4 ms·

There is a problem with this approach, and that is the fact that nobody in the United States will recognize your university. Want to make a great first impress

There is a problem with this approach, and that is the fact that nobody in the United States will recognize your university. Want to make a great first impression? Graduate from Harvard, Stanford, or MIT. Nobody is going to know the name of some random German university. At least not in the United States.

pdabbadabba 11y ago
Well, I think the idea is that by re-repatriating your law degree at UT, you're putting a prestigious, recognized name at the top of your resume. (I assure you that UT is a recognized name in law, though you can substitute Yale, Stanford, Harvard, etc. if you like.) The problem, I think, is that a one-year LLM just won't open as many doors as a JD from the same school. (But it will open some!)
akhilcacharya 11y ago
I really hate comments like this, I don't think 3 universities hold the monopoly on impressiveness.
- dbushnel 11y ago
  Well, it is pretty much true though. Where I work, not even Cornell is considered prestigious. You gotta have Harvard, Stanford, or MIT to stand out.
  - akhilcacharya 11y ago
    Dear God, I wonder how your colleagues would react to my future degree.
johnloeber 11y ago
Sure, obviously there's a point at which the prestige of a top school can outweigh the cost of attendance. But most people do not go to top schools. I think the article addresses prospective undergraduates at mid- and lower-tier colleges. These schools are nowhere near as prestigious, but comparably expensive. If a US school is not particularly strongly recognized, is it really worth it to dish out between $50k and $200k? On top of that, note that going to study in a foreign country would hopefully give you fluency in a foreign language. The Economist ran a piece on the lifetime value of knowing a foreign language[0] -- for German in particular, the assessed value is $128k. Considering the opportunity cost, is it really still worth it to go to the low-ranked US school? All this being considered, if you're still of the opinion that a US degree is somehow essential, the obvious response is to get a masters in the states. [0] http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2014/03/language-study http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2014/03/language-stu...
mafribe 11y ago
This is true, but for some subjects you can partly get around this subject by doing a Batchelor at some free foreign university (and do really well there, like top of the year) and then doing a 1-year masters at expensive brand-name US university. Typically masters at Harvard, Stanford, or MIT etc are less competitive to get in. But few employers care if you got a BSc from MIT or an MSc. I teach at a large, well-known, and mediocre European university, and every year I send some of the my best students to top universities for further studies.
sireat 11y ago
The trick is that only the last school counts. Who cares that you went to local community college for the AS and Chico State for the BS as long as you did graduate school at Harvard. The catch is getting from Chico State to Harvard, but it should not be overly difficult if you show outstanding grades and work at BA level. Anecdotal evidence, a friend/acquaintance of mine got his BA from an Eastern European university for free(actually with stipend) and now is doing Masters/PhD at MIT under a very famous adviser. So how did he do it? From his first day at the university he must have kept his goal(Masters in US at a good university) in mind. He aced all his courses(even though I was a bit disgusted how he sometimes squeezed professors to give him the highest grade). He took graduate level courses and aced them. He selected a highly cited prof with US connections as his bachelors thesis advisor and his thesis must have been quite good. He only networked with people who could possibly help him. Sounds cynical, but he only friended me when he saw that I got good grades too and knew USA university system. One last catch is same as the German catch you have to know the local language, as most schools do not offer all courses in English.

pdabbadabba 11y ago

Well, I think the idea is that by re-repatriating your law degree at UT, you're putting a prestigious, recognized name at the top of your resume. (I assure you that UT is a recognized name in law, though you can substitute Yale, Stanford, Harvard, etc. if you like.) The problem, I think, is that a one-year LLM just won't open as many doors as a JD from the same school. (But it will open some!)

akhilcacharya 11y ago

I really hate comments like this, I don't think 3 universities hold the monopoly on impressiveness.

dbushnel 11y ago
Well, it is pretty much true though. Where I work, not even Cornell is considered prestigious. You gotta have Harvard, Stanford, or MIT to stand out.
- akhilcacharya 11y ago
  Dear God, I wonder how your colleagues would react to my future degree.

johnloeber 11y ago

Sure, obviously there's a point at which the prestige of a top school can outweigh the cost of attendance. But most people do not go to top schools. I think the article addresses prospective undergraduates at mid- and lower-tier colleges. These schools are nowhere near as prestigious, but comparably expensive. If a US school is not particularly strongly recognized, is it really worth it to dish out between $50k and $200k? On top of that, note that going to study in a foreign country would hopefully give you fluency in a foreign language. The Economist ran a piece on the lifetime value of knowing a foreign language[0] -- for German in particular, the assessed value is $128k. Considering the opportunity cost, is it really still worth it to go to the low-ranked US school? All this being considered, if you're still of the opinion that a US degree is somehow essential, the obvious response is to get a masters in the states. [0] http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2014/03/language-study http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2014/03/language-stu...

mafribe 11y ago

This is true, but for some subjects you can partly get around this subject by doing a Batchelor at some free foreign university (and do really well there, like top of the year) and then doing a 1-year masters at expensive brand-name US university. Typically masters at Harvard, Stanford, or MIT etc are less competitive to get in. But few employers care if you got a BSc from MIT or an MSc. I teach at a large, well-known, and mediocre European university, and every year I send some of the my best students to top universities for further studies.

sireat 11y ago

The trick is that only the last school counts. Who cares that you went to local community college for the AS and Chico State for the BS as long as you did graduate school at Harvard. The catch is getting from Chico State to Harvard, but it should not be overly difficult if you show outstanding grades and work at BA level. Anecdotal evidence, a friend/acquaintance of mine got his BA from an Eastern European university for free(actually with stipend) and now is doing Masters/PhD at MIT under a very famous adviser. So how did he do it? From his first day at the university he must have kept his goal(Masters in US at a good university) in mind. He aced all his courses(even though I was a bit disgusted how he sometimes squeezed professors to give him the highest grade). He took graduate level courses and aced them. He selected a highly cited prof with US connections as his bachelors thesis advisor and his thesis must have been quite good. He only networked with people who could possibly help him. Sounds cynical, but he only friended me when he saw that I got good grades too and knew USA university system. One last catch is same as the German catch you have to know the local language, as most schools do not offer all courses in English.