I've recently gotten in to both Denver's and Alabama's online program. I'm not a non-traditional student, got my JD May 2011 - I have a part time job as a consultant that isnt neccesarily permanent. Getting married, and did not want to uproot my fiancee and myself by going to a tax school elsewhere. My ultimate goal is to do international tax and M&A. Would like to be in Georgia or Washington DC.

Not sure if regions really matter for tax programs, but I'm definitely torn between the two.

Alabama is cheaper and have been doing the online thing a lot longer. Denver is historically ranked in top 10, although not in recent years. I also dont know how much going to Denver I will have to do, and plane tickets from Atlanta to Denver add up. Driving to Tuscaloosa isnt bad.

Thoughts?

You want to be in Georgia? Denver is like a foreign country. Pick Bama.

Its online course buddy! Pick which ever is ranked better.

Neither of them are ranked this year.

Denver was ranked 9 in 2010, 10 in 2011, unranked in 2012.

Neither of them are ranked this year.

Denver was ranked 9 in 2010, 10 in 2011, unranked in 2012.

Yeah, I appreciate your insight though.

Was hoping someone with a tax background would be able to shed some light.

I don't have a tax background, but I live in Georgia and know several people who completed the Alabama program. They were all very pleased.

I don't have a tax background, but I live in Georgia and know several people who completed the Alabama program. They were all very pleased.

If you want to be in DC then why not wait a year until after you are married and go to Georgetown? The thing is, doing an online LLM is really for people who are already working in tax, who want to learn more, and whose employers are likely paying for it or encouraging it in some other way. It is NOT a way to break into tax. To break into tax -- especially if you say you want to do M&A work -- you'd need to go to a better school. I understand not wanting to uproot your family -- I am getting married in August and starting my LLM (5 hours away from where we currently live) 2 weeks later... but, if your goal post-LLM is to get a job in tax rather than advance at your current firm/company, an online LLM will likely be a waste of money and that's worse for your family in the long run.

Thanks for the reply-

I guess I also neglected to mention that I am an international consultant for a lobbyist, connecting foreign businesses with US businesses in attaining government contracts (particularly for the DoD and DoE. I have to travel overseas, and online allows me to keep doing that. Hence the desire to get into international tax and m&a.

That sounds like a really interesting job -- maybe with the connections you make there you could get a job at a tax firm without the LLM, or maybe where the LLM comes from won't matter as much to you. Have you also considered NYU's online LLM? I do not profess to be an expert and I know everyone has different situations... I was just told straight up by tax professors that I should go to NYU, Florida or Georgetown to get my LLM. If the choice for you is between Denver and Alabama and that's it, then I'll say that I've heard Denver is more like an MST program -- geared toward accounting careers rather than law careers. For M&A I don't think that would be very helpful - I have my MST and we didn't do anything M&A related. Look at the courses too for each program and see which has more M&A and International courses.

Yeah I couldn't stomach paying $60k for the online program at NYU frankly.

And you're basically right in saying Im relying on the connections I make via this position I have. With the crappy economy, it really is who you know.

Its beginning to be clearer and clearer to me that both programs seem to be very comprable, and I should just go with the cheaper option. Both offer the same amount of international & m/a tax courses.

Thanks for everyone's responses! If you have anything else to add please feel free. Knowledge is power methinks, and I'm sure someone out there will have the same dilemma in the future with three good schools offering the LL.M. in Tax online.