Admitted February 8, 2011, to GWU's LLM in IP. I'm 90% sure I'll enroll.

Anyone else planning to attend GWU?

Im strongly considering it... In between Duke and GWU actually...

Well.. I'm waiting for a decision. I'm hoping to get in.

Best of luck to you, khyzr_21.

Congrats to you Simpy. In case you're interested, Hal Wegner, former director of the Intellectual Property Law Program at GWU (and current partner at Foley & Lardner), had this to say about the two schools. His comments are based on the 2009 US News Rankings, so they may be a bit outdated:

3. George Washington University Law School: George Washington continues to have the deepest pure patent program in the country and by far the most extensive international and comparative patent program anywhere in the world, both with respect to its joint venture law school with the Max Planck Institute in Munich as well as its Pacific interface with Japan, China and India. Complementing preeminent scholar John Fitzgerald Duffy, the GW patent program has been greatly further strengthened through the addition of Associate Dean for Intellectual Property John Whealan, the former very highly regarded Solicitor of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, as well as the addition of top tier patent scholar Scott Kieff.

Why GW is not No. (1): George Washington very much needs power scholarship in the copyright and trademark areas: It will never regain the Number One position it held in the 1990s due to the voting structure of the IP survey because its high ranking is based solely on its patent program with essentially no top tier votes for trademarks or copyrights.


10. Duke: With the leadership of Professor Arti K. Rai, the Duke program is obviously under the radar screen and vastly underrated.

Hey thanks for the extra info! I'm really having trouble coming to a decision!!

No one else considering/attending the GWU's IP llm program?

khyzr_21,

Its difficult to evaluate any applicants chances of admission into any particular school. Even with perfect academic credentials, for example, you may get rejected because your essays were poorly written. On the other hand, you may get accepted with less-than-stellar academic credentials due to brilliantly written essays, sparkling recommendation letters, and extraordinary work experiences. It just depends on too many factors.

So, in my humble opinion, it wouldnt be of much benefit to you to have people list their credentials. Its still early in the application-reviewing process, so stay optimistic and hope for the best. Good luck!

Dear all,

I have been admitted to GWU IP LLM...
I have enrolled by paying the non-refundable fees
But I have also applied for the scholarship which will be decided in April...
So without scholarship... its a tough decision...
any suggestions...
Should I attend without scholarship...
and what about job prospects...
I have law background but not science or engineering background...
I am more interested in Ip and especially patent LITIGATION...and not patent attorney or drafting of patent...!!!

Hi Baluza,

Everything I've heard about the job prospects for law school grads (both LLM and JD) is bleak. But if you do extremely well in school and can demonstrate to potential employers that you'll be an immediate asset to them, I'm sure you'll land a job. It's the other majority who'll struggle to procure permanent employment, at least until the economy recovers.

An internship may be more of a possibility, which could eventually lead to an offer for employment.

Having a technical background is obviously a tremendous benefit in patent litigation, but it's not a necessity. If you're a good litigator and fast learner, you would probably do well as a patent litigator. You'll also have outside counsel and technical experts who'll guide you through the technology. Copyright and Trademarks don't really require any technical expertise, so no worries there. But patent litigation is a competitive field because it's so expensive to the clients and lucrative for the attorneys.

Whether you should enroll without any scholarships is up to you. Is the +$60K worth the education, networking and other opportunities the LLM experience at GWU (ranked 20th overall in USNEWS and 3rd in IP) will have to offer? Is it worth the investment? It is in my particular case, but to others, I'm not so sure. Maybe foreign LLM grads can give you some advice on this.

@ yxw

Thank you so very much

Hi, has any one heard from GWU regarding scholarship

Nothing so far... i have heard something about answers being released in april... guess just need to wait... ;)

I am admtted to GWU in IP. I am thinking of paying a $500 deposit but the admission letter doesn't tell me how to pay. Anyone can tell me?

I am admtted to GWU in IP. I am thinking of paying a $500 deposit but the admission letter doesn't tell me how to pay. Anyone can tell me?

As stated in the declaration of intent form "Please make check or money order payable to: The George Washington University."

Has anyone heard about financial aid/scholarships yet?

Thank you Baluza and Kia. I have never seen and used check and money order. I think I need to go to ask my bank.

There is any way i can check my application status? I went complete on march 16... how long should i wait until ask them for information? Thanks

Hi JMM,

Once an application is complete, I think it would take at least two months for a decision to be rendered, sometimes even longer. My application was complete on November 12, 2010, and I received the notice of acceptance on February 8. So I wouldn't worry about contacting them until May at the earliest.