HI everybody,
I have been admitted as an LL.M. student both at NYU and at Cambridge. I would like to specialise in competition law issues but I am facing a dilemma about the right choice for me. I am from a southern country in Europe and I have not decided which university I will attend ..I know that both living in NYC and in Cambridge would be amazing experiences..but I would like to know which, in your experience, would be the best choice.
thanks a lot!

I don't know if anyone would be able of telling you which programme is better in absolute terms since it's quite difficult to realize its quality until you're sitting there, unless someone here has attended both universities. (!)

So, if I were you, I'd pick a destination based on the location a the hughe differences between NY and Cambridge. Big part of your studies would be where you are and how you feel about it.

I'm from a southern contry in europe as well and, personally, after having studied part of my J.D. in the U.S., I would not come back for pursuing my LL.M. there because, despite the U.S. educational system is the best one I've known so far, the cultural shock was tremendous and I really had a bad time the first 4 months which, somehow, ruined a little bit the great experience I was supposed to live. Hence, given my experiencie, I prefer the UK, but I'm a exception, almost everyone loves living in the U.S.

Therefore, I chose to go somewhere where both the concepts 'europe' and 'great educational system' worked together and... that's why I'm heading to Cambridge in october (as long as I meet my non-standard academic conditions).

I may be very biased but, please, don't misunderstand me.
My point is that if you don't have any other tool, use your character and personality as the criteria in order to decide where you'll have the greatest time.

Dear yaiza242, thank you very much for your reply...you are right, thank you for your advice!
I think this is the right way to make a good choice, since you have to consider the environment too...Maybe we'll meet in Cambridge then!

I have heard some unpleasant things about the Competition Law LLM course at Cambridge, ranging from poor teaching, to difficult exams, to ridiculous workloads etc. But perhaps I have been speaking to the wrong students with the wrong mindsets :)

What do you mean for "ridiculous workload"? too much or too little? Actually I have seen that they have very few lectures during the week (maybe 8 hours)...

yeap. When I received my formal letter it said: full-time (40 hours per week) and I thought it was going to be a tough year, but then I realized that 8 hours per week is the average.

8 hours of lectures. In the UK that is the average in undergraduate courses as well but you are supposed to do an average 40hrs (dont ask me as i dont know how they calculate this) of reading and other problem solving and whatever is necessary to prepare for the ultimate exams. Exams are almost 100 % of your mark and honestly this is where Cambridge (or even Oxford) become not so appealing as you have no chance of improving your grades. In the end exams i feel are only memory tests, your capabilities are not really reflected from a three hour test but for more creative and deep thinking essays.

At NYU you will get every week a case to study and critically reflect and write or make a presentation on it which will make you much stronger for those exams and build your legal thinking to the max you can at this level. Oxford with its tutorials will make this happen but again all your mark is dependent on that exam, at Cambridge there isnt anything like this, youre on your own and you have that final exam date hanging like the ghost of Hamlet in the background and throughout the year you are going to be lazy - my guess.

That said, Cambridge has a fantastic academic composition, lecturers are there if you need see them.

The beauty about Cambridge i find is that collegiate romantic atmosphere that NY is not going to have. Although NY is the greatest city in the world, it is noisy and fast-paced. Cambridge also has a much better brand as a university than NYU. I have no idea how it is in the US but all over the world people will recognise Cambridge/Oxford just as much as Harvard/Yale. NYU has a big name but still im unsure...Yes it is ranked top in some subjects but Cambridge is top of every league. At least in the UK it is for years in a row the No 1. University, leaving even Ox behind.

Hence my advice for you - given you have a JD from US and are already qualified there and you dont like the culture that much - ultimately would be go for Cambridge!! It will enhance your CV.
But what on earth should i do that i already have a LLB from an English university - in my case LLM at Cam would be another year on top of LLB - no admission from Harvard although NYU did accept me and i appreciate that it leads to a quick NY Bar admission but it still does not seem to me to have as good a name as Cambridge/Harvard etc.