After interning in San Francisco for the better part of last year, i have a place at Golden Gate for an LLM and am waiting to hear from Hastings and Santa Clara
I love SF but, on getting an email from Hawaii, am slightly swaying in favor of UH as it is slightly cheaper
i would still take the CA bar exam and plan to do OPT in SF but like the idea of spending time in Hawaii.
What do you think? Which of the schools do you think is best?
Money is a major issue as I am saving all fees myself this year
Thanks

Hi bethanyrose!

I was formerly an LL.M. student at Santa Clara University. Below is my personal assessment of SCU LLM.

Strengths: (1) very good (or even excellent) reputation in the bay area, (2) superior facilities, (3) great location in the heart of Silicon Valley, (4) diversity, (5) lot of student activities, and (6) comprehensive intellectual property courses.

Weaknesses: (1) lacks professionalism on the part of LLM administrators, (2) there are only few LLM's and most are inactive in terms of participation at social and extra-curricular events, (3) LLMs are normally outcast from general law school activities, (4) difficulty in course registrations, (5) insufficient LL.M scholarship funding, and (6) expensive tution fees and cost of living.

Because of SCU's good reputation, I was accepted at a law firm in the Bay Area.

UC Hastings can be a good choice if you want to pursue Public Interest Law.

I mjust admit that I cannot strongly recommend SCU LLM because of the weaknesses I just mentioned. However, I must also say that I don't regret going at SCU.

Hope this post helps.

thanks for that feedback
it is always useful having someone who has been on the program giving their opinions
i actually got admitted to hastings this week which is amazing as it is public interest i want to do but the money side is a real issue which i need to sort out asap - i hope it wont cost me my place as they want a decision by dec 7th!
waiting right now for santa clara to see if they can offer me better scholarship but by the sounds of your reply they are unlikely to
are you planning on staying in the us? i hope to take the bar in completion so would be great to know there is a job market!
thanks

Although US is still in semi-recession, I believe that job market here at the bay area is still fine (compared to other locations).

From my experience, Santa Clara releases its result both for admissions and financial aid very late (maybe April or May).

Good luck!