I concur. I've heard many many PR Malaysian (and Singaporean) grouses about these two groups - scholarship holders and IMU students. Even the local Kiwis complain. To be fair, the scholarship thing happens with Saudis and Bruneians too.

Then some of the loudest complaints are from those on 'Father and Mother Scholarships'. Entry to medicine is cut-throat there.

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Added on August 25, 2009, 1:40 pmI was just pointing out the other side. I do agree that I won't advise an international student to do a NZ LLB. There are many good things about the NZ LLB, but this is too great a risk. Unless you have a rich daddy.

Then again, many people seem to be willing to risk it with health science/medicine, so...

Really? Most of my friends in the law double degree did law as the primary degree. They just did double degrees cos it was the thing to do, and cos the 1st year consists of mainly non-law papers anyway. Certainly that was the reason I took up a double-degree.

Agreed re edennature. Like I said, I just wanted to point out the other side.

That being said, the same double degree thing is fairly common if the 2nd degree is commerce or arts (to a lesser extent).
Personally, I do think that an LLB BCom does open plenty of doors. Sometimes I regret not finishing my economics (only 4 100-level papers and 2 300-level papers to go), but it simply wasn't taking me where I wanted to go. Pity they don't award minors with an LLB.

Mind if I ask what you degrees are? Persevere though, it'll be worth it.

This post has been edited by wornbook: Aug 25 2009, 01:40 PM

I'm working in NZ.

To practice in Malaysia, do CLP.

Working for the government in Auckland.

Yes, Australia recognises NZ barristers and solicitors under the trans-Tasman agreement. And vice versa.

Not just international students. Pretty much every immigrant to NZ.

Because until a few months ago, there were only 2 networks in NZ - Vodafone and Telecom. Telecom used the CDMA network (now XT). That means to get on Telecom, you have to buy their phones. Vodafone uses GSM - most ppl already have GSM phones from their home countries, it's a simple matter of buying a SIM card.

2 degrees uses Vodafone's network. Lots of ppl I know are now ditching Telecom for 2 degrees. They still carry 2 phones though.

Same reason why ppl stay back in US, UK, Australia.

Hehe, you're asking the wrong person when it comes to shopping. I'm a strictly t-shirt, jeans and sneakers/sandals person.

The problem with clothing here is the lack of choice. It's either cheapy/poor quality or very expensive. And after you buy it, the chances of walking down the street and seeing someone else wearing the same thing is reasonably high. Especially Kathmandu jackets, pretty much a national uniform.

In my experience, size XS-M are no cheaper than L. There are plenty of Asians in Auckland, so I they aren't really odd sizes. Besides, the Kiwis, by and large aren't THAT big. Bigger yes, but there are plenty of smaller ones too.

For boots, I'll say buy here. More choice. Sandals are fine in summer.

Go to the Lincoln University website. Most unis have a section on costs - there's no reason why Lincoln's won't have.

1. Check the uni website - www.auckland.ac.nz

2. So-so, but better than Streamyx.

3. Yes - Up to 20 hours a week.

4. Lousy by the standards of a developed country. Expensive too. But better than Malaysia (with the exception of the LRT).

Formerly, 3 years ago.

That's probably because, for a some courses, the 1st semester papers are prerequisites for 2nd semester ones.
For example, you may need to do PHYC 101 and 102 in the first year (and to progress to 2nd year papers). But PSYC 101 is only offered in semester 1 and PSYC 102 only in semester 2. Same for 2nd year papers 201 and 202.

Then there's fully year papers, were you do one paper over two semesters. They will start in semester 1, so obviously you can't do it if you only start uni in semester 2.

I suggest you check the papers on offer for the course you want to do. Try and work out if you'll be able to take all papers in the right order, without wasting time waiting for another semester/year.

It is extremely easy to get into uni in NZ, so I wouldn't worry about that.

What is hard is getting to the course you want. As someone else mentioned, to get into medicine, you need to do 1st year health science. That's an open entry course, you just need to have passed whatever pre-u you're doing or Year 13. It might be 160 accepted into med out of 2000, but bear in mind that international student places (non-JPA, MARA, Brunei, Saudi govt scholarship) may be as low as 3-5.

In Otago, that means more than an A- since there's no interview. Think about getting an A to A+ average on your 1st year health science subjects, plus a high UMAT score.

In Auckland, it's a B+ average to get called for an interview (if memory serves), UMAT and interview performance. Even more tricky if you ask me.

Personally, I don't think it's worth the risk. Unless you parents can afford to risk the 1st year international student fees in the even you don't get in. Or if you're happy do do dentistry, pharmacy, physiotherapy, medical laboratory science or a BSc instead (for Otago, not sure what happens to med rejects in Auckland).
Btw if you fail to get in through the health science route, they won't accept you if you re-apply through IMU.

If you do manage to get into medicine and graduate from an NZ uni, you'll stand a good chance of being employed in NZ (or Australia, should you so wish).

How about asking the NZ unis then?

Of course halls of residence are charged for. Nothing is free in this world.

Living expenses - budget around 12k per year. Halls of residence (called colleges in Otago) are generally more expensive than renting your own flat. All colleges except one (Toroa) are fully catered.

20 hours work a week on a student visa.

Just check out the universities' websites. For example http://www.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/home/for/int...ry-requirements and http://www.otago.ac.nz/international/under...tago004767.html

This post has been edited by wornbook: Jun 5 2010, 10:13 AM

Not true. I knew international students doing pharmacy at Otago.
See Regulation 1(i) http://www.otago.ac.nz/courses/qualifications/bpharm.html

Auckland Uni, on the other hand, only takes domestic students.

It's been a while since I finished my LLM. Gotta dig back into the recess of my memory...

UoA has 3 options for the LLM - fully taught, research or a combination of the two (minor thesis).

Research is self-explanatory. You find a supervisor and a topic, then write a 40,000 word thesis.

Minor thesis is when you do one taught paper plus a 30,000 word thesis.

In the taught option, you do 4 papers, 2 each semester. The types of papers are split between ordinary semester long courses (2 hour lecture once a week) and intensive courses (one week of 9am-5pm lectures). The intensive courses are normally taught by visiting lecturers from abroad, hence the format. These can be very good value as the visiting lecturers are often big-named academics in their fields. A year or two back, one of the visiting lecturers was Manfred Nowak, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. The courses on offer change yearly depending on availability of lecturers.

Unlike many other taught LLMs around there world, here are no exams in UoA (a good thing IMO). Students write a 15,000 word research paper and are graded on that. Some lectueres add a presentation and a class participation component to the grade.

Back then (in 2007), you could choose to specialise in 3 areas - Public Law, Commercial Law or Environmental Law - or you could get a general LLM. I believe there are more options available now. You'll have to check the website.
My own LLM was made out of international and comparative law papers. I could have elected for it to be awarded as a Public Law LLM, but didn't bother. I picked the taught version because I couldn't think of a topic to write a full research thesis on.

Entry to the taught LLM is a B average in the LLB and a B+ for both research/thesis options.

When I was doing it, the students were mainly Kiwi part-timers (working full time) and German students. The rest were some Kiwi fulltime students, other Europeans and some odd ones like me.

As for career prospects, it's hard to give an opinion without more information on your goals. Where do you hope the LLM would take you?

Bear in mind that an NZ LLM does not enable you to practice law in NZ. You could still have to convert your LLB and complete the Professional Legal Studies course (NZ's equivalent of the Bar exam).