So from what I've read on other threads it looks like they consider people that have chosen to go to UF for these assistanceships. However, getting one of those would really affect my decision making. Am I not understanding the process?

This is what I learned from a thread from last year's admission cycle.

DeaconCav - aren't you already getting in-state tuition?

I think you might be right - they only choose people who have already accepted.

Yeah. I should be getting in state tuition hopefully. An assistanceship would be the tipping point.

Does anybody know how University of Florida llm tax graduates have fared in the current legal market? How is law firm hiring? What about Big 4 hiring? Does Florida have any pull outside of the Southeast?

Trying to decide between UF and Northwestern and could use some help. There isn't much information on the website or in any of Florida's materials.

I spoke with Professor Friel about this at UF when I was trying to make my decision. He said that things were picking up with regards to hiring in comparison to some of the previous years.

With respect to placement outside of the Southeast, I think that it's hard to really quantify for a number of reasons. Historically, UF has had around 75 students and the last few years have had about 100. In looking at firm websites it seems like everybody went to NYU or GULC, but those programs are much bigger and NYU has been around for much longer so naturally there are more graduates.

The second thing is that a lot of the supposed regionalism is a product of self-selection and the Academic Common Market. Personally, I want to stay in the Southeast, and I qualify for the ACM so, that's why I made my decision. I was accepted to NYU and GULC, but financially this made the most sense. The JD program at UF is 80% in-state residents so naturally a lot of those individuals remain in the state.

Hey,

Thanks for the response. I called UF and apparently there is a new person in charge of career services for the Tax program. I know Florida is a very well regarded program and the tuition is very reasonable. I'm definitely leaning towards Florida. But, I'm just a little curious about how people find jobs. Firms coming to campus? That TARE event in Washington, D.C.? The person I spoke to didn't really have a lot of answers. She just kept saying "we don't keep statistics." Is Professor Friel involved with career services?

I don't really know any graduates of this program. I wish I could ask them.

Professor Friel is the Director of the Graduate Tax Program. I don't know any graduates of the program but I knew I didn't want to go to NYU and the price difference between GULC and UF made the decision much easier.

Hey. I would like to offer my perspective, since I faced a very similar dilemma. I will also be attending Florida's Tax LLM program in the fall. I was accepted into Georgetown as well. I was waitlisted at NYU. I am from the northeast, primarily from the NY, NJ, and PA areas.

First, with regards to tuition, Georgetown and NYU cost a good bit more. Even if I were to get into NYU, I am not sure I would attend. Florida has the significant benefit of having a lower attention. Out-of-state tuition at UF is approximately 16K less than either NYU or Georgetown. Furthermore, the cost of living in both NYC and DC is at least double in comparison to Gainesville. You will be saving at least 20K (tuition plus cost of living) by going to UF and that number may be underestimated.

Second, I also had a discussion with Dean Friehl about job placement coming out of the program. In summary, the Dean told that people are getting jobs all around the country, but many choose to stay in the Southeast. For example, a 2009 graduate from my law school (i.e.- Rutgers Law) immediately attended Florida's Tax Program upon graduation from law school. Upon graduation from UF, he obtained a job for a Big 4 Accounting firm in NYC. Tax jobs in big law firms are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to obtain in this type of economy. I spoke to numerous people about job prospects, including professors, lawyers, IRS employees. BIg 4 accounting firms currently have the most job opportunities.

Third, I did also speak to the Career Services at UF. They don't seem as structured or organized as the career services center at NYU or Georgetown. Unlike the other two programs, UF does NOT have a separate career services for their LLM graduates. I spoke to Georgetown about their employment statistics as well. LLM programs are not required to publish any employment statistics. Georgetown told me that they sent out employment surveys to all their graduated. Last year, only 20% of their graduates returned their surverys, and out of those 20%, about 80% had jobs. This statistic really doesn't provide much insight given the lack of response.

Fourth, obtaining jobs is often done independently of Career Services Programs. The UF Career Services Center directly told me that very few Tax LLM graduates use their career services. Most obtain jobs independently. I am not sure if people are just applying to law firms and accounting firms, obtaining jobs through recruiting events, or getting employment through other mediums.

In the end, I do believe the UF program is an excellent program, which costs considerably less. I think Georgetown and NYU are also both very prestigious programs. Historically, NYU has always been number one. Florida and Georgetown have flipflopped, but Florida has been ranked number 2 a majority of the last ten years or so. That being said, I don't think these rankings matter that much, since everyone in the industry knows they are top programs.

Thanks for that response. I am in a very similar situation - coming from the NY area, graduated law school in 2009. I totally agree with you that based on the reputation and price of the school UF is the right choice. Also, its pretty obvious that the structure of the career planning office is not on the same level as NYU, Georgetown or even Northwestern. BUT, if we end up at a Big 4 accounting firm we are going to be very happy that we didn't spend the extra 30k on tuition and living expenses.

When are you moving down there? Did you find housing?

I will be moving down the first week of August. I found a house on Craigslist with a rising 3L. There is a facebook group and a Class of 2012 thread on this website where you might get more of a response.

Anyone hear anything about scholarships yet?