Dear friends,
I feel it is my duty to suggest all of you a few facts about U.S. LL.M.:-
1. Select Top law schools. If you are lucky, see if you can get below Top 25 ranked law schools.
2. If you are not financially sound enough and the top law school is not offering any scholarship or financial aid, then, see the low fee law schools but you are closing some ways to sell yourself in the prospective job market.
3. Select your specialization with acute care and caution as you are spending most of your earnings or even by taking loans towards your LL.M. Be practical and make a good research while selecting specialization.
4. Always prefer to take Grades unless you have other affairs to do or you are not confident enough to excel in your LL.M. as many law firms look for grades in your LL.M.
5. Try to enhance your marketability by writing a wonderful law review article so that your article would be published in a good legal magazine/your law school law review publisher/Good News paper etc.
6. Develop your pronunciation skills by taking the advantage of www.visualthesaurus.com if you can able to pay $20 per year as it is worthy enough to spend for polishing your English Skills.
7. Try On-campus jobs as you can earn for your maintenance during your course of study.
8. If you plan to extend your program of study from two semesters to three semesters, then, take less credits so that you would not complete all credits required to complete your LL.M. and get extension of F-1 student visa.
9. Mingle with U.S. J.D. students and not limit yourself with your own Country people as it is one of the ways to learn U.S. culture. Of course, also give preference to meet other LL.M. International students to develop friendly relations with more Countries/friends.
10. Try to use your time productively, systematically and effectively during your course of study so that you will be in a position to compete with U.S. students by completing all class assignments given in LL.M. You will not be in a position to answer or actively participate in class discussions or questions of Professor if you are not completing your regular class assignments properly.
11. Meet career services director of your law school to know about potential opportunities after LL.M. and Mock-Interviews etc.
12. Use recreational activities of your school such as Swimming Pools, Billiards, Gym etc. if you have time to spend as you are paying your tuition including for this too.
13. Take Driving license as early as possible as it is one of the best ways to show your identity instead of your Passport and preferred in U.S.
14. Try to gain Summer/Fall Associate internships paid or unpaid as it gives you the insight of real time work experience.
15. Those who have already completed LL.M. and searching for jobs, please also try for Unpaid Internship Opportunities in the local Courts or law firms as it gives you an opportunity to gain practical U.S. work experience and builds your resume skills. You can use this opportunity to meet more attorneys in such work place to get a good opportunity to build your future.
16. Plan your finances properly as nobody is going to advise how to manage things and you are the sole proprietor of your own life. Unlike your home Country, here in U.S., nobody will instruct you to do anything as individual freedom is given front seat and you have to take steps diligently.

Extra Suggestions/Tips:-
1. Some Universities may exempt from appearing TOEFL if you could able to show them that you got enough exposure to English and got proficiency over English. See the University/law school website or request them about TOEFL Exemption in special cases or so.
2. If you take Grades in LL.M. and plan to change from LL.M. to J.D., then, be smart and appear for LSAT as soon as possible before earning your LL.M. Degree, probably after or during first semester itself so that you can show such LSAT rank in your own law school and shift from LL.M. class to J.D. if they allow you to do so. Or else, you can use such score and transfer from the current law school to another one that is offering J.D. for you. Take proper steps carefully after evaluating your future plans and financial structure or willingness to stay in a particular U.S. state that allows only J.D. to appear for Bar Exam etc.
3. If you are interested in Tax LL.M., then, it is also one of the demanding and career oriented programs. In that case, if you are a challenging person and also interested to get command over Business Laws, Financial Planning, Accounting etc., then, you can also study CPA (Certified Public Accountant) Exam to hold two U.S. powerful degrees etc. Refer www.nasba.org for further guidance in this regard. Please remember that you must be a Commerce Graduate to fulfill the minimum Accounting Credits to do CPA course. Of course, as I mentioned in the heading itself, these fall under Extra Suggestions/Tips to those who are so smart (but sometimes it may become over smart too). So, be careful.

I welcome your comments/critics.

My best wishes to prospective students, current students and recent graduates.
Friendly yours,
Vj,
LL.M. (USA)
Attorney-India
Secretary, HAPPY (Helping Arms for Protection and Promotion of You) India Society, India.
(Please note that the above information is provided to all of you out of experience and you need not follow any of the above if you believe it is not suitable for you.)

Thank you.

Out of curiosity, which program did you take?

Sorry for not answering your question in public discussion board. If you need answer, send your question to vijaydamaraj@yahoo.co.in. But, please do not send a question unless you need real guidance. If you need real guidance and I have time to respond, then, I'll try to answer the same.

Thank you for understanding me and sorry for the inconvenience.
Friendly yours,
Vj

Hey thanks for these tips for LLM. I have been planning a Tax LLM and I would like to do a CPA as well. But I have a few doubts which I have not been able to find on the Nasba site.

I would like to know about the duration of the CPA studies. I am not a Chartered Accountant in my home country (India), so am I eligible to take the CPA?

Any advice would be helpful,

Best Regards,

Pratima

Dear Pratima: I guess you have not concentrated on the nasba.org website properly otherwise you would have found the necessary information. Anyhow, for your convenience, I am attaching the link once again. Remember, in the United States, C.P.A. license is different for each state. So, you have to choose the state in which you would like to be a CPA. Of course, after a few years of practice as a C.P.A., there may be any eligibility to get the license from other states too. Giving an example of New York State for your understanding: (http://www.nasba.org/862571B900737CED/0/860AA59BF0EE35CE862571B90074428C/$file/NYFT&IAweb.pdf).
For further understanding: Go to http://www.nasba.org/nasbaweb/NASBAWeb.nsf/wpecusm?openform - Select your jurisdiction of interest and click 'Go' button - (I selected as an example, the New York State) - Click on "First Time Application - Then, click on 'Initial Application' - You will find the "Eligibility for Examination" in the second page of the pdf. format. Hope, now you can follow my directions in this regard. Any difficulty in understanding, find me at "vijaydamaraj@yahoo.co.in" by mentioning this subject matter. Once you decide your jurisdiction, you can also contact the concerned CPA Exam Board or so for further clarifications. All the best for your future endeavors.
Friendly,
Vj

this is very very good practical advice, vj9. i wholeheartedly agree. sometimes, i fail to do some of the items in your list. thanks for reminding me to do what i have to do to get the most out of the LLM!

Thank you for your hearty complements and my best wishes to you. Vj9

can you tell us a little about the eligibility criteria for the top schools, specially in reference to Indian llbs applying. Its difficult understanding which of the univ will be in your league with regard to marks, internships, publications etc.

Good TOFEL Score (if University requires you to take TOEFL); Prior Law Review/Published Articles in the legal/related field; Good Grades in the Law School (probably you must be top 10 in your LL.B.); 1-3 years of solid legal experience as an Attorney (some law schools consider attorney experience also as a relevant consideration, and some attorneys even provide letters of recommendations from the judges before whom they practiced during their law practice); Excellent Letters of Recommendation (portraying your strengths, ability to successfully complete the intended program etc.); Personal Statement (Explaining your zeal and goal; commitment to use the intended program to pursue your career goals, commitment to successfully use such prospective qualification for a good cause/excel in the legal field, commitment to use such prospective qualification for the welfare of society(either your country or international community etc.); Strength to show Financial Status (If you are applying to top universities where the tuition fee is very high, obviously, you must show your financial strength if you are not claiming/eligible for any merit/need based scholarships etc.); and also explaining why you are choosing the intended university? (explain your major/specialization/desire to study the specific program with the University's curriculum/status/preamble/founder or chairman statements etc.).

Sometimes, it depends whether you use your prospective qualification for academic purposes or professional purposes (Ex:- I heard Harvard Law School is mostly tuned towards professionals whereas Yale is for Academic Experts (Professors/Scholars etc.) though there is no strict rule followed in this regard. These are a few suggestions but you should follow other relevant consideration which you believe relevant on your particular case/circumstances etc. Please use your own judgment while considering anybody's suggestions since your life is within your own hands and the above all are only suggestions.

Good luck and Take care.
Friendly,
Vj

Thank you... that was very helpful.

Welcome.