one of the common notions about NYU (at least for its LLM program - EXCLUDING tax) is that its a supermarket, accepts just about everybody, and not taken seriously compared to the likes of Columbia or Chicago (of course YLS, HLS and SLS is another story) since its also one of my preferred schools (i want to study international law), I was wondering how accurate is this observation.

any thoughts from present NYU LLM students?

No.

Hi Ricey,
Maybe I should not have a say in this discussion because I am an NYU tax student, but perhaps I can give you some idea of what I think about this issue. As you say, it is possible to find in this forum people who defend the idea that NYU is a supermarket, based on the number of LLMs admitted at NYU (around 400). However, although the overall number is correct, it should also be noted that 130-180 are Tax and Internationational tax LLMs - and that´s another story. Tax LLMs are mainly American students, and they should not be taken into account in order to measure the real size of the LLM program. Still, it is true that it is a program that has at least 200 international students - far more than Chicago, and more than CLS and HLS - spread among the different programs (General Studies, Trade Regulation, International Legal Studies and Corporate). I cannot make any statement comparing NYU LLM students and their peers accepted at CLS, Chicago or HLS - you should a lot of data before saying something like that -, but from a professional standpoint, I can say that the students I know at NYU, Chicago, CLS and HLS from both countries I am particularly connected with (Brazil and Spain) have similar backgrounds: most of them worked at the best law firms of their respective countries. Maybe ones were academically better than others (I am quite sure you will find real academic superstars at HLS, for instance), but from a professional point of view, I did not see any difference. And the market itself seems not to discriminate against NYU LLMs - although I cannot generalize or speak about employment statistics at this point, every single day I hear of colleagues that land jobs at top NY law firms (I prefer not to disclose names), and the ones who have not clinched jobs so far are having a good number of interviews. Note that I am not saying that anyone here will get a job (it is far more complicated than that), but I just wanted to say that I never noticed any bias against NYU among NY Law Firms. In other words, I do not think anybody sees NYU LLMs as "cheap" or "dummies". Bottom-line: I think people in this forum that do not shy away from making remarks about the prestige of schools not his own´s are not entirely honest. (Two thumbs up for Josepidal, who made a very good statement in this sense in other thread).

Having said that, there is your specific case. You have applied for NYU´s ILS LLM. Other schools have a great reputation in the field of international law (e.g. CLS and HLS). Although you may take into account a huge number of factors in order to make a decision on which school to attend, I always recommend people to focus on academics and on features of every single program. Review the courses available, see who is teaching them - at the end of the day, that is the most important thing. When you come to the US, you will realize that every single university has great professors and also professors that not as good - therefore, you should attend the school you know you will find the best in your field of specialization.
Cheers

thanks a lot for your insights, ivan2006. as i have said, im not too familiar with these things because from what i know, NYU is especially good in international law. (or else i wouldn't have applied) however, i read some of the older posts in this board and that, coupled with some observations i got from a few people i personally know, made me ask as to the correctness of the obvious misconceptions.

thanks much.

Maybe you could (as soon as you know which universities accepted you) try to get in touch with former alumni from your same specialty in each of the schools you were admitted into. You may try to do so by sending an e-mail to the respective admissions offices saying that you wanted to speak with some current student that has the same interests as you - I am sure they will provide you with some e-mails. After contacting these guys, you will have more data to compare and decide.

P.S. Regarding NYU´s reputation for international law, the 2005 edition of the US News Rankings had a very interesting report on the commitment of NYU with international law. There was even a quote of a law professor that criticized NYU because its JDs (alledgedly) knew more about the International Court of Justice than about torts...

Maybe you should itemize these issues and misconceptions.

I can readily validate, coming from the competition, that an NYU LLM is in the top pool for jobs, and will have the logistical advantage of being in New York. That, however, does not appear to be your concern.