m really sorry to hear about what you’ve been through. I hope you’re feeling much better now. Given your impressive first-year results, I definitely think it’s worth applying for vacation schemes this autumn. You can address the gap in your application by explaining the mitigating circumstances surrounding your second year, which should be understandable to firms.

Since you're a non-law student, just ensure you’re checking the eligibility criteria carefully. Some firms welcome applications from second-year non-law students, while others might only consider non-law students in their final year or beyond.

Best of luck, and if you need any further advice, feel free to ask!

@Jessica Booker will have more thoughts on this as well.

I agree with @Amma Usman here - if you are eligible as a penultimate year student for firm’s programmes, you should apply this year with your first year results. Firms will be used to only seeing one set of results for such applicants.

For some firms you will need to wait until you are in your final year, as so you can apply to them this time next year.

 

[rocky123]

Hi @rocky123 ,

Thank you for sharing your situation, and I’m really sorry to hear about what you’ve been through. I hope you’re feeling much better now. Given your impressive first-year results, I definitely think it’s worth applying for vacation schemes this autumn. You can address the gap in your application by explaining the mitigating circumstances surrounding your second year, which should be understandable to firms.

Since you're a non-law student, just ensure you’re checking the eligibility criteria carefully. Some firms welcome applications from second-year non-law students, while others might only consider non-law students in their final year or beyond.

Best of luck, and if you need any further advice, feel free to ask!

@Jessica Booker will have more thoughts on this as well.

I agree with @Amma Usman here - if you are eligible as a penultimate year student for firm’s programmes, you should apply this year with your first year results. Firms will be used to only seeing one set of results for such applicants.

For some firms you will need to wait until you are in your final year, as so you can apply to them this time next year.

Thank you!

Having done more research, I don't think I'm in a position this year to make a competitive application to my top-choice law firms. I plan to accumulate more work experience, society leadership positions and work on commercial awareness etc in time for the next application season in 2025.

Is it worth applying for a lower-tier vacation scheme this summer to get some legal work experience? On the one hand I think this will look good for applications to competitive firms next year. However, I also don't want my top-choice firms to view the experience as failed conversions to training contracts.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Thank you!

Having done more research, I don't think I'm in a position this year to make a competitive application to my top-choice law firms. I plan to accumulate more work experience, society leadership positions and work on commercial awareness etc in time for the next application season in 2025.

Is it worth applying for a lower-tier vacation scheme this summer to get some legal work experience? On the one hand I think this will look good for applications to competitive firms next year. However, I also don't want my top-choice firms to view the experience as failed conversions to training contracts.

Sometimes standards at lower ranked firms are just as high as those deemed to be most competitive. I’d generally only advise doing vacation schemes with firms if you are open to do a training contract with them.

Maybe consider some open days/insight programmes instead to build out your CV/application forms if you feel you will be in a stronger position next cycle.