Throughout the Fall semester, I saw a lot of LinkedIn posts focused on international LL.M. recruitment. U.S. law schools joined together for consortium travel. They worked with Education USA in South America and Europe for LL.M. tours. Many visited their own institutional partners abroad to present on their programs at law schools, law firms and other organizations.
As we enter winter (certainly in Chicago!), many schools will begin to shift their attention from recruitment to admissions. Are your applications finalized and ready for submission? What should you do as you wait for decisions? For this article, I spoke with four experts at leading U.S. law schools, including some I regularly reach out to for my own LEALS students. They generously shared their insights and advice for this article on what to do from the time you meet with the schools until your admissions decisions and as you make your ultimate selection.
Applying after the information sessions
U.S. law schools share a lot of information at in-person and virtual sessions. If you submit LL.M. applications after these sessions, you have some really nice opportunities to incorporate information you learned into your documents, especially your personal statement. Christina Rice, Assistant Dean, Graduate, International, and Online Programs at Boston University School of Law, offers some great advice for how to use your interactions in your application. According to Rice, statements like “I met [name of BU representative] at a recent recruitment fair” or “I attended a webinar hosted by [name of BU representative]” can help us to understand what information a student may have already received about our programs and show that the student has made a sincere effort to learn more about us before applying.
Mary Beth Busby, director of graduate and international program admissions at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, shared a similar sentiment. According to Busby, attending virtual and/or in-person sessions provides an “opportunity to learn more about the school and what they are looking for in an LL.M. student. The information you glean can be used to craft a personalized essay that outlines why the school is of interest to you – highlight specific courses, professors, clinics or other opportunities that align with your interests.”
Post-application research
Just because your application has been submitted does not mean that your research is necessarily over. There are so many ways to continue doing research that assists you with your ultimate decision, according to Ashley Sim, associate director of admissions, graduate & international programs at University of Southern California Gould School of Law. Sim highlights a few important ones for her programs, including (i) signing up for e-mails for events and invitations; (ii) following the school on social media to continue learning about activities taking place and other focus areas for the law school; and (iii) reaching out to schedule a virtual law school tour and meeting with the admissions team.
In fact, their Graduate and International Programs LinkedIn page offers a great example of a school setting up a specialized page that can help prospective students. I learn a lot about their programs, faculty, alumni, current students and much more from the page!
The tables are turned: from applying to choosing
When you receive your admission offers, there is an important change, according to Jill Casal, executive director of graduate degree programs at Columbia Law School. As an applicant, she notes that “you are preparing your applications and convincing schools to admit you.” However, Casal also shares an important point about the shift.
“There will be a time in the near future when the tables are turned, and we’ll all be trying to convince YOU that our school is the place you want to pursue your degree,” she said.
So what should you do when you collect your admissions offers and start narrowing down your choices? I always tell my own students to speak with alumni and current students. Casal explains the importance of speaking to people with ties to the schools as you make that important decision:
“The student and alumni network is the most valuable asset that law schools have as admitted students decide which school to attend. We connect admitted students with current students and alumni right away, so they can share their perspectives and experiences. I always encourage admitted students to speak to as many people as possible from the schools to which they are admitted — and also think in the long term. In ten years, where will you want to look back and say, ‘that’s where I did my degree,’ given the list of options you have and your personal and professional goals?”
Big picture takeaways
Rice at Boston University, “encourages LL.M. students to think critically about what kinds of experiences they want to have and carefully consider what each school offers for LL.M. students. Many prospective students tend to focus too much on a school’s rank, which is often only focused on the J.D. program, without considering the unique LL.M. experience at each school.”
The application process can be time-consuming. For Busbyat at Northwestern Pritzker, “another way to demonstrate your interest is to complete any optional tasks that the school offers as part of their application, such as an interview or essay. Admissions officers understand that the application process is time-consuming and onerous. Because of this, it is meaningful when applicants take time out of their schedules to submit optional materials.”
When it comes to the wait between submission and decision, Casal at Columbia Law School concluded by sharing insight from the other side: “as best you can, rest and enjoy this time. There’s not a lot you can do. Know that we take our time with your applications, and if you haven’t heard from us, it’s because we’re reviewing. We promise to give everyone a fair chance, and to do so, we need time to review. Most schools send decisions throughout the winter and spring, with the bulk going out by the end of March.”
These are not just ways for you to demonstrate your interest in a school. They also help you refine your research in ways that help you. According to Sim at University of Southern California Gould School of Law, “the process of demonstrating your interest can also be very helpful to you for determining which school will ultimately be the best fit for you.”
This is such a crucial point that I highlight to my own students about how repeated interactions over the course of an application cycle can tell you a lot about a school, its programs, its alumni and so much more.
