I got accepted to Duke and Cornell, which do people think is better? Cornell is Ivy league but Duke have made a far better effort to get me to come which makes me feel they look after their LLM students than Cornell- am i way off? also, which is better for getting a job afterwards? any opinions would be appreciated- lastly where would people rank Columbia's program which the above?

what did they do to get you to come ?

they (duke) had a member of the alumni and a current student (from the LLM program) contact me and tell me about the college and the woman in charge personally emailed me and they were very helpful in the application process and they offered me a partial scholarship, while cornell sent a single letter saying get your money together- dealing with duke, even ignoring the scholarship offer, just left a far better taste in the mouth, while dealing with cornell left you feeling like another number- but this leads me to the point of my original post, despite the above, Cornell is Ivy league, so is their progam better and will i, after having completed the progam, stand a better chance of getting good employment so that i can start paying my debts?

Cornell is Ivy and is higher ranked, so I would say go for Cornell

If I were you and if you get a scholarship from Duke, I would go to Duke.
Very few people doing an LLM at Cornell or other good law schools can find a job in the US afterwards, so if you get financial aid, that's better.
However, if money is not a problem, go to Cornell which is more famous abroad...

Cornell, for sure. Unless the scholarship is for more than 20%.

Very few people doing an LLM at Cornell or other good law schools can find a job in the US afterwards

Cornell is Ivy and is higher ranked, so I would say go for Cornell

i had assumed the LLM was a stepping stone into the jobs market? while i want to do the LLM because i know i will enjoy studying for another year, money is very much an issue so i will need to get employment immediately upon finishing. with a foreign law and business degree, the new york bar (hopefully) and an LLM from Duke or Cornell, would one not have a good chance of getting a good job? re duke, I heard from someone who went there that the top new york firms visit at the beginning of the year and the LLM students can participate in this.

I have a friend who went to Cornell in 2001 and he told me that the experience was amazing and I have visited the campus and its truly extraordinary. The only thing that I did not like is that he told me that they do not grade you like the rest of the JD students but in a pass fail basis. That means that you won't have any grades to show to your american employer if that possibility rises up. In Duke they use the same grading method as the one used for JD students, I think between 2.0 and 4.3, and you can graduate with honors or high honors, that was implemented since 2005. Another important aspect regarding the bar exam is that at Duke you can take whatever first year course that you are interested in without any restrictions, that would be helpful if you are planning to take the NY Bar exam. I don't know if Cornelll has some restrictions so I cannot advise you about that. I am going to Duke this August.

i want to seek a legal career in the US and someone mentioned that i'd need to get in a top 5 law school to get employment with a llm degree. here would be my questions, 1. which schools do you exactly mean by top five since it seems that the rankings vary from where your statistics come from. and 2. are there really no way to find employment with a llm degree even if your in a top 20 law school?
please help

Cornell has a very good alumni network and It s Ivy I would choose Cornell. It s also in NY state which is closer to the main job markets

I would choose Cornell: reputation wise.

Hello,

Don't do an LLM to work in the US afterwards, unless maybe you're from China or a very attractive market for the US firms. To get a permanent position in a law firm is extremely difficult, and to work for one year is not much easier. You'd rather do a JD then...

This being said, your choice depends upon the subject you're interested in, sth that applicants tend to forget. If you like IP, go for Duke which is a very good school.

i know a guy from duke's llm program who is unemployed now. so i don't know.

by the way why is china an exception?

Please do not expect much to get a job after an LLM program. Most of LLMs, even graduate with good grades and even have a good luck, are most likely to end up with just a short term internship. Very few could get jobs after the program and only for some reasons like having a good connection between their employers or some other specific reasons. And even they get jobs, they will take positions not as good as they used to dream of. JDs are far more preferable.

Regarding choice of law school, I suggest that you choose the one that is more reputable in your home country or other countries that you would like to pursue you long term career.

One more thing.. If you get offers from some other law school that have comparable reputation, I don't think Cornell is a good choice if you are a city guy and hate a small and real country city. Beside the long period of cold weather, you will find that this city has no place to go and no choice to eat. Ithaca is really a boring city. If you need more than a degree in the States, go to somewhere else.

Is it easier to get say a 1-year internship if you try in smaller cities that know your school and professors? A 1-year internship probably doesn't require a bar exam or green card... I never intended to get a long-term job, so I am hoping to get like a 1-year internship in the area of my school. Not NYC or anything. Nothing fancy. Then I probably wilL be homesick and go back to Norway to earn the big bucks.
I guess time will show ;)

Tim, I beg to differ. Finding a position as a first-year associate is not just a matter of luck. It's about what you can bring to the firm. There are many alumni of my business school (#1 in my country) who have found a job in major law firms (US top 10) because of their dual education (law and business : very useful for an M&A department), their knowledge of different languages, their work experience (many LL.M. prefer people with at least a year of experience).

After, it depends on the country you come from (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Israel) are recurrent when you look at the law firms websites ...

We don't earn big bucks in Europe ;-)