Hi All,

This is to all of us whose been admitted, thinking about applying, or went to GULC.

I am facing a tough decision whether to accept my place and therefore I would like to know how is the Georgetown LLM is viewed among employers and practicioners.

According to my understanding it is viewed as a top university with a top LLM program but does anyone know how employers look onto it in the US or internationally compared to other LLM programs?

Well, Georgetown is part of T14 law schools meaning that ii is very prestigious, but significantly below top 6 schools (Yale, Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, Chicago, and NYU). My impression is that GULC has rather strong presence in Washington and in international law circles. I also believe it is less prestigious in N.Y. corporate law circles, perhaps because it's so strongly committed to international law and because GULC is not very selective (i.e. it's one of the biggest LL.M. programs in the US). If you're considering a career in N.Y., Columbia and NUY would probably be better. On the other hand, if you have significant previous work experience and you're good at networking, you have pretty good chances of finding employment whether you went to Georgetown or NYU. If you don't intend to stay in the U.S., remember that GULC is pretty much unknown in Europe. Same goes for NYU, I believe. In Nordic countries at least, Yale, Harvard, Cornell, and Columbia are the law schools that people know and consider "top schools". In sum: I would choose GULC if I were interested in international law, Columbia or NYU if I were intersted in corporate law, and Columbia or Cornell if I would return to Europe. But these are just "hunches", we need some hard data. Anyone?

Dear tmalmine,

Thanks a lot for your fast response.
Well, I should say, your answer raised a few other questions...:-) I think I 'd rather tell you a bit on my background.
I am from Central Europe, finished law school last year, currently working for an English law firm. By the time I start my LLM I will only have half a year of experience as a full time practicioner (but I did a half-year internship at the UN before).
My main area of interest is international arbitration and therefore GULC offers pretty good courses, especially in investment dispute settlement.
BUT I must emphasize that my goal is to work in NYC!
So I have no clue what to do...

May I ask what your background is? Have you ever searched for a job in NY?

And the most important why do you think class size determines the selectiveness of any law school. NYU has the same size of LLM class as Georgetown...

I am eagerly waiting for your answer:-)

don't worry about GULC - a prince of Spain attended it too. Someone else from outside the top 15 schools managed to secure a job in NY .

Well, I think that it is a fact that Georgetown is very well regarded abroad (at least here in Brazil, it is more recognized than UPenn, for example, but never base your choice just on reputation). I would very happily attend their courses had I not been admitted to a higher ranked institution. But you have to bear in mind that, concerning their LL.M. program, they have not only extended the Early Action Application deadline in November, but have also extended their regular application deadline for more than a month now (it is still open). This seems to indicate that qualified applicants have been rejecting their offers, possibly harming the quality of their student body (and also their reputation). I dont remember top 10 institutions doing a thing like this.

Actually, I read the numbers on the site/documentation of NYU and Georgetown. NYU LLM class has about 100 more students. Can we say that NYU is not so selective? I do not know the answer.
Comparing to Columbia, I cannot tell, because I do not know the number of accepted students there. Anyone knows?
However, it is true that it is not a small LLM class as it is for example in Chicago.
What is a concern to me, it is the issue raised by LLM 06. I do not understand this extension of their regular application deadline. Do they usually do that? Some current students have any idea on this question?

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the remarks so far!
One quick reaction to the issue of selectiveness at NYU raised by CINDY: NYU takes 425 students for it s LLM class each year out of appr. 2000 applicants! (see: http://www.nyulawglobal.org/graduateadmissions/eligibilitystandards.htm)

WHAT REALLY CONCERNS ME: how is the GULC LLM viewed among law firms in NYC ?

I believe the LLM class at Columbia is composed of about 170.

Hello Fresh! You wanna know how Georgetown Law graduates are considered by NYC's law firms? Well, simply visit some law firms' websites and see their attorneys' bios. I believe you will find out that there are as many attorneys from Georgetown as from NYU. This is especially true within the tax departments. Good luck!

Yes, Fresh, that is why I put a question mark to my sentence regarding selection and NYU (It was not a real question). We must be careful with numbers. They can say what we want. Plus, a school which takes more students is not necessarily less selective. Imagine a school which has 400 equally great applicants, but can only chose 200. Does it mean that the school which is in the same situation and decides to take all the 400 is less selective? No (This time I answer to the question which is not a real one). At the end they will be only great people in both schools.

I have still a concern regarding the extension deadline of Georgetown. Will they admit really less accomplished lawyers to fill in their last places? (This is a real question :) this time.)
I know that we will also be in class with JDs, then the level should be quite high. However, I would prefer that they decide to enroll less people if they are not satisfied with people who have already applied.

Dear Cidy: I wonder what makes you think that people apply to Georgetown in such extension period are less accomplished?

One suggestion:

Georgetown admissions office may be hoping that excellent applicants who have been rejected from top ten law schools will consider applying to their program if they extend the application deadline. That's just a thought, though.

Yes, it is possible.