US vs Canadian LLM

[olawg]

Hello, 

I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on the benefits of a US LLM (after a Canadian JD) vs a Canadian LLM.

I'm interested in pursuing an LLM, likely after working for a few years, for my own interests (I enjoy legal research and writing, especially in certain areas), because I would like the option to teach a course or two down the road (or to get more involved in academia in some capacity), and because I'm seriously considering the possibility of a PhD/SJD. 

I would also like to learn more about US public law, and to live in the US for a year or so, but the cost seems very prohibitive (70-80k USD). 

If I were to get into a top US school, is it worth taking on that much debt?  

[Ben]

Given the cost, I don't see why you'd consider doing an LLM in the US unless you were pretty dead set on being a full-time academic, and you got into a very good school. Different story if you managed to secure decent funding. 

[ramoj]

Apply for a Fulbright Scholarship! This will help bring the cost down and is within the realm of what you are interested in research wise. 

[Turtles]

9 hours ago, olawg said:

Hello, 

I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on the benefits of a US LLM (after a Canadian JD) vs a Canadian LLM.

I'm interested in pursuing an LLM, likely after working for a few years, for my own interests (I enjoy legal research and writing, especially in certain areas), because I would like the option to teach a course or two down the road (or to get more involved in academia in some capacity), and because I'm seriously considering the possibility of a PhD/SJD. 

I would also like to learn more about US public law, and to live in the US for a year or so, but the cost seems very prohibitive (70-80k USD). 

If I were to get into a top US school, is it worth taking on that much debt?  

Thanks for starting the conversation. I wish there was more discussions about LLMs for Canadian grads (as opposed to the for-profit professional LLMs), and I've been inclined at times to go for one myself, but I appreciate it's fairly niche so discussion has so far been sparse on the forum.

One thing I can say is that you don't necessarily need a LLM "to teach a course or two down the road". As I understand it, while you increasingly need graduate legal studies to become a full-time prof (nowadays de facto requiring a SJD or PhD, with an LLM not doing much other than being a stepping stone towards a SJD or PhD), there is a more readily available path to teach part-time as an adjunct with enough experience/knowledge from practice (especially if you're at a firm that already teaches a course where you can volunteer to be part of the teaching team). That might fill your itch without requiring taking a full-on plunge.  

Another thing to add: when I expressed potential interest in legal academic as an aside comment in class, the prof remembered and emailed me afterwards offering to chat / answer questions I might have. Your profs may be a good resource, just bear in mind that depending on when they did theirs, their experience may be a bit out of date (so perhaps be sure to ask at least one younger/new professor).