I cannot decide whether to go to Georgetown or NYU. Does it make any difference whether I receive my L.L.M. in taxation from Georgetown or NYU? Is it too expensive to live in New York? Let me know what you think.

where are you from?
where do you want to work?

I am from California. I am planning to work either in CA or Wisconsin.

I would say that if you can afford the living costs on a year in NYC, go to NYU, since NYU enjoy better reputation in my believe in the US and maybe it will allow you finding a job easier after graduation. On the other hand, if you wish to find a job in the IRS and so on, maybe GULC would be better since allot of the classes are being tought their by adjunct professor from the government.

Does anyone think NYU is better than Georgetown when it comes to getting a job in west coast?

Where are you looking on the west coast? I think most people generally agree that NYU is the #1 program with Florida and Gtown battling it out for runner-up.

But, the west coast traditionally does not place as much weight on the small differences as many firms on the east coast. In fact, west coast schools like Loyola, San Diego, and Golden Gate remain quite popular and many/most LL.M. holders in those cities (LA, SD, SF) hold degrees from those schools, not NYU/Gtown. I know that the directors of some of the west coast programs have told me that they would feel confident going toe-to-toe with NYU in placements on the west coast.

Having said that, my experience is that NYU carries more weight out west. The NYU reputation is #1 whereas the Gtown reputation is top-3. Of course, I don't think many (or any) firms would deny an applicant based simply on going to Gtown instead of NYU... NYU has a better reputation, but the difference is small and less important than your performance (which means you should decide on a program where you are happiest, thus likely to perform well...)

I am planning to live two years in milwaukee after getting my L.L.M. and then move to Los Angeles, CA.

1) Have you already been accepted to both programs? (Until you are accepted to both this conversation is kinda moot.)
2) Is there any scholarship on the table by one school or the other?
3) What concentration do you want to specialize in? Which school is best for that?
4) What type of firm do you want to end up at?
5) Do you plan on teaching down the road?

The cost of living is not going to be terribly different - a few thousand one way or the other won't really matter to you in 10 years.

Clearly, NYU has the reputational edge, but in this economy even NYU grads are not getting the offers that they used to get - especially if they are just "average" in their LLM classes. So if GT offers a hefty scholarship, you may want to carefully weigh that - that way at least you will have lower debt if there are no high paying jobs by next year.

In this job market, no matter which program you come from, your grades will be very important. So don't think that you will automatically get a great job just because you have an LLM from a top school.

Good Luck!

Steve