Deciding on a Tax LLM Forum

[taxllmhopeful2022]

Hey everyone,

Not sure if this is the right area to post this question, but I felt it was somewhat related.

I know generally LLMs are never worth it, but I am set on tax law, and of all LLMs, tax LLMs make some sense.

My decision as this point is between NYU at sticker or UF with $$. Total COA would be 100k vs 30k, so quite a big difference. I guess my question is whether NYU is worth the additional 70k.

I know NYU would give me the best chance at big law, or really any law firm work, but I just don't know if the risk is worth the 70k. My ideal outcome would be working at big/medium law, but I am fine doing big 4.

Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.

[Avenger99]

I think Florida is the choice here. Most NYU grads had their jobs before attending the program so their employment statistics are skewed. Florida will give you similar outcomes at a fraction of the cost.

[Espresso8790]

Unless you want to live in Florida, I think NYU is the better option. Florida's placement will be very limited and almost exclusively in Florida. I think the additional cost is worth it for the jump in employment outcomes and prestige.

[CanadianWolf]

If your target is NYC biglaw, then NYU is the better option due to biglaw concerns with law school pedigree in addition to the recruiting convenience factor. But, I am not convinced that one llm tax program is better than the other unless Florida has undergone a serious decline in the past few years.

[AAPLTSLADIS]

Most NYU grads had their jobs before attending the program so their employment statistics are skewed.

What are you talking about???

[Avenger99]

Most NYU grads had their jobs before attending the program so their employment statistics are skewed.

What are you talking about???

The fact that a lot of students in the program already have big law jobs before entering the program. The rest already had big law credentials before the program. The most likely outcome is going to be big 4, which is similar to what UF can offer.

[ignorantfoot96]

Most NYU grads had their jobs before attending the program so their employment statistics are skewed.

What are you talking about???

Tax LLMs are not all that big a pipeline into big law, even from NYU. A lot of the people in LLM programs and especially tax related practices, have the job beforehand and their firms pay them or encourage them to do an LLM program.

[taxllmhopeful2022]

Most NYU grads had their jobs before attending the program so their employment statistics are skewed.

What are you talking about???

Tax LLMs are not all that big a pipeline into big law, even from NYU. A lot of the people in LLM programs and especially tax related practices, have the job beforehand and their firms pay them or encourage them to do an LLM program.

That is what I have been told, which makes me think paying that much for NYU doesn’t make financial sense. I will say that I have received a small scholly, but total coast would still be around 75k.

[rnen22]

I'm a current NYU Tax LLM student. I only considered NYU, so I can't really comment about Florida/other options.

I would say coming to NYU depends on whether you're open to working at the Big 4 or not. The Big 4 is a pretty much guaranteed employment outcome at NYU. Salaries in major markets start at around $120k so it's not a terrible outcome. Also, a fair amount of people lateral from Big 4 firms to Big Law at some point. Most of the Big 4 firms interview in October and will grant offers before grades come out in the January.

Big Law offers on the other hand are more contingent on grades. However, at least this year, it seems that there are a ton of opportunities if you're open to Employee Benefits/Exec Comp work. Most of the people I know heading into Big Law didn't have offers before coming to NYU.

[Dragonball1234]

UF is not limited to florida. If you are biglaw material, you can get a biglaw job from UF. The thing is that most uf tax llm students are not biglaw materials. So most students from UF got a job in midlaw, boutique, or big4. But if you are biglaw material or do very well in the program, you can get an biglaw interview in UF tax llm. I don't think there is difference between UF and NYU in terms of getting big4 job.

[taxllmhopeful2022]

UF is not limited to florida. If you are biglaw material, you can get a biglaw job from UF. The thing is that most uf tax llm students are not biglaw materials. So most students from UF got a job in midlaw, boutique, or big4. But if you are biglaw material or do very well in the program, you can get an biglaw interview in UF tax llm. I don't think there is difference between UF and NYU in terms of getting big4 job.

I do think UF's employment outcomes are somewhat diluted since they don't quite get the same quality of students that NYU does. It makes sense that NYU would have the best employment outcomes as they are already attracting the best students who already have impressive credentials.

Still, less that half of UF's class is able to break into big 4 or firms with at least 100 attorneys. That's quite worrisome when compared to NYU where 80% of the class went big four or big law.

[Dragonball1234]

UF is not limited to florida. If you are biglaw material, you can get a biglaw job from UF. The thing is that most uf tax llm students are not biglaw materials. So most students from UF got a job in midlaw, boutique, or big4. But if you are biglaw material or do very well in the program, you can get an biglaw interview in UF tax llm. I don't think there is difference between UF and NYU in terms of getting big4 job.

I do think UF's employment outcomes are somewhat diluted since they don't quite get the same quality of students that NYU does. It makes sense that NYU would have the best employment outcomes as they are already attracting the best students who already have impressive credentials.

Still, less that half of UF's class is able to break into big 4 or firms with at least 100 attorneys. That's quite worrisome when compared to NYU where 80% of the class went big four or big law.

It's not hard to get a big 4 gig at UF tax llm. Most UF students don't care about big 4. Estate planning market is huge in florida. Half of the uf students want to get a job in estate planning. They don't want to get a job in big 4. And a lot if tax boutique law firms pay well. I think one of the best job from UF is a job in the firm with less than 10 lawyers. The kids who get a job in these kind of firms have much better credentials than big 4 and can get a big law gig if they want. I think if almost 70% of students have no problem with getting a big 4.

[taxllmhopeful2022]

UF is not limited to florida. If you are biglaw material, you can get a biglaw job from UF. The thing is that most uf tax llm students are not biglaw materials. So most students from UF got a job in midlaw, boutique, or big4. But if you are biglaw material or do very well in the program, you can get an biglaw interview in UF tax llm. I don't think there is difference between UF and NYU in terms of getting big4 job.

I do think UF's employment outcomes are somewhat diluted since they don't quite get the same quality of students that NYU does. It makes sense that NYU would have the best employment outcomes as they are already attracting the best students who already have impressive credentials.

Still, less that half of UF's class is able to break into big 4 or firms with at least 100 attorneys. That's quite worrisome when compared to NYU where 80% of the class went big four or big law.

It's not hard to get a big 4 gig at UF tax llm. Most UF students don't care about big 4. Estate planning market is huge in florida. Half of the uf students want to get a job in estate planning. They don't want to get a job in big 4. And a lot if tax boutique law firms pay well. I think one of the best job from UF is a job in the firm with less than 10 lawyers. The kids who get a job in these kind of firms have much better credentials than big 4 and can get a big law gig if they want. I think if almost 70% of students have no problem with getting a big 4.

I don't know about that, as a decent size of the class goes to accounting firms that aren't big 4. If one was fine going to an accounting firm, then why not go Big 4? I don't have any experience directly with the program, just going on what the employment reports are, so you could be right that the outcomes are because of self selection.

[Dragonball1234]

UF is not limited to florida. If you are biglaw material, you can get a biglaw job from UF. The thing is that most uf tax llm students are not biglaw materials. So most students from UF got a job in midlaw, boutique, or big4. But if you are biglaw material or do very well in the program, you can get an biglaw interview in UF tax llm. I don't think there is difference between UF and NYU in terms of getting big4 job.

I do think UF's employment outcomes are somewhat diluted since they don't quite get the same quality of students that NYU does. It makes sense that NYU would have the best employment outcomes as they are already attracting the best students who already have impressive credentials.

Still, less that half of UF's class is able to break into big 4 or firms with at least 100 attorneys. That's quite worrisome when compared to NYU where 80% of the class went big four or big law.

It's not hard to get a big 4 gig at UF tax llm. Most UF students don't care about big 4. Estate planning market is huge in florida. Half of the uf students want to get a job in estate planning. They don't want to get a job in big 4. And a lot if tax boutique law firms pay well. I think one of the best job from UF is a job in the firm with less than 10 lawyers. The kids who get a job in these kind of firms have much better credentials than big 4 and can get a big law gig if they want. I think if almost 70% of students have no problem with getting a big 4.

I don't know about that, as a decent size of the class goes to accounting firms that aren't big 4. If one was fine going to an accounting firm, then why not go Big 4? I don't have any experience directly with the program, just going on what the employment reports are, so you could be right that the outcomes are because of self selection.

For example, Grant thornton recruits first semester. If students get a job in Grant thornton before first semester grades, they can't apply for TARE. I think maybe 30%~40% students apply for TARE job postings.

[Dragonball1234]

UF is not limited to florida. If you are biglaw material, you can get a biglaw job from UF. The thing is that most uf tax llm students are not biglaw materials. So most students from UF got a job in midlaw, boutique, or big4. But if you are biglaw material or do very well in the program, you can get an biglaw interview in UF tax llm. I don't think there is difference between UF and NYU in terms of getting big4 job.

I do think UF's employment outcomes are somewhat diluted since they don't quite get the same quality of students that NYU does. It makes sense that NYU would have the best employment outcomes as they are already attracting the best students who already have impressive credentials.

Still, less that half of UF's class is able to break into big 4 or firms with at least 100 attorneys. That's quite worrisome when compared to NYU where 80% of the class went big four or big law.

It's not hard to get a big 4 gig at UF tax llm. Most UF students don't care about big 4. Estate planning market is huge in florida. Half of the uf students want to get a job in estate planning. They don't want to get a job in big 4. And a lot if tax boutique law firms pay well. I think one of the best job from UF is a job in the firm with less than 10 lawyers. The kids who get a job in these kind of firms have much better credentials than big 4 and can get a big law gig if they want. I think if almost 70% of students have no problem with getting a big 4.

I don't know about that, as a decent size of the class goes to accounting firms that aren't big 4. If one was fine going to an accounting firm, then why not go Big 4? I don't have any experience directly with the program, just going on what the employment reports are, so you could be right that the outcomes are because of self selection.

https://www.law.ufl.edu/law/wp-content/ ... -Final.pdf

This link is class 2020 from UF tax llm. If you really want to make an informed decision, go through every single person on linkedin. If they get a tax job in law firm(firm size does not matter in terms of salary), they probably get paid more than $100,000 and that kind of job is usually harder to get than big 4 jobs.

[taxllmhopeful2022]

Thanks so much! I'll going to go through it right now!