What would you prefer?
I am considering

1)career perspectives,
2)costs of living
3) quality of life/leisure activities/possibilities

I am interested in your comments! Which university would you choose?

Hi ben18! I cant speak about Virginia, but I have many friends that are Duke alumni and, from what they have told, me, I can tell you:

1)career perspectives: Very good (or at least better than in many other top Law School). The LLM Program is very well regarded within US, and, most important, it seems that Duke has a wonderful LLM staff and job placement office.

2)costs of living : Reasonable and cheaper than other similar ranked Law School like Northwestern or UPenn.

3) quality of life/leisure activities/possibilities: Besides Standford and Berkeley, the best of the top Law Schools

Cheers!

Hi ben18! Can you please tell have you already been admitted to Virginia? Thanks!

Hi ben18! Can you please tell have you already been admitted to Virginia? Thanks!

Hi ben 18, congratulations!!! Can you please tell when did you get the admission offer? how were you informed e-mail/fedex? When did you submit your application? and any scholarship?

sorry for bombarding you with so many questions!! Thanks

Why the hell am I always the last to know?! I thought Cornell and UVA were yet to release decisions, and I was wrong... hope to have some feedback from these schools any time soon...congrats Ben!

Hello there! I was admitted at the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern and in Duke.

I will go to Duke, mainly because is has a great name in South America and USA, and also because is a great law school for corporate and international law, and also because their LLM program is great (activities, parties, networking both with JDs but also other only for LLMs)

For me, Duke is better than Virginia.

May I ask why would you prefer Duke over UPENN?

Sure Isradv

- It has better name and reputation in South America.

- It has one of the strongest (or maybe the strongest) alumni network in South America. In part this is because the self Law School (Duke) encourages alumni to join or form networks in their home countries, and is supervising the activities that in every country are made.

- It is better than Penn in corporate and in international law.

- The LLM program is better: Remember that we will going to do an LLM, not a JD. In most universities, LLM students dont have an special treatment, so, basically, nobody care about them; on the other hand in Duke LLM have an special treatment, activities, lunches etc. Besides Yale and Standford that have very small and selective programs, and as someone said in this thread, at Duke LLMs are very well regarded.

- LLM Staff: If you have been selected, then you know how they care about us. They send us a lot of personalized emails and are eager to answer any of ours concerns. For me is very important to not feel adrift in Law School, specially when it comes to find a job, since I dont have any contact with American law firm.

- Its cheaper than Penn, and the city and weather are better.

- Better job perspectives (if any) as an LLM at USA

But this is just my opinion. Both Law Schols are great. I would recommend you, as I did, to talk with people that you know and that has studied at Penn and Duke. When I did it, Penns alumni said it was good, but.. ; on the other hand, Duke alumni said it was the best year of my life!!!

Thats are tehe reasons why I prefear Duke over Penn, Nortwestern and USC.

what about the ranking? Virginia seems to be placed higher than Duke.
Besides, I believe any small LLM program is likely to offer "special treatment" to the students. Is it not true for UVA?

I also heard great things about the treatment Duke gives to its LLM's, but I don't think the larger programs necessarily give worse treatments. You might have to do with the lottery or wait in line a bit, but there are probably specific lunches and so on for llm's in every school.