Question for all of you (us) aspiring LLM students next year:

Do you really think it is going to be worth the money to do the LLM?

Haha. That is a *very* good question. And outside of financial aid from the college itself, there seem to be no funding options :(

I would say that it depends on what are your career plans...
If you are american, want to be a tax lawyer and got accepted to Columbia, NYU etc... Then yeah it worth your money.

If not I'm not sure and asking myself the same question as I am definitely not into tax law.

There seems to be something rather cynical about the tuition rates. I know in the USA, higher education is essentially viewed as a "business". But, what really is one getting in exchange for that money? Basically, we are paying for "American Ivey League" name on the CV.

In terms of actually learning, there are surely very challenging and intellectually stimulating programs in France, Canada, UK, Australia etc, which cost a fraction of the fee...

I feel that there is kind of a "tuition bubble" forming, like the "housing bubble" of a few years ago. Simply overpriced compared to value.

JDD, with your last post, you have certainly figured it out. Harvard/Yale are expensive, and maybe not even statistically more "educationial" than other schools. But, when you graduate, you will have the Harvard/Yale connections. These connections would include the last 4 USA Presidents. So, it might be worth the money, I guess.

My opinion is that nobody will give you anything for being from the same academic institution. These presidents of the USA are more interested in meeting successful and useful people. They wont provide charity just because you went for a year in the same institution. Thousands of people did so too. So if you want to have connections with those people than become a millionaire or successful person. Don't rely on a name in a resume. It will help you to start and will help you along the way but it will be only 10% in overall scale. You can easily gain that up by doing something useful. Successful people are known for what they did not for where they went to school.
Although I think that people should go to good schools but not to the point to decline scholarships or to fly in the sky.

FYA22, you have really misread my post. Not once did I imply that your educational skills would be any different if you went to Harvard or somewhere else. I firmly believe that. And, I have been an attorney long enough to recognize that the resume get quickly overshadowed by performance. Nevertheless, a foot in the door is a foot in the door and nobody provides a better door than Harvard/Yale. After you walk through, you are on your own.

I agree with this.