Hey everyone,

I am a US applicant in his last year at a Tier 4 law school in the US, and will be receiving my J.D. in May 2010. I am applying to various LL.M. programs in international law for 2010-2011 in the United States, but I really like the prospects of studying in Europe, particularly London, for a year. Thus, I am attracted to LSE, UCL, and KCL.

I rank in the top 15% of my class (hoping this will go up this semester to top 10%), good grades (overall GPA is 3.4/4.0, and all A's in any international law courses I have taken; again hopefully this increases this semester - I am not sure how this transfers to the UK's "honors system" and grading system), several honors (Dean's List, awards, etc.), have one published article, I am on an international law journal, have had several internship experiences in both the public and private sectors, and some of which are in international law. In addition, I will be living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia this spring for my last semester and working at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Outside of this, I have no past work experience, besides internships (went to law school straight out of college). I would ideally be going straight into an LL.M. program from law school. I will still be taking the bar exam over here this coming summer.

In light of my qualifications, how would I stand as far as being competitive for admission to one of these schools? Also, I cannot seem to figure this out, but does UCL have an actual concentration in international law? The way the website is phrased, it sounds like a "design your own LL.M." program.

Thoughts?

Hi.
Id say that youve got a shot at those universities you mentioned, especially UCL and KCL. LSE, as far as I know, tends to be a little bit pickier on the grades and ranking than the other two and the honours system used in the UK and the equivalent overseas is terra incognita to me. I dont really think theres an actual equivalent that is adopted by all universities I believe each one has its own system of evaluating and deciding on whether a grade is or isnt equivalent to the UKs first class or second class honours.
Regards,
Beicon

like i always always say give it a try! and yes you have a very good chance :)

like beicon said LSE and KCL tend to focus a lot on rankings,,i feel that UCL looks for other things as well in my honest opinion!

good luck :)

Thanks for the help everyone! I decided that in Europe I am applying to Leiden, LSE, and UCL. I am hoping to improve my GPA and class rank a bit more in my final semesters in law school (knock on wood), but I will be sending applications before fall semester grades become available at my school.