Hi all, I'm considering applying for an LLM at an Ivy League university in the US. However, if I do not receive enough scholarships, I won't be able to pay for it. Does anyone know when there is a binding financial obligation? If I, for instance, secure a spot at a university, how long do I have before I have an obligation to pay the tuition fee?

Thank you in advance!

Hi Philip!

I was in a similar situation when I applied for an LLM, and I have a lot of compassion for you. I had admission offers from Harvard, Cambridge, NYU, and MIDS and chose to go to Harvard.

Funding it was definitely a huge quest.

Usually, you'd receive the admission decision around mid-April (at least that was the case with Harvard), and the decision on financial aid shortly after.

After that the school sets the deadline for payment of the tuition fees, which is around mid-summer.

You'll also probably have to apply for a visa, and to get F-1 visa, you'll need to demonstrate that you have sufficient funds to study in the US for a year. How much time you'll have for this will depend on where you live and how busy the US embassy there is (in some places you have to apply months in advance).



When I was applying for LLMs, I had a $30k grant from Harvard and a $28k grant from a small American foundation that does not exist anymore. I got the decisions from both around mid-April and had about 3 months to find the rest (the total cost was $92k). In the end, I crowdfunded a major part of it ($27k). I also negotiated an additional $9k grant from Harvard, but that happened later, after I had already started my LLM and one of my sponsors fell out.



The experience of looking for funding was so transformative and exhausting that I created a 70-page Guide to help people in a similar situation. It's available on my blog, the link is in the bio.



I also have a separate guide on negotiating financial aid that's tailored for LLM applicants in the US.



Hope it helps and best of luck!

[Edited by daria.lev on Oct 25, 2024]

Hi Dara,

Thank you so much for your response. One short follow-up question: do I understand right that a binding financial obligation will only exist after mid-summer? So, before that I would have the opportunity to cancel?