I completely disagree with the last two comments and I think their opinion is based only on the rankings they see on the internet without knowing the real situation. In teaching and academic quality I dont see how Duke is any way less than Virginia. On the contrary it is far better. Coming to job prospects, both in USA and ESPECIALLY outside USA, Duke offers far far more opportunities than virginia and this is not only for gettng a law firm job but in any other field. The resources in Duke and the networking of both the students and staff is decidedly better than Duke. I have been informed of this by more than one leading partners of one of the world's largest law firms. I have myself been admitted to Virginia and Duke and I am waiting for Harvard and others. But between Duke and Va, I think Duke must be the choice. Dont get blinded by these internet rankings. These are mainly based on the JD program and take all sorts of factors like propotional cost in consideration.

let's see it from a different standpoint. I do respect all I've read above, but you must add that it also depends on which subject you want to focus on. Penn is ranked higher than Georgetown 'cause most of its students want to take business-related courses, due to the possibility to attend courses also at Wharton Business school. the same is NU and its Kellogg school of management. Georgetown and Chicago have perhaps some of the best tax program in the country. Virginia is well-known only inside the US (I can tell you, 'cause I've been living in DC for over a year, and I was not so far from C'ville). I met many UVA students, from both law and business school, and I've been told UVA is perhaps the most strict program, and without the competition someone of us will find at HLS...all that said, I agree rankings cannot be 100% trusted, but you cannot say that they have no value at all. finally, the size of the class can produce strange outputs in releasing decisions. although ranked 5th, I do really think getting into NYU (425!) is far easier than Chicago (50), Berkeley (75), UMich (50)...

Stagista...i dont think the business school factor is really considered in the rankings in the first place. At any rate that does not explain the difference between NU and penn considering NU has a better faculty and equally good b school. I think as many others do the rankings tend to favor schools from a particular region of USA and they have some pre set notions about univs in general. I dont understand what u mean when you say about Va "....and without the competition someone of us will find at HLS" do you mean to say that Va is better than harvard!! I also dont agree with Linda when she says that all schools are treated equally and they somehow try to ensure an equitable distribution. That is not the case. Finaly coming back to the original question, I agree with Linda that Duke has a superior LLM program and is better known.

UVA student environment is supposed to be better at UVA than at Harvard, since I've always been told that fellow students feel a lot of pressure and competition while at HLS. that's all I meant. never alleged UVA is better than Harvard!

The board is getting interesting! lol.
I am not a big fan of rankings either, actually I am choosing Uomich over Chicago (for now, still waiting other answers) because I think there are others factors involved in this kind of decision that not only ranking. But I do have to say the top schools are there for a long time, and it might means something. What I do not like about rankings are some of the criteria used, for instance, one of the factor is the rate of acceptance, in other words, if the school makes 50 offers and gets 48 positive answers, its is great for the school, on the other hand, if it gets only 10 positive answers, not so good! This kind of factor, while measures the reputation of the school, also has a catch point, it incentives the "status quo" of the ranking, since you want to go to harvard because it is top 3 and it continues to be top 3 because you want to go there! no sense at all, but since it would be very difficult to do something much better than this, I give my ok to the ranking stuff, but never got blind about it!
Another point is that we are talking about some of the best schools in the whole world, I really believe they all have a pretty much similar level of education, the biggest problem is brand name! Some know how to sell their names abroad and some do not know how to do it!
I am living in NYC for almost 2 years now and my professors at NYU told me all these schools are very well regarded in us (talking about top 10 plus cornell, do not know about the others) and everybody respects them almost as the same. They also told me that nowadays it is chicago turn! everybody is very excited about chicago...

To wrap up cause I am getting long, we can not go wrong with any of these schools, and we have to make our decision looking to all factor (city,class size, concentration, $$, reputation...).

Best,

interesting topic. convincing replies.

Rejected by Virginia...

I received the admission letter by email this morning along with the financial aid amount to 12,000USD, very attractive for me. It is difficult to make my decsion to choose between Penn and UVA. I do appreciate if you can give me your comments and advices. Thanks.

my very best congrats! with 12.000USD scholarship I'd rather go Virginia, although UPenn could be considered the very best if you wanna focus on corporate & business law. In this case their brand could worth those 12K...do you mind telling us where are you from?

of course. I am from mainland China. And my prior experiences focus on securities and coporate Law. Personally, I have strong interest in UVA, the history, the enviroment, the buildings etc..

Hey congrats...

Can you please tell me when did you apply? I haven't received any mail yet so worried.

of course. I am from mainland China. And my prior experiences focus on securities and coporate Law. Personally, I have strong interest in UVA, the history, the enviroment, the buildings etc..

thanks again for your quick reply. May I ask also whether or not you applied for financial aid? did you get a merit-based scholarship or a need-based one? hope you don't mind. again congrats

Admitted to UVA D:D

my congrats to you Santa! seems to be decision day in C'Ville today...hope to be joining you soon

Man this is sooooo great :D

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=68962386552

I've created a facebook group for Virginia LLM 2009-10!

Hi all, do admitted guys have work experiences? Is the rejection released by email or mail?

Hey congrats...

Can you please tell me when did you apply? I haven't received any mail yet so worried.

of course. I am from mainland China. And my prior experiences focus on securities and coporate Law. Personally, I have strong interest in UVA, the history, the enviroment, the buildings etc..

thanks again for your quick reply. May I ask also whether or not you applied for financial aid? did you get a merit-based scholarship or a need-based one? hope you don't mind. again congrats

Hello guys,

So happy, just receive my UVA offer's by email today! such a great school!

Good luck!