Hi,

I am wondering if anyone can advise me on the likelihood of being accepted onto the LLM in the top (Harvard, Yale) and middle tier law schools (NYU, Chicago, Colombia, Stanford) based on the following:

Graduate of Trinity College Dublin : Ireland's top law school
Graduate of Law & Business with 67%/68%. I have read a wide range of GPAs that this is equivalent to, what does everybody think? Would this grade be sufficient to gain a place?

Also of relevance are a number of law internships with 3 of the top 6 Irish law firms, and 2 financial / accounting internships.

Finally what would be more internationally renowned in academia, an LLM from the middle tier law schools in America, compared to say the LSE, UCL or KCL in London?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

If you are 68% out of 100%. No.

Kind regards.

Hi Brainy Smurf,

Thanks for the reply. Yes my overall average grade for my final exams is 68% out of 100%. Do you happen to know what GPA rating this mark from an Irish university would recieve?

Thanks

OK. Let me get an understanding here so that we are on a leveled basis (eye-to-eye). When you state 68%; are you implying 2:1 (near 1st)?

Just to be clear here, NYU, Chicago, Columbia, and Stanford, are by no means "Middle tier" law schools. They are just as elite as Harvard and Yale. Harvard and Yale are older, but as far as prestige/reputation goes, Columbia, Stanford, NYU, and Chicago's law schools are on par with Harvard and Yale. Consequently, they are just as difficult to get in, at least for the JD program. It is easier to get into an LL.M. program than a school's JD program (there are, simply, a lot more JD applicants, and I mean, A LOT more) but for the schools you mention, I am sure there are plenty of LL.M. applicants, hence it is, likely, not easy to get in. You have to have solid grades, internships, publications help, etc.

Smurf : Yes you have that correct, an upper 2:1. Do you think only a first would be sufficient?

Tristan: Apologies about my wording, I was attempting to draw a distinction based on the difficulty of entry according to my limited knowledge of talking to people and online research. Would you have any idea of gaining entry on the above info?

Thanks again for all the advice.

Ok. Disregard my first reply. You are an eligible candidate for the respective unis. When applying to reputed unis for a graduate programme, it remains a prerequisite to have a 2:1 or higher. A 2:2 could reasonably get an applicant admitted into one of the respective unis if the applicant has an extensive extracurricular background. Just to reiterate, you are a competitive candidate for all of the selected law schools.

Weighing out your options. Your chances are higher getting into one of the respective UK unis than one of the respective US unis. It would be best to thoroughly research your respective US law schools' criteria, before applying. Because whatever law school you gain admittance into, will not suffice for academia. As long as you are a specialist in a desirable area (business/commerce) and have established recognition through research is believed what matters.

Hope this helps.