I am in exactly the same situation here. I have received admission to NYU's IBRLA LL.M. and Georgetown's International Legal Studies, w/ certificate in Int'al Arbitration (plus 10K scholarship).

I practice international arbitration in a US law firm in Europe but I am not really sure on what course I want for the future, but probably away from Big Law. I have considered opportunities from going solo in the mid-term to work in public policy for tech companies.

From Georgetown, apart from the cost advantages (scholarship plus Washington's lower cost of living), I think that the International Law programme is very strong and reputed. Plus, there is now a strong focus in international arbitration with some pretty good practitioners.

NYU on the other hand has the better overall ranking (and I would say that are also quite top in international law). This is important for me as I do not want to overspecialize in international dispute resolution/law. Perhaps NYU's stronger profile would give me this additional flexibility I want, but I don't know if the economic cost is worth it.

I could really use some advice.

The rankings don't mean anything when the person doing the programme is an unambitious pushover.

Let me explain.

I made many friends here when I was going through the decision process and I got admitted to most of the top schools I had applied to. However, I visited some of them including Georgetown and UVA and felt most at home at George Washington University. I made the right choice and specialized in Business and Finance.

So, the end came and people were scrambling to fix their OPT Visa issues and get jobs. I was employed almost immediately after school because I made it my business to network while I was in school. I saw the Indian and Chinese students forming cliques and studying 24/7 but many of them just did not net-work. Out of a class of 140, less than 10 of us are employed now. Most of the people I met on here who went to Berkley, NYU, Harvard and Yale had to go back to India and China. Yet, the guy who networked like crazy from UMD got an AMAZING job with the IDB.

I assume you are concerned with rankings because you want to work in the US and not because there are people who understand the subtle differences in your country?

If that is the case, I'd focus less on ranking and more on a school that fits your needs AND the area you will carve a niche in so that you don't have to beg employers for a job when you are done.

Sorry if this sounds harsh but you MUST be prepared to face the reality of living in America with a foreign law degree.


~Jitana

Small update: Living in DC is wonderful. Way more laid back than NY. The city is full of culture and close to awesome things like vineyards, Old Town and really cool caves. People are smart here and friendlier than NY. Personally, I like living in Virginia. I was only a 15 min drive from school and I woke up to trees outside.

The rankings don't mean anything when the person doing the programme is an unambitious pushover.

Let me explain.

I made many friends here when I was going through the decision process and I got admitted to most of the top schools I had applied to. However, I visited some of them including Georgetown and UVA and felt most at home at George Washington University. I made the right choice and specialized in Business and Finance.

So, the end came and people were scrambling to fix their OPT Visa issues and get jobs. I was employed almost immediately after school because I made it my business to network while I was in school. I saw the Indian and Chinese students forming cliques and studying 24/7 but many of them just did not net-work. Out of a class of 140, less than 10 of us are employed now. Most of the people I met on here who went to Berkley, NYU, Harvard and Yale had to go back to India and China. Yet, the guy who networked like crazy from UMD got an AMAZING job with the IDB.

I assume you are concerned with rankings because you want to work in the US and not because there are people who understand the subtle differences in your country?

If that is the case, I'd focus less on ranking and more on a school that fits your needs AND the area you will carve a niche in so that you don't have to beg employers for a job when you are done.

Sorry if this sounds harsh but you MUST be prepared to face the reality of living in America with a foreign law degree.


~Jitana

Small update: Living in DC is wonderful. Way more laid back than NY. The city is full of culture and close to awesome things like vineyards, Old Town and really cool caves. People are smart here and friendlier than NY. Personally, I like living in Virginia. I was only a 15 min drive from school and I woke up to trees outside.

Sure!

Networking is more important today than it was when I completed my LLM but one thing to remember is that the ability to network is partly a function of law school name and prestige. Introductions that carry the name of Y/H/C/S/Chicago will have benefits that other will not and could very likely make a difference if everything else is similar. I can say with certainty that using the Harvard tag on cold emails has netted me invites where others would falter.

Choose law schools with care. Don't underestimate prestige. IMO turning down Harvard or Columbia because of a belief in the power of networking is plain dumb. Chances are that people you will be trying to network with will be from the law schools I named.

Hi!

I am facing the same situation, I got admitted in NYU's IBRLa program and to Georgetown's IBEL program in the Arbitration Certificate program.

I was wondering which program will you recommend me if I want to specialize in dispute resolution and plan to work in a US law firm?

Hey guys! Same here. Deciding between NYU and Gtwn in the ILS program. I understand they are academically almost equivalent. NYU is no. 1 in intl law and Gtwn no. 4. I have some scholarship at Gtwn, and I'm not sure I can afford NYU without financial aid. But still undecided and wishing I had some financial aid at NYU. Any advice would be great. Anushka what made you incline to NYU? you seemed convinced with Gtwn.

Pd. (Gtwn has extended my deadline to this friday)

I am facing a similar dilemma. I am going to puruse my LLM in International Law and have narrowed my choices down to Georgetown and NYU. I have been accepted as an Institute of International Economic Law Fellow at Georgetown (which has no associated funding, but has a lot of other benefits), and have simply been accepted into the NYU International Legal Studies LLM at NYU (without any scholarships/fellowships).

Any advice on where I should go would be very much appreciated. I am currently leaning towards NYU, but I am wondering if the fellowship is enough to make Georgetown a better choice.

Thanks in advance!

Hi, I got admitted to Georgetown, NYU, Berkeley, Cornell and Notre Dame, at the end I was between GT and NYU, and I decided to go to DC, BUT WHY???

1. Everybody here is talking about NYU being better ranked, I don't think rankings mean so much, of course, Harvard vs Miami Law School (or whatever) would matter, but #5 vs #9, #7 vs #11, or something like that I don't think there is much difference between them to make a decision this important.

2. I had worked in the Federal judiciary (Mexico) for over 10 years now, and I think DC would provide something NYC cannot. In DC are the three branches, every embassy, OAS, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the pentagon, the World Bank, etc etc.., while NYC has big law firms and the UN (dammit!)

3. Specifically the Supreme Court, I read that there are courses related to Supreme Court advocacy in GT, I'm not sure if they have it over NYU or CLS.

4. At the end, I feel that NYU will focus on studies that end in law firms for corporate practices.

5. I haven't been in NYC nor DC, and I understand NYC is much more appealing as a city, but we are going to study, not to be tourists for one year; so if you want to enjoy your life, I would suggest to get a meaningless job and go live in NYC, Paris or whatever you like, instead of paying almost 100K for one year of legal studies.

In conclusion, I chose GT because I feel they can give me an extra for government issues that is my life's passion, and NYU will focus on the greatest law firms, which is great for some people but just not me.

So what do you want for your life? What is your passion? And please, don't choose a program JUST for the ranking, look further!!

I know NYU is better ranked than Georgetown, yet I'm not quite sure as to which school I should choose...
My first choice is CLS but I havent heard from them yet...
I'm interested in international law and it's a tough choice considering both schools are highly regarded in the field...
Any comments or advice I should take into account? Thanks.