I'm a first year law student at the University of Auckland New Zealand and I thought I'd chronicle my experiences trying to gain entry to second year. Feel free to comment if you are interested though this is mainly for my own use.
A little background. Law School in New Zealand and specifically the University of Auckland is handled slightly differently to most places. The first year is effectively open entry. The minimum standard is a very low average grade from high school. A B in Cambridge exams iirc. As such there around normally one and a half thousand people who apply. In second year however this is slashed from 1500 to around 300, normally slightly less, with an A- average required to be considered.
So first year is the year in which you have to make it in order to gain acceptance truly. I'm currently only a few weeks into the first semester and as such not much is going on yet. The main focus seems to be on the legal history of New Zealand. All first year students are required to take LAW 121 Law and Society as their first paper which is considered to be a very vague and general paper by the staff.
I'll be updating this blog most likely weekly or every two weeks in regards with whats going on in my quest to obtain my law degree. Currently arguing with the faculty to obtain extra time for my law exams due to special needs. It's amazing at the level of bureaucracy involved in doing anything in here.