Chances I land a US/MC/SC Vac Scheme (low 2:1)?

[starfish345]

Hi everyone,

I hope you're all doing well.

As I'm preparing and sending out vacation scheme applications for the upcoming cycle, I wanted to get some thoughts from the community on how competitive I might be for schemes at top firms (US/MC/SC). I'm asking because, while I'm at a strong university for my LLB, I'm in my final year with just 'okay' grades so far—a 63 average (low 2:1), with one outlier third-class grade that brought my average down from a 67 (unfortunately somehow scored in the mid-40s on an elective module, oof).

Here’s a quick overview of my background:

School: Strong RG Uni (UCL/Durham)
Year: Final year UG

Degree: Law

Grades: 63 average in the second year (low/mid 2:1), with one poor outlier mark

Experience: 4 x finance internships (IB/PE/HF), all with small/boutique firms
1 x legal internship at a large asset manager

Extracurriculars: Professional athlete, limited other activities due to training commitments

Diversity: Non diversity


I'm mainly concerned about my grades. While they meet the 2:1 requirement for most applications, I'm unsure if having a lower 2:1 and an outlier mark will significantly affect my chances. Additionally, I don’t have extensive legal experience, as I’ve focused more on the finance and investing side during my time at university. My extracurriculars are limited since I’ve dedicated much of my time to professional sports (not at the Olympic level, but still professionally).

Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi everyone,

I hope you're all doing well.

As I'm preparing and sending out vacation scheme applications for the upcoming cycle, I wanted to get some thoughts from the community on how competitive I might be for schemes at top firms (US/MC/SC). I'm asking because, while I'm at a strong university for my LLB, I'm in my final year with just 'okay' grades so far—a 63 average (low 2:1), with one outlier third-class grade that brought my average down from a 67 (unfortunately somehow scored in the mid-40s on an elective module, oof).

Here’s a quick overview of my background:

School: Strong RG Uni (UCL/Durham)
Year: Final year UG

Degree: Law

Grades: 63 average in the second year (low/mid 2:1), with one poor outlier mark

Experience: 4 x finance internships (IB/PE/HF), all with small/boutique firms
1 x legal internship at a large asset manager

Extracurriculars: Professional athlete, limited other activities due to training commitments

Diversity: Non diversity


I'm mainly concerned about my grades. While they meet the 2:1 requirement for most applications, I'm unsure if having a lower 2:1 and an outlier mark will significantly affect my chances. Additionally, I don’t have extensive legal experience, as I’ve focused more on the finance and investing side during my time at university. My extracurriculars are limited since I’ve dedicated much of my time to professional sports (not at the Olympic level, but still professionally).

Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

The focus on finance/investment work experience I think will be more of the challenge than your grades. You are going to have to really convince people on the "why law" aspect of your applications.

There will be some firms who really stress about the need for academic excellence who may be a bit sniffy about your grades, but if you have been competing in sport at a professional level then that may have a bit of a trade off.

There will be enough of the US/MC/SC firms who will probably be interested if you have a compelling reason for why law though.