Hi all,
Some background:
- international student (LLB from a RG uni)
- No UK vac schemes, but did internships in my home country in mid-large commercial law firms
- I plan on self-funding the SQE + LLM in Feb 2025.
- I'll be on a tier 4 study visa with BPP / uLaw.
I took some time off to fully focus on applications, but realised so many summer 2025 schemes clash with (estimated) term time dates / the July SQE1 exam. I won't have a visa to do Winter'24 schemes. Realistically, I can only apply to easter 2025 schemes, even though many overlap by 1-2 weeks. I could potentially wait for the next cycle to do Winter'25 schemes, but I'd hate to waste this cycle.
To summarise my questions:
1. Have international students successfully done vac schemes during their SQE period?
2. Are firms usually willing to make special arrangements, or defer applicants to later cycles / consider them for Direct TCs instead? It would suck if I passed the AC but the firm turns me down because of Visa restrictions.
3. Realistically, what is my best application strategy for this 2024-25 cycle? I didn't feel confident banking on direct TC apps with just 3-4 internships under my belt and because I lack UK-based work experience.
Would appreciate your advice! [USER=2672]@Jessica Booker[/USER] [USER=36777]@Andrei Radu[/USER]
