Hi, I got accepted both into the MA Human Rights Law at SOAS and LLM Human Rights at Edinburgh and I am now deciding which one to choose. I have a BA in International Studies with a minor in law - so for me to get accepted into the LLM is quite surprising and I am really happy with it. The only question is how much weight should I put on having the LLM instead of the MA. As I did not a bachelor in law, I don't think I can become a practiced lawyer if I read correctly with the LLM. I like SOAS for its more critical view on the world and its focus on area specialization. I read somewhere that LLM has more prestige than MA. I do not really want to be a lawyer, and saw most of Alumni's from the LLM in Edinburgh be legal advisor, while at SOAS there was a bit more variation. Could anyone help tell me what the differences for me are with the LLM and MA, with having a BA? Any advice?

In terms of curriculum, there's not going to be *much* difference between the two programs - if you look at each one's course listings, you'll see a lot of the same topics covered: International Human Rights Law, conflict resolution, etc. One thing you could do would be to actually go through each of the course offerings and see which one appeals to you more.

For MA vs. LLM, again, not much substantial difference. Perhaps if you're applying to organizations outside of the law sphere, the title "LLM' might be a bit of an unknown, but I doubt that's much of a risk.

School reputation, this is where it gets interesting. Edinburgh is generally a stronger law school than SOAS, according to the rankings. As such, the degree probably carries a bit more weight than one from SOAS.