Hi there !

Today I had a rare, surprising, yet tempting opportunity.

For some reason which I'm not going to explain thoroughly right now since it would be pretty long, I would be admitted for an LLM in Duke for this year, id est 2010-2011. Yeah it does really come out of the blue, since it is on such a short notice and furthermore since I had not applied yet, but well it just happened.

Someone had been admitted and eventually cannot go there for personal reasons which just arised, so my former university (which has agreements with Duke) contacted me asking me whether I wanted to go..

So the bottom line is that I could most likely attend this LLM as soon as this year, given that I answer very quickly to this offer.

Since this proposal comes as a real surprise to me, I had by the way not applied to any LLM yet but was planning to do so for next year, I know nothing about them, even less about Duke.

Just want to know very honnestly if Duke is nicely rated and if I should take this offer. I ve read a lot of interesting topics here on this board that I've just discovered, but I don't really realize how it is ranked compared to other big llm like Columbia Yale etc. etc. The timing would be decent for me, eventhough I wanted to apply for next year, I am currently looking for a Job in a law firm, and I am hence not working right now. I just need to know if it is a good enough university. I have the feeling that it was very very highly considered some 10 to 20 years ago, and was wondering whether this is still the case nowadays.

Few backgrounds information : I want to work in a law firm in my country in Europe once I've done my LLM.

I hope I ll get some help here because I have a very short notice to accept or decline this offer, and I simply don't want to make a bad decision.

Any comment would hence be truly appreciated.

Thank you !

I think duke would be an excellent choice especially given your decision to return home.

I think duke would be an excellent choice especially given your decision to return home.

Thank you for your answers so far, I appreciate it.

I ve found many rankings and so forth, but it always seems to take into consideration the law school per se, JD etc, and not the LLM itself. I still don't really know how it is rated .

For instance it's surprising because in my country people think that NYU is pretty common (unlike Columiba which is very highly rated) and Duke seems to have a pretty strong image as well, whereas in the rankings i've seen so far, NYU is very nicely rated.

There are no relying ratings on LL.M. programs.

Unless you really want to go to HLS, YLS, Stanford or CLS, I'd suggest to take the offer. Duke is a very good school with a good program and if you want to return to Europe after graduation, it's absolutely great...

@Roc_Xel
where do you come from? well... i believe that nyu is really mediocre. there are better schools than nyu.

I m from Switzerland !

I think i'll go for Duke, seems nice.

But any more comment/ opinion on the school is always appreciated ..

According my experience, Swiss law firms do not make any difference between LLM from the major Universities (except if the partner is an "alumnus" of one of them).

Difference is rather the cost and the place: Durham is not NY :a flat in Durham is half the price, but maybe the city is not so exciting.

Duke: classes are smaller, you can choose amongst many lessons (general LLM), weather is better etc..

personnal experience is maybe more important than ranking, as long as it is a "first class" University (which Duke is).
I also know that you can have a scholarship within the Geneva-Duke agreement, which is really interresting (I do not know if it is your case).

Maybe it can help.

Thanks Daniel, very interesting post.

I m on the edge of making it a final decision, and it seems almost certain i ll be in Durham very soon !

I am sure sure you make the right decision. Hereafter the academic calendar for 2010-2011

Fall Term 2010

Mon-Fri, August 16-20
LLM orientation

Monday, August 23
All classes begin

Mon-Fri, October 11-15
Fall Break

Wed-Fri, November 24-26
Thanksgiving Break

Wednesday, December 1
Last day of classes

December 2-18
Reading and examination period

Spring Term 2011

Monday, January 10
Classes begin

Monday, January 17
Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday (no classes)

Mon-Fri, March 14-18
Spring Break

Monday, April 18
Last day of classes

Tue, April 19 - Fri, May 6
Reading and examination period

Saturday, May 14
Law School hooding ceremony

Sunday, May 15
University commencement ceremony

You can also have a look to the group FB "Duke LLM 10-11"

I said Daniel for Lionel , sorry !

Thanks also for the calendar, was precisely looking for it !!!

According my experience, Swiss law firms do not make any difference between LLM from the major Universities (except if the partner is an "alumnus" of one of them).

Dear roc_xel,
As with all Swiss, I wasn't sure whether to say Grüezi! or Salut!... ;)

Duke is a pretty good uni. And remember that you could always try a second LLM somewhere else if that's you thing. The thing to remember in your case is that "A Bird in the Hand is Better than Two in the Bush!"

It's Salut ! ;)

I fully agree and have eventually chosen to keep the bird in my hand instead of chasing the second one.

Durham, here I come !