Hello, guys and ladies.
I've got admitted from U of M(Minesota, twin-cities), UIUC, Indiana(Bluemington), UC Davis for the class of 2016. Considering scholarship offerings, attendence costs among those schools do not interuptting me to make a decision. Actually, total estimated expeses are expexted to be about USD 38,000-41,000.
Btw, I am wondering about which one is best. Even though U of M offers me a good scholarship, I have no information about the school.

Would U mind giving me some precious information about U of M as well as other schools'? And any other possibilities to increase scholarships? Thank you in advance.

University of Michigan is the 10th in the Ranking this year. It would be my choice.
It is supposed to be good for corporate Law and public policies. They also have a good reputation in Economics and Competition Law.
What do you want to study?

Thanks JOY. although I am waiting for admission from Michigan, I use the mention of "U of M" as the abbreviation of University of Minnesota(Twin cities). Sorry for my misleading expression. Anyway, I am interested in business law. If U have any information and opinions about my questions, please give me information and lessons. Thank You for your kindness.

University of Michigan is the 10th in the Ranking this year. It would be my choice.
It is supposed to be good for corporate Law and public policies. They also have a good reputation in Economics and Competition Law.
What do you want to study?

I live in the Twin Cities and can tell you a lot about the area. Downtown Minneapolis is a very active area with a lot of theaters and restaurants. Is it as active as someplace like Chicago or NYC, no. One thing to factor in if coming here is the climate. Winters can get COLD.

As for the school, it is a very solid school just not able to break into the Elite 14-15. It has a very good law library open 24 hours a day with over 1,000,000 volumes. I would consider it a regional powerhouse with not a lot of national reach. If you are looking for work in the Midwestern part of the US it would be a great choice. Last I checked though no foreign trained lawyers could sit for the bar in Minnesota though. It would be possible to look for work in Chicago but obviously preference would be given to people from a school like University of Chicago or Northwestern.

I would say University of Minnesota is a very good school, but not great. It has a lot of potential and a lot more to than UI (Indiana-Bloomington) is a nice school but not as much to do there. I often work in Indianapolis and that is where you need to go if you want a more active lifestyle or more things to do. In Bloomington you might feel more isolated. It is also a very strong school regionally especially for the Chicago market. The faculty is very helpful and supportive from what I've heard.

While I am not a lawyer I work for a large firm that in terms of numbers of lawyers, would be the 2nd largest legal firm in the US. I have been supporting my partner in their search for an LLM progam. We are still waiting to hear back from some of the more elite schools but already have admission offers from some of the elite 15.

One thing I have noticed is the scholarship offers have been pretty good and better than in years past from the research I've done before we started this process last year.

Two very good things about Minnesota and the aforementioned UI (Bloomington) is they are both very safe cities unlike Chicago for example. Minnesota is more diverse ethnically than Bloomington but I would say Bloomington is a friendlier place. I am not originally from Minnesota and have lived all over the US and the world so I pay very close attention to these types of things.

Thank you very much for your kind and detailed explanation!!!
Actually, I couldn't expect precious resposes like yours. Your comments are extremely helpful to me.^^ I want to ask you soe more questions.
(1) Can you give me more information about scholarships of these schools (i.e. which amount to upwards to)? Considering my career (Phd, 10 years in National Agency), I think that I could ask them to increase my scholarship. How's your opinion on it? Can give me any idea to increase scholarships?
(2) You mentioned "Bloomington is a friendlier place", so which aspect of it makes you to judge like that?
(3) How about UIUC?

Thank you for your reply in advance!!!

Thank you very much for your kind and detailed explanation!!!
Actually, I couldn't expect precious resposes like yours. Your comments are extremely helpful to me.^^ I want to ask you soe more questions.
(1) Can you give me more information about scholarships of these schools (i.e. which amount to upwards to)? Considering my career (Phd, 10 years in National Agency), I think that I could ask them to increase my scholarship. How's your opinion on it? Can give me any idea to increase scholarships?
(2) You mentioned "Bloomington is a friendlier place", so which aspect of it makes you to judge like that?
(3) How about UIUC?

Thank you for your reply in advance!!!

I live in the Twin Cities and can tell you a lot about the area. Downtown Minneapolis is a very active area with a lot of theaters and restaurants. Is it as active as someplace like Chicago or NYC, no. One thing to factor in if coming here is the climate. Winters can get COLD.

As for the school, it is a very solid school just not able to break into the Elite 14-15. It has a very good law library open 24 hours a day with over 1,000,000 volumes. I would consider it a regional powerhouse with not a lot of national reach. If you are looking for work in the Midwestern part of the US it would be a great choice. Last I checked though no foreign trained lawyers could sit for the bar in Minnesota though. It would be possible to look for work in Chicago but obviously preference would be given to people from a school like University of Chicago or Northwestern.

I would say University of Minnesota is a very good school, but not great. It has a lot of potential and a lot more to than UI (Indiana-Bloomington) is a nice school but not as much to do there. I often work in Indianapolis and that is where you need to go if you want a more active lifestyle or more things to do. In Bloomington you might feel more isolated. It is also a very strong school regionally especially for the Chicago market. The faculty is very helpful and supportive from what I've heard.

While I am not a lawyer I work for a large firm that in terms of numbers of lawyers, would be the 2nd largest legal firm in the US. I have been supporting my partner in their search for an LLM progam. We are still waiting to hear back from some of the more elite schools but already have admission offers from some of the elite 15.

One thing I have noticed is the scholarship offers have been pretty good and better than in years past from the research I've done before we started this process last year.

Two very good things about Minnesota and the aforementioned UI (Bloomington) is they are both very safe cities unlike Chicago for example. Minnesota is more diverse ethnically than Bloomington but I would say Bloomington is a friendlier place. I am not originally from Minnesota and have lived all over the US and the world so I pay very close attention to these types of things.

Ill try to answer where I can. Scholarships amounts are very subjective. They vary quite a bit depending on what you offer as a student and what they may need. For example, maybe you are Indian and the already have a lot of Indians or Asians. So that might work against you. Or maybe you are male and they are looking for more women.

As for if Bloomington is friendlier, it is indicative of Minnesota versus many other places to leave. I have been in Minnesota for 10 years. I have lived other places in the US and the world. There is a saying about the people as Minnesota nice meaning they are supposedly very friendly.

What I have noticed is that they are superficially nice. When you meet them they appear to be friendly but they dont normally make very deep relationships with anyone who arent originally from there or who they havent known for a long time. Almost all my friends in Minnesota are from other areas or countries. By comparison when I lived in other areas I made a lot more friendships and much deeper ones regardless of their ethnic origin.

As for UIUC, I think Indiana as an area is more welcoming and on a deeper level in general. As a side note on scholarships, I think UIUC is more generous than a lot of other schools. They are working to attract good candidates and by offering financial incentives it likely will help. Many schools have a policy of no scholarships like University of Texas, Austin. A very solid school but no scholarships at all. While it isnt a very expensive school compared to Northwester or Cornell, $40,000 is still a large investment in tuition costs alone. FYI UIUC is very inexpensive to live, less than Minnesota and Minnesota is cheaper than a lot of other large cities.

Among these schools, you probably should look into what do you really want after graduation. If you do not want to bear a lot of debts, maybe UIUC and IU Bloomington are better choices. Both are sited at smaller cities. Especially, UIUC is totally a college-based town with a peaceful neighborhood. It is also convenient to commute to nearby big cities, such as Chicago, S. L., and Indy.

If you want to pursue further research degree after your LLM degree, you might consider those universities providing JSD degrees. On an academic note, both U of M and UIUC provide better academia and research strengths in their scholar field.

If you want to live in big city, then U of M is your choice. You would directly live in the city.

All these are flagship public universities, they are all good in one way or the other.

Thank you very much, Wavshrdr. I deeply appreciate your detailed and warm comments. Although scholarship amounts are very subjective -As you mentioned in a previous message,
I am wondering proper range of scholarship amounts or ratio to the estimated costs. Plz, just give your opinion to me.
Plus, if you have a opinion, plz give me some precious comments on figuring out "waitlist" situation.

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Ill try to answer where I can. Scholarships amounts are very subjective. They vary quite a bit depending on what you offer as a student and what they may need. For example, maybe you are Indian and the already have a lot of Indians or Asians. So that might work against you. Or maybe you are male and they are looking for more women.

As for if Bloomington is friendlier, it is indicative of Minnesota versus many other places to leave. I have been in Minnesota for 10 years. I have lived other places in the US and the world. There is a saying about the people as Minnesota nice meaning they are supposedly very friendly.

What I have noticed is that they are superficially nice. When you meet them they appear to be friendly but they dont normally make very deep relationships with anyone who arent originally from there or who they havent known for a long time. Almost all my friends in Minnesota are from other areas or countries. By comparison when I lived in other areas I made a lot more friendships and much deeper ones regardless of their ethnic origin.

As for UIUC, I think Indiana as an area is more welcoming and on a deeper level in general. As a side note on scholarships, I think UIUC is more generous than a lot of other schools. They are working to attract good candidates and by offering financial incentives it likely will help. Many schools have a policy of no scholarships like University of Texas, Austin. A very solid school but no scholarships at all. While it isnt a very expensive school compared to Northwester or Cornell, $40,000 is still a large investment in tuition costs alone. FYI UIUC is very inexpensive to live, less than Minnesota and Minnesota is cheaper than a lot of other large cities.

Thank you very much, applicant of law.
I am planning to take a tepmorary job in U.S. through OPT after graduation before I return to my home country. In this aspect, which university is your choice? Anyway, your comments definitely help my decision. Thank you again.

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Among these schools, you probably should look into what do you really want after graduation. If you do not want to bear a lot of debts, maybe UIUC and IU Bloomington are better choices. Both are sited at smaller cities. Especially, UIUC is totally a college-based town with a peaceful neighborhood. It is also convenient to commute to nearby big cities, such as Chicago, S. L., and Indy.

If you want to pursue further research degree after your LLM degree, you might consider those universities providing JSD degrees. On an academic note, both U of M and UIUC provide better academia and research strengths in their scholar field.

If you want to live in big city, then U of M is your choice. You would directly live in the city.

All these are flagship public universities, they are all good in one way or the other.

Thank you very much, applicant of law.
I am planning to take a tepmorary job in U.S. through OPT after graduation before I return to my home country. In this aspect, which university is your choice? Anyway, your comments definitely help my decision. Thank you again.

==================================

Among these schools, you probably should look into what do you really want after graduation. If you do not want to bear a lot of debts, maybe UIUC and IU Bloomington are better choices. Both are sited at smaller cities. Especially, UIUC is totally a college-based town with a peaceful neighborhood. It is also convenient to commute to nearby big cities, such as Chicago, S. L., and Indy.

If you want to pursue further research degree after your LLM degree, you might consider those universities providing JSD degrees. On an academic note, both U of M and UIUC provide better academia and research strengths in their scholar field.

If you want to live in big city, then U of M is your choice. You would directly live in the city.

All these are flagship public universities, they are all good in one way or the other.