How much weight do firms give to the university you go to? Is it relatively small or a massive advantage/disadvantage? From my understanding, with law students it matters to a certain extent but I'm a non-law student so I'm not sure if that changes things.
Hey!
I think there will be differing views on this (and it definitely differs between firms as well), but I'd say that the university you attend can have some impact on your opportunities, particularly when it comes to commercial law. I went to a non-RG university, and one of the most striking differences I noticed when speaking to RG and Oxbridge students on vacation schemes was the amount of opportunities and firm engagement they had access to. For example, at my university's law fair we never had London firms attending, only regional firms, which sometimes made it harder to gain insight into the commercial law market or speak directly to people that worked in those firms.
However, I think the significance of the university you go to has less of an impact in the application process now than it used to. Many firms now operate CV-blind or partially blind recruitment processes, meaning that written applications and SJT / interview performance tend to carry far more weight than the name of your university.
Ultimately, it is likely that there is an advantage in the process if you go to a leading university, but this doesn't mean that you are absolutely doomed if you don't come from a top RG uni! I know plenty of people who have secured TCs at top commercial firms from non-RG universities, which really shows that it isn't a barrier if you don't let it be one. What really helped me was to make the most of the opportunities that were available to non-RG students (such as BIUCAC), as this gave me unique talking points for my applications and beyond
