I hear that it is highly regarded in the US especially in the South and Midwest and also called "Harvard of the South". Is this true? Would it make great difference if I am accepted to higher ranked schools i.e Cornell , but still choose it considering that it has a very small class size,aid,bar review, job fair participation and also is in a traditional american city such as Nashville? any thoughts?

Thank you

Actually, Duke University often called "Harvard of the south".

I think you should ask youself what would you like to focus on during you LL.M, and than choose the right school for you.

Yeah Duke is the best! xD

Half the Vandy JD students don't have jobs.... I can't imagine the stats for the LLM students.

But hey, on the bright side... I could probably say the same thing about Cornell.

Nashville >>>>>> Ithaca, any day of the week and twice on Saturday.

To be honest, many of the top schools refer to themselves as "the harvard of the south" or princeton/yale... as they choose. My own school did so, but I would not put much value in such a self-designation... if anything it just carries a bit of a cute/whimsical factor. If someone has not heard of Vanderbilt, it referring to it as the harvard of the south really won't be much help anyway.

As to the OP's question about Vandy's reputation... it is fairly highly-regarded. If you want to go south, it is definitely one of the best (though Duke, Virginia, and Wake Forest all have pretty impressive names, if they offer they program you are interested in). Outside of the south, Vanderbilt does have a slightly stronger name-recognition factor than some other schools in the south, but so does Cornell... As far as the experience itself... Nashville is much more entertaining and pleasant than Ithaca, but it depends on what experience you are looking for to say which city is best.

Re: Duke... Many areas in the south tend to view Duke as a school located in the south, but attended by many non-southerners. From that perspective, Duke is more highly regarded *outside* of the south and by non-southerners since it's the non-southerners who go there and see it as the best school in the south (not the southerners who know of other southern schools of comparable quality). Much of Duke's reputation is well-deserved and it is a fine school, but much of its reputation is borne simply of the fact that people unfamiliar with southern schools believe that Duke is the best, whereas those familiar with southern schools know there are several schools of at least equal quality.

To be honest, many of the top schools refer to themselves as "the harvard of the south" or princeton/yale... as they choose. My own school did so, but I would not put much value in such a self-designation... if anything it just carries a bit of a cute/whimsical factor. If someone has not heard of Vanderbilt, it referring to it as the harvard of the south really won't be much help anyway.

As to the OP's question about Vandy's reputation... it is fairly highly-regarded. If you want to go south, it is definitely one of the best (though Duke, Virginia, and Wake Forest all have pretty impressive names, if they offer they program you are interested in). Outside of the south, Vanderbilt does have a slightly stronger name-recognition factor than some other schools in the south, but so does Cornell... As far as the experience itself... Nashville is much more entertaining and pleasant than Ithaca, but it depends on what experience you are looking for to say which city is best.

Re: Duke... Many areas in the south tend to view Duke as a school located in the south, but attended by many non-southerners. From that perspective, Duke is more highly regarded *outside* of the south and by non-southerners since it's the non-southerners who go there and see it as the best school in the south (not the southerners who know of other southern schools of comparable quality). Much of Duke's reputation is well-deserved and it is a fine school, but much of its reputation is borne simply of the fact that people unfamiliar with southern schools believe that Duke is the best, whereas those familiar with southern schools know there are several schools of at least equal quality.

Re: the cost of living the online cost of living calculators I looked at said that there is very little difference between the two cities. Nashville was slightly less expensive, but only about 5%, and I think that would be well within the range of error since those calculators are not necessarily designed to calculate student expenses.

Re: the international reputation I am from the US so I cant speak directly to the reputation of the schools outside of the US. The little I do know is from the international students I have encountered studying in the US. I get the feeling that Duke may have a slightly stronger reputation, but I dont know how much stronger or if it varies by region. Perhaps someone else on this board could offer their insight.

Trust me, Vandy is s**t...that's why their JDs and LLMs couldn't get jobs. Cornell is great...don't even think of comparing the two on the job front.

While Destiny09 surely has her reasons for her comment above, I perfer to offer some sort of justification other than just telling you to "trust me."

Cornell is a good school. So are Vandy and Duke. The most recent employment statistics available show both Vandy and Cornell with 98%+ employment (refer to those schools for documentation). I'm not sure whether Destiny09 is a disgruntled Vandy grad or a Cornell student buying into the idea that "whatever school I go to is the best," but Cornell and Vandy are very comparable schools.

These boards are a great resource, but do bear in mind that many people frequently post unsubstantiated opinion rather than fact (or at least justified opinion).

im also accepted to vandy as well as cornell. ive done some research on vandy and im likely to choose it over cornell.

I used to think vandy is much less competitive than other schools and its easier to get in hence students who go their are less" bright" or something but that is not always the case. it seems like many people there were also admitted to other schools but still chose Vandy for greater reasons than reputation as in the US it may be a little bit less regarded than duke and cornell but what it has to offer in a long run other than academics outweighs everything.

therefore, i guess it all comes down to what you want out of the program.

While Destiny09 surely has her reasons for her comment above, I perfer to offer some sort of justification other than just telling you to "trust me."

Both Vandy and Duke are beautiful schools located in great cities. The reputation of each is strong but obviously not as strong as a school such as Yale, Harvard, Stanford, U. of Chicago, etc. However, as a practitioner in the US, I can safely say that the best lawyers I have encountered are not graduates of Ivy League schools. Not even close. This is certainly true within the field of litigation. Many of the trial attorneys from purportedly "lesser" law schools could literally run circles around Ivy grads. My observation is based on years of practice, and I would suspect that my even-more-experienced peers could cite dozens of examples from their respective careers. Ultimately, although a school's reputation may open the door for a new grad, it does not necessarily translate into long-term success or achievement as an attorney. Far from it.

No matter how long you stare at it and from which angle...a s**t is a s**t...and that's the case with Vandy.

Destiny09, if you could kindly elaborate how vandy is "s**t", instead of cussing at it, i would greatly appreciate it.

Take a look at Destiny09's other comments when one poster said: "I have just received a call from YLS, and I was accepted. "

Destiny09 replied:
"Trust me, Italiano, it was your mama who called you pretending to be Yale...you'll soon find out when you get home..."

"Italiano, your contact info should have been in your application form as well as your CV. Maybe Mama forgot to send these things...now she's making it up."

"Just checking...was your Phd (Pizza Hut Delivery) hot or cold...arrivadechi"

"You need to hurry home cuz Mama's waiting to confess..."

"Yeah...go home and celebrate alone...watch skulls and bone and don't let the mirror show a reflection of your lying head...enjoy it...timewaster...contact info my a$$"

Apparently, this person has a twisted sense of humor. LOL.