Hello everyone!! I desparately need some great advice !!!

I have received my admissions offer from Fletcher with 50% scholarship abd GW law where i have been offered the Thomas Buergenthal Scholarship and Columbia Law School with the LLM Human Rights Fellowship program. All courses in International Law.

My problem is which college must i choose?

My focus has and is only on a career with the United Nations. In fact I am undertaking these LLMs in order that i may get into the UNO and work with any of its organs at a professional post.

Keeping my career goal in mind I am comfused as to which college would be best suited for a career with the UN?

Hello everyone!! I desparately need some great advice !!!

I have received my admissions offer from Fletcher with 50% scholarship abd GW law where i have been offered the Thomas Buergenthal Scholarship and Columbia Law School with the LLM Human Rights Fellowship program. All courses in International Law.

My problem is which college must i choose?

My focus has and is only on a career with the United Nations. In fact I am undertaking these LLMs in order that i may get into the UNO and work with any of its organs at a professional post.

Keeping my career goal in mind I am comfused as to which college would be best suited for a career with the UN?

If the UN is your thing, then definitively Columbia would your best choice.

i would say that Fletcher is the right place for it.. Columbia undoubtedly has good International Law curriculum but u find plethora of Alumni from Fletcher currently working for UN.. hope it helps and serves your purpose!!!!

nyday Fletcher.. donno y we even having this discussion??? Fletcher is known for its international law and diplomacy courses.. We do LLM once in our lives and so better to do it from the place whch is known for it.
and for your kind information, Fletcher LLM is as tough as harvard and attracts more applicants than Harvard and Coloumbia do.
ithink, you should go for Fletcher. and with 50% scholarship seems to the best deal.

nyday Fletcher.. donno y we even having this discussion??? Fletcher is known for its international law and diplomacy courses.. We do LLM once in our lives and so better to do it from the place whch is known for it.
and for your kind information, Fletcher LLM is as tough as harvard and attracts more applicants than Harvard and Coloumbia do.
ithink, you should go for Fletcher. and with 50% scholarship seems to the best deal.

I will not get into whether Fletcher is "as though as Harvard" because it seems a futile and highly subjective discussion, not to mention that it assumes that Harvard is the "toughest school".

On the other hand, I was curious about the assertion that Fletcher manages to put more people in the UN than Columbia. Hmmm... Googling did not work, so I tried something else. This is a link to LinkedIn's information about UN employees registered: http://www.linkedin.com/company/united-nations/statistics

Those stats reflect the profiles of 10.700 UN employees who have a profile in that professional networking website. On that basis, which appears to be a pretty big sample, these are the top 5 Schools from which they have recruited current employees (see "University Attended):

1. NYU (2%)
2. London School of Economics (LSE) (1%)
3. Columbia - School of International Relations (1%)
4. Oxford (1%)
5. Columbia (again?) (1%)

I am not sure why Columbia appears twice or whether there is an overlap in the stats, but it seems that they are, all in all, on par with NYU at the top. This should put the question to rest.

As I said, Columbia appears to be the best option if the UN is your thing, (unless money is an unsormountable issue, of course, as the other schools are not bad choices either).

Well, I never said that Columbia is not good but Fletcher is known for course in International Law.
Check information about it on wikipedia. as it says, "one of the world's foremost schools of international affairs."
So basically, it is famous for diplomacy, policy making, international courses..

on the other hand, Columbia is an Ivy league and is renowned as a whole. i would rather say that NYU international law course is more reputed than Columbia's. its definitely not as good as Fletcher for course in international law.
and for your data taken from linkedin, u dont know that on what profile they working in.
it is quite possible that an Economist from LSE or a guy who has LLLM in International business law might be working with IMF which is a part of UN.
so one needs to be very particular while choosing his/her
course and should consider the far reaching effect.

For a course in International Laws, Fletcher is undoubtedly a better deal.

@Student - India: as far as your query is concerned, i got to know from one the alumunous from Fletcher. Donot be confused. you a haver better deal. just be focussed about yr course and go for a college which is known for that particular course. all the best.

check out the list of prominent alumni from Fletcher.. Man its endless, almost all have contributed in international law... its rightly been referred as "oldest school in the United States dedicated solely to graduate studies in international affairs"
follow the link..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fletcher_School_of_Law_and_Diplomacy

Dear LLLgirl,

It's ok to be proud of the School where one studies so I understand your enthusiasm in defending Fletcher. Let me be clear: nobody is saying that it is a bad school. We all agree it's a good one.

However, you have not provided any evidence, other than your own opinion, to prove that Fletcher is perceived as a better school than Columbia in the field of international law. That's the only point I am arguing.

Are you seriously suggesting to the person who asked for advice that he/she should base his/her decision in a sentence taken from Wikipedia? Moreover, the only thing the quote says, quite literally, is that Fletcher is the "oldest" one. Reading that as the "best" is a non-sequitur.

I am not a big fan of US news rankings, but they do give an indication of how schools are perceived in respect of international law:

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/international-law-rankings

For this year, Columbia is ranked in the 4th place (down from second). I don't know where Fletcher is ranked because they only publish the top-10 schools (and I did not sucribe to the option where you can get all the data). Again, I am not using this to suggest that Fletcher is bad option that should be discarded. Maybe the money factor is enough of tilt the balance in its favour.

But the truth remains that, money issues aside, CLS is a superior option, as strongly suggested by their reputation (i.e. the rankings) and university in which UN employees studied (linkedin). I also suggested before to look at the courses and to see if some looked more insteresting than the others, but this is highly subjective. I would finally note that "diplomatic" law is not the same as "international law", and the former appears to be the strength of Fletcher.

I don't have anything else to add to this discussion except to wish you all good luck in your decisions. And please let us know what you finally choose.

Dear Oldtimer,

First of all, i am not Fletcher.
Secondly, the evidence u relying on is vague. from linked in profile, u cannot judge whether one studied International Law, Economics, Business Law, etc etc.

and seems you donot have much idea about US colgs, you solely banking on college ranking. GW might be 20 overall but is ranked no. 2 -3 for IPR courses.

So, In a nutshell, one has to choose his/her college depending upon the course she going for.

and the ranking which you talking about is for LLM course. you wont find Fletcher ranking there because it is dedicated to courses in International relations.

i agree with LLLgirl.

Fletcher definitely has an edge over Columbia for acourse in International Law. Fletcher gives a very specificdegree and exposure that u require for but Columbia is reputed as in toto. Columbia LLM degre in International is not as vast as Fletcher's one.

After Fletcher, i think for courses in International law, NYU is a better stake.
GW doesn't even come in the race.

Secondly, the evidence u relying on is vague. from linked in profile, u cannot judge whether one studied International Law, Economics, Business Law, etc etc.

and seems you donot have much idea about US colgs, you solely banking on college ranking. GW might be 20 overall but is ranked no. 2 -3 for IPR courses.

So, In a nutshell, one has to choose his/her college depending upon the course she going for. and the ranking which you talking about is for LLM course.

Wow!!Thank You all so much!!!! Really appreciate all the research and links you guys have put in!!!!

Well actually now that you'll have mentioned it ... I even have a scholarship from NYU!!! Thought i wont consider it... But all your discussions is now making me think!!!

GW out of the race.... But looks like now its between Fletcher, Columbia and NYU... I have time just till April 15th to decide this!!! :(

The course in CLS is more focussed on International Human Rights law... Do you'll still think that I have a chance with the UN...

Fletcher does not feature in those rank lists coz it does not have an ABA accredited JD course!!! I have always known that... The list of alumni from Fletcher at the UN is also quite outstanding!!!

But CLS has its status as the world finest university & its Ivy League status!! Frankly I think I am confused again!!!! :( :(

true.. but with International Human Rights Law, dont you think that you narrowing your chances? where as in Fletcher, you can have better exposure..

i would still say, go for your course and not college...
Fletcher is dedicated for International Law course with plethora of opportunities.

@student_India: when you have an offer from NYU with scholarship then your confusion should be between Fletcher and NYU.

NYU international law LLM is much more vast and deep as compared to Columbia Law School. I think other people should agree with me.
see, where you getting better deal, i.e. scholarship between Fletcher and NYU and then make your final call. NYU is really renowned for courses in international law and International Taxation . so according to me, your final call should be for Fletcher or NYU.

well, i agree with you legaleagle. NYU will be a better stake than Columbia. NYU with good funding seems to be a better option. but i still feel that Fletcher seems to the best option. it is known for its courses in international law since time immemorial. i am not biased or something but just sharing my experiences with you guys.

and oldtimer, hope you agree with me this time.

I agree that NYU would be a better option... he, he, he :))

If you are not attending Fletcher, and if you don't mind, can I ask why are you so enthusiastic about it? I still don't understand why are you so convinced that it is so much better option than the others?

hmmm... nice discussion going here, I have just joined today and looking forward to do my LLM next year in International Law ony.

What information i have gathered till now from faithful resources,
its like 1st - NYU
2nd - Fletcher
3rd - Harvard (just because of its fame)
4th - Columbia
5th - Georgetown
6th - GWU.
so in my opinion, one should prefer NYU to Fletcher. but, it depends on scholarship too.. it should be between NYU or Fletcher... Columbia and GW should not be considered.

oldtimer. finally you agree with me.. ha ha ha...
its not about joining Fletcher and being ethusiastic about it, its about guiding a person in need to the right direction. i am just expressing my opininos here. like you already LLM and currently working but still you putting your opinion to guide him/her.
and yes, experience do matter.
so whst is the conclusion you think now? is it FLetcher vs. NYU or Fletcher vs cls? i think, it should br fletcher and if not then certainly NYU. hehe..