Hey guys, I think its time to start this thread and start interacting with those who are going to select BU as their chosen university for LLM study.
So is there anybody who has started looking for accommodation in BU?
Also when are you going to join it, early july or september?

hi K, I got an offer from BU for the LLM in American law program last week. I am still waiting on NYU, Cornell, Michigan and Harvard before i can make up my decision. If iam to join BU i think It will be in september because i want to apply and attend the summer legal institute in London that takes place in July.

Hi K,
I also got an offer for the LLM in American law (the week before the last). I am waiting for decision from Cornell and I got an offer from Georgetown. I am not completely decided as well, but it´s more likely that I will go to BU (but an offer from Cornell could change it). If I enroll to BU, I would like to arrive to Boston early in July for the Summer Legal English Program..

Hi,
I've chosen BU for my LL.M. (American Law), 'cause they offered me a good scholarship (I turned down UVA, Georgetown, UTexas, GWU, Fordham).
I actually don't know when I am going to Boston, I think in August anyway, so I have the time to look for a satisfying accommodation. I will be looking for a room in a shared apartment probably, and I don't think I'll try to apply for a campus solutions (rooms seem to me way too expensive in campus, and an off-camps solution would give me a little more "freedom").
By the way, I'm Italian, 25 years old, newly graduate in Rome. I hope to see you soon in Boston! Let's keep in touch, that could be helpful!

got an email for the interview. How should i prepare?

got an email for the interview. How should i prepare?

The interview is pretty easy...nothing to worry about. Just speak clearly and be yourself. I even said: "What the hell" during the interview and the interviewer just laughed. If I were you, I would tell them that you're not planning to stay in the U.S. after the LL.M. Tell them you do want to take the NY bar (if that's what you want), but just as a "plus", not for staying in the U.S.. In my case, they appreciated it. The U.S. legal market is terrible right now, and they prefer a student who comes back to the home country and finds a job for an international legal office/firm/branch etc. to a student who stays in the country trying to find (without finding) a job.

Good luck!

Even I am in a dilemma.. Although I am 99.8% sure on BU, I dont know if turning down Georgetown and Fordham, not waiting for NYU and not considering the waitlist position by Cornell is a good idea.. I have been given scholarship by BU and i think its a good university(its ranking, notwithstanding). But I dont know if it is good for an LLM student who wants to look for a job in the US.. I mean is it necessary to study in the top tier university to be a little assured of getting a job?

Hey K, I am also in the same position as you. I got an offer from BU american program as well as cornell and LSE but i think iam inclined on going to BU. I want to look for a job in the US after the LLM degree but iam not sure whether BU's ranking will have an effect or i should go for the high ranked cornell. Although cornell is damn expensive and cant offered it without fin aid.

I was in the same position. As I wrote, I turned down offers from UVA (a top 10) and Georgetown (a top 15) and decided to go to BU. The scholarhip played a significant role, of course. But I had a scholarship offered by Cardozo Law in NY as well, and I decided to turned the offer down anyway. On the one hand, it isn't rght to decide only for the scholarship. On the other hand, a scholarship offer has to be taken into account (at least in my case).
I understand your doubts, but:
1- If you go to NYU or Cornell, it doesn't mean you are ging to find a job in the U.S. Of course, NYU is in NY, so where all the international lawyers are. But at NYU you will be competing with 200/300 LLMs, and the life in NY is so expensive (if money can be a problem)
2- BU is a good university, and it is not far from NY (3 hours by bus), so you are also pretty close t the legal market you want to join. Someone in this forum told me that a friend of his, from BU, did find a job in NY, so it is not impossible. It's basically up to you and to your networking abilities to find a job in the U.S.

I was in the same position. As I wrote, I turned down offers from UVA (a top 10) and Georgetown (a top 15) and decided to go to BU. The scholarhip played a significant role, of course. But I had a scholarship offered by Cardozo Law in NY as well, and I decided to turned the offer down anyway. On the one hand, it isn't rght to decide only for the scholarship. On the other hand, a scholarship offer has to be taken into account (at least in my case).
I understand your doubts, but:
1- If you go to NYU or Cornell, it doesn't mean you are ging to find a job in the U.S. Of course, NYU is in NY, so where all the international lawyers are. But at NYU you will be competing with 200/300 LLMs, and the life in NY is so expensive (if money can be a problem)
2- BU is a good university, and it is not far from NY (3 hours by bus), so you are also pretty close t the legal market you want to join. Someone in this forum told me that a friend of his, from BU, did find a job in NY, so it is not impossible. It's basically up to you and to your networking abilities to find a job in the U.S.

got an email for the interview. How should i prepare?

Hi, you should look at http://www.llm-guide.com/board/99660. I wrote there about the interview.. Wish u good luck ;-)

I was in the same position. As I wrote, I turned down offers from UVA (a top 10) and Georgetown (a top 15) and decided to go to BU. The scholarhip played a significant role, of course. But I had a scholarship offered by Cardozo Law in NY as well, and I decided to turned the offer down anyway. On the one hand, it isn't rght to decide only for the scholarship. On the other hand, a scholarship offer has to be taken into account (at least in my case).
I understand your doubts, but:
1- If you go to NYU or Cornell, it doesn't mean you are ging to find a job in the U.S. Of course, NYU is in NY, so where all the international lawyers are. But at NYU you will be competing with 200/300 LLMs, and the life in NY is so expensive (if money can be a problem)
2- BU is a good university, and it is not far from NY (3 hours by bus), so you are also pretty close t the legal market you want to join. Someone in this forum told me that a friend of his, from BU, did find a job in NY, so it is not impossible. It's basically up to you and to your networking abilities to find a job in the U.S.

I have to say i disgree with you. Recruiters heavily rely on reputation of schools. If you do some research, its not difficult to see reports (I saw one recently at US News) showing that recruiters do have preference over top 10 or top 15 schools. There is a difference between giving up a scholarship offered by a school outside top 15 to go to a top 15 school and giving up a scholarship offered by a top 15 school in order to go to a top 15 school.

If going to NYU means that you will need to compete with 200 or 300 students, how many students you think you are going to compete with by not going to a top 15 school?

One has sometimes to look beyond the money factor to ensure that this year is going to be worthwhile. It's an once in a lifetime chance.

In the legal profession, names matter.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/articles/2011/03/07/law-firm-recruiters-rank-best-law-schools

I was in the same position. As I wrote, I turned down offers from UVA (a top 10) and Georgetown (a top 15) and decided to go to BU. The scholarhip played a significant role, of course. But I had a scholarship offered by Cardozo Law in NY as well, and I decided to turned the offer down anyway. On the one hand, it isn't rght to decide only for the scholarship. On the other hand, a scholarship offer has to be taken into account (at least in my case).
I understand your doubts, but:
1- If you go to NYU or Cornell, it doesn't mean you are ging to find a job in the U.S. Of course, NYU is in NY, so where all the international lawyers are. But at NYU you will be competing with 200/300 LLMs, and the life in NY is so expensive (if money can be a problem)
2- BU is a good university, and it is not far from NY (3 hours by bus), so you are also pretty close t the legal market you want to join. Someone in this forum told me that a friend of his, from BU, did find a job in NY, so it is not impossible. It's basically up to you and to your networking abilities to find a job in the U.S.

I have to say i disgree with you. Recruiters heavily rely on reputation of schools. If you do some research, its not difficult to see reports (I saw one recently at US News) showing that recruiters do have preference over top 10 or top 15 schools. There is a difference between giving up a scholarship offered by a school outside top 15 to go to a top 15 school and giving up a scholarship offered by a top 15 school in order to go to a top 15 school.

If going to NYU means that you will need to compete with 200 or 300 students, how many students you think you are going to compete with by not going to a top 15 school?

One has sometimes to look beyond the money factor to ensure that this year is going to be worthwhile. It's an once in a lifetime chance.

In the legal profession, names matter.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/articles/2011/03/07/law-firm-recruiters-rank-best-law-schools

You are certainly right, I was just pointing out that even if you go to NYU, or even Harvard, Yale etc.. it will be very difficult to find a job in the U.S., if not almost impossible. The name of the school matters, I do know that, but in a very difficult and tough situation, it's your personal ability to create a network and to know the right people that can make the difference (in the thread Italians who applied for llm a guy told me his friend from BU found a job in NY; BU sent me a list of Italian alumni, and there is one who works for the SEC in Washington). Then of course, if you come from Harvard you have more chances.
By the way, for those who want to find a job in the U.S. the advice is to get a JD rather than an LLM. If you say it is once in a life chance, I agree with you but you need to have a clear vision of things. If a person wants to come back to the home country, an LLM from BU is very well seen (I talked about it with lawyers from Clearly, Freshfields and other firms), so turning down a scholarship could be not the best choice ever. On the other hand, if a person wants to find a job in the US an LLM could be not enough even from Harvard. Personally, I had no doubts when BU offered me a scholarship, because I won't be dying to find a job in the US and I'm ready to come back. Or, if I madly fall in love with US, I'll use the LLM to complete the JD in 2 years, then findinf a job won't be a problem.

I was in the same position. As I wrote, I turned down offers from UVA (a top 10) and Georgetown (a top 15) and decided to go to BU. The scholarhip played a significant role, of course. But I had a scholarship offered by Cardozo Law in NY as well, and I decided to turned the offer down anyway. On the one hand, it isn't rght to decide only for the scholarship. On the other hand, a scholarship offer has to be taken into account (at least in my case).
I understand your doubts, but:
1- If you go to NYU or Cornell, it doesn't mean you are ging to find a job in the U.S. Of course, NYU is in NY, so where all the international lawyers are. But at NYU you will be competing with 200/300 LLMs, and the life in NY is so expensive (if money can be a problem)
2- BU is a good university, and it is not far from NY (3 hours by bus), so you are also pretty close t the legal market you want to join. Someone in this forum told me that a friend of his, from BU, did find a job in NY, so it is not impossible. It's basically up to you and to your networking abilities to find a job in the U.S.

I have to say i disgree with you. Recruiters heavily rely on reputation of schools. If you do some research, its not difficult to see reports (I saw one recently at US News) showing that recruiters do have preference over top 10 or top 15 schools. There is a difference between giving up a scholarship offered by a school outside top 15 to go to a top 15 school and giving up a scholarship offered by a top 15 school in order to go to a top 15 school.

If going to NYU means that you will need to compete with 200 or 300 students, how many students you think you are going to compete with by not going to a top 15 school?

One has sometimes to look beyond the money factor to ensure that this year is going to be worthwhile. It's an once in a lifetime chance.

In the legal profession, names matter.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/articles/2011/03/07/law-firm-recruiters-rank-best-law-schools

You are certainly right, I was just pointing out that even if you go to NYU, or even Harvard, Yale etc.. it will be very difficult to find a job in the U.S., if not almost impossible. The name of the school matters, I do know that, but in a very difficult and tough situation, it's your personal ability to create a network and to know the right people that can make the difference (in the thread Italians who applied for llm a guy told me his friend from BU found a job in NY; BU sent me a list of Italian alumni, and there is one who works for the SEC in Washington). Then of course, if you come from Harvard you have more chances.
By the way, for those who want to find a job in the U.S. the advice is to get a JD rather than an LLM. If you say it is once in a life chance, I agree with you but you need to have a clear vision of things. If a person wants to come back to the home country, an LLM from BU is very well seen (I talked about it with lawyers from Clearly, Freshfields and other firms), so turning down a scholarship could be not the best choice ever. On the other hand, if a person wants to find a job in the US an LLM could be not enough even from Harvard. Personally, I had no doubts when BU offered me a scholarship, because I won't be dying to find a job in the US and I'm ready to come back. Or, if I madly fall in love with US, I'll use the LLM to complete the JD in 2 years, then findinf a job won't be a problem.

Finding a job with LLM in the US is "almost impossible" but "no problem" with a JD. "Personal ability to network" makes all the difference. Pretty simple and shallow view. Anyways, it's probably right that all these law school rankings matter more to those who wish to work in the states.

Hi, everyone, nict to meet you all here
I've got BU LL.M. (American Law) with a not bad scholarship this morning. I 'm on work so probably won't come to Boston until August, whether the summer program is good enough? anyway,
By the way, I'm a Chinese guy, 26 years old, almost 4 years of working experience in Shanghai. I hope to see all soon in Boston! Keep in touch, share more!

hey!

I gave the telephonic interview last week. How long after the interview did u guys hear from them?? Just nervous..

Hi Pebbledpath, I remember they took around four days and they got back to me. But there other people who heard from BU after like a week, or two weeks after the interview. But trust me i think your already in. which program did you apply for? me i got American law program.

I applied for IPR Program but during my interview they asked me if I would like to be considered for the American Law Program. I agreed to it.

I got rejected by berkeley and I have lost hope on NYU so i realllllly am praying for a positive reply from BU

Hey guys i have an offer from cornell and BU. i need some advice as to which one i should go for. Iam interested in corporate law. I knw cornell is ivy bt am nt sure whether its good in corporate law. on the other hand, BU offered me llm in american law with an option of specialisation in international business practice (corporate law). which of the two is a better offer?