Dear All,

Congrats to those admitted to Michigan and all my best for those still waiting! I know it is a tough time of the year :)

I am a current LL.M. candidate at Michigan and would be glad to answer your questions in deciding which offer to accept.

First, I would like to emphasize that I am sure wherever you decide to go, you really going to love the school and will have an intellectually and socially enriching experience.

What makes a difference at Michigan is -- what some of you have already pointed out-- the small size of the LL.M. program and the personal attention we/you as a candidate get!

I am sure you have already felt the difference in the way the admissions people treat possible candidates...I remember this was the first thing that really made me think about coming here.

This is going to be the same after you arrive in Ann Arbor! Its easy to get ahead with the bureaucracy of the school. Just to mention a very important example, when we had to select our classes, I think all of us got what we wanted. (No lottery or the like institutions with disappointed pupils:) )

I really like my classmates, know 90% by name. Our class is a good mix of people from the private practice and from the public sector or NGOs. We socialize a lot and I am sure we are going to be great friends for decades after leaving Michigan Law.

On another note, the faculty is amazing. I was looking for a place where they have famous scholars in basic US subjects like Contracts, but there are cutting edge intellectuals in international fields, like trade or just general (public) international law. Well, I had one of the editors of the UCC for contracts, the drafter of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for Civ Pro and we had Bruno Simma (one of the judges currently sitting on the ICJ) for international law...just to name a few.
(BEFORE PEOPLE START TO FLOOD MY INBOX WITH REBUTTALS, I MUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT MOST OF THE TOP -- AND MANY LESS REPUTED -- SCHOOLS HAVE GREAT NAMES AMONG THEIR EDUCATORS. Some more, some less. I am just trying to draw attention to some of the unique faculty of the school I chose to attend.)

You also have great access to professors! People are extremely laid back in here. Most of my professors were accessible even when they did not have office hours.

Moreover, we have really amazing guest speakers all the time. The prestige of the school draws a lot of people here. When I came here, I was concerned that the school might be too remote compared to schools in New York or D.C., but this is really not the case...quite the opposite. We had Carl Levin yesterday...(again just an example).

Those who like sports, especially football (American), baseball and ice hockey will also LOVE Michigan! I did not go to college in the States, but it really amazes me how strong a community it can forge when you have a great sports team to cheer for...GO BLUE! (OH, as far as I know we have one of the biggest football stadiums in the US, housing 107,000 people...you should come see a game!)

Finally, I remember, I was also concerned about the weather...well true, it can get cold. Its nice until mid-November (depending on the year) and then it gets snowy and windy. The worst is February. BUT the sun shines all the time. Having lived in New York City for a year I can attest to the fact that there is not much of a difference when the wind blows through the city during winter time. For those not very fond of the snow I strongly suggest Cal or Stanford ;)

Well this is it in a nutshell, let me know if you have specific questions and remember, wherever you go, it is going to be fun!

Thanks for sharing!

Thank you Wolverine! Very kind of you to share this inside information with us! I've been accepted to Michigan, but still waiting for 5 universities to send out their decision in order to make up my mind. However, I was definitely impressed by the gentle e-mails I received from Michigan and I really consider it to be a great place to study. It is evident from their website that they are VERY organized, but I think the most valuable information you gave us is that the faculty is always available and eager to discuss your issues. This is definitely a great asset (apart from the wonderful campus of course)! I applied to Michigan mainly because of the presence of two Law and Economics experts in the faculty, Omri Ben-Shahar and John Pottow, whose interests with regard to the economic analysis coincide mine. It is also has a reputation for being quite strong in International Business Law, which is another field I'm interested in.
I'm actually waiting for their offer package right now. I'll wait for the other Law Schools to answer and then I'll make up my mind where to go. Once again, you've been very kind to us! Thanx a million!

Thanks for the information Wolverine!

Just two questions. I am deeply interested in administrative law and regulatory policy (especially from a law & economics approach). I know that Michigan has outstanding professors in almost every field, but do you think it is specially strong in these areas?

Also, I have always heard that Michigan's LLM is very academically oriented (in a similar way than Yale's), focusing a lot in the public policy problems of the law. Is that right? That is very important for me because it is the kind of program I want.

Thanks a lot!!

As far as the first issue:

You may wish to consider the following link:

http://cgi2.www.law.umich.edu/CurriculumInterestAreas/CurriculumInterestArea.aspx?cia=ECON

I heard that Admin Law with Mandelson is awesome.

As for the 2nd issue:

Well, the only TRULY academic LL.M. program I know of is YALE's.

I think our class is a good mix of people with public-academic-and profit oriented interests. But it would be hard to say that we are academic oriented...

IT DOES NOT MATTER! WHAT MATTERS IS THAT you are going to enroll to the courses you like and you gonna end up with like minded students.

Consider this: if you take a course like Jurisprudence or Economic Analysis and the Law there is a very little likelihood that you end up with people who have no interest or previous interests in these areas. The LL.M. class is VERY small, however there are 300 or so J.D. s for each class (I mean 1L, 2L and 3Ls). Among these, there are a lot of people interested in pursuing academic careers. So worry not! You'll meet with just as many like minded people as you would at any other place!

Not to mention that Michigan is a truly unique place in terms of the quality of education!

One more thing came to my mind!

There is something special here that you would definately enjoy: MINI-SEMINARS!

Seminars that are offered by professors in their homes for a very small group of students on topics like Race, Poverty and Access to Justice or Civil Justice in America or International Law and the Israel/Palestine/Arab Conflict.

These provide unparalelled access to professors in discussing these issues to students. Probably this is what I am going to miss the most!

Thanks Wolverine!!

One more thing came to my mind!

There is something special here that you would definately enjoy: MINI-SEMINARS!

Seminars that are offered by professors in their homes for a very small group of students on topics like Race, Poverty and Access to Justice or Civil Justice in America or International Law and the Israel/Palestine/Arab Conflict.

These provide unparalelled access to professors in discussing these issues to students. Probably this is what I am going to miss the most!