I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! Btw, which country are you from? I'm following the news about admitted students in the FB group closely. Just curious... ;-)

Hahaha I'm from Brazil! I've been in contact with the brazilian ambassador for the past couple of days.

I looked for a Michigan LLM 2015-16 facebook group but couldn't find it.

Hm, that's interesting. Usually, Dora-Maria sends invititations to the FB group by email. There is a group. Ask DM if you want to get in!

DM has just answered my last e-mail! Damn, she's so helpful hahah
I answered back asking about the group.

Got admitted about two weeks ago. However,I just confirmed my enrolment at another so school. I emailed Dora Maria and declined the offer to speed the waiting list. Congrats to you all and good luck for those who are waiting.

does one have to pay a deposit when accepting the offer from Michigan?. I was under the impression that this is the case for Michigan too but now I cant find the information anywhere.

Also, has anyone received a scholarship offer in the last couple of days? if you happen to be so furtunate and receive an offer (perhaps in the days to come) please share the information with us. It helps us see where we stand on the chances of receiving some financial aid.

I've been asking myself where those financial aid decisions are.. Those will have a major impact on my enrolling or not..

Hello all. Does anyone know how much is the fee to reserve a seat in the class?

No fee- they use the honor system. But don't say you will go there if you are not 100% set on going there. This is especially true if you have received a financial aid offer (scholarship).

If you are awarded one, commit to going but then don't go, that money is LOST for anyone else. So in effect you would rob someone else of scholarship money. So don't commit to Michigan if you have a scholarship offer and then don't attend. They are really good people there and treat people well. Don't abuse their kindness.

So if you are thinking about going but haven't decided on what school for sure and just want to hold a place, only do this if you are 99% likely to attend Michigan.

Thank you for your reply! Totally agree with you. There are many folks that could use my seat. I am still debating it but I hope to make a final decision next week. This is such a cool university, and the fact that they don't rob you with a non-refundable deposit unlike most schools, makes it even better!

I am in the same situation in some ways. I was accepted to Stanford yet I am very drawn to Michigan. I wasn't drawn to teaching that much so I never applied to Yale so Stanford was my first choice. I was really impressed by Michigan and the more I have researched it over the past year, the more I realize it is really a great school. So I am waiting to see what scholarship offer I receive and then make a final decision.

This is a very difficult decision. If I get a significant scholarship offer it might be enough to sway me from Stanford as the declining valuation of my home currency has made the costs of almost all schools almost unaffordable to me so a scholarship may meant the difference between me being able to attend or not especially if our currency falls even more.

Everyone at Michigan has been very helpful and very polite. Of course I can say the same about Stanford and their very forthright, if sometimes depressing, answers have been incredibly important for me to make an informed decision about my future and prospects for practical training in the US. It seems that to really have any chance for practical training in the US you need to go to one of the elite schools or an elite program (NYU tax for an example). I only have one opportunity to do this so I can't afford to make any errors.

Wavshrdr, that is exactly how I feel. I am definitely gonna take up Michigan's offer if I get a scholarship, and will decline the others that also offered me a spot.

I am very divided right now. I feel like we receive an especial treatment at Michigan. They go out of their way to make us feel confortable. They really care about their students and I believe this is why the University is so well positioned in the ranking. My only concern is networking conections and the possibility of having a work experience after the LLM.
I am concerned about being isolated at Michigan, because I trully want to go to Washington after my LLM (this is also my only oportunity). Does anyone know how helpful the Career Center is? Is the career center orientation limited to "how to prepare a resumé" and "how to behave in interviews" or do they truly help us get an externship? I was only able to talk to a student who is a visiting scholar.

https://br.pinterest.com/aadlpins/ann-arbor-in-the-movies-on-tv-in-books/

This website mentions movies that were filmed or partially filmed at Ann Arbor. I thought sharing this with you would be a good idea! :-).

I am concerned about being isolated at Michigan, because I trully want to go to Washington after my LLM (this is also my only oportunity). Does anyone know how helpful the Career Center is? Is the career center orientation limited to "how to prepare a resumé" and "how to behave in interviews" or do they truly help us get an externship? I was only able to talk to a student who is a visiting scholar.

@ swaziplaza: I asked Dora-Maria in the facebook group. Also, I talked to former students and they said that the University is really helpful, but they won't find a job for you. From my personal experience, there are two ways of getting a job: 1) networking with colleagues and professors at lectures; 2) getting close to professors who can help you. According to Michigan students, it is really easy to get close to professors because they have small classes and tipically only 2 or 3 LLM's per class. Professors want to hear your opinion in class, because tipically LLm students have more work experience than American JDs.The student who talked to me (and who is currently employed) said that a professor offered a place at his home when he went to NY for an interview. He said he played football with many professors.

This is the link that dora Maria mentioned in the facebook group:
https://www.law.umich.edu/prospectivestudents/graduate/Pages/careerplanning.aspx.

Yeah, two minutes after my post I realized that it was probably you who asked Dora-Maria about the career center. Nevermind. :-)

Edit: I asked some of the other current LLMs to post their experiences here. Might be good for those who haven't joined the FB group yet.

anyone heard back from UMICH in respect to their conditional offers? Or in general, anyone has news on the fellowships (Hugo Grotius) that UMICH grants?

No but I think we should have a response in the next days... Btw where are you from?