Self-funding GDL Help!

[jamescockayne]

Hi folks,

I was wondering if anyone could help me out. I have been applying to vac schemes this year without much luck, and still have some TC applications coming up. I'm anticipating having to self-fund my next steps, and it seems like the logical thing to do to get on with the GDL before SQE kicks in (and hope that next time round having the GDL under my belt might help me out somewhat, and that firms will then pay for me to do the LPC).

I am wondering how people feel about online GDL courses. I have been looking at UoL and BPP, which are obviously very expensive (at around 11k) but it seems they are the preference for companies. I was also looking at Southbank for the GDL as its much cheaper, and since it is so much cheaper, I might be able to move to London for it.

I am worried that online courses will limit my access to careers events and, particular, pro bono initiatives, but then on the other side of the coin, BPP and UoL do seem to have very solid teaching.

If anyone could give some advice on this, that would be great - applying in 2020/21 has had me pulling my hair out so having some guidance would be fantastic.

 

[CF1234]

I'm in the same situation! Interested to hear what people think.

 

[jamescockayne]

@Jessica Booker I've read some of your thoughts on the SQE/GDL and have found your knowledge useful. Do you have any thoughts?

 

[Jessica Booker]

From a recruiter’s perspective it really won’t matter where you do the course or in what method, but as you have mentioned there will be different indirect benefits of both options.

 

[botticelli]

Hi folks,

I was wondering if anyone could help me out. I have been applying to vac schemes this year without much luck, and still have some TC applications coming up. I'm anticipating having to self-fund my next steps, and it seems like the logical thing to do to get on with the GDL before SQE kicks in (and hope that next time round having the GDL under my belt might help me out somewhat, and that firms will then pay for me to do the LPC).

I am wondering how people feel about online GDL courses. I have been looking at UoL and BPP, which are obviously very expensive (at around 11k) but it seems they are the preference for companies. I was also looking at Southbank for the GDL as its much cheaper, and since it is so much cheaper, I might be able to move to London for it.

I am worried that online courses will limit my access to careers events and, particular, pro bono initiatives, but then on the other side of the coin, BPP and UoL do seem to have very solid teaching.

If anyone could give some advice on this, that would be great - applying in 2020/21 has had me pulling my hair out so having some guidance would be fantastic.

I'm doing the GDL at the moment, but don't have experience of any of the universities you mention specifically. My GDL was moved totally online because of the pandemic, which actually turned out to have a bit of a silver lining because all careers / pro bono events were moved online, which made them much easier to attend. Obviously the situation will change as lockdown eases, but I would guess that there will be some proportion of events still taking place online well into the next academic year...

 

[Emily K]

Hi folks,

I was wondering if anyone could help me out. I have been applying to vac schemes this year without much luck, and still have some TC applications coming up. I'm anticipating having to self-fund my next steps, and it seems like the logical thing to do to get on with the GDL before SQE kicks in (and hope that next time round having the GDL under my belt might help me out somewhat, and that firms will then pay for me to do the LPC).

I am wondering how people feel about online GDL courses. I have been looking at UoL and BPP, which are obviously very expensive (at around 11k) but it seems they are the preference for companies. I was also looking at Southbank for the GDL as its much cheaper, and since it is so much cheaper, I might be able to move to London for it.

I am worried that online courses will limit my access to careers events and, particular, pro bono initiatives, but then on the other side of the coin, BPP and UoL do seem to have very solid teaching.

If anyone could give some advice on this, that would be great - applying in 2020/21 has had me pulling my hair out so having some guidance would be fantastic.

Hi! I was in a similar position to you last year and am currently studying for the PGDL at BPP. The whole course has been online due to the pandemic which has meant I haven't been able to meet others on the course properly, but I have found the online teaching mostly fine!

Re pro bono and careers events, I don't think being online would limit your access. I have been to plenty of online events through the careers service and had careers appointments etc which have helped me a lot. Actually, events being online made me attend more than usual haha! I've also been involved in a few pro bono initiatives which have all been done remotely - I think they have really added to my experiences and applications, and am so glad I had the chance to do them, so don't worry about these being online either.

Hope this helps a bit

 

[jamescockayne]

Hi! I was in a similar position to you last year and am currently studying for the PGDL at BPP. The whole course has been online due to the pandemic which has meant I haven't been able to meet others on the course properly, but I have found the online teaching mostly fine!

Re pro bono and careers events, I don't think being online would limit your access. I have been to plenty of online events through the careers service and had careers appointments etc which have helped me a lot. Actually, events being online made me attend more than usual haha! I've also been involved in a few pro bono initiatives which have all been done remotely - I think they have really added to my experiences and applications, and am so glad I had the chance to do them, so don't worry about these being online either.

Hope this helps a bit

This is brilliant advice. Thanks so much for taking the time to out to write it! How are you finding the PGDL in general? I'm still weighing up that UoL vs. BPP decision and its often hard to find really big differences between the two!

 

[jamescockayne]

I'm doing the GDL at the moment, but don't have experience of any of the universities you mention specifically. My GDL was moved totally online because of the pandemic, which actually turned out to have a bit of a silver lining because all careers / pro bono events were moved online, which made them much easier to attend. Obviously the situation will change as lockdown eases, but I would guess that there will be some proportion of events still taking place online well into the next academic year...

Thanks so much for this!

 

[Matt_96]

This is brilliant advice. Thanks so much for taking the time to out to write it! How are you finding the PGDL in general? I'm still weighing up that UoL vs. BPP decision and its often hard to find really big differences between the two!

I can't speak for the GDL but I'm doing my LPC at ULaw and I've been relatively impressed with its offering given everything that's going on, although like every course provider, it is not perfect, either. I think if you're going to self-fund the course, you have to choose the provider that makes the most effort and seems to be the most tuned in to what's going on.

Although BPP seems to have the edge with the biggest commercial firms, I doubt this would matter much at the GDL stage, and certainly its poor press recently speaks volumes. I know that when I applied for the LPC I received a response from ULaw 2 days after applying but never even got an acknowledgement from BPP. That, its ongoing criticisms and complaints from mates who are at BPP already told me all I needed to know!

 

[jamescockayne]

I can't speak for the GDL but I'm doing my LPC at ULaw and I've been relatively impressed with its offering given everything that's going on, although like every course provider, it is not perfect, either. I think if you're going to self-fund the course, you have to choose the provider that makes the most effort and seems to be the most tuned in to what's going on.

Although BPP seems to have the edge with the biggest commercial firms, I doubt this would matter much at the GDL stage, and certainly its poor press recently speaks volumes. I know that when I applied for the LPC I received a response from ULaw 2 days after applying but never even got an acknowledgement from BPP. That, its ongoing criticisms and complaints from mates who are at BPP already told me all I needed to know!

Thank you so much for this. I have just done some more googling and found a whole host of criticism, as you say, that I missed the first time I was doing my research. Really appreciate you putting me onto it - it's a lot of money for something that may not be up to scratch!

 

[Matt_96]

Thank you so much for this. I have just done some more googling and found a whole host of criticism, as you say, that I missed the first time I was doing my research. Really appreciate you putting me onto it - it's a lot of money for something that may not be up to scratch!

Yes exactly. Where you do the LPC or GDL probably doesn't make the slightest difference to a firm if you fund it yourself. What you should be looking at really are the strength of the careers service and the quality of the teaching. Everything else is an extra.