Hi everyone,

I need your help! I am lucky enough to have received an offer to join the international tax program at NYU and the tax llm at Georgetown, which is also granting me the Graduate Tax Scholarship (half tuition and an 'enrichment program' which involves great networking opportunities and other nice things).

It is really hard to choose as I really always wanted to join NYU (and the idea of joining the ITL program with only about 20 students makes it even more exciting) but wonder if the GULC scholarship (especially the unique opportunities and experience it will provide) is worth turning down NYU, ie the number one law school for tax law in the world.

For your information, I am working for an international law firm in Europe and do not have a specific intention to work in the US after the LLM (although I would like to keep that door open as I am not against the idea either).

Any input would help. It is probably more a matter of gut feeling, but anyone's opinion on this would be appreciated.

Thanks and good luck to all.

First of all I want to congratulate you for this outstanding achievement.

Even If I am not a Tax law expert , I think NYU is better because they as you said taking the lead in this major even if you don't have scholarship you will find a better job just as you graduate from the school.

International law firms are located in NY , so you will be able to make good relations in your future career.

The competitive program is a unique chance to show your self as a special lawyer

I wish you best Luck

Thank you very much. It would make sense to join the number one.

Anyone else on this? Thanks in advance.

Hi taxllm1314,

I am exactly in the same situation and I have not made my decision yet. I am more inclined to choose NYU, but I will attend a Georgetown local event and discuss with Alumni before making my fina decision.

Although NYU is ranked 1st, I do not think this makes a big difference for European students. I just have the impression that Georgetown/D.C. is more US-oriented because our firm works very rarely with firms from D.C. and NYU is probably better for European students from a networking perspective.

NYU was clearly my first choice because it is first, it is in NYC and there is dedicated program for foreign students (and not only a certificate). The campus in NYC also seems larger and I do not like the fact that Georgetown Law is not on the main campus and does not offer housing to LL.M. students (or only based on waiting list). This said, all the people I know who went to Georgetown liked it.

I do not think that the scholarship program justifies rejecting NYU if you really wanted to go there. My personal view is that a difference of USD 25,000 on a budget of USD 80,000 is not big enough to change your plans, but this is very subjective and I would have maybe have different views if I worked in country with lower salaries.

Good luck with your choice!

Thank you so much FAP-Tax2013! This is really useful to share our thoughts on the subject. This is a once-in-a-lifetime decision, so may as well consider all options carefully. However, I believe that both offers are great and that choosing one over the other should not greatly affect our careers. Your analysis on the difference between NYC and Washington DC as far as international law firms are concerned is highly relevant to me and this is something I did not really think about. The US office of Magic Circle firms, as well as most large UE firms, is located in NYC. This really matters.

The dedicated program at NYU also seems to be really interesting. I think the tailor-made experience we could have at Georgetown with the Graduate Tax Scholarship should be comparable to the one we could have with the ITL program at NYU.

On the other hand, I know quite a few great tax lawyers here who went to GULC and are very pleased about that. But I have to admit that all of them were rejected at NYU. So when NYU chooses you, you really got to accept it.

As far as money goes, the scholarship matters a bit, but is not enough for me to sell my dream :)

Please let me know how the GULC event turned out and what decision you made.

All the best to you, and thanks for taking your time.

Congratulations to you both! Can you let me know how you found out about your scholarship offer at Georgetown?

Hi again,

With the recent e-mails received and after reading all the material received from the two schools, I think that I would finally prefer Georgetown with scholarship and special attention from the professors.

I am finally been admitted to Harvard. This was my very first choice so I will almost certainly go there. I prefer HLS over GULC/NYU because I have already a lot of experience in international taxation and prefer to mix taxation and legal theory and attend a university which gives a real brand to my education.

Good luck with your choice!

PS: information on the graduate tax scholar program can be found on Georgetown's website very easily, in order to apply to the scholarship, you need to send a short essay on a taxation issue (750 words)

taxllm1314, just out of curiosity: have you decided whether you'll be headed to NYU or GULC?