Top Law Schools

Hi all,

Just received three offers and I want to ask for some advice about choosing a law school. I’m an international student applying for a LLM program, so I don’t really know how the life is in US law schools. Most of my information is from the internet, such as official website, introducing articles and online rankings. So I want to get some more native advice from you.

Since LLM students are really hard to find a work in US, I plan to work in my own country after graduation. But I will still try to seek chances to turn to JD programs (all of the three law schools have chances to turn the LLM program to a JD program), and if succeed, my plan may have some change. My interest lies in commercial law and financial field. Also intellectual property law is attractive too.

Vanderbilt:
I’ve read some articles about Vandy, saying it is a “quiet place for academically activities”. Among the U.S. News ranking Vandy is the 18th, which is the middle of these three law schools. Also Vanderbilt is offering the biggest amount of $12000.

USC:
LA is quite an attractive city but USC seems to be more famous in the entertainment law field, which I am not fond of. There is no scholarship from USC.

BU:
Boston University seems to be strong in banking and financial law. However the ranks of BU these years are fluctuating around 22 and 23, which makes me not very sure to decide. The scholarship of BU is $5000.

Besides advices about choosing the law school, information about lives in these cities (Nashville, LA, and Boston) and COA/COL are all welcome.

Thank you!

(1) returning home option: USC has a good global reputation/ranking is similar to Vandy, higher ranked than BU; I would choose between USC/Vandy.

(2) transfer to JD option: not having 1L grade + not having ties in the U.S. basically makes Vandy a no-go. For USC v. BU, both are sitting on a good market/major city, you should expect to network really hard, get to know people and small firms in the city, and lower your expectations on the quality of the job you land.

For banking and finance law, all three of the schools are good options. entertainment law is very based upon business/commercial/corporate law, going to USC won't label you as an entertainment-oriented person.