Queenslander,

I'm prioritising long term prestige of the University and law degree for career longevity and I'm getting this metric through US and Global rankings of the University itself and law school, how employers employ from that school, what alumni and professors think of it and junior barristers. I'm also interested in the amount of finance offered, if the course offered has subject areas/concentrations I'm interested in, good career service and access to employment fairs and interview opportunities.

Melbourne Attorney and Syd2030 thanks for the nice words before.

Also wondering, I haven't heard anything from Columbia yet and my application was approved ages ago so wondering about that. Maybe they have fulfilled their Aussie quota in!

UCLA got back to me very quickly same with NYU. Do you guys have any advice about time line for Columbia?

Hope everyone is well and good luck!

I wish I applied to Columbia but I missed the deadline as I had worked a 17-hr shift preparing for a massive ex-parte injunction application on the due date (and for some reason I thought that the deadline was same as NYU, which was a bit later). I'm not concerned, as I hear that Columbia is an extremely profitable money-making institution that is not very generous with financial aid.

If I don't get into Stanford or NYU with an adequate financial aid, I think I may go with Northwestern given their scholarship offer will cover 3/4 of the tuition.

The dream is to get offered the Global Hauser scholarship at NYU where they pay for tuition and give you a monthly stipend for living costs etc, but that is a long shot as I understand they only grant this to 10 LL.M students every year. But then again, I think I did write a solid essay for the Hauser Scholarship so there is still a chance (albeit, a remote chance but a real chance that is not far-fetched and fanciful nonetheless).

[Edited by MelbourneAttorney on Feb 14, 2020]

Thanks Radek, good to know. I wouldn’t write off Columbia just yet, I think they will be making decisions well into March and from the other thread on Columbia it looks like they aren’t necessarily making decisions regionally.

Chicago looks absolutely amazing, however I was unfortunately waitlisted this morning. I’m guessing that the chances of getting financial aid if you’re lucky enough to get an offer from the wait list are next to zero, so that rules it out.

I have absolutely no idea what I’m going to pick if I’m lucky enough to get multiple offers. I don’t really think any of us can go wrong all of these programs looks amazing.

Any news from Stanford? From the other threads it seems it's radio silence..

The Hauser would be fantastic, but I’m not holding out any hope there - I know two people who were awarded it, and they both were University medallists (first in their year) at top universities with excellent work experience and narratives.

Queenslander - I agree that we can’t go wrong otherwise though!

MelbourneAttorney - that’s incredible, so you must have received a $50k scholarship? Well done!!

Syd2030 - thanks - let's just say Northwestern was very generous. I think I'm going to accept. They have an amazing campus in Downtown Chicago and have great litigation related courses. And I agree re chances of Hauser - it appears University Medalists are the breed who get these. Which LL.M program are you leaning towards?

Financial aid will be a substantial factor (if not the biggest factor) in which LL.M program I accept. What about everyone else? To what extent will financial aid influence your ultimate decision?

I don't even know 100% whether I'm going to pursue an LL.M given I'm already admitted in the US but it just seems like an incredible once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to live in another country and to examine litigation through the lens of US legal practice. But at the same time I need to remind myself that the chances of LL.M students getting jobs after graduation at top US law firms is generally slim (especially for a litigator).

[Edited by MelbourneAttorney on Feb 16, 2020]

Hey

It received Penn Law acceptance today and scholarships will be dealt with in April.

I think Penn Law looks great!

Congrats on Northwestern!!

Congrats on Penn Law Radek! Fingers cross re financial aid.

Congrats Radek! That’s great.
MelbourneAttorney - The dream is definitely NYU if it was feasible (or Columbia if I were to get in there and get decent aid).
Northwestern would still be amazing though, as would UCLA. I have a lot of family and friends in LA and decent personal connections in Chicago too, but not as many as in New York/LA

Thanks so much.

What would you guys choose from? Penn Law, UCLA (Dean's Scholarship), or NYU - waiting on Penn and NYU scholarship decisions.

Thanks for your help!

I would definitely check out the strengths of each curriculum, but ignoring financial aid, I would lean towards NYU.

... still no word from Stanford, NYU, Michigan or Duke for me... weird.. others have already gotten their offers.. either all of these schools are rejecting me or most of them are considering offering me a reasonable scholarship.. could go either way.. the wait is killing me.

... still no word from Stanford, NYU, Michigan or Duke for me... weird.. others have already gotten their offers.. either all of these schools are rejecting me or most of them are considering offering me a reasonable scholarship.. could go either way.. the wait is killing me.

Hi all, did anyone here (perhaps Radek if you are in Sydney) get an email from the graduate admissions director from UCLA today? Going for dinner with him in March when he visits Sydney! Looking forward to it

... still no word from Stanford, NYU, Michigan or Duke for me... weird.. others have already gotten their offers.. either all of these schools are rejecting me or most of them are considering offering me a reasonable scholarship.. could go either way.. the wait is killing me.

Have you heard of anyone received offer or interview from Stanford? Thx!

i should have done my research before I paid the application fee for stanford. just reviewed the blurb on their website where they confirm that they rarely give any scholarships for LL.M students. well i may as well withdraw my application.

Hi all. I got accepted into Michigan. However, there's a twist. They said they couldn't offer me a place on the LL.M program but said that they have instead offered me a place on the Master of Advanced Corporations Laws program because it was an "exclusive group" offered to "accomplished lawyers" from around the globe and that it would be more suitable for me as I would be studying amongst the "highest caliber colleagues."

What do you guys make of this?

Either (i) I wasn't good enough for the LL.M program so they offered me something different so they could generate more revenue or (ii) they genuinely thought that due to my experience (I have 6 years PQE as a litigator in Australia, already admitted to the New York Bar) they thought that the Master of Advanced Corporation Laws was more appropriate.

I would much appreciate everyone's thoughts.

Cheers.

Wow crazy on Stanford that they don’t offer any LLM funding!! Didn’t realise that :O
I’m not familiar with Michigan’s programs but to me it seems strange that they wouldn’t at least offer you a place in the LLM as well to give you the option? Did they offer funding?
What do you think about it?

It seems like the Master of Advanced Corporations Laws programme only lasts for one summer (12 weeks), though. I doubt it will be accorded the same recognition or prestige as the regular LLM programme. Just my two cents!

Hi all. I got accepted into Michigan. However, there's a twist. They said they couldn't offer me a place on the LL.M program but said that they have instead offered me a place on the Master of Advanced Corporations Laws program because it was an "exclusive group" offered to "accomplished lawyers" from around the globe and that it would be more suitable for me as I would be studying amongst the "highest caliber colleagues."

What do you guys make of this?

Either (i) I wasn't good enough for the LL.M program so they offered me something different so they could generate more revenue or (ii) they genuinely thought that due to my experience (I have 6 years PQE as a litigator in Australia, already admitted to the New York Bar) they thought that the Master of Advanced Corporation Laws was more appropriate.

I would much appreciate everyone's thoughts.

Cheers.

[Edited by kyotolawllm on Feb 27, 2020]

It seems like the Master of Advanced Corporations Laws programme only lasts for one summer (12 weeks), though. I doubt it will be accorded the same recognition or prestige as the regular LLM programme. Just my two cents!