Hey all! I applied to several universities (including all the predictable ones- UCL, KCL and QM) to do the LL.M in International Commercial Law and so far have been accepted to Nottingham and Bristol. In the event that these turn out to be my only offers, and I pray they're not, I'm having a hard time figuring out which one I should accept. If I am guided by the rankings alone then it's Nottinghm who has a higher REsearch Assessment Exercise Score and came out ahead of Bristol overall. But the problem is that I'm unsure as to whether the Commercial Law proramme is any good at Nottingham since there aren't too many posts about it on this forum. On the other hand, I read somewhere that Bristol's Comm Law prog is apparently great. I know both these Universities are supposed to be on the so called "third tier" and so I'm even more confused as to which one to choose.....anyway..I ramble....can someone please give me an idea as to which of the two has a better commercial law programme since i really can't afford to make a mistake...thanks!!

By the way, I intend to focus on banking and financial services courses...help!!!

By the way, I intend to focus on banking and financial services courses...help!!!

Well Nottingham received my application just before the Christmas break and got back to me in the second week of the new year so all in all they were really fast..as for Bristol, it took them a little less than a month. I was really happy to receive these favourable responses so early..it gave me hope..but I'm still waiting for the "busier" Universities to get back to me and that wait is killing me..if I think the choice between Nott and Bristol is difficult, wait till QM, UCL and KCL are thrown into the mix!!Swedish Boy, I'm a little confused, who do you think is better than QM and equal to KCL? Nott or Bristol? I had the impression that KCL UCL and LSE were of a class higher than unis like Britol, Nott, Manchester, Warwick etc. This is sooo difficult...

I agree with the last lines written by Lawyerly. At least in Canada, UCL, KCL and LSE are regarded as a class or tier above the others mentioned. And, of these three, and maybe this is just splitting hairs, LSE would certainly be regarded as the best, at least on this side of the pond.

ok well i guess my decision just got an iota easier..if you can call it that..since I got the sad news today that I didn't get an offer from KCL :( So my decision is still pretty much between Nott and Bristol...and I'm not any closer to figuring it out. Still waiting on UCL, QM and Manchester, but now I'm wondering if that makes any sense..I mean, isn't it likely that since KCL rejected me that UCL will likely have the same response??

And also, which Unis have the better reputation in commercial/banking/financial law?? If Bristol and Nott have a better reputaion in commercila/banking/financial law than QM or Manchester then it might just make more sense for me to quit waiting around and accept one of the offers and start acommodation applications etc. Please help me people!!!

Well Nottingham received my application just before the Christmas break and got back to me in the second week of the new year so all in all they were really fast..as for Bristol, it took them a little less than a month. I was really happy to receive these favourable responses so early..it gave me hope..but I'm still waiting for the "busier" Universities to get back to me and that wait is killing me..if I think the choice between Nott and Bristol is difficult, wait till QM, UCL and KCL are thrown into the mix!!Swedish Boy, I'm a little confused, who do you think is better than QM and equal to KCL? Nott or Bristol? I had the impression that KCL UCL and LSE were of a class higher than unis like Britol, Nott, Manchester, Warwick etc. This is sooo difficult...

ok well i guess my decision just got an iota easier..if you can call it that..since I got the sad news today that I didn't get an offer from KCL :( So my decision is still pretty much between Nott and Bristol...and I'm not any closer to figuring it out. Still waiting on UCL, QM and Manchester, but now I'm wondering if that makes any sense..I mean, isn't it likely that since KCL rejected me that UCL will likely have the same response??

And also, which Unis have the better reputation in commercial/banking/financial law?? If Bristol and Nott have a better reputaion in commercila/banking/financial law than QM or Manchester then it might just make more sense for me to quit waiting around and accept one of the offers and start acommodation applications etc. Please help me people!!!

I'm not sure how helpful the following will be, but, as a matter of reputation, Trinity has a much better name here in Canda than Nottingham does. Between these two, I'd definately take the former.

hey i got a conditional offer from Nottingham for LLM in Commercial Law, i just have 2 submit my transcripts, sop & 2 reference letters. This is my first offer...........Their delegates had come 2 my consultants and they interviewed me and made me a spot offer!!! I still have to apply to other universities.........can u suggest to me some for commercial law
???

Nottingham has been place in the 4th place by the recent Good University Guide by Independent last week.

Maritime law, International Trade Finance, Commercial Conflict of Law and International Sale of Goods, Carriage of Goods by Sea, Marine Insurance etc. If you are interested in these areas, Nottingham is really a great choice.

Hi guys,
I have a friend who did his LLM commercial law in Bristol and she told me that it was GREAT! Actually, she told me that the courses are very good and people very nice!
I'm going to apply to this LLM, but I have to send my first semester's results and in France it takes more time than in UK! Do you think that it'll put me at a disadvantage? because I'll probably send it on april...
Did someone go to Bristol? any experience?

People, I don't want to sound pessimistic but in this economy and unless you have a lot of money and free time, an LLM in the UK or in the US is not worth it... I am currently in London doing my LLM and let me tell you that most of the global law firms have a complete head count freeze on LLM's ! But if for some reason, you need the LLM for your CV (civil law graduate perhaps or common law but from a badly ranked university) your choices in the UK are unfortunately limited. I am not saying anything new here but Oxbridge is in its own league regardless of your specialization. Excluding Oxbridge you should choose between LSE/KCL/UCL depending on your specialism or your future practice (in the Americas LSE has a slight reputational edge, in central Europe its KCL and in England UCL).

Ive got to say Im with CR1 on this one. The market isnt very friendly at the moment and it is hard to get a job nowadays. Furthermore, Im in favour of other universities and I reckon there are many good law schools in the UK/Ireland that are somewhat relegated by most LLM prospective students (for instance, Aberdeen, Belfast, Trinity College Dublin). However, given that most LLM students are aiming ahead at a internship with some big arse law firm after the LLM, the range of options is dramatically and unfairly narrowed down to Oxbridge and UoL (mainly LSE, UCL and KCL and then at a lower level QM, SOAS and Birbeck). There isnt anything fair about it but in my humble opinion thats the way it work And unless youre into some never-heard-before specialisation the modules and courses you enrol on during the programme are not that important and the recruiters are unlikely to question you about them. They do ask though where you got your LLM from Now about the main subject of this thread, I'd choose Nottingham... my opinion is not based on the quality offered by either of them (which I'm sure is great in both cases) and how good it'd be to go to either city (which I'm also sure would be great regardless of one's choice), but rather on the reputation enjoyed by each university and their law schools... I think Nottingham is the closest in terms of reputation to Oxbridge and UoL in England (for law at least).

I agree (at the risk of continually sounding like a prophet of doom).