You guys seem to know what is up. I have a question

I am at a Tier One, Second Year. 3.4 GPA. I notice that NW and G-Town have an JD-Tax LLM Program which can be completed in 1 extra semester. This would allow me to attend either school as a visiting student, get a JD from My Current School and a LLM from either NW or G-Town.

What are my chances? Do you guys have any advice? These are some great schools and the LLM programs seem to be out of this world. What is firm placement like after the completion of these degrees?

I am in the same boat. Tier 2, top 30%. My school (chicago-kent) will not let me do Gtown or NYU because I have to study there my entire 3L year. Northwestern though is only 1 semester of study there...However, I am really uneasy about their program...it seems way below NYU, Florida, and Gtown.

I talked to my tax prof at school. I mean, in Chi, it might be cool. But on the east coast and in general, it seems that NYU, G-Town and Florida would get you where you want to go. I know around me G-Town and NYU have pull so that is where I am going to try to go. Northwestern is certainly good undergrad and with the JD, but from my own research the LLM is a whole different ball game. It seems like when people say "NYU G-Town and Florida are the only ones worth the money," they may be right. However, im def no expert and I would suggest you do your own research. Nevertheless, a sure bet is NYU, seems like you can not go wrong there. -Best of luck RSMC

Also, take into account, if you wanted to stand out and cant do the 1 sem JD thing, a Tax clerkship for a year with an LLM at night might get you where you want to go but possibly a little slower. If you like Chi (which is a totally a cool place to be) a combo strong clerkship with a Northwestern degree, in my limited opinion, may make up for the difference. There are a lot of options and ways to work it, but do your research, im not going to try to move through it too fast.

Research:
You cant go wrong by targeting some firms and then looking at their tax departments and seeing where they are alums from. That should give you a fair impression of what a Northwestern LLM would get you. However cutting against that is the fact that the Northwestern program is not so old, limit your search to associates and dont pay mind to the partners as the prgram may not have had time to put Northwestern Alum's in partner positions yet.

Starting Point: Vaults Top 100, pick a few frims with headquarters in Chi, look at tax Department, calculate ratio of Northwestern LLM/Non-Northwern LLM and factor your JD into the analysis. Take account for variable such as GPA, Law Review, and Clerkships. This is how I came to my answer.
That is pretty much all I know-RSMC