I'm a US citizen living with my family abroad in South America, and I'm about to finish my undergraduate degree in law (LLB). I'm thinking about apply for a LLM program at a good (top-ish) Law School.

My college doesn't provide rankings, but I'm pretty sure I'm in the 5%-10% of my class, have a 2.85/3.0 GPA, have been Dean's List every year, very involved in community service (working on a project to educate poor women in their rights- trying to fight violence against women), involved in few EC's (internationally recognized, part of the board of directors), member of a college council aiming to evaluate the academic program/teachers/faculty/structure (I work with my dean and other authorities)..participated in a fair share of forums from international organizations, was awarded a scholarship for a certificate program offered by the national university and an international organization, etc. Have little work experience (like a year), but in non-law related jobs. I'm currently working on my senior thesis. Could have great rec's from teachers and college authorities. My college is very recognized and quite prestigious, so I hope that helps.

I'm not aiming as high as HLS or YSL. Maybe a #5-#15 or #20 ranked program.
Spending money on a not-that-good program would be a waste and I would rather wait until I could build my cv a little more. I was looking into maybe pursuiting a JD program, but was discouraged from doing so.. as my counselor suggested it was better to go for a LLM.

-Which schools are not that big on work experience?
-Should I take a year off after graduating to work on my cv in order to become more competetive, or would I have a shot right after graduation?
-Should I consider doing a JD?

As the people and professors told me here, if you want to have long term career in US, you better get a JD :)
but for me LLM is a good experience and it does enhance my ability.

I'm a US citizen living with my family abroad in South America, and I'm about to finish my undergraduate degree in law (LLB). I'm thinking about apply for a LLM program at a good (top-ish) Law School.

My college doesn't provide rankings, but I'm pretty sure I'm in the 5%-10% of my class, have a 2.85/3.0 GPA, have been Dean's List every year, very involved in community service (working on a project to educate poor women in their rights- trying to fight violence against women), involved in few EC's (internationally recognized, part of the board of directors), member of a college council aiming to evaluate the academic program/teachers/faculty/structure (I work with my dean and other authorities)..participated in a fair share of forums from international organizations, was awarded a scholarship for a certificate program offered by the national university and an international organization, etc. Have little work experience (like a year), but in non-law related jobs. I'm currently working on my senior thesis. Could have great rec's from teachers and college authorities. My college is very recognized and quite prestigious, so I hope that helps.

I'm not aiming as high as HLS or YSL. Maybe a #5-#15 or #20 ranked program.
Spending money on a not-that-good program would be a waste and I would rather wait until I could build my cv a little more. I was looking into maybe pursuiting a JD program, but was discouraged from doing so.. as my counselor suggested it was better to go for a LLM.

-Which schools are not that big on work experience?
-Should I take a year off after graduating to work on my cv in order to become more competetive, or would I have a shot right after graduation?
-Should I consider doing a JD?