Hi! I`m going to apply for LLM 2007-2008. As I`m sure that I have no chances at Harvard, Yale and Stanford - the documents will be sent to a different set of schools.

Columbia, UPenn, Duke, Cornell and UCLA. Wich of the schools is considered to be the best in, say, general LLM?

Does the US News ranking matter that much?

Which school is better - Duke or UPenn? Duke is in the middle of nowhere and Penn is in Philly, what about academics?

Thanks

UPenn is better than Duke :
- higher ranked (top 10 whereas Duke is not),
- stronger cross-disciplinary studies,
- many of the professors have joint appointments with other of the Universitys great schools (Wharton, etc.),
- better reputation,
- better location,
- more work opportunities.

UPenn is better than Duke :
- higher ranked (top 10 whereas Duke is not),
- stronger cross-disciplinary studies,
- many of the professors have joint appointments with other of the Universitys great schools (Wharton, etc.),
- better reputation,
- better location,
- more work opportunities.

What about University of Chicago? You should consider Chicago as well. As to the "worldwide factor": perhaps Cornell might be better known in Europe (if that is where you come from). BUT: Don't rely solely on the murky reputation criterion. Think about what you want to do. For example: IP law - go for Duke; Corporate - UPenn. And don't rely on US-News as decisive factor. Take it as a starting point, but nothing more.
There are a lot of quite insightful posts on this board, you should take a look at them.

Regards,

Yps.

I see. But, everybody knows Harvard, Yale or Stanford. To tell you ther truth, I have not heard about Duke or Cornell before I came to this site. I knew that UPenn is an ivy and that`s it. Nothing else. So, which of these universities (Duke, Cornell, Penn and such) is, say, more famous worldwide?

I see. Thank you for your replies.

As far as I can judge - UPenn has some weight in legal community and thus I`ll consentrate on this university.

And what abou UPenn and Columbia?

Bear in mind also that it all depends on your country of origin and what's the country you want to practice in after law school (if different). For example, if you're French you will find many more Cornell alumni working in premier firms that you will Penn graduates. The Paris market will probably be more favorable if you're a Cornell grad than a Penn grad -- regardless of the respective pros and cons of these two schools.

Also, when you're a few years post law school, you don't care whether your school was no. 4 or no. 8. You remember pretty much everything but the rankings...

In terms of worldwide recognition and recruiting, there's a real difference between Yale, Stanford and Harvard, on the one hand, and all the other schools on the other hand.
(In terms of intellectual prestige, I would include Chicago among the three schools above, but not in terms of recruiting or awareness outside the fields of law, economics and physics...)

Outside the top 3, and more so the top 10, it will be hard to be considered for a position in the U.S. as an LLM. But within the top 10, whether you go to Duke or Penn will be deemed irrelevant by any law firms in their right minds...

Last thing: most law firms recruiters have NO idea which school is 6, 8 or 9.... Everybody thinks in terms of top, close to the top, and below the top. Nobody cares about the rest...

Go to Berkely and enjoy California - I wish I'd done that :)

Outside the top 3, and more so the top 10, it will be hard to be considered for a position in the U.S. as an LLM. But within the top 10, whether you go to Duke or Penn will be deemed irrelevant by any law firms in their right minds...
Last thing: most law firms recruiters have NO idea which school is 6, 8 or 9.... Everybody thinks in terms of top, close to the top, and below the top. Nobody cares about the rest...