I graduated from a third tier law school about 28 years ago with a 3.2 GPA and in the top 30%.,cum laude. For the approximate 28 years I have practiced law, my focus has been wills, trusts, estate administration and estate litigation. I would now like to enroll in a Tax LLM program to better serve my estate planning clientele.

Any idea if I have a decent chance of getting accepted in any of the following tax programs:


NYU, GEORGETOWN, BOSTON UNIV, TEMPLE

Your background is similar to mine and I was accepted by the only school to which I applied last year--Georgetown. I was accepted into the Tax LLM with the Certificate in Estate Planning program.

I got my JD 20 years ago in Intellectual Property Law and practiced in that area most of my career. I switched to Estate Planning four years ago. My school was a Top 60 school; my GPA was 3.3, top 40%.

I live in Maryland and only wanted to go to GULC; I wasn't interested in NYU and didn't apply anywhere else. A few schools have an Estate Planning Certificate or concentration (including GULC, NYU, and Miami), which are three of the top 4 Tax LLM programs.

I think you have an excellent shot at two if not all three. NYU's acceptance process is a mystery to me, but for Estate Planning, I know that GULC and Miami take notice. They really like work experience, so that is a huge plus for you.

I started the program at GULC this past fall (2013) and it is incredibly challenging. But I guess that's why they are ranked #2!

Unfortunately, you missed the application deadline for Early Action decisions (the deadline was January 6th and the decision would have been made by February 3rd). But the Regular Application deadline is February 28th. They make decisions on a rolling basis, so get your application in as soon as possible.

Good Luck. Let us know what you decide.

Hi CSJTax:

Thank you for your comprehensive, honest, and encouraging response. Again, thank you for sharing your experience. Be Well !