Can anyone give me an estimation whether it is easier to get into a top ten US law school or oxbridge?
I am from Germany and I've heard that Oxbridge is quite hard to get into for Germans. Therefore, I am interested if it would be worthwhile to apply for top US law schools. Otherwise, I will concentrate on good LLM programs at second tier law school.
For the germans out there: I got 10,33 points in the
1. staatsexamen and references written by renowned professors plus 2 publications. Any experiences with that kind of profile?

Daniel12

Well, it is up to you... to apply for No. 1 Uni of the UK or to choose top-tier school in the USA...depends what/where you want to do/work.

I can say that it is easier to get into the law school which is ranked from 4 to 10 (I got admission to one of them and plan to defer it for next year). Even other non-top10 US law schools are excellent.

Regards
G

Hi Daniel 12,
I applied for Oxford and got a place in the MJur-programme with a German state examination rated about the same as yours. It is said that you can get an offer from Oxford with 9,0 points or more. Anyway, I heard of people with 11,5 points that were rejected. It obviously not only depends on the mark in your examination. Nevertheless you should apply because you don't have anything to lose (although the application form is terrible...). I heard that Cambridge accepts German candidates only from 11,5 points onwards. Therefore I did not apply there.

Thank you guys for your answers and congratulations for admission to Oxford. It gives me confidence to apply for Oxford as well as for some US law schools. It is said that the London LLM Programs are good as well. Therefore, there is reason to apply for them, too. It seems to be a real application marathon this year....

Thank you again

Regards

Not only London graduate programmes that are great...others are fine as well...
As mentioned above, you should definitely apply to most of toptier law schools...nobody can guarantee the admission, but what the hell - you do not loose anything. A friend of mine was applying to almost dozen U.S. law schools and it cost him almost fortune ^^ in application fees. In the UK it is for free! God save the Queen!

I only regret that I missed the application deadline to Oxbridge and LSE schools... stupid of me it was (speaking as Yoda vice versa)...

Wish you good luck with applying!

Thank you . Yes, of course the application fees are terrible in US. A good point to mention again! I will keep it in mind when it comes to decision-making ...

Hi Daniel,

I feel that in Oxford what really matters is your written material you submit along with the form .

So if you work hard on your essay , you stand a good chance given your excellent acads.

I concur with Nick , on the point that sometimes students with the best of grades get rejected .

Perhaps because of thier essay
Cheers
Shiv

A friend of mine was applying to almost dozen U.S. law schools and it cost him almost fortune ^^ in application fees. In the UK it is for free! God save the Queen!

amen to that gamayan!

as for US vs. UK...
i have heard that in the states, a foreign LLM is worth less than one from an american school if you are planning on working in the states. has anyone else heard the same thing or (hopefully) something to the contrary? because, to borrow a phrase, i'm so bored of the USA.

as for US vs. UK...
i have heard that in the states, a foreign LLM is worth less than one from an american school if you are planning on working in the states. has anyone else heard the same thing or (hopefully) something to the contrary? because, to borrow a phrase, i'm so bored of the USA.

From my experience it really is the truth. US law firm would prefer to hire locally educated attorney (it is reasonable). Although, if it is a US law firm located outside of the USA then chances increase that UK educated attorney will get an offer. Also reasonable, if there is no US trained candidate, it is better to hire UK educated person, than simply locally educated person (also situation varies - locally educated attorney who has no foreign training can be twice as experienced, pro as some newcomer from the USA or UK)..

You think that you will not get bored with the UK after some time :)

Hi Shiv!

Thank you for your estimation as well. Due to your advice I will work hard to develop a real dedicated and professional essay that expresses my very wish to get into this great place with its big tradition...
But we will see, a London LLM has the advantage of living in a great thrilling city. Besides UK applications I am still considering applying to some US schools. Just to have some programs to choose(hopefully) and the thrill to get admitted to columbia etc or not.

Good luck for you and all others in this board!!

Daniel

Hi Daniel,

I feel that in Oxford what really matters is your written material you submit along with the form .

So if you work hard on your essay , you stand a good chance given your excellent acads.

I concur with Nick , on the point that sometimes students with the best of grades get rejected .

Perhaps because of thier essay
Cheers
Shiv

gamayun wrote:
You think that you will not get bored with the UK after some time :)


i'm sure i would, but after living in the states my whole life, the UK perspective is quite refreshing and i don't think i will tire of it in less than a year. my hope is to practice for a few years after the LLM (either in the states or the UK) and then work as a professor...so i guess it all depends on where i want to wind up permanently. do you think it the same divide applies in the academic arena, or is it possible that (and i know i'm grasping for straws here) a varied education would be considered an asset in a professor?

thanks again for your insight, gamayun. your comments are always very helpful :)

Due to your advice I will work hard to develop a real dedicated and professional essay that expresses my very wish to get into this great place with its big tradition...