Top Law Schools

Hi all, I hate to make another one of these posts; however, I've been combing through the search function and cannot seem to find something which is specifically helpful to my personal situation.

I attend a higher ranked regional T school in the DC/MD/VA area (not GULC) after having transferred from a T school that is on the cusp of going TT depending on the year. School ranks don't matter, though, as my primary reason for transferring was to work in DC following law school; rather, it's useful information.

Upon transferring, I had a 3.50 at the ~22% rank range. After transferring, my GPA after two semesters at my new school is a 3.31 (3.36 first semester 3.21 second semester), which places me in the top 50% (not sure where exactly), but I do know that it does place me out of the top third. Although I did not do as nearly well as I'd hoped, I did receive an A- in my federal income taxation course. Furthermore, 2L OCI did not go well, but I managed to attain a summer associate position with a small law firm in DC.

My questions for the community are thus: What are the realistic chances of admission, if any, to a top 3 LLM program? Moreover, should I wait until after I receive my 3L Fall grades, under the assumption that I'm able to pull up my GPA to a ~3.5?

I understand that most LLM applications open up in September, meaning better chances of admission, but I am weighing that against waiting till after 3L Fall grades wherein I will do everything within my power to raise my GPA. Preferably, I would attend GULC as practicing in DC has always been my goal, but I believe that I could return to DC just as easily with an LLM from NYU, particularly having a JD from a DC-area school. NYU also seems anecdotally enjoyable, according to my Taxation professor with whom I have a great relationship. Further information: I am taking corporate income taxation in my 3L Fall; I perform better as a student when classes are in person; I am highly motivated to receive a Tax LLM; worked for a federal judge 1L summer.

Thank you, all. I am aware of the reality of the situation and want to know how best to proceed.

Post-edit: I am a rising 3L.

Hello,

I can only offer my insight as an applicant for this years admission cycle.

First, I have to ask why you want an LLM, as you seem to already have a summer gig at a firm in your desired market. Honestly, the LLM probably won’t increase your odds of getting an offer in DC, so I would do everything you could to get an offer from the firm you are summering with.

Anyways, to your question of whether you would be admitted, I would say you would certainly get in at UF. They auto accept anyone in the top third of their class regardless of school. Since you’re still in the top half of a tier 1, I think you would still get in very easily.

GTown and NYU are much more difficult to get into. I think you would have a decent chance at GTown, since you are already in that market, plus you have good tax grades and hopefully some good LORs from your tax professors. The general trend at NYU and GTown for a tier 1 is that you should be in the top 25%. However, I personally have seen a lot of students below median being accepted because of great grades in tax classes or relevant work experience with tax.

As far as whether you should wait to apply until after you get your grades back, it depends on how confident you are in being able to attain good grades in the fall semester (especially your corporate tax class) and how important scholarship money is to you. I didn’t apply until mid January, and while I was accepted everywhere I applied, I was told that if I had applied earlier, more scholarship money would have been available. As such, there is a slight advantage to applying early for admission, but there is a huge advantage for scholarship money. If scholarship money isn’t that important, then it might be worthwhile to wait until you get your grades back. If you truly believe you can significantly increase your class rank, then it makes sense to wait as that will increase your odds of acceptance way more than applying early.

Feel free to ask my any questions about the application process or anything else!

As pointed out by the poster above, it is not clear why you want to practice tax law--and that is a significant factor in selective tax llm program admissions.

What type of legal work were you exposed to during your summer with the DC law firm ?

It seems like you are interested in pursuing a tax llm in order to get a second chance in recruiting rather than due to any strong interest in tax law. Is this correct ?

Would you consider working in the tax area for a Big 4 accounting firm ?