Hey you all,

I hope that all of you have already many admissions, and I am sure you will all enjoy your LL.M. studies in the USA.

I am from Germany, and currently an LL.M. student at Columbia Law School. I can tell you that I can't imagine that something better can happen to you than an admissision from Columbia.

Why?

It is first of all the fellow students. We are 208 in the program, and I definitely consider that this rather high number is an advantage. The high number of students does not imply at all that we are an anonymous crowd. The opposite is true. I could make a huge number of friendships, in any case more than 50, which is probably more than students are enrolled in the programs of other law schools.

Nearly every country in the world is represented. And even within those countries nearly every region is represented. One example is Australia. There are 4 Australians at Columbia Law School. They come from Sydney, Canberra, Perth and ... Tasmania!! To continue: There are 28 Japanese, 23 Chinese, 15 Indians,15 Brazilians, 6 Argentinians, 5 Colombians, 7 Swiss, 5 Germans, 5 Dutchmen, 5 Italians, at least 5 Frenchmen, 4 Spaniards, 4 Belgians, 2 Swedes ...

The great thing is that Columbia has a tendency to choose multipliers. This means that not only an excellent academic record is important, but also the leadership potential of each candidate. Columbia has chosen only those of each country which can open you the doors to their home countries because they are either already in leadership functions or will be in leadership functions after Columbia. These people are both open and get things done efficiently.

Columbia Law School's professors are really brilliant, and the so-called Socratic method is not only something written on Columbia's papers but it is practiced in each lesson. Columbia has a huge curriculum which covers nearly all areas, and at least for business law and international law it can rightfully claim to be leading.

The job opportunities are great. This does not mean that every single law student already has found a job, but a pretty high number has done so, most students have even found their dream jobs. The current payment at the New York law firms is in many cases 145,000$ plus bonus (ca. 30,000-40,000$).

Columbia has a very proactive president, Lee Bollinger, who makes out of Columbia a place where the talent of each student to assume leadership positions is promoted. One of his projects is the "World Leaders Forum" in which high ranked politicians, media representatives, professors and students come together.

I am not sure whether you appreciate my contribution. It is of course possible that LL.M. students at other US Law Schools will also make positive experiences, and I believe that your LL.M. year in the States will be a great year anyway. The purpose of this email is just to share with you my enthusiasm about Columbia.

I in no way intend to be arrogant. If I speak of the many potential leaders here at Columbia this does not at all exclude the possibility that you will find potential leaders at other law schools too.

Thorsten

P.S.: Please be reassured that this email is not part of a campaign by Columbia. I decided to write you this email on my own free will, and I in no way collaborated with Columbia officials.

Corporate attorneys are not leaders in any sense. They are simply the hired help.

Wow, that is the first time I've seen someone gush over the "Socratic method."

The Paper Chase, anyone? ;)

A few whiners who weren't accepted?

I'm not an applicant.

Financiers, bankers,corporate executives, businessmen, high level civil servants, politicians etc. are LEADERS.

Lawyers, accountants, consultants are the hired help(service providers).

"A few whiners who weren't accepted?"

Wow, are we getting a little bit offensive and arrogant? If you have something substantial to say, say it. Otherwise...
It would be nice if you could stick to the rules of politeness nearly all the others follow.

I would chase some papers for $145 000 a year ;)

The world of legal studies is torn into two kind of people, those that go to yale law school and those that don't make it through.

Thank you for your enlightening post. We really appreciate current LL.M. students' posts, because you can tell us something that can not be found in the rankings. You could have added that N.Y. is an incredible place to live. Regards. -Toni-

I enjoyed reading the post. I am convinced though that 200+ LLMs is just too many. Too many LLMs to have in a classroom, too many people with the same resume, too many people from your own country (28, 15, etc). I cannot believe Columbia is as selective as Stanford and Yale. In any case, it is a great school.

I think Roberto is oversimplifying just a little bit. Although YLS is great and has many advantages (which is why I'm choosing it myself), it is not superior in every respect. If one would like to study IPR, Stanford would be better than Yale. Harvard is stronger in critical legal studies, and some other areas, NYU in public international law and probably in jurisprudence. Studying corporate law in Columbia is arguably the better choice than Yale. Being located in N.Y. and consisting mostly of students specializing in corporate law makes Columbia probably the better option for those who want to make it to BigLaw. On the other hand, a program of approximately 200 students might not be suitable for independent research. That's why Yale suits me. But we should all bear in mind that T14 schools are all great, and differences in quality are quite marginal between these schools.

Hey you all,

I hope that all of you have already many admissions, and I am sure you will all enjoy your LL.M. studies in the USA.

I am from Germany, and currently an LL.M. student at Columbia Law School. I can tell you that I can't imagine that something better can happen to you than an admissision from Columbia.

Why?

It is first of all the fellow students. We are 208 in the program, and I definitely consider that this rather high number is an advantage. The high number of students does not imply at all that we are an anonymous crowd. The opposite is true. I could make a huge number of friendships, in any case more than 50, which is probably more than students are enrolled in the programs of other law schools.

Nearly every country in the world is represented. And even within those countries nearly every region is represented. One example is Australia. There are 4 Australians at Columbia Law School. They come from Sydney, Canberra, Perth and ... Tasmania!! To continue: There are 28 Japanese, 23 Chinese, 15 Indians,15 Brazilians, 6 Argentinians, 5 Colombians, 7 Swiss, 5 Germans, 5 Dutchmen, 5 Italians, at least 5 Frenchmen, 4 Spaniards, 4 Belgians, 2 Swedes ...

The great thing is that Columbia has a tendency to choose multipliers. This means that not only an excellent academic record is important, but also the leadership potential of each candidate. Columbia has chosen only those of each country which can open you the doors to their home countries because they are either already in leadership functions or will be in leadership functions after Columbia. These people are both open and get things done efficiently.

Columbia Law School's professors are really brilliant, and the so-called Socratic method is not only something written on Columbia's papers but it is practiced in each lesson. Columbia has a huge curriculum which covers nearly all areas, and at least for business law and international law it can rightfully claim to be leading.

The job opportunities are great. This does not mean that every single law student already has found a job, but a pretty high number has done so, most students have even found their dream jobs. The current payment at the New York law firms is in many cases 145,000$ plus bonus (ca. 30,000-40,000$).

Columbia has a very proactive president, Lee Bollinger, who makes out of Columbia a place where the talent of each student to assume leadership positions is promoted. One of his projects is the "World Leaders Forum" in which high ranked politicians, media representatives, professors and students come together.

I am not sure whether you appreciate my contribution. It is of course possible that LL.M. students at other US Law Schools will also make positive experiences, and I believe that your LL.M. year in the States will be a great year anyway. The purpose of this email is just to share with you my enthusiasm about Columbia.

I in no way intend to be arrogant. If I speak of the many potential leaders here at Columbia this does not at all exclude the possibility that you will find potential leaders at other law schools too.

Thorsten

P.S.: Please be reassured that this email is not part of a campaign by Columbia. I decided to write you this email on my own free will, and I in no way collaborated with Columbia officials.

It's kinda hard to believe you weren't asked to write this when Harvard has just sent out admission offers.

What are you guys thinking about? It is so nice that Thorsten, as a current student at Columbia, can share so much useful information with all of us. Why can't we just view them as an open-minded person? There are many people (such as Bitsou, I would say) on this Board who share their personal experience and thoughts with us, which turn out to be very valuable. We will not know these from the ranking. Why can't we appreciate all they have provided rather than doubt their purpose!

If somebody would like to turn down Columbia for Harvard, do it. You don't need to preach down Columbia.

I know we are under the pressure to make a decision. I am facing the same situation as some of you guys to make a decision among Harvard, Stanford and Columbia. No matter what decision I make, I believe all of them are great law schools and I am just trying to pick one which is more suitable for me. I know I would feel regret for not having personal experience in the other ones. If most of the Harvard admitted students are so arrogant, I do not think I will enjoy being part of them.

As to the post scripts, sure, I dont believe it is a campaign by CLS nor the author has collaborated with CLS officials, but rather I wondered for a while whether it is a malicious propaganda against CLS which may hurt many applicants who were not successful...