Hello everybody!

I am a LLB student in Italy and am planning to pursue my LLM in the US. Why US though? Main reason is to get license either in CA or NY, and want to practice law there. I've read 2020s discussions here (which were not that hopeful), and was hoping maybe there might have been some changes in the job market since then.

Personally I'm aiming tier 1 (UPenn, Duke, Northwestern, Georgetown) and tier 2 (Texas Law, Illinois Urbana Champaign) and some others with the hopes that I can get a job easier. While choosing the schools, affordability, fin. aid amount & tuition fee were significant factors honestly. I think you can notice them yourselves too. Plus I'm considering getting a loan from private institutions like MFinance/Prodigy Finance, don't have much savings tbh. (Also I'm married, so I'll be traveling with my wife)

Long story short, any insights/recommendations/advice would greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Market is tough…and will continue to be so. Employability will depend much more on your connections and ability to sell yourself to US firms
In addition, you got the tiers wrong. See below IMO:

Tier 1: HYS
Tier 2: CLS, NYU and Chicago (this maybe T1)
Tier 3: Upenn, UVA, Duke
Tier 4: Northwestern, Berkeley, Michigan + strong regionals

So you're saying ranking/reputation is not that important sometimes? Coz I'm also considering some schools (which are top 100) offer full ride, occasionally stipend for living expenses too. The main reason I'm aiming those top ones is to have some "brand" names on my CV so that I might land a job somehow easier (but high tuition fees in those top tier school really bugs me, and this is mainly because I'll might be getting private loans (even though I'm not really okay with it))

Market is tough…and will continue to be so. Employability will depend much more on your connections and ability to sell yourself to US firms
In addition, you got the tiers wrong. See below IMO:

Tier 1: HYS
Tier 2: CLS, NYU and Chicago (this maybe T1)
Tier 3: Upenn, UVA, Duke
Tier 4: Northwestern, Berkeley, Michigan + strong regionals

So you're saying ranking/reputation is not that important sometimes? Coz I'm also considering some schools (which are top 100) offer full ride, occasionally stipend for living expenses too. The main reason I'm aiming those top ones is to have some "brand" names on my CV so that I might land a job somehow easier (but high tuition fees in those top tier school really bugs me, and this is mainly because I'll might be getting private loans (even though I'm not really okay with it))

Market is tough…and will continue to be so. Employability will depend much more on your connections and ability to sell yourself to US firms
In addition, you got the tiers wrong. See below IMO:

Tier 1: HYS
Tier 2: CLS, NYU and Chicago (this maybe T1)
Tier 3: Upenn, UVA, Duke
Tier 4: Northwestern, Berkeley, Michigan + strong regionals

So you're saying ranking/reputation is not that important sometimes? Coz I'm also considering some schools (which are top 100) offer full ride, occasionally stipend for living expenses too. The main reason I'm aiming those top ones is to have some "brand" names on my CV so that I might land a job somehow easier (but high tuition fees in those top tier school really bugs me, and this is mainly because I'll might be getting private loans (even though I'm not really okay with it))

Market is tough…and will continue to be so. Employability will depend much more on your connections and ability to sell yourself to US firms
In addition, you got the tiers wrong. See below IMO:

Tier 1: HYS
Tier 2: CLS, NYU and Chicago (this maybe T1)
Tier 3: Upenn, UVA, Duke
Tier 4: Northwestern, Berkeley, Michigan + strong regionals

It really depends on your goals. I think you should figure that out first. The market is extremely tough no matter what for LLM grads, but coming from HYS you’re in a completely different situation than a t100. Unless you’re a US citizen, you’ll need an employer to sponsor your immigration application (for work), and there aren’t many outside biglaw who do that. For biglaw, I’d definitely be aiming t6-10. If you can’t do that or can’t afford it, I’d rethink your goals or the LLM.

This comment [clap, clap, clap]:

Market is tough…and will continue to be so. Employability will depend much more on your connections and ability to sell yourself to US firms
In addition, you got the tiers wrong. See below IMO:

Tier 1: HYS
Tier 2: CLS, NYU and Chicago (this maybe T1)
Tier 3: Upenn, UVA, Duke
Tier 4: Northwestern, Berkeley, Michigan + strong regionals