Hi,

I am wondering if there is anyone here applying to JSD program at Chicago and/or Cornell this year.

i believe sharing backgrounds, experiences and credintials will be very benificial.

any contributions are highly appreciated from those who are currently applying or alumni of either schools.

thank you very much in advance.
Ayman

Hi Ayman. I am currently a JSD Fellow at UChicago. Please let me know if there's any particular information I can help you out with. Best!

Many thanks for your reply and congratulations for your admittance,

actually i am very interested in Chicago JSD program and i need your kind help on the below:

I applied this year for Chicago JSD program, and unfortunately i was rejected, so i am trying to figure out the reasons so that i can avoid them next year.

- I received a bachelor degree in law from the Faculty of law-English Section- Cairo Univeristy in 2005, and an LL.M degree from Indiana University indianapolis (Cairo Campus) in 2012. My grades are quite good and my dissertation proposal is unique (or at least this is what i think), and my LoRs were very supportive. I have about 7 years of experience as an in-house legal counsel for two banks in Egypt. Now, do you think that Chicago rejected me because my LL.M. degree is received from Egypt or because Indiana University has less ranking than Chicago?.

- did you use the services of any company while applying to the program?

- what are the common factors in all the successful applicants at chicago JSD program? do they all receive a JD? do they all have a master degree from a comparable university? do they all have very long experience?

- do you believe that i should re-apply again next year or the rejection is guaranteed in my case?

thank you very much in advance for your kind help and support.

best regards,
Ayman

Thanks!
Some data that you can use to better assess the situation. Chicago keeps a rather small JSD program, though it is getting bigger. In my year, only 2 UChicago LLM students were admitted after completing the LLM, and the median class for each year is 3 I'd say. All JSDs in residence have LLMs (although 3 are admitted each year, you now have like 10 JSDs in residence since you don't finish your dissertation in just one year). The guys that are here and are not from UChicago are from Harvard, Columbia and Duke. I was under the impression that an LLM from an American University is a requirement, but I don't know if your situation (with a campus abroad) would qualify as such. Also, I don't really know if there is fixed criteria as to what universities are preferred when considering JSDs submissions that are not from UChicago, but perhaps the data I mentioned about who have been actually admitted can provide you with some intuitions. I haven't used any consultancy firms for the application and neither have my classmates. Hope this is useful!

Hi!

I'd like to know how long is the residency requirement.

In this link, they say that the candidates must spend at least 6 full terms (2 years) in residence at CLS:

http://www.law.uchicago.edu/jsd-program

On the other hand, in this another link, they tell that students must be in residence only for 3 full terms (that is, 1 year).

http://www.law.uchicago.edu/students/registrar/degreerequirements

So, which of both is the rule?
Thanks!

Hi! Currently the residence requirement is 2 years on top of the LL.M. Hope this helps.