How difficult is it to secure a place at some of the higher ranked but not elite law schools such as UCL, LSE, Melbourne, SOAS etc for an LLM? Not saying these schools are not elite/good but that securing admission in Oxbridge and top 2-3 US Schools is more difficult. Want a general idea about other law schools.
It depends on your course. For example, Arbitration is a sought-after course. Admission is competitive. Hence, the focus is on various factors like your knowledge, work experience, diversity of all types, batch size, skills, future plans, etc. You will have to be specific in your SOP and Resume to show you can contribute ably to the discourse in the class and benefit from it, too. Most Universities do not publish specific statistics. These are some of the objective criteria for you to assess your chances.
LSE/KCL/UCL ask for 60 %. I got admits in all 3, on the condition that I get 60% overall after graduation. They will also take you with less than 60% if you have good work ex, publications etc.
Re SOAS/QM/Warwick, you can get in with 55%. They set no 60% condition for me. Same for Melbourne, UNSW and NUS (Melbourne and UNSW were my back-up colleges, didn't apply to NUS).
The 60% figure is based on the old DU formula of 60% being first div. I think these overseas colleges will have to revisit this in future. In the olden days the majority of applicants were DU grads. Now NLU and Jindal grads make up the majority, with Symbi, Bennett etc also joining the fray.
P.S. For those curious, I had no scholarship. I chose KCL in the end because my sister was already doing her PhD in the science field there and she arranged a very good campus job for me through her contacts, which helped me reduce my expenses. My first choice was actually UNSW because of certain courses not offered elsewhere, but I had no scholarship there.
Idk about Melbourne but the others - I’m willing to bet for public law type fields if you’re somewhat proficient in the jargon and the oft repeated virtues then you should be able to get in no problems. Requirements aren’t very tough. What is difficult is getting funded.
Thumb rule is - any idiot with good hard money can get foreign LLM. Especially US. Many idiots in my class got to top American schools.
Only the capable ones can get a 100% tuition scholarship.
I myself got a Foreign llm but I didn't get a full scholarship. Only 30% was covered.
Question is whether this exercise is worth it or now? Foreign LLMs make sense in China and Russia as it helps you fetch international clients. And foreign llm makes you more approachable for Foreign clients.
But in India, it doesn't have any such advantage. As all Indian lawyers speak English and can communicate with foreign clients with ease. There are no cultural barriers.
If you are a senior counsel or partners child - then you can consider the LLM as a paid fun foreign vacation where you can gain some exposure, teaching is really good. If you are not that rich, just don't go. Work some years. Save money and go for exed or maybe even a real vacation. It's just not worth it.
Do I regret doing the LLM? Not really. But 50L was a huge amount to shell out and it hasn't provided me much ROI
Don;t know about Melbourne. LSE is choosy and needs you to have good academic credentials. UCL above average, and SOAS is more like if you can pay and write a decent SOP (or pay someone to write one), you'll get in.
Feel free to be more specific in your question.
soas - anything more than 60%
if you have that marks and can pay, they will take you
Re SOAS/QM/Warwick, you can get in with 55%. They set no 60% condition for me. Same for Melbourne, UNSW and NUS (Melbourne and UNSW were my back-up colleges, didn't apply to NUS).
The 60% figure is based on the old DU formula of 60% being first div. I think these overseas colleges will have to revisit this in future. In the olden days the majority of applicants were DU grads. Now NLU and Jindal grads make up the majority, with Symbi, Bennett etc also joining the fray.
P.S. For those curious, I had no scholarship. I chose KCL in the end because my sister was already doing her PhD in the science field there and she arranged a very good campus job for me through her contacts, which helped me reduce my expenses. My first choice was actually UNSW because of certain courses not offered elsewhere, but I had no scholarship there.
Only the capable ones can get a 100% tuition scholarship.
I myself got a Foreign llm but I didn't get a full scholarship. Only 30% was covered.
Question is whether this exercise is worth it or now? Foreign LLMs make sense in China and Russia as it helps you fetch international clients. And foreign llm makes you more approachable for Foreign clients.
But in India, it doesn't have any such advantage. As all Indian lawyers speak English and can communicate with foreign clients with ease. There are no cultural barriers.
If you are a senior counsel or partners child - then you can consider the LLM as a paid fun foreign vacation where you can gain some exposure, teaching is really good. If you are not that rich, just don't go. Work some years. Save money and go for exed or maybe even a real vacation. It's just not worth it.
Do I regret doing the LLM? Not really. But 50L was a huge amount to shell out and it hasn't provided me much ROI