CV That Got Me Into Harvard LL.M.

Introduction

I did my LL.M. at Harvard several years ago. At the risk of sounding like a cliché, I had one of the best years of my life.

In this post, I’ll go over what I had on my CV when I applied. At the time I applied to Harvard LL.M., I had a three-page CV, which I submitted as part of my application. I’ve written elsewhere about the experiences I highlighted in my Harvard personal statement, so here I’ll focus solely on the CV. Back then, I don’t think Harvard Law School had any specific formatting or content requirements for LL.M. resumes.

With 1,600 applicants annually and 180 spots to distribute, Harvard LL.M. program has about 11% acceptance rate. There are multiple factors influencing admission, and the strength of your CV is only one of them.

Looking back, I realize that my CV was missing elements that might've added value, especially from an American perspective. For instance, I didn’t include any hobbies or extracurriculars. I’d sung in a choir for three years and had trained in different dance styles, but none of that made it into my LL.M. CV. I just wasn’t aware of how much importance Americans place on that sort of thing in applications. Still, this didn’t stop my LL.M. application from being successful.

In this post, I break down my Harvard LL.M. CV section by section and walk you through what I actually submitted. I hope this helps you develop your own LL.M. CVs as well. ☺️

My Harvard LL.M. CV: Education

In the education section, I clearly separated degree programs from non-degree programs. At the time, I thought this was one of the most basic principles, but I only truly appreciated its importance after serving on an admissions committee myself.

One of the most frustrating parts of reviewing LL.M. applications was trying to make sense of the education section. It was often unclear which entries referred to degree programs and which didn’t. Some applicants genuinely don’t know the difference, while others try to inflate their academic background, especially if they did an exchange semester or an online course at a fancier institution compared to their bachelor's. To avoid permanently damaging your credibility, please be very clear about what's what.

As a committee member, my primary focus is on education that leads to a degree. That’s what determines whether you’re even eligible for the program, and it’s the first thing I look for when scanning a CV.

When I applied for the Harvard LL.M., I had completed my first law degree with honors and was pursuing a PhD, both at the Lomonosov Moscow State University. These were the two entries I included in the education section.

I didn’t include my GPA, since Harvard doesn’t require it. Unless the university explicitly sets a GPA threshold, like Oxford does, there’s usually no need to list it. LL.M. applications are reviewed holistically, and GPA may not matter as much as you think. Even if it does, it’ll be visible on your transcripts anyway, so duplicating it on the CV isn’t strictly necessary.

I wasn’t sure how to list other academic experiences, like summer schools or exchanges, so I created a separate subsection called “Extracurricular Engagements.” There, I included:

• a visiting stay and exchange studies at Humboldt University of Berlin
• coursework at the French College of Lomonosov Moscow State University
• a non-degree program at the University of Regensburg

I know these are not "extracurricular" but rather "co-curricular" activities. But alas, I'm not a native English speaker and I just didn't not it back then. Which is a good news - you don't have to be perfect to succeed. ☺️

If I were putting it together today, I’d structure it a bit differently. (More on that in my guide on how to write a magnificent CV for your LL.M. application).

My Harvard LL.M. CV: Professional Experience

In the professional experience section, I had the following entries:

• ‍Teaching at Lomonosov Moscow State University: I taught a course on the law of obligations to third-year students.
• ‍Work at Noerr: I noted that I worked on developing a code of conduct for a local arbitration association, founded the firm’s pro bono practice, and contributed to expert opinions on Russian law for cross-border cases.
• Being a Research Fellow at the Higher School of Economics: Here, I worked on the financial law reform project commissioned by the Russian Central Bank.
• ‍Internship at the Association for International Arbitration in Brussels: I authored articles, including a policy brief on the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and helped organize a conference on the arbitrability of antitrust disputes.
• ‍Internship at Morgan Lewis: I collaborated with an arbitrator on a case involving the arbitrability of corporate disputes under Russian law, back then a particularly complex topic with a lot of caselaw.
• ‍Internship at the State Office for Registration: This was my first experience in litigation, representing the state authority in court and drafting statements of defense.

The descriptions of these experiences were fairly standard: I outlined my duties and highlighted some outcomes. If I were to revise this section now, I would adopt Stanford’s approach to CVs, placing a stronger emphasis on outcomes and providing more specific details.

The thing is, if you are a lawyer, a lot of what you do is probably similar to what other lawyers do: drafting documents, representing clients in court and before state authorities, communicating with clients, and negotiating. Describing these tasks in generic terms won’t set you apart. Your CV will have a greater impact if you highlight the specifics of the projects you’ve worked on (of course, while respecting confidentiality).

My Harvard LL.M. CV: Achievements

Next, I included a section titled ‘Achievements.’

In my current CV, this section is labeled “Prizes, Awards, Funding,” as it’s now tailored for academic positions where securing research funding is highly valued. Since funding often overlaps with prizes and awards, I decided to group them in a single section.

For my Harvard LL.M. application, this section included:

• Award of scholarship for studies in private international law at the Hague Academy of International Law 2016, The Hague, the Netherlands
• Award of scholarship for studies in international arbitration at Paris Arbitration Academy 2015, Paris, France

When I was at Harvard, I had the university career office review my CV. They pointed out that they didn’t fully understand these entries and suggested I clarify what these academies were. While I strongly believe in clarity, I also think that these institutions are widely recognized within the legal field. So, if you're applying for something related to international law or arbitration, simply stating the full names (as above) should be sufficient. That said, always check if your wording is reader-friendly.

In addition, I listed:

• My experience as a coach for the Concours Charles Rousseau
• Participation in the Jessup Competition and the Concours Charles Rousseau
• Winning a national writing competition based on one of my course papers
• Acknowledgments and prizes at national student conferences

I also included my results in national law Olympiads, both during university and in high school.

There’s a common piece of advice not to include high school achievements in an LL.M. application, and I I personally advocate for this as well (see also the Harvard State of Mind course).

However, there are exceptions. One of them is when an event has had a major influence on your life. For me, Olympiads were, and continue to be, a huge part of my identity. They essentially set the course for my career and marked the beginning of my journey as a lawyer. They were also the single most important means of upward social mobility available to me.

I discussed this more in Part B of my Harvard LL.M. personal statement. However, to make Olympiads compatible with an LL.M.-level CV, I didn’t frame them as “high school activities.” Instead, I listed them as standalone achievements that influenced my academic and professional trajectory.

Harvard LL.M. Application: FAQ

Who Is the Ideal Candidate for Harvard LL.M. Program?

I often get messages from people asking me to gauge their chances based on how their profile compares to an “ideal Harvard LL.M. candidate.”

The thing is, there’s no such thing.
Trying to predict your chances of admission based solely on your CV just doesn’t work.

The only true “hard” criterion that might affect your eligibility is GPA and the English test score, but even that comes with caveats.
Many universities don’t have strict GPA cut-offs. Instead, they evaluate applications holistically, taking into account a mix of qualitative and quantitative factors.

That said, there is such a thing as a strong candidate.

And strength is never based on one element alone. It’s determined by a combination of:

• your transcripts
• extracurricular achievements
• recommendation letters
• and especially, your essays

Your writing — personal statements and, where applicable, essays on a legal issue — often plays a crucial role.
I’ve seen essays tip the scale when other credentials were more or less equal.

On the flip side, as a member of the selection committee I’ve also had to reject candidates with impressive CVs because their writing revealed poor reasoning or a lack of critical thinking skills. Strong writing doesn’t just complement your application — it often determines its outcome.

What If I Don’t Have Enough to Get into Harvard LL.M.?

In my experience, 9 times out of 10, the issue isn’t that you don’t have enough.
It’s that you’re not presenting what you already have effectively.

A question I hear all the time:
“I don’t have enough work experience. Should I wait?”

My view is that you should only wait if the program explicitly requires work experience and you don’t meet that requirement yet.

For example, if Columbia Law School says they prefer applicants with at least two years of work experience and you’ve just graduated, then yes, it probably makes sense to wait.
But otherwise, a lack of work experience doesn’t automatically hurt your chances. At Harvard, I had classmates who had gone straight into the LL.M. after finishing their bachelor degrees.

When I review applications, I often see multiple candidates with similarly impressive profiles. At that point, it’s rarely about who’s done one more internship or published one more article.

What often tips the scale is the writing. A strong personal statement — and, where relevant, a writing sample — can make a much bigger difference than adding another line to your CV.

If you take the time to develop strong writing skills, you’ll become a much stronger applicant than someone who simply adds another line to their CV.

Final Thoughts

There are many ways to craft an effective LL.M. CV and to be a strong applicant. In this post, I’ve shared what I had on my Harvard LL.M. application.

If you’re looking for more guidance, I've also created a comprehensive course, Harvard State of Mind on Demand, to guide LL.M. applicants through developing all major components of a successful LL.M. application, including personal statements, CVs, and recommendations. It incorporates the insights I learnt during my time at Harvard from the university's career office.

If you'd like a personalized review of your CV or help getting started, please read about my approach and fill out a short application form.

Hope this helps and good luck! ☺️