I chose to go to Georgetown. Regardless of rankings, I think Georgetown is a great choice because of the Taxation Interview Program that it conducts in conjunction with NYU (though I know NU and UF have their own interview program) and also because of all the tax opportunities in Washington. There are a ton of internship/externship opportunities available to Georgetown students which are not necessarily available to those who attend NYU, UF, or NU because of its location in DC. You could clerk at the tax court, work with the tax ways and means committee, every big four accounting firm has a National Tax office in DC, or you could intern with the IRS. This is not to say that NYU, UF, or NU do not have great programs, but I always have tried to supplement my education (both in law school and the during the Tax LL.M. program) with work experience, which I think ended up positioning me very well when it came time to applying for jobs. All of these programs are what you make of them. No one is going to hand you a job on a silver platter just because you went to Georgetown, but if you work hard in the program and you are motivated to find internship/externship opportunities while in school I think you should do just fine.

Another great aspect of Georgetown (which I realize some people might view as a con) is that the professors are all adjuncts, meaning they work full-time at big law firms and accounting firms and teach part time. Most of my professors were more than helpful in passing resumes along and giving career advice for those who worked hard in class.

From my experience interviewing this Spring, I think the job market has come back quite a bit. I don't have any official statistics but I received 3 offers both from law firms and big four accounting firms. I will say that I had above a 3.5 GPA and a prestigious internship, so I don't want to say that I am the norm. That being said, everyone I know who took the program seriously got more than a few interviews and has at least one offer. So the offers did not come without a great deal of hard work. The Tax LL.M. program is certainly not a joke. I don't think I have ever worked harder than I did fall semester, but it got me to where I want to be in my career so I think it was more than worth the effort and money. Good luck to everyone applying. I hope my comments were helpful to you.

MF, your post is very helpful. I appreciate your taking the time. I just have a few questions...

I am more interested in working at Big Four, and was wondering how you exactly applied to the position. When I search their career sections on their websites, it can be pretty daunting and I am not sure if either my submissions were successful or whether I was even a viable candidate for the title. Could you provide some insight on what were the exact job titles you applied for? Or whether it was just a recruiter talking to you directly?

Also, I just wanted to make sure I understand you correctly: you were doing an internship while attending the tax program? When were you able to find the time? Were you attending Georgetown's part time program?

Thanks so much for providing a snippet of your story.

Just wondering what my chances are as I just had a talk with one of my professors about the LLM in Estate Planning from Miami.

T3
Top Half of my Class

Only taken one tax class (B) but am taking at least one more next year

will be taking estate planning next year and the possibility of estate administration if it is offered.

will also be serving as Editor-in-Chief of the Estate Planning and Community Property Law Journal at my school.

Thoughts...

atara-

I applied for all my accounting firm jobs through the Taxation Interview Program (TIP) at Georgetown. We were selected for interviews through the program. A few of my friends got jobs with accounting firms outside of the program through having friends at accounting firms submit their resumes to the recruiters and also through applying online directly. If you have no experience at an accounting firm then you should be applying for "Associate" and maybe even "Senior Associate" positions. Its all done online, no way really around that.

As for the internship- I did not do the Tax LL.M. program part-time; I was full-time. At least at Georgetown (not sure about the other schools), the majority of your classes will meet during the late afternoon or evening so there is plenty of time during the day to do reading and get an internship. I did not intern fall semester, only spring semester. I front-loaded my fall course schedule taking more credits in the fall so that I had more time to intern in the Spring.

Also, it looks like you are interested in estate planning? Georgetown has an estate planning certificate program you can do in conjunction with the Tax LL.M. Just thought you should know.

Thanks, MF019. No, I was responding to another post about estate planning. I will have to make sure there is something similar to TIP at UF before I decide on attending.

I'm going down to visit UF this weekend. My deposit is in at Georgetown, but if I qualify for in-state tuition at UF that will sway me largely. I'm concerned because Gtown is a much larger program and has a much greater infrastructure for LL.M. students.

I haven't gotten much information from the UF website that is specific to the LL.M. student.

atara - I'm a JD (considering my LLM) and currently work for one of the Big 4. It's really hard to get your foot in the door at any of them because it's hard to know about their recruiting events. I recommend stalking out Beta Alpha Psi events intended for the undergraduate students at your particular university. Once you meet them and they know who you are, you're set....but I had an impossible time finding them and getting them to look at my resume (and I had a 4.0 in accounting undergrad -- it wasn't that they weren't interested). Also, as an aside, maybe it's different for LLMs...but make sure to apply to all of them....because at least for me, the salaries I was offered were vastly different for the different Big 4s. And also make sure to listen to the information about how LLMs are differentiated from people coming out of undergrad with degrees in accounting.

atara - I'm a JD (considering my LLM) and currently work for one of the Big 4. It's really hard to get your foot in the door at any of them because it's hard to know about their recruiting events. I recommend stalking out Beta Alpha Psi events intended for the undergraduate students at your particular university. Once you meet them and they know who you are, you're set....but I had an impossible time finding them and getting them to look at my resume (and I had a 4.0 in accounting undergrad -- it wasn't that they weren't interested). Also, as an aside, maybe it's different for LLMs...but make sure to apply to all of them....because at least for me, the salaries I was offered were vastly different for the different Big 4s. And also make sure to listen to the information about how LLMs are differentiated from people coming out of undergrad with degrees in accounting.

I am not a licensed CPA (yet). My undergrad degree was in accounting, but I haven't taken the exam. My office has a pretty robust SALT practice (especially for the size of the market) with predominately attorneys. I've been told on the CPA exam that sure, it'd be nice if I passed, but they aren't overly concerned about it because the Bar counts as a certification exam for purposes of promotion.

That's cool. Do you want to go back working where you are now after you do the LLM? Are you planning on enrolling at an LLM program?

Ideally, I'd rather transition to a law firm, and the city where I am now (and would like to be indefinitely) is very much one where all tax attorneys have LLMs. I haven't gotten up my courage to apply yet, so I think I may be waiting until Fall 2012 to actually pursue it (although I know some of the schools have later deadlines, so who knows?). What about you? Are you enrolling at UF? I'd love to know your feelings on the different schools!

I only applied to UF, but they haven't told me yet if I've been accepted.

I don't really have feelings on the schools. I picked UF because I live in Florida already and it's ranked #2 and it's the most affordable.

That's awesome! Can't beat applying to UF. Do you know how much preference is given to applying earlier at UF?

It's until the spots are filled. If you haven't applied yet, I think it may be a little late. I did apply in September of last year and I don't think it gave me much preference seeing how others who applied a few months later have already been accepted.

That's kind of what I figured. I really don't want to apply really late and then wonder if that's why I got rejected. I want to get rejected on my merit. Hahaha. Good luck with the process, and if you have any questions about Big 4, let me know! I am curious why you're interested specifically in going to work for a Big 4 over a law firm?

atara- have you contacted UF?

I had to make my decision on some other schools and e-mailed them to ask if they knew when they would make a decision. Apparently, there had been some confusion with my file because some documents were sent to the wrong place.

Thanks, Dean! I did get accepted. Now I feel all sheepish. *shuffles feet*

Congratulations. I assume that you're going?

Not sure. I feel like there is this peer pressure to get an LLM in Tax if you are specializing in tax law. But I already have an MBA and MS in Accounting. I am in the middle of finishing up the CPA exams too. I am kind of burnt out on school.

Yeah. That's certainly understandable then.