Help- I have to choose between a scholarship at Georgetown now or being on the waiting list for Columbia LS, with American University Washington scholarship offer open until 1st May. I am a practising lawyer interested in being able to do clinic work/externships and work with NGOs, with a focus on socio-economic rights rather than humanitarian law. Georgetown curriculum looks quite limited compared to CLS. What should I do - gamble or stick?

DC is definitively the place to be. I personally consider much better Georgetown than AU, but others dissent

AU has one of the best inter-american human rights law centers in the US... the inter-american commission recruits its lawyers directly from its LLM program... if you plan on doing human rights work in the future, i would suggest going where you got funding as we all know that it may take you a while to pay back your loans

If you look forward to getting a truly international/global perspective into international human rights law, you should definitively go to Columbia. Most CLS graduates end up working in international human rights NGOs such as Amnesty, HRW, Human Rights First as well as UN monitoring bodies and international tribunals/courts.
I think that if you want to land a job on the inter-american regional system the other two programs may be second good options.
Regarding tuition fees, I believe that it is worth the investment you shall do at CLS.
Good luck and wish you get admission to CLS.

still I think you better check out Northwestern and Notre Dame, which are the only two schools offering a program in HR. Best of luck!