I have received a McGill mail last week telling me that I have been propoused to be accepted at LL.M Environment Option

I would like to meet other people who is thinking on that program. I have applied to some programs at US too (Till now, I have been accepted at Penn and Wtlisted at Chicago) so I am wondering what to do...

Hey Fool. I've also been admitted to McGill (Institute of Comparative Law), though not sure yet if I'll be going there or elsewhere yet. On the bright side, it is relatively cheap (about $15k for international students), but I've also heard from a friend who did her LLB/BCL there that the LLM program is not too well developed (i.e., it's basically an afterthought to the LLB program). I may end up there anyway, as it is one of the few good, focused programs in comparative law, but I think I might need to make a trip up to Montreal before I decide.

NYC: Luck for you for being closer form Canada.

I have similar feelings than you about McGill LLM. Is very cheap if I compare it with LL.M at USA but I have doubts about how much it worth to spend one year there (In terms of academic value). Anyway, it seems that the University Campus is really nice and the University does it weall at int. rankings.

However, In my Country Canadian Universities don´t have a lot of recognition although Canada has a lot of investments.
Do you know how is doing the job market at Canada?

From what I understand, the Canadian job scene is pretty decent at the moment, as they did not suffer nearly as badly from the present recession. That said, the Canadian bar admission rules are very stringent/protectionist, so I would not bet on getting a job in Canada unless you can get through the NCA process (or the corresponding process in Quebec if you are from a civil law jurisdiction). Also, I do not believe a Canadian LLM would allow you to take the New York bar exam, as US LLMs do (though, as I've noted repeatedly in other posts, the NY job market is so bad at present that the value of being admitted in New York is really only that it will add some cache to your resume back in your home country).

Yep. I also don't know what spawned the discussion about whether a Canadian LL.M. will make you eligible for the New York exam, but it may be worth attempting to determine whether your undergraduate law degree (from wherever) will make you eligible on its own. Contact the Board of Law Examiners directly, if it interests you.

From what I understand, the Canadian job scene is pretty decent at the moment, as they did not suffer nearly as badly from the present recession. That said, the Canadian bar admission rules are very stringent/protectionist, so I would not bet on getting a job in Canada unless you can get through the NCA process (or the corresponding process in Quebec if you are from a civil law jurisdiction). Also, I do not believe a Canadian LLM would allow you to take the New York bar exam, as US LLMs do (though, as I've noted repeatedly in other posts, the NY job market is so bad at present that the value of being admitted in New York is really only that it will add some cache to your resume back in your home country).

Thanks for the replys. Anyway, I assume that if I choose Canada I will not elegible for NYC Bar Exam.

Thanks for the replys. Anyway, I assume that if I choose Canada I will not elegible for NYC Bar Exam.

The NY bar rule is that if you have a degree from a common law jurisdiction that would qualify you to practice law in that jurisdiction, then you can take the NY bar exam (even if you are not admitted in your home jurisdiction). In an LLB from a Canadian/British/etc. university would qualify you to take the NY bar without any further education, but an LLM would not, as an LLM is not a qualifying law degree in those jurisdictions.

The LLM becomes important in NY because individuals with a civil law degree can take the NY bar after completing something like 20 credit hours at an American law school. Since this adds up to a little more than one semester, the easiest way to qualify is to do an American LLM. But, the LLM doesn't qualify you unless it is from an American university.

All of which is to say that if your goal in getting an LLM is to get admitted in a foreign jurisdiction (whether the US or Canada), you should apply for the NCA review of your credentials before going to McGill so that you can figure out whether it is even feasible to do (esp. as the NCA often requires applicants to take entry level courses that McGill will not give you LLM credit for). If your goal is something else (e.g., general prestige of LLM, chance to develop your knowledge of certain areas, developing contacts in Canada), then it may not matter.

For me personally, being admitted to practice in Canada is not a top concern, though if I end up at McGill or another Canadian school I will likely go through the NCA process anyway as an added benefit. I'm waiting to figure out if I will be in Canada or the UK before I submit the paperwork, however.

All - I accepted McGill's offer today, so will be part of the LLM class of 2011. Anyone else decided to attend McGill?

Congrats NYC. I have an offer from Osgoode, but I'm still waiting for McGill. Osgoode only gives two weeks to decide, and I got an offer of aid that was kind of vague. I might prefer to go to McGill, but I obviously can't wait too long to accept Osgoode's offer.
Do you have any insight into checking out the other schools' likelihood of making an offer? Also, what are your thoughts as to firming up/ a financial aid offer?

If you haven't heard back from McGill yet, I would go ahead and email their graduate admissions person (if you can't find the email on the website, let me know and I'll dig it up for you) - if you have a serious deadline you are confronting, then they are generally pretty good about getting back to you (as was the case with me on the funding front). You should probably mention in the same email that you will need to know anything re funding by the same time so that you can make your choice.

What I can tell you is that McGill has pretty limited funds for their non-thesis program, so if you applied to that, don't expect to get a whole lot. I think they have better funding for the thesis program, though, and I definitely think they have better funding if you are Canadian. I didn't apply to the thesis program because I wanted to take a few more classes and couldn't commit to two years.

Also, I notice that some of what I said in earlier posts is a little inaccurate. First, the international tuition is more like $22k if you have no funding/no DFW for the summer term. The figures on the website are kinda confusing and I didn't realize my mistake until after my initial post. Second, I mentioned a friend who did her LLB/BCL at McGill who was initially wary of the LLM program. She followed up with some other McGill grads and some people she still knows there and it seems that the program is now a lot better organized than it was a few years ago and is no longer tacked on to the LLB program. Based on that and some emails with a current LLM student, I thought it sounded like it was now much better organized than most North American LLM programs.

Oh, and congrats on Osgoode!

Thanks for your rapid response Charles. I will email them today.

gentlemen, i am in too for the ll.m in comparative law (non thesis option) at mcgill university. i have already accepted the admission and i am really looking forward to the programme. however as an international student i am a bit confuse about the tuition i was labouring under the impression that the sum of 28,000.00 canadian dollars will cover both my tuition and expenses during my programme. am i mistaken? any hope for getting a token as scholarship no matter how small to defray the expenses? kindly advice gentlemen

The LLM program charges you for three terms of 15 credits, while the fees listed at http://www.mcgill.ca/student-accounts/fees/grad/intern/mastfulltime/ are for two terms of 15 credits. To get the approximate tuition and fees, you need to multiply that by 1.5:

$15,344.51 * 1.5 = $23,016.77

Of course, this is just approximate, as some of the fees may not be charged during the summer term and tuition is going to increase somewhat for 2010-2011.

In the event you get a differential fee waiver for the summer term, your tuition and fees would be about:

$15,344.51 + (1/2 * $3,502.36) = $17095.69

Then, assuming it is just you, you will also need at least another $11,000 to support yourself for the year (according to Immigration Quebec - http://www.immigration-quebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/immigrate-settle/students/obtaining-authorizations/requirements/financial-capacity.html), though whether you submit the paperwork to prove this to Quebec or to the federal immigration offices depends on what country you are from.

Hope that helps a little. It's very confusing and the Faculty of Law's website is not 100% clear about the situation. I get the impression that the summer term fees are a way of getting around the strict limits on raising tuition and fees, so that may explain part of it.

Thamk you so much. Your post has been exremely informative and educative. Now I know how much I am required to pay as tuition. All thanks to you. However what is not clear is whether thesis student are entittled to tuition waiver and if the answer to this is in the positive, the criteria for selecting the students entittle to this largese ( if i may call it that). I am really interested in taking the opportunity offered by Mcgill University to pursue my post graduate study, however i am reluctant to commit my entire savings for the past five years to this. I am therefore really open to advice on how to pinch on the programme cost. kindly offer your advice. thamks a bunch

The only advice I (or anyone else) can really give is to email the school. I can tell you, though, that McGill's funding is very limited for non-thesis students, and I get the impression that it is even more limited for non-thesis students from outside of Canada (which makes me kinda regret applying to the non-thesis rather than the thesis program). I believe they have a number of differential fee waivers for the summer term for foreign students, but I'm not sure how many they have or what the criteria for giving them out are.

I think they often give much more extensive funding to thesis students, but I think they would have told people by now.

I have received a McGill mail last week telling me that I have been propoused to be accepted at LL.M Environment Option

I would like to meet other people who is thinking on that program. I have applied to some programs at US too (Till now, I have been accepted at Penn and Wtlisted at Chicago) so I am wondering what to do...