Dear Columbia fans
I'm applying for 2007 and have a couple of questions for anyone out there.
Qn: How difficult is it to get an Associateship if you are a foreign LLM? I've read on some threads that people were interviewed which makes me assume that Associates tend to be local students.
Qn: I have very good admission credentials but very little teaching experience (only private tutoring) - what are my chances of getting an associateship at Columbia?
Qn: Do Associates get to have as good an "LLM" experience as other LLM candidates or is the teaching schedule so gruelling that you are pretty much not part of your LLM class.

Any responses would be most appreciated. Thanks!

Hey Ursula,

I think all of your questions can be best answered by the Associates-in-Law themselves. You should contact them by email. The LL.M. Associates are Arianna, Hoi Kong, Haider and Ryan. You will find their details on the CLS homepage by going to "faculty" and then further to "associates-in-law".

The teaching schedule is tough in late August and September which is the moment when LL.M.s have their introductory course with accompanying sessions. In October, the LL.M. students hand in their papers. After that you will not have to assist LL.M. students any longer. I cannot tell you what you have to afterwards in order to justify tuition free studies plus additional 40,000 bucks per year. The associates-in-law will probably know that.

It depends totally on yourself how your LL.M. experience as an associate will be. If you contact LL.M. students only in your teaching sessions the experience will be probably bad. If you do like "normal" LL.M.s, i.e.

- show up at parties and other events
- meet your friends also individually (= not only at parties...)
- study in library instead of studying at home
...

then you cannot fail to have a great time.

In your position I would apply. There is no application without self-doubts. Your English should be excellent but you do not have to come from the Anglo-Saxon world. Only 1 of the current assistants comes from there, the other 3 come from Italy, China and Iraq.

Good luck!
TFH

Just to be clear on your question whether associates-in-law have to be local: The associates-in-law do not need to originally come from an Anglo-Saxon country but have of course all spent time there before.

Dear TFH
Thank you so much for your message - you are fantastic! I really appreciated the detailed response.