It seems I'm out of luck this year. If I apply next year, will they still keep my file from this year by then? I mean, e.g. I changed my interested fields in my p.s. next year, if they keep my file from this year, won't that be hold against me?

BTW, if I decide to apply for J.D. instead of L.L.M. next year, would it be the same group to review the files for both programs?

Did you get a reject notice? If not, there is a possibility they haven't finished sending out offers

Did you get a reject notice? If not, there is a possibility they haven't finished sending out offers

Do you have any idea about how difficult it is to get admitted for the JD program??? Besides an outstanding resume, you've got to have a ridicolously high score in LSAT..!
Anyways, I think they keep the documentation for the next year, but they will put aside any part of the application you woud like to change,if you ask them to do so.

Well perse, scrap this thread.

You, Nail and me will get our offers later today..lol...just wait!!

Do you have any idea about how difficult it is to get admitted for the JD program??? Besides an outstanding resume, you've got to have a ridicolously high score in LSAT..!
Anyways, I think they keep the documentation for the next year, but they will put aside any part of the application you woud like to change,if you ask them to do so.

Wow, congratulations perse and sorry for the comment, then I guess you are an English native speaker (besides being a very smart guy, obviously).
If I were you, I would most definitely go for the JD: if you get there, you have a job secured in a magic circle law firm in the US right after you come out of school (which is, nowadays, extremely difficult -if not impossible- for LLMs).
I can't be certain about the answer to your question, but my understanding from HLS's website is that they have a separate office for LLM, JSD and Visiting scholars' admissions which are administered by the Graduate Program...after all, they must receive more than 2000 applications and simply can't handle them together with those for JDs (probably even higher number?)!
But this is, again, just speculation.

Wow, congratulations perse and sorry for the comment, then I guess you are an English native speaker (besides being a very smart guy, obviously).
If I were you, I would most definitely go for the JD: if you get there, you have a job secured in a magic circle law firm in the US right after you come out of school (which is, nowadays, extremely difficult -if not impossible- for LLMs).
I can't be certain about the answer to your question, but my understanding from HLS's website is that they have a separate office for LLM, JSD and Visiting scholars' admissions which are administered by the Graduate Program...after all, they must receive more than 2000 applications and simply can't handle them together with those for JDs (probably even higher number?)!
But this is, again, just speculation.

I always find it funny when people suggest that getting in to the JD program is notoriously more difficult than getting into the LLM Program (for any institution). To be sure, the mountain is ever so steeper if you happen to be a non-native English speaker, given need to grapple with the nuances of the English language for the purposes of the LSAT. If you are a native English speaker, or if you have a generally good command of the English language, the chances of getting into a JD Program on merit is as high if not more so than getting into the LLM Program because although you need to get a high LSAT score, the JD Program's acceptance rate is about the same if not higher than the LLM Program (according to some sources, the acceptance rate is 11+% for the JD Program; and the acceptance rate for the LLM Program is 10% - it's fairly similar therefore) and it has considerably more spots for people to aim for in the Program (at least 450 students, if not more). Of course, I suspect the emphasis is reduced on diversity in terms of geographic scope in the JD Program as opposed to the LLM Program, so that might make the latter either easier or harder than the JD Program to seek entry depending on where you come from and the demand for places from that jurisdiction.

Therefore if the aim is to work in the US, and you can spare the time and money (a 3 year program can be a massive drain on resources), I'd say go for the JD Program. I'm sure you'll find it an enriching experience (as you would the LLM Program, no doubt).

Well, the LSAT is without a doubt a major obstacle, irregardles of your mother tongue. I had a go at some of these tests just to see what it'd be like and I'm quite sure I'd lose much blood, tears and sweat over that standarized test. It's definitely nothing you can easily succeed in by simply "preparing hard". Even if you have an above average logical/analytical mind, it'd take months to fully grasp the test writers' way of thinking and the patterns of the different question types. It's a whole science if you're aiming for near-180 scores.

On the other hand, let's not forget that what LLM applicants later refer to as "top x% at my law school" equals YEARS of crazy studying, with several successfully mastered exams, some of which require practice and prepartion similar to the LSAT. The LLM's major credential is already the 3 years the JD's are about to begin! LLM applicants tend to ignore this, however, as the past is already taken for granted - it surely is not! :)

Couldn't agree with you more TwelfthMonkey. Both are disciplines in their own right - and whilst there is no guarantee that a person who is a master at one can necessarily grasp the logic in the other, the point though is that each requires its own set of tools and any suggestion that the LLM is in some way, ill-equipped to master those skills BECAUSE the JD student is so much more smarter than him/her or BECAUSE the JD program is so much more difficult to get into, I think need only to be stated to be rejected.