I'm hoping people out there more informed than I am can help me understand the competitiveness of LLM admissions.

I'm a 2L at NYU, and when I applied to JD programs Harvard waitlisted me twice, and then ultimately rejected me (in August!). But at NYU I'm doing well, on Law Review, in the top 25% and hopefully headed for graduation cum laude, and (again, hopefully) with a published Note under my belt.

I want to do an LLM not so much to increase my employment prospects (I know for Americans it's only your JD they really look at, unless you do a tax LLM at NYU) but to experience a truly elite school like Harvard, Yale, or Stanford, and to spend a full year developing my writing and hopefully publishing with an eye towards a career in academics.

So--how are my chances at admission, provided I continue to hit my goals? Are LLM admissions more or less competitive than JD admissions? Do they ask for your LSAT score (mine is my greatest liability)? How important are grades versus journal membership and publishing? Are the standards the same for Americans (like me) and international students?

I'd also be interested in the same information with respect to Oxford and Cambridge, if anyone knows.

Thanks, I appreciate whatever you can provide.

You will get into any domestic LLM program if you graduate from NYU in the top 1/3 of your class. JD admissions are much more difficult than LLM admissions. You will be fine.

If you want to become a professor you do not need to get an LLM from Harvard. Your JD from NYU would be enough. Look at your profs, I bet most of them do not have a LLM (unless it is in tax). I would work for a firm for a few years, then look to become a adjunct or full time professor. Most bright students start their teaching careers at T2 or mid level T1 schools. As thier reputation grows, so to do their offers from better schools.

Good luck.