It seemed to me that most people posting on this forum are concern about their admission procedure or choice of the school which make sense in taking the first step and then it is the repetitive Q of bar exam, bar exam! Something in between is missing here in most postings you know....!
Why most people stop posting after they get it to the program? or why they are less concern about the experience in reality v. what the school offers in its admission kit? Little things that you learned after your enrollment and you wished you had known them way ahead ( of course except the awful job market which these days applies to JDs as well and we are all aware of it arent we lol)!
I would like to talk about my experience here; and share with you some info which covers variety issues!
Well I took role in Boston College LLM program
Boston College is known by some as the Disneyland of law schools. This moniker refers to the friendly atmosphere of the school, in contrast to other similarly ranked law schools known for their cutthroat competition. The law school is located near but not on the main campus of Boston College in an upscale area ( Newton), and is said to be tremendously safe in all aspects. Very wealthy neighborhood. It is 15 mins drive from Boston downtown and same to Harvard school. Although not amongst Ivey liege colleges but pretty high ranked nationally and very well known in New England. It offers General LLM which was a plus for me as I was not interested in Tax Law, Corporation or Humanitarian Law as most LLMs are.
For one thing, I did not practice any of above before, for second, I thought unless one is Really brilliant there are even less opportunities for foreign trained lawyers doing such LLMs re the job market. (I might have been wrong though). As for the record, I come from a civil law system, non English speaking country so chances are different for common law trained lawyers coming from English speaking countries I assume.
Humanitarian Law on the other hand might be different story in my opinion but still those many org and commissions specialized in that field seek high profiled practitioners for most part and getting in it is pretty competitive unless you are ready for long internship or very low payment! Ok, Back to my experience.!
So, I applied to BC only. (I already lived nearby) got $5000 grants (had to apply for it) and started enrolling in a class of 12(it will be doubled in size for 2009). Students picked out from diverse background ( BC policy) so your academic qualification or disqualifications is not the only determinative factor for your info, but basic requirements apply to your eligibility such as scoring the TOEFL test 100 and etc.
I found the atmosphere pretty friendly, the faculty very accessible ( in contrast to many other law schools) and the clinic courses very very enjoyable and useful!! Such as criminal law clinic, civil procedure clinic, immigration law clinic (which is one of the few national wide) Clinic course gives you the opportunity to practice the field throughout the academic year, to spot internship opportunity
( which will later help you to get Work Authorization for the purpose of OPT and extend your legal status under student visa for 12 months with work permit) and to bond with the professor or the supervisor which is a big thing for a foreign trained student with regard to the necessity of building connection and obtaining letter of recommendation for any prospective job offer! And it counts toward your experience in your resume which is a Big plus as well.
I picked out Imm law, civil procedure, Business Immigration, employment law, employment discrimination, immigration clinic plus mandatory courses for LLMs ( US legal system and LLM writing and research) throughout the year . As you might have noticed I was/am very focused on perusing immigration law, one because 1- I already reside in the US and have permanent residency card 2- for personal interest and the fact that I simply enjoy the subject 3- for the fact that I am bilingual and got a big community of my people immigrated to the US and prospective work opportunity 4- for the clinic opportunity and being able to enroll in the class of prof Kanstroom who is a prominent immigration attorney in the US.
Back to our discussion, BC got well reputation for its Environment law, Tax Law and Immigration clinic.
A short note on quality of life. As far as I know BC does not provide housing for LLM students and if it does and not am not aware of it is limited in number, renting and housing expenses are high in Boston area, but you get to enjoy Boston quality of life, having access to many law firms and enjoying a nice spring, humid and hot summer and very cold winter. You will not have to own a car and there is well developed transportation to take you from here all the way to Toronto ,Canada- or New York with short money , Subway available from 5 a.m to 11 a.m ( I suppose) to get you around Newton, Boston , Cambridge and other close neighborhoods as well as Bus and shuttle from BC law school.
Last but not least at BC you have the opportunity to take independent study at some other universities
( e.g. Economic or politic or business courses) some classes take lieu at Harvard for example.
Downsides with studying at BC:
The Second thing that may occur to your mind is that this program is very new at BC ( third year) I am not sure if it has any negative affect or more positive but I am sure you must look thoroughly to what it may contains with it.
The first thing must be BC ranking: Top 28 in the US. Some official profiles ranked its law school higher than BU (I am skeptical though) I know that most of you out there (included me back then) are more into entering the gate of Ivey league college for the name of it, for bonding opportunities and just the simple fact that what mentioned may smoothen your next step. It might be rational but on the other hand think about the job market fact, the fact that your lost in a pool of aggressive competitors and arrogant JDs (what I was told and not necessarily my personal opinion) , you are one LLM among what? 100? Remote faculty and the final reality, only name and GPA will not get you anywhere in the real world you need proper experience, wise selection, work efficiency and the right connection! You may establish those at any high ranked school more effectively (I suppose)!
And what my fellows and I are very upset about is the denial of LLMs access to Career Service!! Although, we were provided with the most wonderful and hard working LLM director who set up some moot interview, help with our resume, list of law firms that might be interested in LLM student employment and etc but we all feel like we were deprived from a basic right and effective opportunity and simply discriminated! Although the school has its own reasoning and named us three other high ranked schools such as Harvard with the same policy but we definitely wished we could change it for the future LLMs.
Third: No scholarship is offered and in the best case scenario you may be granted $5000 out of $50000 academic investment you will have to make. (Tuition fee+ one year living expenses)
Finally, you will not be able to apply for JD admission no matter what unless you pass LSAT and the courses you took during your LLM year will not count toward your JD which is the case for most law schools!
To sum it up, I give A to BC regarding its faculty accessibility and friendly attitude, location and atmosphere, general LLM, diversity of students and courses available, independent course opportunity and the wonderful clinic and the best supervisors.( Imm clinic in my experience) . Overall , I enjoyed the experience , got 3 internship opportunities based on my clinic work and spent a big amount of money ,I like to think had I invested it in anything else whith such crises in the worldwide economy I would not have gained more!lol
I wish you would share your thought as well as your academic LLM experience at whatever school you enrolled in . Lets start it form here

Fantastic post, thank you for the wonderful insight.

the university is lying when it says all top schools never have any Career Services access for LLM students - i have friends in all the top schools - yale, harvard, stanford columbia chicago and a couple of others - and all of them tell me that they have access to the career services office. Of course, i believe that the office is more dedicated towards JD students and have more programs geared towards them but LLM have equal access to such facilities in all these places.

Thanks for your post Antoinnete!

Maybe you could clarify me this: It's true that 1L courses (Civ. Pro., Property, Torts etc) are the most difficult subject in law school?

I believe that those courses are the foundation of the American legal system, but Im afraid that they could be excessively difficult and time consuming

I would really appreciate if you ore someone there could answer me this.

thank you for taking the time to post your experience! I hope more people will do the same...

As a JD student, I don't agree with that. I've taken several upper-class classes that had LLM students such as IP and tax and securities regulation and they are all just as difficult as first-year classes. However, it is true that classes that are just for or primarily for LLM students are easier. So we had LLM students in our JD tax class which was difficult and I took an LLM tax class that also had some JD students which was very easy. The JD classes are more difficult, but it's not that first-year classes are more difficult.

Of course, I suppose it may also depend on the school. These first-year classes may be more difficult at a top 10 school. I attend a top 25 school.

Thnk you very much for this post. I have been offered a $10,000 scholarship for Boston Uni (Which was a shock - I didn't ask for one) and in the phone interview I was told that they have now employed one new member of staff solely to help LLM students find work afterwards. So perhaps your suggestion forced them to act, Antoinett!

I will probably turn Boston down though because I was given a list of English LLM graduates and when I contacted them it seemed that they either had work in America before they took the LLM (and returned to that job) or they had to return to England because they couldn't find work. I am only doing the LLM to improve my chances of getting sponsored for an H1B visa.

I would be delighted if anyone from the Fordham IP LLM , George Washington General LLM or University of Texas at Austin US Law for Foreign Lawyers LLM could share their experience - and success or otherwise on finding work in the US afterwards.

rbp , I dont know which school you go but at BC LLMs share the same course and class with JDs except for US Legal system and LLM writing course of course.

Twin, I am so happy that I took civil pro and I wished I could take tort or contract law ( I think it is a must, it basically covers many topics in most other courses you take) but it was not possible at BC due to the conflict of schedule with my Immigration courses! At any rate, we shared the same course and class with 1L JDs and I tell you Father Kalsheur's civil Pro was the best class I had compare to Employment lad and Employment discri and even Imm Law. He made it so simple and entertaining that I did not even notice the time ( it is 5 credits and one year course). I think that the difficulty and complication of the subjects are not to the extent that you can not handle them if you know enough English to participate in any other class. However, it may depends to the teacher and the language he chooses to teach her class , you know?

This has been an interesting conversation to watch! I was delighted that antoinett had a good experience at Boston College Law School last year we hope that all of our students do. Since she voiced some concerns about the program, let me offer some additional information:

1. Financial aid: Our LL.M. scholarships are awarded primarily in the basis of financial need. Most awards are between $10,000 and $20,000. We have occasionally offered more than this, particularly to students with acute financial need.

2. Career advice: It is true that last years LL.M. students did not have full access to the resources of our Career Services Office. Based largely on feedback from antoinett and her classmates, we are working hard to improve access for future students.

What matters most, though, is the totality of the support that students receive, not just their access to a particular office. Viewed in that light, our students receive extensive career support. For example, as Director of the LL.M. program, I advise each student on job search strategies, help that student prepare a resume and cover letters, alert him or her to specific job or networking opportunities, and offer other advice as needed. Students also receive help from individual faculty members and alumni. We also organize special sessions for the LL.M.s as a group court and law firm visits, mock interviews, etc. Finally, even last year students could attend many of the job search events that the Career Services Office organized for J.D. students. That will continue.

The results have been impressive, particularly given the very tight job market that students face. Our LL.M. class of 2008-09 (twelve students in all) landed internships or paid employment with a federal judge, a prosecutors office, international non-governmental organizations, and an immigration law firm. And those were just the people who found work in the U.S. Others returned (or will soon return) to their home countries, landing in law firms, a General Counsel position, government service, and other work.

Antoinetts words about the education she received at BC Law speak for themselves. The individual attention our LL.M.s receive, combined with the unmatched accessibility of our faculty, are a core part of that educational experience. As importantly, they create a powerful support structure for each students job search. The access future students will have to our Career Services resources is merely the icing on the cake.

Gail J. Hupper
Director, LL.M. and International Programs
Boston College Law School

First of all, I would like to thank both Antoinett and Mrs. Hupper for the information provided. You guys just managed to motivate me even more in pursuing my goals and finding a way to come to USA. Nice presentation of the Boston College Law School as well. As I am interested in corporate law, I'm happy to know there's an LL.M. course for international students at BC. I am also happy to know BC provides LL.M. scholarships to students with acute financial need.

thanx for your post it's really valuable, and you said that you are comming from a civil law country whitch country is it? does it make it difficult to adapt the american legal system whitch is totally different..
And according to your experience, How can a law school graduate specialize in economics, is it a must restudy economics once and again or thier is some opportunity for law students in masters directly in economics from a legal concept or something??

I have only just found this site and i am lookng for information on how I can get information to practice US law. Boston would be my chosen state for personal reasons. In the UK I am an accreditated representative with 15yrs experience, and I am 40yrs old ( I think in US this is a criminal paralegal although i am not sure) I wish to practice in the US but need advice. Any advice is most appreciated.
Regards
Frank

Today, I happened to check an old e-mail account that was associated with my account on LLM Guide. To my great surprise, I saw many PMs in my inbox that I have been receiving from some of the board members asking me questions or more info. Some as old as 4 years ago! I apologize, for not having replayed to the inquiries. I never thought to look back in here. Instead, today, I am posting an update.

I graduated from BC LLM in 2009. The whole thing was a great experience. As already mentioned in my previous post, I had already secured a job offer by participating in Clinical courses throughout the academic year. Instead of rushing to do the bar courses, I decided to work as law clerk at the same law office I had been doing internship. I cannot emphasis how much I learned from my job and the lawyers I work for. I got paid $25 p/h.

I applied for July 2011 Bar exam right before the application deadline, however, in June 2011 I received a letter from Bar comitee. They asked me to provide an evidence from my home country authority attesting that the law degree I had received from my country had been enough to make me eligible to sit for the bar exam in my country!!! ( or something as stupid as that). I could not obtain that letter in time. Therefore, was not able to sit for the Bar in that year. It was kinda my own fault so You, make sure to apply way in advance.

To prepare for Barbri, I enrolled in Barbri Mobile. You know, the one that provides you with all the lectures on your SmartPhone. Not a bad idea, but a little confusing. Apparently,It also required a great amount of focus and self-discipline. At the end, I was happy with the outcome!

Some changes occurred at BC since 4 years ago. LLM program has a new director as of end of 2012. There are many more students enrolled. ( not recalling the exact number, but 20 something). Best of all, their career service is now open and available to LLM students Yaaaay!

I love working in the Immigration field. I love the fact that BC is such a prestigious name to be graduated from not only in the East Coast but even in the mid-west ( where I have relocated to temporary).

4 years later and I strongly believe that my money was well spent. As earlier said, we were 6 in the LLM prorgram of 2009. I know 2 other classmates did pass the NY Bar. I believe one is working in NYC, one, continued her PhD at BC. The rest returned to their countries. You can find us on FB!

Least but not last, MA bar exam requiremtn has been revised since then and thankfully has become more LLM friendly!! Do study it in advance specially if you are planning on going to BC or BU and settling into the New England life style!

Best of luck!

Re: Taking the JD after LLM - if you research your choice of schools for your LLM carefully, you will find that many allow you to transfer into the JD program if you achieve high enough grades.