I've been admitted to Columbia (no scholarship) and Georgetown (with $10K scholarship). I want to specialize in WTO and investment law.

I know that Columbia is better for general public international law, and was also very good in WTO law but as Petros Mavroidis is leaving to go to the EUI in Florence, I don't know who will replace him. For investment law/international arbitration there are George Bermann and Karl Sauvant (the latter specializing in FDI and public policy).

However in Georgetown John Jackson is, as has been stated in a previous post, the God of WTO law, and the IIEL Fellows program boasts a virtual "who's who" of WTO law. ICSID/World Bank is also just around the corner.

So in one sense Georgetown would be more appropriate for WTO specifically, but Columbia is better for PIL in general and also it has great opportunities to do externships at the UN, etc. And it's in NYC!

My goal post-graduation is to work in a law firm focusing on WTO/international trade law/investment arbitration, or alternatively an international organization doing the same. But at the same time I don't want to comprehensively rule out other intellectual challenges that should be a part of the LLM (for instance taking a class in int'l human rights, which is something I've always wanted to do).

And there is of course the DC v NYC contrast. I've only been to DC once and that was as a teenager so I don't remember it very well. Whereas I absolutely love NYC and know I will enjoy it a lot.

Hence my dilemma...thoughts, guys?

From a purely academic point of view, and as I have said in other threads, I think Georgetown is best for WTO law (especially now that Mavroidis left to Florence). I understand they are also pretty good for investment law and several practicioners teach there (which I see as an advantage over the more academic CLS). Moreover, I know of several Georgetown LLMs who have done well in both fields.

But DC is pretty dull when compared to NY and your life experience will be completely different! Is 10k enough to tilt the balance? What is your priority? Only you can tell!

Good luck!

Thanks Oldtimer. My decision is now made more difficult by the fact that I have been awarded a $20K scholarship to Duke. They have Sergio Puig de la Parra teaching investment/WTO law there, and the class is small, just 80 people.

However, Durham is quite a remote place (although apparently very beautiful) - but then again, $20K is a lot of money...

@LLMgirl: have you applied to NYU? You have quite a list there. José Álvarez and Robert Howse are very respected in the ICSID field (I participated in a number of proceedings under ICSID/UNCITRAL working for an Argentine firm).
Puig is very good and Duke is amazing. I've taught there and believe me that living in Durham is not only very cheap but also relaxing. You are 4 hours away from major cities and it is really nice.
GULC is more WTO than ICSID but is a good choice.
It seems you have a tough one!

@labrujaveron - yes, I applied to NYU. I didn't mention it in the post now because I haven't heard ANYTHING from them, despite numerous e-mails and requests for them to expedite the decision. I must have called 10 times and they are not taking any notice at all. I am beginning to lose hope.

NYU was actually my first choice from the start. My dream was to study WTO and investment law with Robert Howse and Jose Alvarez. I don't understand why I haven't received a reply. Surely I can't be a bad candidate if I got significant scholarships from Duke and Georgetown, and got admitted to Columbia...

I don't even know if there are any scholarships left at NYU, given that many people have reported receiving Vanderbilts on this board, plus at least one Hauser. (I applied for Int'l Legal Studies so fall under Grotius).

I am now in the position where I am having to start thinking of "what if" scenarios that eliminate NYU from the equation, and that is really upsetting me.

Any advice on what I should do re: NYU?

If you don't mind my asking, where are you from? It may help yoy to know that I have been admitted to NYU and I am not planning to accept their offer. If you fall anywhere within my profile you could get my place.

@labrujaveron - I am from the Philippines but studied in the UK for law (and am also a UK national now).

I think Duke would have been closer to Georgetown in the past when Joost Pawlyn was teaching there (he used to work in the WTO and is an emerging star of WTO law). Sergio Puig is good, but he is more an investment disputes guy, so I would agree with labrujaveron that Georgetown is probably a better fit for WTO law. Although I understand that the 10k difference is not a minor one, it is not insurmountable either.

You seem to be doing very, very well your background check, so keep digging. Have you tried doing a list of the courses you would take in each of those unis? I know it sounds silly, but you may realize that the course choice is completely different from what you imagined and maybe one or two courses with the superprofessor was not enoughto tilt the balance in favour of one or the other.

Saludos (en tagalo y español)!