Hey guys,

I have applied to berkeley and I wanted an insight regarding the practical differences in the professional and the academic LLM. I have an offer for the Professional LLM and have to revert by January.

Would the Academic LLM be more engaging than the Professional one?

Should I wait for the Academic year LLM results to come out or accept the Professional LLM offer?

If I have been offered a place at the Professional LLM what are the chances for a seat at the Academic LLM?

All courses are not available for the professional LLM. Would it still be worth it? It would save the time and help my career but would it be a compromise as against the Academic LLM?

Any inputs would be very helpful to pull me out of this quandary situation.

Cheers and a Happy New Year to all of you.

This very much depends on your goals.
Professional LL.M.: no eligilbility to sit for the CA Bar Exam; two consecutive summers; less choice of courses; you won't interact with JD student; not possible to participate in one of the journals; reputation might be lower; on the positive side, you do not need to quit your job for a whole year

Academic: I assume it might be more difficult to get into this programm; it will be more like a true LL.M. experience but maybe more costly

Ask the Advanced Degree Program Office

According to the UC Berkeley website, the Professional LLM program is the only summer program which qualifies you to sit for the California Bar exam. I was accepted in December, but am also awaiting word for notice of acceptance to the academic year program which won't arrive until March/April, long after I've had to make my $1,000 deposit.

llm_ipr,

These are excellent questions, to which we offer the following answers:

The Academic Year LLM program cannot be said to be more engaging than the Professional LLM program. There are advantages and disadvantages to each, and if you are admitted to both, we advise selecting the program that is the best fit for you. One excellent advantage of the Professional LLM program is that classes are taught by tenure-track faculty who are leading experts in their fields; smaller class sizes in the summer means students can benefit from more individualized attention from these faculty members.

If you are admitted to the Professional LLM program and it is a viable option for you, there is no reason to wait to hear admission results for the Academic Year LLM program. If you are admitted to the Academic Year program later and decide you prefer to attend that program, you may easily transfer your deposit payment from the Professional program. Academic Year and Professional LLM admission decisions are made by separate review committees, and your admission to one program will in no way affect your admission to the other.

Graduates from the Professional LLM program ARE eligible to sit for the California bar exam; however, they are not currently eligible to sit for the NY bar exam, unless they successfully petition the NY Board of Law Examiners for an exception.

For more information or if you have further questions please feel free to contact our office at llm@law.berkeley.edu.

When can we expect the admission results for Academic year?

Pinz,

Most Academic Year LLM applicants will receive their admission decision in March.

The one big drawback of the Professional LLM at Berkeley is that admitted student will not get either CPT or OPT (optional training program). Thus he will not be able to do any interships in the US during or after completion of their courses. Also, I have heard that one has to re apply for an F1 visa if there is a gap of more than 6 months between two semisters which is exactly the case in Professional LLM program.
If anybody could share info regarding this, it will be helpful to prospective students .

I also wanted to know if a Professional LLM program student is eligible to attend all the job fairs in which Academic year Students can participate for eg ISIP, west coast LLM job fair etc.

Would anyone from the Admissions Office kindly help us to answer those questions regarding visa, job fairs, internships and job opportunities? Thanks a lot.

Anyone received admission decision from Berkeley yet?

Yes. But only for the Professional LL.M.

I was wondering how do you guys' online status show?
Mine is "ready for review" since Oct.
Not sure if it is normal.

pna & Belch,

It is true that CPT and OPT are not available to Professional LLM graduates, and that if you are coming on an F1 visa you will need a second visa to return for the second summer. But Professional LLM students who are able to stay in the area during the academic year are welcome and encouraged to participate in job fairs and to avail themselves of any of the services provided by the Career Development Office for LLM students during the academic year.