Building confidence for vacation scheme applications

HotMillionare

New Member
Sep 12, 2025
1
1
Hey everyone, I’m currently a matriculated student at the University of Manchester, studying commercial law. I’m hoping to be successful in my vacation scheme applications. During my undergraduate degree at a non-Russell Group university, I often felt inferior and thought I wasn’t a strong enough candidate, so I never applied. Now that I’m a bit more mature, I want to overcome that overwhelming feeling of doubt and just crack on with it.
 
  • 🤝
Reactions: abbietc03

ZNadeem

Valued Member
Staff member
Future Trainee
TCLA Moderator
Gold Member
Premium Member
Forum Team
Mar 16, 2025
122
122
Hey everyone, I’m currently a matriculated student at the University of Manchester, studying commercial law. I’m hoping to be successful in my vacation scheme applications. During my undergraduate degree at a non-Russell Group university, I often felt inferior and thought I wasn’t a strong enough candidate, so I never applied. Now that I’m a bit more mature, I want to overcome that overwhelming feeling of doubt and just crack on with it.

Hi! I completely understand how intimidating it can feel — but remember, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by applying. If you make it past the application stage, that’s already proof you’re doing something right. Try to separate self-doubt from the disciplined effort of applying, so you don’t need to rely solely on motivation to get things done.

Wishing you the absolute best of luck :)
 

vera.mekhonoshina

Valued Member
Staff member
Premium Member
Sep 7, 2023
104
104
Hey everyone, I’m currently a matriculated student at the University of Manchester, studying commercial law. I’m hoping to be successful in my vacation scheme applications. During my undergraduate degree at a non-Russell Group university, I often felt inferior and thought I wasn’t a strong enough candidate, so I never applied. Now that I’m a bit more mature, I want to overcome that overwhelming feeling of doubt and just crack on with it.
Hey there!

I know how overwhelming applications can be, especially when you feel like other candidates have a stronger background. But, as @ZNadeem has rightly said, don't let self-doubt get in your way - use it as fuel to show yourself what you're capable of! At the end of the day, there is no way of knowing if you'll be successful with an application unless you actually send it off :) And the only person you're competing with is yourself - as long as you become a little bit better in your navigation of the application cycle every day, it will be enough.

The TCLA forum community is here to support you. Wishing you the best of luck!
 
  • Like
Reactions: ZNadeem

abbietc03

Distinguished Member
Dec 13, 2022
69
183
Hey everyone, I’m currently a matriculated student at the University of Manchester, studying commercial law. I’m hoping to be successful in my vacation scheme applications. During my undergraduate degree at a non-Russell Group university, I often felt inferior and thought I wasn’t a strong enough candidate, so I never applied. Now that I’m a bit more mature, I want to overcome that overwhelming feeling of doubt and just crack on with it.
Hello :)

As someone who just graduated from a non-Russell Group university, I really related to your post and absolutely understand how you feel. I often let self-doubt get in the way when making applications, especially when I knew that I was competing against Oxbridge and top RG, but I tried to have a more positive mindset last cycle (like you are now!) and secured 3 VS and a DTC offer.

The mindset you have now is absolutely the best way to look at it - you are more than capable of securing a vacation scheme and a training contract, and having that self-belief is really important! Resilience is also really important, and I'm sure that if you take a disciplined approach and make your way through the application process, you will get better as you go along!

Wishing you the best of luck, both with your studies and your vacation scheme applications! If you want to ask me any questions as someone who just went through the process as a non-RG graduate, feel free to send me a DM :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: ZNadeem

About Us

The Corporate Law Academy (TCLA) was founded in 2018 because we wanted to improve the legal journey. We wanted more transparency and better training. We wanted to form a community of aspiring lawyers who care about becoming the best version of themselves.

Newsletter

Discover the most relevant business news, access our law firm analysis, and receive our best advice for aspiring lawyers.