How to Choose the Best LL.M. Program for You: A Complete Guide

How to Choose a Balanced LL.M. Programs Portfolio: Introduction

In this post, I’ll cover:

• My 3-step decision-making process for choosing master of laws (LL.M.) programs
• How to research LL.M. programs and what criteria to use to evaluate them
• How many LL.M. programs to choose

My personal philosophy is that there is no such thing as "the right program." There is only what works for you. It’s therefore important to personalize your choices and always come back to what you want to achieve by doing an LL.M.

Step #1: Clarify Your "Why" for doing an LL.M.

What are you trying to achieve?

Ultimately, an LL.M. degree is a vehicle to bring you closer to your goals and aspirations. You don’t need to settle on your goals for life—they will most probably change. But to select the LL.M. programs that are best for you, try to map your goals at this particular point in your life to understand where you are.

What are you optimizing for?

Don't get frustrated if it's difficult in the beginning. My observation is that many applicants, especially from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, struggle to figure out their post-LL.M. future.

It’s normal. Life is a series of iterations, not one straight line, and it’s impossible to plan everything. For now, the purpose of this exercise is to roughly understand where you are and what you’d like to move toward so that you can figure out the steps to take.

Step #2: Make a Long List of LL.M. Programs to choose from

List all the LL.M. programs that spark your interest. Don’t judge it, don’t edit. Include everything that attracts you. Include the most ambitious and the least ambitious options.

Think of it like a long list of movies for the Oscars: most won’t make it into the final selection, but they are all under consideration. At this stage, you are exploring options, not making decisions yet.

Once you wrote down all the programs that excite you—in a spreadsheet, in Word, or on paper (whatever works for you)—write down their features and characteristics.

These usually include:

• Specialization and the content of the LL.M. program
• The cost of the LL.M. program and available funding
• Its reputation and/or position in rankings

Keep in mind that reputation and the rankings are not always the same. Paraphrasing the words of the Duke Law School Dean of Admissions, rankings are a mechanical measure created by a third party that's trying to sell something. Rankings are based on a multitude of criteria that might be irrelevant to you as a prospective student (e.g., peer-reviewed faculty publications). Reputation, on the other hand, is a more accurate reflection of the program’s quality. It’s what the program is known for in the industry.

For instance:

• MIDS Geneva is not ranked, yet it’s highly regarded in the European arbitration community.
• Similarly, the European University Institute isn’t part of most rankings, but it’s one of the best Ph.D. programs in the EU.

My strategy is usually to choose either:

• Top programs overall (because they offer the highest return on investment if you get in), or
• Programs with a strong reputation in the field (because they maximize your post-LL.M. future by being well-integrated into local industries and communities).

Other factors to consider:

• Entry requirements: What criteria do you need to satisfy to apply? For instance, does the LL.M. program have strict GPA cutoffs or not?
• Geographical location
• Anything else that's important to you

Be specific. Write down everything that catches your attention and resonates with you.

Step #3: Personalize Your List of LL.M. Programs

Now you personalize your list of LL.M. programs to choose. For all the features you’ve noted, consider them in the context of your life and your “why.”

Why are you doing this? What are you trying to achieve? What resources do you have to take steps in that direction? What resources do you need to pull?

For example:

• If you have MIDS Geneva on your list, measure it against your goals. If you are committed to a career as an arbitration practitioner, it should be high on your list, along with other specialized LL.M. programs in international arbitration.
• If an LL.M. program has reasonable costs and offers scholarships, or you can raise funds through loans or family support, that program should also rank high.
• On the other hand, if funding is critical and the LL.M. program has no scholarships or financial aid, it probably shouldn’t rank high for you.

Do this for all LL.M. programs on your list. Think about what resonates with you, whether you can see yourself at that university, and how this program would move you closer to your post-LL.M. goals.

To give a few examples from my experience:

• I applied to Yale Law School because it had an academic focus, and I thought it would be perfect for my plan to pursue an academic career.
• I didn’t apply to Stanford because they didn’t offer financial aid. They offer one scholarship, the Knight-Hennessy scholarship, but that's it. Since funding was one of my top criteria, I didn't include Stanford in my short list.
• I applied to MIDS Geneva and NYU LL.M. because they had specialized arbitration programs, which aligned with my professional interests.

After you do this for all programs, you should have your short list.

Generally, most choices are a combination of the following strategies:

• Apply to the best-funded programs. For me, it was the Oxford MJur (they had the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann and the Hill Foundation scholarships), as well as MIDS Geneva (they offered a full scholarship, which I secured).
• Apply to the top LL.M. programs. Depending on your demographics, they may also be well-funded, but if they are not, you might have to get creative about how to fund them.
• Choose the programs that are the best in your field, examples being MIDS Geneva and TADS Sciences Po in international arbitration; Leiden University in public international law; Stanford in environmental law.
• Any combination of the above.

Summary: Personalizing your list and assessing program features against your goals, resources, and preferences is essential to create a balanced portfolio.

How Many LL.M. Programs to Choose?

There’s no universal rule as to how many LL.M. programs you should have on your list. Most people apply to 4–10 programs.

I personally applied to seven. I tailored each application to the program, and I felt that I couldn’t handle more than seven. But I know people who apply to more, and that’s okay. I also know people who apply to fewer schools. I even know people who apply to just one LL.M. program, like Harvard or Yale, and are prepared to reapply if rejected as many times as needed.

If you want to be really strategic, you could:

1. choose several top law schools
2. choose several mid-tier LL.M. programs
3. include programs where you estimate a high likelihood of acceptance based on your GPA, the English test score, and academic and professional experience (so called 'safety schools')

I didn’t follow this strategy myself, not because I was confident (I wasn’t!) but because I wanted to open as many doors as possible and therefore tried my hand only at applying to schools I knew I really wanted.

Important to keep in mind:

• Planning is essential, plans are useless. You’ll never be able to plan out everything. The best you can do is research the programs, then settle on a list, apply, see what happens, and readjust.
• Life and career paths often take unpredictable turns, and that’s okay.
• Not every choice needs justification. You’re allowed to dream and aim high.

How to Research LL.M. Programs

• start with a high-level Google search; you can also use AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude.
• study the LL.M. programs' websites
• check their social media and attend information sessions, even for the schools you are not targeting. For me, attending the information sessions by Duke Law School and the UC Davis School of Law was extremely helpful.
• talk to alumni and current students of your desired LL.M. program.

If you don’t know anyone directly, ask your friends or connections for referrals or find them via LinkedIn and ask them nicely to share their insights and experiences.

If your questions aren’t answered on the LL.M. program website, reach out to the school. They are there to help you.

When I was applying for an LL.M., it was definitely something I had to figure out. My previous experience at the Lomonosov Moscow State University was that if you came with a question, you’d be treated as a nuisance. Generally, a post-Soviet attitude of any state or state-related authority toward people is: “You should be grateful we are allowing you to exist at all. If you keep asking questions, negotiating things, and generally be annoying ("pumping your rights," to translate a Russian saying) keep in mind that there are a lot of people willing to take your place.”

Maybe for some of you, perceiving the admissions committee as being on your side is unfamiliar as well. In this case, it can be helpful to keep in mind that the admissions committee is there for you. They are interested in attracting bright students, and it's their job to make the process transparent.

Other tips:

• Check the rankings, but remember they might not reflect what’s important to you.
• Consider personal factors such as funding, culture, language, and your goals for the post-LL.M. future.
• If possible, visit short-listed schools to get a feel for their environment. For instance, the Associate Dean of International Studies at Duke Law School advises that visiting the campus can give you a good idea of whether it's going to be a good fit or not. Of course, not everyone will be able to do so, and in that case there are still plenty of other resources to make a choice.

Final Thoughts on choosing LL.M. programs

A technique that I've found helpful when choosing where to do an LL.M. is prototyping my study abroad. In the business context, a prototype as "the first example of a product." In the context of pursuing an LL.M., prototyping means trying out a smaller, shorter version of the large-scale program you’re considering. A 'study abroad prototype' might look like:

• Attending an academic conference
• Participating in a summer or winter school
• Doing an internship
• Undertaking a research stay
• Joining a student festival
• Competing in an international event

Prototype your study plans as much as you can and see what results you get.

If you need more guidance, I've created a comprehensive Harvard State on Demand course covering the key aspects of a successful LL.M. application, from narrowing down your LL.M. program choices to crafting personal statements, motivation letters, securing strong recommendations, and perfecting your CV.

If you'd like me to review your application documents, please read my terms and fill out a short form.

Hope it helps, and good luck! 😊

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