I already accepted the offer from Berkeley and paid the first deposit. However, yesterday I was accepted to UPenn and I was wondering if any of you could advice me. Should I instead go to Penn?

I have worked in international public law and international dispute settlement and I would like to further expand my skills in these areas. Upenn is after all an ivy league but seems to me that Upenn might just not be that strong in international law.

Any advice? (I have until monday to accept the offer from Upenn).

Congrats on admission. Tough choice ahead of you.

UPenn ranks consistently higher generally and has not only Ivy League pedigree, but also world-renowned Wharton Certificate for business-oriented lawyers. However, Berkeley seems stronger in international law according to rankings and imho has bigger brand outside U.S. than Penn.

http://abovethelaw.com/schools/university-of-pennsylvania/

http://abovethelaw.com/schools/university-of-california-berkeley/

I guess it is highly personal and mostly depends on your plans after LL.M.

1. Where do you want to work? (US-non US, if US: west coast/east coast?)

2. What about the cost/scholarship/living expenses/potential loss of deposit at Berkeley?

Good luck:)

I was in exactly the same position as you. I was waitlisted by Penn in late February, then got admitted to Berkeley in mid March, paid my deposit for Berkeley and was then admitted to Penn from the waitlist.

To be honest, at first I did not really care about Penn's offer as I had my heart set on going to Berkeley. But for some reason I then started to ponder. Ranking's are really subjective so I did not really care about them (some rankings have Penn ahead of Berkeley while others are vice versa). So I looked at the courses being offered at both schools. I also did some research on living expenses and whether more professionals in my area of specialisation (dispute resolution) went to Penn or Berkeley.
While living in California for a year would be a fantastic experience, in the end I have decided to go to Penn. While there is not ONE main factor that made me go to Penn instead of Berkeley it was the combination of a lot of small aspects that made me change my mind. If I had gone to Berkeley I think I would have regretted not going to Penn.

I would consider what you want to get out of the LLM. What are your reasons for pursuing graduate studies in the US? Which of these programs will help you achieve that?

I hope this helps somewhat! Let me know if you go to Penn :)

Though choice indeed. I noticed that you are German, I am not but I lived in Germany (and did an LLM over there). It appears to me that at least in Germany Berkeley has a little more reputation that Penn, is that not the case?

UPenn Vs Berkeley
1) Ivy-league vs non ivy league
2) Wharton certificate vs non
3) more famous (by ranking.reputation) vs not that famous in law
But this is my opinion, and both schools are good enough.
Good luck.