Hi everyone,

Next year I want to pursue an LL.M. degree in the US. After a lot of consideration, I narrowed down my choices to NYU and UChicago. Since the deadline for notification of my decision is on 1 April, I really need to decide soon.
These are my pros and cons for the respective schools:

NYU
Pro's: It is in NY City, great atmosphere and nice part of the city (safe), broad curriculum, great balance between study and pleasure
Cons: ranked below UChicago, accepts a lot of LLM students

UChicago
Pro's: great ranking, well known professors, great for corporate law (which is my main interest), small number of LLM students
Cons: not a safe neighborhood, known for "the place where fun dies'

Please let me know what you guys think/ what your experiences are :)

I'm in a similar spot as you are! It's even tougher as NYU awarded me a 15k scholarship. Studying in NY has always been a dream for me and I plan on doing international law which NYU is really good at. Despite this, I'm personally leaning towards Chicago, mainly because of its prestige, selectivity, and class size. Prestige in particular seems to be very important where I'm from.

Have you thought about factors like job hunting? Too many NYU LLMs competing at the same time? But with its prestige, selectivity, and class size, Chicago may be a better choice?

I would not worry about about the safety too much. You will spend a lot of time in school studying. I agree Chicago is not that safe but most important thing is llm program. NYU has a better and specific program in corporation law. Chicago may be better ranking - for JD student that will help - but its LLM is general. I applied to NYU corporation law a few days before deadline and I am still waiting. Given the covid 19 problem I might postpone it for next year.