Hi,

I'm thinking of applying to LLM in the U.S... in 2008 !

I have an LLB from a foreign country and in the middle of my internship.

I noticed that some universities say that 2-year work experience is required ? Is that true ? Because if one needs to apply in March (for semester starting on August?) then I will be before my bar exam here, and with zero work experience (except one year internship).

Can you offer me information please ? Thanks.

I am not sure about the March date - when I applied to Columbia, Harvard, Berkeley, NYU the closing dates were all in December for the following August.

For Columbia I know that you DEFINITELY need work experience, preferably two years. The admissions person there (Sylvia Polo) told me that they hardly ever take people without work experience even if they are exceptional candidates. One year work experience might be ok but anything less than that for Columbia would almost automatically exclude you. I am not sure about the other schools.

flygirl, did you apply to the associates at law programme at columbia or just the good ol' fashioped llm?
Also, why didn't you apply to yale since you are interested in academia and it is probably THE llm for aspiring academics?
I was interested to read you pont above about work experience. I didnt realize that that was a such a formal prerequisite at columbia. What about the other us llms, like harv, yale, etc...? I know they suggest that experience is an asset, but is it formally required? It certainly doesn't seem to be very important at all for oxbridge, as many candidates in their masters programmes are fresh out of school.
As always, I appreciate your thoughts (even if you are going to oxford):

keep us posted on the courses irishguy. I especially want ot know about restitution. The more details the better... ie how many questuions, was thier choice on the paper, was time a big problem or did you have time to write everything you wanted etc...
also, feel free to post on the hearsay gossip youve heard from others about their exam experiencsd on courses you yourself arent enrolled in...

Thanks for the answers guys... !

I'm wondering if I need to get a move-on with the process or is it all too early for 2008-2009 year, to be starting now... ?

I need to take a TOEFL...

and I see there's this "LL.M. Credential Assembly Service" - did you all sign with it ? (I also see there's a reduction fee for it?)

Thanks!