Hi Roadrunner,

I thought I might add one 'fact' and one 'opinion' to the discussion (as someone intimately familiar with most of these institutions):

1. There are indeed tutorials/supervisions for graduate students in law at Oxford/Cambridge. The curriculum just doesn't revolve around them they way it does for undergrads.

2. It is interesting that you equate good scholars with good LLMs. My experience with elite US institutions (especially at the LLM level) is that your access to these scholars is often incredibly limited - even if they are your supervisor. While this will obviously vary from scholar to scholar, there is quite simply not an ethos of scholar-student interaction. This is in stark contrast with places like Oxford and Cambridge where, at the graduate level, you are very much part of the scholarly community (indeed, there were many weeks where I ate more meals with my professors than my friends).

Beyond that, I would agree with you that Yale is the best LLM, and that the real key - especially if you want to do research - is to find the right professor(s).

All the best!

Paddy

To echo what some others have said, no-one should pay any heed to anyone who claims that the Cambridge LLM is clearly/definitely/absolutely/undoubtedly better than the Oxford BCL.

And vice versa.

Both are good degrees, with different strengths and weaknesses and taught in different ways. Both are respected in the profession in the UK, and in professions around the world.

It's childish and uninformed to issue blanket statements that either one is plainly better than the other. It is equally simplistic to say things like "Cambridge requires higher grades than Oxford" or vice versa.

If it matters, I am an ex-student of one of these programmes.

So .... Harvard or Oxford? and why?

In my humble opinion:

Oxford: A tailored programme in law and finance including rigorous training in financial theory and methods; John Armour; considerably greater opportunities for the exchange of ideas between students and faculty, and the Oxford experience.

Harvard: Great faculty in corporate law; name brand recognition of the degree itself. Potential downsides include the size of the LLM class, fewer opportunities for faculty staff interaction and the fact that, really, you're just taking undergrad law classes for the most part.

It's a question of horses for courses.

Paddy