Has anyone arrived in Ithaca yet?

Hello everyone, I am a UK LLB law student who has nearly completed my law degree. I will be applying to study the LLM at Cornell, Columbia, NYU, Fordham, Yeshiva, Harvard and Yale. I am currently averaging a mid B for my grades and is wondering if you have any advice as to whether I might receive an offer from the above mentioned universities.

I have done some research and found out that Fordham requires a "B" average but I am not entirely certain of the others. I would love to be admitted to Yale or Harvard.

I am attending a university ranked 60th in law in the UK and I am in the top 10% of my class. Do you think I stand any chance of getting in the top universities please. I really need your responses. Thank you and hoping to hear from you soon.

I think you have a decent shot if you're in the top ten percent of your llb class. Obviously, number 3 is still better than no 9, but anything in the top ten is impressive. your focus now should be on other aspects of your cv

Thank you for your quick reply equity darling.
I am currently in the process of completing the finishing touches to my CV. Have you applied to any of the named universities or are you a current student at one of the above universities? Again i express gratitude to your response.

are there any more replies please to the above assessment? Do you think that it is more advantageous to complete an LLM from the London School of Economics(LSE) or University College London (UCL). I know that they accept individuals with a 2:1 ("B" average) degree as my friend is currently studying at UCL and she had 2:2 (low "B" average). I am intending to emigrate to the US for a substantial period as my family resides there. So I would like to ask which of the decision is best to make please?

I'm doing the Cambridge LLM commencinf October 2008. I was accpeted into the 2007 class, but deferred.

Well done Equity darling. I am really happy for you. So are you looking forward to going to Cambridge? I am also planning to apply to 6 of the top universities here in the UK and Cambridge is one of them.

So are you a UK student or are you from an overseas law school? and what were your grades to get into Cambridge if you don't mind me asking. Do you think I would stand a chance of getting an offer with the grade I have at the moment?

My decision would be that if I get into Cambridge or Oxford then I would pursue the LLM in the UK, but alternately, I would choose to pursue it in the US.

In addition what do you think of my dilema in my last post?

Again congratulations on receiving a place at Cambridge.

I am from Canada. I was inside the top 5 percent of my LLB plus have a first class honours BA. I have two years of law firm experience.

I think you will have a bit of a tough time getting into oxbridge without a first, unless you have a lot of other extraordinary assets on the CV. If you want to work in the US, as you indicated you do, I actually think you should do an LLM there. It will help with the job search.
Besides, with a high 2:1 and some extracariculars, I'd bet good money you'd get into NYU.

Hello Equity's darling,

Thank you for your reply. I have worked in a law firm for 4 months as a legal secretary and paralegal and have also shadowed several barristers and judges for a week. I have also been recently awarded a law student scholarship by the university from on of the UK's top law firms. I have been an active member of two internation charities and current president of the law society.

I enjoy, hiking, biking, travelling, acting, and various other social activities. I have also had previous work experience in retail for the pass 5 years part-time; sales and administrative duties working for my current university.

It has been widely tipped that I will get a first class since I finish 2nd year with a 68 average and only 2 percent from a 1st class.

Do you think that I might get an offer from Cornell or Columbia? I would definately go to NYU if I were offered a place and unsuccessful at Harvard, Yale, and the others. Was your application free to apply for the masters here in the UK?

Because I know that for us here in the UK its free so just checking to see if its the same for international applicants. Again I apprciate your time and advice indefinately.

Yes it's free to apply to Cambridge.
I don't know with any certainty the requirements at the American schools. There was a big debate on this forum a few weeks ago in which a couple of posters defended the notion that a student with average grades from an avergae school could get into Harvard. I disagree, but who knows. I do know that of the people I personally know who went to Harvard, Yale and Columbia (don't know anyone from NYU) they all were well inside the top ten percent of their LLB class and all had terrific first class BA's. Interestingly, two people I know came from not terribly well-regarded LLB schools in Canada; but in Cnada rankings matter way less, it seems. I knowe people from supoposedly poor schools that are atrticling in London, NY, attending Harv. etc... I think the gap here between a top school and a poor school is much narrower than in other countries; and even bottom schools are still very competative.

As far as extracariculars are concerned, it sems that US LLM's care a great deal more than UK. In fact, at Cambridge (the only scholl I applied to ) one doesn't even write a personal statement, and the space to fill in extra's is tiny.

I agree with you fully that the American universities seems to place substantial emphasis on extra-cirricular activities in comparison to their British counter parts.

I also read part of the debate about "can a student with average grades from an average law school get into a top university". I thought that there were some very good points made. The majority opinion and the greater weight of argument seem to suggest not. However, it is of the belief that if one were to obtain a first class degree coupled with extraordinary extracurricular activities, one might stand a chance.

One is try to compile a very emotional memorable and appealing personal statement so that when the admissions tutor sees it they will think that this person deserves a place.

Do you think that NYU is a supermarket with regards to the LLM? bear in mind that they are currently ranked at number 4 in law in the US top law schools.

My law school is ranked at 60th of the law school here in the UK and 80th overall in the entire country. I am very keen to get into Cornell, Harvard or Columbia. I read that Columbia only accept individuals who have already graduated and have been admitted to practice the bar. I am not sure how ridgid they are with their stipulation. However, I will call them up and enquire as it would be a waste of money to apply if I am not admitted to the bar yet.

Are you automatically eligible to sit the New York State Bar given the fact that you have obtained a law degree from Canada?

Furthermore, did you know that Canadian law has very persuasive influence on British law? I have done a few moots where I used Canadian law to support my arguement.

I'm sure poeple will post to disagree vehemenantly, but I do believe the NYU LLM is a supermarket and I don't believe it is all that difficult to get into (relative to the other uber schools, like harv, yale, columbia, or oxbridge).
I also think that the notion that an average student with average grades will get into one of these uber schools is silly. Obviously there are exceptions, which was my point in the previous debate. By exceptions I mean if you have all sorts of other really outstanding thigs on the CV, like: several years of top tier work experience, publications, exceptional volunteer type activities, perghaps a masters degree in a related discipline, an unbelievable reference, an olympuic gold medal, etc... But otherwise, you are jost not getting into these uberschools unless you rank well inside the top 20, and probably inside the top 10, of yopur LLB class.

Tellbuk,

I'll be attending LSE this year. I chose it over UCL because of it's international reputation. However, some would say that UCL offers a better quality of teaching. That said, in my experience, the UCL administration is a nightmare! I had to email the school to see if I had been admitted after having heard from all of the other schools I applied to long before. Over a week later, someone wrote back to me to say I had been and my acceptance package was in the mail. A few emails later, the administration said they'd send me another acceptance package. Over two months later, still no package! My contact with the UCL administration itself would make me very wary of that school. I've experienced no problems dealing with the administration at LSE.

I graduated from a Canadian law school within the top 15 students overall. I say "within", because my school refuses to rank the top students. I have no idea if I'm #5 or #15. I know I'm not #1 or 2. Given the number of students at my school, this means that I'm somewhere between top 2% and top 8%. I feel that this system really hurt my chances with the most elite schools. I've been working with one of the biggest firms in the country for over 3 years and I thought that with my grades, extracurriculars, experience and references, I'd definitely get into places like Oxford, etc. I was wrong. I received rejectiosn from Oxford, Harvard and Columbia.

After speaking with a number of LSE alumni, I decided to attend that school although it had not been my first choice. My goal is to re-enter private practice or government. If my goal had been to become a law professor, I probably would not be attending LSE. Although the LSE program is very highly rated, most law schools seem to demand that their professors do their post grad work at places like Oxford/ Cambridge/Harvard/Yale, etc.

Hope this helps.

Canada guy,
did you apply to Cambridge? I'm surprised that you didn't get into some of these schools with those credentials.
Mine are similar, and I got into Cambridge. I didn't apply to any other schools, though; so I can't offer any insight there.

To Equity Darling,

Thank you for your reply. I have been reading entensively on teh New York law school current and pass students. Those who are on the NYU@NUS programme has given me very good feedback as to the quality of education due to the fact that there is a smaller group.

This is where you go to Singapore for 10 months and at the end you get 2 LLM's from both NYU and National university of Singapore which is ranked number 19 in the world. I am quite attracted to the description of the cousre and will be applying to that cousre due to the job prospects at the end.

I would also like to apply there hoping that I will get into one of the world's top ranking law schools. I enjoy studying in England but fancy a change given the fat that my intention is to practice outside the UK.

To Canadian Guy,

I probably would choose LSE over UCL due to its world ranking which can be found here:
http://www.topuniversities.com/worlduniversityrankings/results/2006/
LSE is at 17 while UCL is at 25. However, I must mention that UCL has one of the most breath taking campuses in modern times. With that said, I haven't visited LSE's campus just yet.

I am really struggling with the option of whether to the LLM here in the UK or in New York. This is given the fact that it is really expensive in New York at over $40,000. I think LSE's tuition stands at nearly over a bit over £13,000. which is about $26,000.

How did you come about choosing to go to LSE and will you be returning to Canada to practice? What are the job prospects available to you are like in Canada?

I missed the application deadline for Cambridge. This year, I only applied to the UK schools. I had applied to the U.S. schools a few years before.

I chose LSE after emailing a few professors and talking to over half a dozen alumni who all highly recommended the LL.M. I also talked to representatives of some of the employers I'm hoping to work for when I'm finished. The feedback they gave me about doing an LL.M. at LSE seemed very positive.

I'm doing the LL.M. for my own personal interest/professional growth and to fulfil a dream of mine. I think that living in London for a year will be great and I'm really looking forward to it.

My job prospects are good (I think). I have a number of years of experience with a major Canadian firm and great refernces. I'm already trying to line up something for after the degree. I hope to have things settled on the post-degree employment side of things long before the LL.M. course finishes. After working at a firm for a number of years, I'm seriously considering moving into government.

Good luck with your decision!

Hi,
Any one has idea how US law schools took experience in US legal outsourcing? I am working on US laws outside US and assisting US law firms in legal research. Will this experience count? If yes, in positive way or negative?

Thanks

Hey Guys.. u have any idea if these Universities gives conditional admission for someone like me who shall receive the final LL.B result in Sep-2008. I wish to apply for year2008. I have 2 yrs of corporate legal experience as well, but that is currently along with my LL.B. pls help...

Thnx....

Further to these messages, you may be interested to see the information now up (including videos of the current class) on
www.NYUNUS.org
There's also an article in The Hindu newspaper that may be of interest, accesible here:
http://www.hindu.com/edu/2007/09/03/stories/2007090350330400.htm