Clifford gave me a Chance (A now SQE Journey)

[Jessica Booker]

this is a rough calculation but i think 1 hour a week for office hours, then every three weeks 4 hours teaching and 2 hours of prep time.
Which now i am writing it, doesn't sound like a lot.

I think you'd be able to manage that with a full-time course. I know many GDL/LPC/SQEers who have all done more hours than that and been able to manage their courses. You may just want to try and ensure there isn't too much of a commitment around SQE1 assessment times but given they are well publicised dates, you could check that ahead of any commitments.

 

[LillyandSilver]

Just paid for my Barbri SQE1 prep; it pained me to do it but it had to be done. I am going to try and avoid looking at my bank account for a while otherwise I will cry.

 

[LillyandSilver]

Update: I'm sure no one will be surprised, but the SQE is hard. I feel like I'm cramming my brain with information, and no one has any idea what is useful and what isn't. On the plus side, I have spent a lot of money on stationary and glittery pens. I'm really channelling my 16-year-old self in that GCSE Era. My Quizlet game is unreal.

 

[O]

How are you finding Barbri's course?

 

[LillyandSilver]

How are you finding Barbri's course?

Think it is ok at the moment, ask me again after the exam lol 😂

 

[LillyandSilver]

This sounds really strange but I miss applying. I'm watching another cycle start and I'm a bit sad. I got kind of addicted to the rush that you get when you make it through to another round. Don't get me wrong I am very grateful and happy to have this TC but I deffo prefer applying over doing the SQE. I think it is giving me grey hairs and making me relieve my first-year law trauma of contract and tort law.

I have also moved away from Quizlet. It isn't the same as it used to be when I was 16. They've changed, or maybe I have; we just aren't right for each other anymore. It was beautiful while it lasted. I'm now using Knowt for my flashcards because it is free, and I've spent far too much money already on SQE prep.

 

[esnora17]

*Edit --> Sorry guys I changed the name of the thread. Spoiler alert I never managed to apply for Clifford Chance but I couldn't pass up the pun. Apologies to those who have been misled.*

Intro:

Hello, I'm Lilly. I joined the TCLA at the start of this round of applications and in my head, I was going to have a TC before the cycle was over. I realise now that I was a little bit delusional but I'm a law student, so it comes with the territory.

I realise that it is rather late in the day to be posting this, but idk I didn't feel like I had anything to post about until now and have decided to share my story in case people ever feel like they aren't going to get anything either. Also, I am slacking on my applications at the moment and need something to get me back on track. I do not think for a moment I'm going to be the next legal influencer of the decade but here's to hoping.

Plans for the thread.

• I think I also want to use this thread to share some of the tricks I have learnt. I know my strengths and my weaknesses.
• All the feedback I have ever gotten has said that I interview well, I think it is often why after the app stage I can make it to the final rounds when I fall at the written tasks.
• I have developed a few hacks throughout my time for this which I thought I would share.
• Throughout this journey, I know that I need to develop my written skills. My downfall has always been the written tests. I'm a slow writer and I like to redraft things or else they are riddled with errors. My feedback confirms it.
• So I hope to share any tips I learn along the way as well.

A bit about me (sans some pesky details).

• I am a master's student at an RG uni. I studied law for my undergrad and got ok grades. It's nothing special but what can you do about it?
• I wanted to go to The Bar up until the end of my third year when I failed to get any mini-pupillages.
• I made two applications at the end of my third year for training contracts. Got offered one and made it to the AC stage for another.
• I ultimately couldn't accept the TC offer. I know this sounds awful but it didn't have a department in the area I was interested in, it was a small firm which would have required me to self-fund the SQE which I couldn't afford. It also wouldn't let me defer a year. I have wrestled with this decision over the last few months, thinking about whether this was the right one. I think it was, especially after the mess that happened with the SQE 1 this year but at the same time I really want a job.
• This year I have fully committed to the solicitor route and have picked out a few firms I like the look of.
• I try and only apply to firms where I know they have done at least one famous case in the area of law I am interested in.

Applications: (UP TO DATE)
I have so far made 10? applications
A mix of TC and Vac Scheme. It appears that once I get past the written application I make it to the end and I have more success on the direct TC route where the firm does not have a VS.

I have decided that some of these firms are very niche and it would be very easy to discover who I am from them. So I have assigned them aliases from Suits and The Goodwife in italics.

1. Russel Cooke Direct TC - PFO
2. Wakefield Cady TC - PFO post-final stage.
3. Boodle Hatfield VS and TC - PFO
4. PMC VS - PFO
5. Bratten Gould TC - PFO post-final interview.
6. Farrer and Co VS - PFO
7. Mills and Reeve VS - PFO
8. Irwin Mitchell - VS - OFFER TRAINING CONTRACT OFFER
9. Rand Caldor Zane TC - PFO
10. Pearson Hardman VS - First Interview Invite💃 VS OFFER. TRAINING CONTRACT OFFER
11. Wedlake Bell TC: PFO
12. Withers: Test done. PFO

Pending:

Darby International TC - Not submitted. (July 31)
Lockhart Gardner TC - Not submitted (July 31)
Noble & Hale TC - Not Submitted (August 31)

hi can we get in touch could use some advice