Second Semester is over
By Jaan222 in UVA LL.M Experience on May 08, 2009
Hello Guys, second semester is over. Every one is happy. Seond semester was very interesting, I enjoyed it fully. It seemed that second semester is shorter than First semester. I can't believe I am done with it. Some important lessons I have learned from this year are as following. First, exam pattern is totally different than civil law countries. Questions are long and complicated. even though we are allowed to take books with us, but that does not help as there is not time to open them. If one open books then you cannot solve the question. In civil law countries we are used to have essay questions where we can write whatever we want according to the book. Here it was totally different. Moreover, one must have to do exam on computer, no handwriting is allowed. Second most important thing is grading system, in which even though one is a very good student, on curve system you go down like B, B-, or B+. It is hard to get an A. It is hard to compete with American students as it is their educational system and English is their first language. If one study hard and devote substantial time for study then you can get high grades.
Now another hurdle is Bar Exam. We have to study all that stuff we have not done in our whole life time or law schools. This is also a challenge. We all hope to pass that. Last hurdle is Job Search, At this time Economy is bad so to get a job on your own is very very hard. I know some people got jobs thorough connections. So it is luck, past experience and connections, every thing plays its role. I would not like to discourage anybody rather I would say, it was very nice and rewarding experience. Good Luck for everybody. Next week we have graduation and most probably, it will be raining. So TO "rainy graduation".
Comments
Santa, Jul 30, 2009 14:41
Hey Adrianav,
I will be arriving in Charlottesville next tuesday. My grades in law school were good (top 15-20%) and I did an exchange (Erasmus) to the Sorbonne Univ in Paris.
For the rest I did not have any extracurricular activities that mattered.
Just apply to multiple good law schools, do your best with your applications and you'll be able to choose between some schools. You might not get into the one you really want though, as it is a bit of a lottery.
Adrianav, Jul 18, 2009 21:26
Thanks Jaan222. I am worried because even if I have high grades in my law degree and great experience on the environmental law being a junior associate of a law firm, I have no record of extracurricular activities (such as being part of social groups or investigation teams in environmental issues; I'm just being an assistant of a law class in a known peruvian university for 1 and a half year). Even if I start now to do extra activities they wont have the duration needed to demostrate to UVA admissions that I have continuity or permanence on them. It is my concern that this fact would make diference between my application and other application that have those extra points. What do you think about this?
Jaan222, Jul 12, 2009 05:20
I think it is not just one thing, they take into consideration all aspects of your application. But one thing which is true for all law schools is they want high grades in your law degree, If you have high grades then I think there will not be any problem.
Adrianav, Jun 30, 2009 19:22
Hi Jaan222. I am a 24 peruvian lawyer with 3 years of work experience in environmental law and I am thinking of sending an application to UVA LLM program for the following year. I think you can answer this question: which you think is the main features that UVA admissions seek into a prospective LLM student? I am not referring about the requirements (I can find them in UVA web page) but to the special characteristics that make UVA admissions decides between one or another candidate. Your answer would help me in give a more specific orientation to the content of my application file. Thanks!
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