Picking Your Elective Modules: What Factors to Consider?

Article written by Chloe Ng, a Final Year Law Undergraduate.

Congratulations, you have successfully made it through the stressful first term of this academic year! However, students who are in the first or second year, might be having a hard time picking elective modules for the upcoming academic year. Hopefully this article will put you at ease!

Personal Preference

To commence with, it is very important to figure out where your interests lie, providing law is an extremely broad subject with various interesting areas. For instance, family law, commercial law, medical law, intellectual property law, immigration law, banking and finance law, you name it. Everyone has their own unique personality, has experienced different life events, wants to explore in particular areas etc. Some might be interested in family law because they wish to seek justice for children and give a helping hand to families in need. Therefore, you should pick a module that you are interested in that allows you to fully engage in it.

You might find it easier to find out the areas that you are interested in if you have completed legal internships prior. This is even better as you have gained experience in certain areas, so you know what to expect and have a general idea of the area.

Online Research

To be very honest, a majority of students pick their elective modules based on their future aspirations. By such means, aspiring solicitors may wish to pick human rights law or employment law and aspiring barristers may wish to pick commercial law or intellectual property law. Of course, you are always welcome to pursue an LLM (Masters in Law) in a specific area after your LLB (Bachelor of Laws), but the financial issue might kick in for some of you. Conducting research on the areas of law absolutely helps you navigate the areas better and see if that particular elective module suits you. You may start by looking up information on the areas of some magic circle law firms and city chambers webpages, since they specialise in certain areas.

Seek Advice

If you are still struggling with picking elective modules, it is highly recommended to talk to your personal tutor or the module leaders at your university. Your personal tutor is supposed to know you academically. Tell them your worries and doubts so they can render you some useful advice on picking the right elective modules. Module leaders are helpful too in that they can give you advice by briefly introducing the area so that you can ask them further questions. Last but not least, different universities offer different elective modules, so you are advised to check and confirm with your own university.

All in all, picking the right elective modules might sound challenging but you will be fine for sure! Good luck in your studies!