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The Graduate Advisor
PERICLES ABLE PROJECT (AMERICAN BUSINESS AND LEGAL EDUCATION)
WWW.PERICLES.RU/ABLE
SPECIAL REPORT: FOCUS ON INSEAD BUSINESS SCHOOL
Get a head start this summer!
Preparing for the MBA Off-Season
-Dominic Basulto received his MBA from Yale
School of Management. Dominic does Pericles’
MBA Advising through the internet. If you are
interested in studying with Mr. Basulto please email Pericles at [email protected]
In order to maximize one’s chances for admission
to an elite MBA program, it is important to view
the admissions cycle as an ongoing effort that
may take several months, or even more, to
complete. Attempting to compress the admissions
cycle into a limited two-week time period during
either the fall or spring usually results in
applications that lack a clearly articulated
marketing strategy and are unconvincing at best.
It is all too obvious when a candidate prepares one
application package and then sends a slightly
modified edition to a group of different B-schools
in order to meet deadlines. Notes one Stanford
admissions official: “It’s like writing a generic love
letter. It rarely persuades.” In order to avoid the
last-minute rush of application deadlines,
candidates should not overlook the opportunities
presented by the summer months (the “offseason”).
Think of professional athletes: even during the
off-season, they maintain peak conditioning with
comprehensive exercise programs. At the very
least, candidates can start the long process of
preparing recommendation letters, ordering
academic transcripts, and thinking about an
application strategy. While many candidates
already have a strong mathematical background,
important tests for admission such as the TOEFL
and GMAT examinations require a high level of
proficiency in English which is impossible to
acquire in a short period of time. Thus, taking
English and math courses or starting the process
of GMAT preparation during the summer months
when the level of corporate activity usually slows
down could be an important strategic move.
Without a doubt, a summer vacation in Turkey or
Thailand is preferable to the hard work of thinking
about MBA application packages. However, there
are a number of steps that candidates can take in
between and during those summer trips to
strengthen their candidacy for the upcoming
application season.
[email protected]
FEBRUARY-MARCH 2002
ISSUE: 4
B -Scho ol C o ntac t Info r ma tion
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Carnegie Melon
www.gsia.cmu. edu
Columbia
www.columbia.edu/cu/business
Cornell (Johnson)
www.johnson.cornell.edu
[email protected]
1-412-268-2272
[email protected] 1-212854-1961, Linda Meehan, Assistant Dean
& Executive Director of Admissions
[email protected] Natalie M Grinblatt,
Director of Admission 1-607-255-4526
Dartmouth (Tuck)
www.dartmouth.edu/tuck/
Duke (Fuqua)
www.business.duke.edu
Harvard
IESE
www.hbs.edu
www.iese.edu
[email protected] 1-617-495-6127
[email protected] Maria de la Puerta, Director
of Admissions for EE/CIS Region
34-3-253-4200
IMD
Indiana (Kelly)
LBS
www.imd.ch
www.kelley.indiana.edu
www.lbs.ac.uk
MIT (Sloan)
www.mitsloan.mit.edu
[email protected] 41-21/618-0298
[email protected] 1-812-855-8006
Mary Ferreira, Marketing & Enquiries
Manager [email protected]
[email protected]
1-617-253-3730
NYU (Stern)
www.stern.nyu.edu
[email protected]
1-212 998-0100
Northwestern (Kellogg)
www.kellogg.nwu.edu
[email protected]
1-847-491-3308
Rotterdam
www.rsm.nl
Stanford
UC Berkeley (Haas)
www.gsb.stanford.edu
www.haas.berkeley.edu
[email protected], Connie Tai, Director of
Admissions 31-1040-81927/82196
[email protected] 1-650-723-2766
[email protected]
1-510-642-1405
UCLA (Anderson)
www.anderson.ucla.edu
U of Chicago
www.chicagogsb.org
U of Michigan
www.bus.umich..edu
UNC (Chapel Hill)
U of Penn (Wharton)
www.kenanflagler.unc.edu
www.wharton.upen.edu/mba
U T Austin (McComb)
www.bus.utexas.edu
U of Toronto (Rotman)
www.rotman.utoronto.ca
[email protected]
1-416-978-3499
UVA (Darden)
www2.darden.edu
Sarah Smythe
[email protected]
U Western Ontario
(Ivey)
Yale
www.ivey.uwo.ca/mba
1-519-661-3212
[email protected]
[email protected] 1-203.432.5932
www.yale.edu/som
Think of a unique marketing angle.
being a person who will fit at Columbia and who
will succeed in the future.”
Too often, little thought goes into how to
“package” an application. There is, after all, a
difference between an “application package” and
“packaging an application.” The best candidates
are able to create a unified marketing strategy
that relies on a “unique selling proposition.” Such
a strategy will consider all of your strengths and
experiences and then combine them into a
convincing package that demonstrates both a
comprehensive career vision and knowledge of
the individual MBA program itself. Moreover, the
marketing strategy needs to show how all of your
previous
academic
and
professional
accomplishments somehow differentiate your
candidacy from those of other Russian applicants.
Notes an admissions officer from Columbia: “Lots
of students have good backgrounds, but we are
looking for someone who stands out in a crowd as
One way to think about a unique marketing angle
and this “clear plan” is by working backwards.
That is, think of where you plan to be five years
after graduation from the MBA program, and then
develop a plan that takes into account the
important characteristics of this career. After all,
B-schools essentially act as intermediaries
between students and employers, in which the
best applicants are also the best future employees.
Candidates can use the MBA program to reposition themselves for top jobs after graduation,
based on earlier professional accomplishments.
For example, think of the candidate whose postMBA plan is to become a marketing executive
with a leading FMCG company. Such a candidate
would need a solid understanding of sales and
marketing, demonstrated experience with a
[email protected] 1-603646-3162
[email protected] 1-919660-770
[email protected]
1-310-825-6121
[email protected]
1-773-702-7369
[email protected]
1-734.763.5796
[email protected] 1-919-962-3236
Mae Jennifer Shores, Regional Admissions
Director for Central & Eastern Europe
1-215-898-6183
[email protected]
1-512-471-7612
specific product (or line of products), and an
understanding of basic corporate strategy. Even if
the candidate is currently, say, a FX (foreign
exchange) trader for a bank, it is possible to
demonstrate these skills. After all, a trader must
sell and market different currency instruments,
demonstrate a firm knowledge of a special product
(FX futures, for instance), and develop knowledge
of hedging and overlay strategies. Thus, this
hypothetical candidate would be able to overcome
a non-marketing background and still show “career
progression” to the admissions committee. The
MBA degree would simply be the “missing
ingredient” in an already successful mix.
Address weaknesses in extracurricular
activities.
For the admissions committee, “extracurricular
activities” do not mean playing the random game
of tennis with an office colleague or going to
discotheques on weekends. Too many candidates
think that “arranging social activities with friends”
somehow makes them more attractive to the
admissions committee. B-schools are looking for
candidates who excel both inside the classroom
AND outside of the classroom. Usually, the
admissions staff looks especially favorably on
evidence of strong participation in athletics or
grassroots political activities. Both of these
activities involve two key buzzwords for MBA
applications: teamwork and leadership.
For a candidate who is not the next Pavel Bure,
Yevgeny Kafelnikov, or Vladimir Putin is there
still hope? The answer is a resounding yes. Leading
a college or company team can be as impressive
as professional sports. And even applicants who
do not support any of the political parties in
Moscow can get involved in certain political issues
(e.g. advocating for improvement of the regime
for small business or for alternative military
service) that have significant personal impact.
Probably the easiest way to upgrade significantly
your extracurricular activities is getting involved
in volunteer activities. In New York, for example,
many American candidates are upgrading their
applications by helping out with volunteer
activities related to recovering from the September
11 terrorist attacks. Other candidates participate
in alumni activities sponsored by their
undergraduate university, such as annual campaigns
to raise money for the university. Similar
activities are also possible in Moscow- and can
differentiate your package from those of other
applicants. The most impressive volunteer
experience leverages previous professional skills.
For example, business development managers can
use their talents to develop a fundraising campaign
for a local charity and specialists in a certain field
can contribute articles to professional journals.
Find ways to demonstrate excellence.
Quite simply, the admissions committee prizes
excellence of any kind. Especially, evidence of
“non-business” managerial excellence. Perhaps
you managed a group of athletes or artists, or
coordinated group trips over the summer to the
Crimea. The key is always to turn any event into
a potential sign of excellence. Moreover, you will
need to be able to quantify this excellence. Consider
someone applying to IESE. It is not enough simply
to say, “I coordinated trips to Spain for a group
of colleagues in 1998.” It is better to be able to
state something like, “As part of my ongoing
immersion into Spanish language and culture, I
created and managed a club of 40 individuals in
Moscow with a similar appreciation for Spanish
and Iberian culture. Over a three-year period, our
annual operating budget increased by 25% and the
number of dues-paying members increased by
32%.”
Naturally, any summer vacation can be transformed
into a potential source of excellence. Suppose
you plan to visit Egypt over the summer. Someone
with an athletics background might decide to
receive a PADI scuba diving license or participate
in windsurfing competitions at a resort on the
Red Sea. On the other hand, someone with a
background in Middle Eastern studies might decide
to visit Cairo and spend a few days doing research
for a professor or taking an intensive language
course.
This is not to say that “summer travel” should
become a key aspect of your application. Not at
all. But it does demonstrate the correct mindset
for the pre-application period - you should always
be thinking of how to position your application
and demonstrate excellence to the admissions
committee. If you attend a health club, think of
training for an event or receiving a certificate. If
you like to paint or write poetry in your free
FOCUS ON INSEAD–THE STATISTICS
(Source Peterson’s Guide to MBA Programs 2001, inter alia)
Rankings:
Business Week
1 (Non-US Ranking)
US News
N/A
Financial Times
7
Average GMAT Score
688
Range of GMAT Scores
550-800
MinimumTOEFL Score
260 (620)
Most important admissions criteria:
Interview; proficiency in 2
languages
Wait between application and acceptance
16 weeks
Number of applications for 2000 class
N/A
Number admitted to entering 2000 class
N/A
Number of admittees who enrolled in 2000
N/A
Size of entire enrollment in 2000
679
Foreign students
app 88%
Average age of entering class
29
Average experience of entering class
5 years
Tuition cost for 2001 (one year)
42,000 euros + fees
Average room & board cost per year
16,600 euros
Total average budget (2 years)
60,000 euros
Closest application deadline
March 1-July 1
Strongest market nitch
General Management
Number of employers who visit
over 500
Average starting salary
82,500 euros
Representative major
N/A
employers
time, think of ways to exhibit the art in a gallery
or have the poems published in a literary magazine.
Remember- you are competing against other
Russian candidates, all of them with
approximately the same educational and
professional backgrounds. In order to stand out,
you need to develop a unique marketing strategy,
emphasize excellence outside of the classroom,
and convince the admissions committee that you
will be successful in a 24/7 English-language
academic environment.
In conclusion, it makes sense to start preparing
for the MBA admissions cycle as early as possible.
The summer months represent a perfect
opportunity to get a “head start” on other
applicants. Some candidates can tune up those
English and math skills. Other candidates can
start preparing drafts of essays after developing a
unique marketing strategy. Still other can start
the long process of researching different MBA
programs. Finally, candidates intent on breaking
through the 700 level on their GMAT tests are
well-advised to start early preparation for the
exam.
Every year, candidates find themselves canceling
business trips or taking vacations from work in
order to catch up on an admissions process that
inevitably takes longer than they imagined. So
get a head start this summer!
MBA Application Essays, Interviewing &
“The Elevator Pitch”
-Tom Nastas received his MBA from Michigan
State and is currently running his own venture
capital company in Russia. He is Pericles MBA
Advisor here in Russia and also teaches a
course on interviewing and essay writing for
entrance into B-school. If you are interested in
studying with Mr. Nastas please e-mail Pericles
at [email protected]
One of the most frightening aspects of a B-school
application is the essay questions. One of the
most common questions that an applicant will
have to answer is, “Tell us in 500 words what your
strengths and weaknesses are, how your strengths
will contribute to the development of our school,
its curriculum and our student body, and how you
intend to make your weaknesses less weak.”
Another frightening experience for MBA
applicants is how to answer questions in an
interview with an admissions officer or an alumna
from the student’s targeted school. Here one of
the most common questions that a perspective
students must answer is, “Now tell me exactly
why we should admit you when we have hundreds
of other candidates with equal qualifications as
yourself?”
Q. Why do such questions strike fear in the hearts
and minds of Russians that seek admission to an
American or European business school?
A. It’s because the application and admission
policy is different than what Russians have
experienced before with questions they have not
been asked before as they face international
competition that pits the ‘best of the best’ from
the four corners of the world for a limited number
of open slots. Other factors contributing to
students’ uncertainty include a lack of confidence
in the overall process, especially in having to
give responses in a foreign tongue.
So what’s a student to do? One way to make the
experience in writing application essays and
practicing interviewing more productive and with
greater clarity is through a presentation technique
called the “Elevator Pitch.” Adopted and adapted
from the business world, the elevator pitch is a
great way to create focus, and build confidence in
each student.
Picture this situation:
You’re a Russian entrepreneur who has created
the world’s second best innovation after blinis
and black caviar, and you seek money to
commercialize your idea. You go to a conference
where hundreds of investors and other like-minded,
money-hunting entrepreneurs are circling around
the sources of cash. It’s your time to pitch your
idea, you’re ready, and the investor says, “OK, so
tell me in one minute why I should invest?” He
continues, “There are lots of other people I need
to talk with so make it quick, and make it good.”
Suddenly your heart sinks, you break into a cold
sweat, and that twenty minute presentation you
rehearsed all last night with no sleep flies out of
your head and all you can say is “Well, I… umm,
we want, umm, uum.” Your opportunity has
become a disaster, you’re embarrassed, and the
investor has turned his back on you and attention
to your competitor.
Q. What’s this example have to do with you,
struggling to write that essay or walking to your
admission interview thinking about what you will
say vs. raising money? Well everything; just
picture this situation.
A. Imagine you suddenly find yourself in a hotel
elevator with the Admissions Director of Wharton.
You tell her you are applying, and she says,
“Really, tell me about yourself so I can remember
your distinctiveness’ when we read your essays.”
Assuming the elevator doesn’t get stuck, you will
have only about 60 seconds! You need to focus
on the most interesting thing about you—what is
it about you that will really sell you to her and
Wharton? It won’t be that specialized English
school you attended or a list of the jobs you’ve
had. And it doesn’t matter whether your key
accomplishment is your marketing campaign that
resulted in an 80% increase in product sales, or
your scoring the winning goal in your college
championship soccer match. You open your
mouth to answer, and out comes, “Well I, uum,
did uum.” The Wharton Admission Director looks
right through you as the elevator door opens and
out she steps with a polite handshake, “Thank
you, it was nice to meet you.”
Q.So what can you do to avoid this nightmare,
both in your essays and interview?
A. The first step is simple; be prepared. It’s very
hard to write a good essay or deliver a great
elevator pitch without being prepared 110%. The
elevator pitch is simply your opening statement
about you, who you are, and something that
reflects the picture you want to paint about
yourself.
You need to focus on some
accomplishment that makes her remember you
when she sees you again, or reads something from
you again.
The second thing you can do is to focus on a few
key ideas. Too many times I see essays that fail
to get to the point of the question quickly, that
ramble in multiple directions, and that lack a clear
objective. What I’ve found in advising prospective
MBA students is that they tend to write or talk
too much. Students want to sell themselves, so
they try to say everything good about themselves
that they can think of. This, however, is a
mistake, because in between many little pieces of
good information the really outstanding points
about a student can get hidden or lost.
The third thing you can do is to prepare
information in small bites, 60-second elevator
pitches on different aspects of you so one ‘elevator
pitch’ rolls into another on a related topic
smoothly and naturally. The same goes for
writing answers to essays; write a paragraph or
two that you can read in 60 seconds, with an
ending transition statement that smoothly and
naturally leads into the next paragraph.
The fourth thing you can do is think in show
business terms; leave the reader of your essay or
the interviewer wanting more information. At
the end of your opening statement of yourself
(the elevator pitch), you know if you are successful
if the interviewer asks, “Really, well tell me how
you did that?” or “What did you learn from that?”
or if s/he asks, “Interesting, please tell me more.”
The same goes for your essays; your writing should
answer the question with interest created for the
reader to want to meet you.
The fifth thing you can do is to get some feedback
on your work, from your friends, parents, and coworkers. We at Pericles can help too; we have a
variety of assistance programs to help you build
the skills you need and instructors to give you
personal attention, and to advise you in the writing
of your essays and preparing for your interview.
Remember the old saying; You never get a second
chance to make a first impression. Use the
principle of the ‘elevator pitch’ to prepare your
opening sentence in an essay, or your opening
statement in an interview. Focus on one or two
strong points and you are in a great position to
come out of the process strong, confident and
successful.
Rebounding From a Rejection
Letter
-Dominic Basulto received his MBA from Yale
School of Management. Dominic does Pericles’
MBA Advising through the internet. If you are
interested in studying with Mr. Basulto please email Pericles at [email protected]
It is the rare candidate who is accepted at all the
top MBA programs. With the admissions rate at
many elite B-schools such as Stanford, Columbia,
and Wharton hovering around 10%, even the best
candidates are facing an intensely competitive
selection process. Compounding this problem is
the fact that Russian candidates focus
overwhelmingly on only a handful of MBA
programs, creating a huge imbalance between
supply and demand. Moreover, a worldwide
economic downturn means that applications are
up significantly - as much as 60% at programs
such as Yale - as candidates attempt to wait out
economic uncertainty by returning to campus.
Given this backdrop, it is not surprising that most
candidates will receive at least one rejection
(“ding”) letter this admissions cycle.
It is important, though, to put the rejection letter
into perspective: it does not reflect on your future
potential as a manager. Rather, it is important to
analyze the rejection letter and determine any
inadequacies in your application package so that
you can correct them for next year. Below is a
brief description of the four key reasons for being
rejected at an elite MBA program.
Applying late
Both statistical and anecdotal evidence suggests
that applying later in the admissions process tends
to lower one’s chances for admission. In fact, in
1999, Dartmouth only accepted four candidates
applying in the fourth round. And the acceptance
rate at Stanford falls below 2% for the final round
of applications. The reason is simple— each
business school knows from historical experience
the typical composition of each incoming class,
and knows the “floor” (minimum) that is required
for admission. As more places in the class are
filled, this “floor” slowly shifts higher in an effort
to eliminate an increasing number of candidates
for a decreasing number of places. By the fourth
or final round, the new floor is quite higher than
earlier in the cycle, sometimes creating impossible
standards for admission. While schools attempt
to correct this imbalance, the selection process is
still quite subjective and late admission is still often
more difficult than in earlier rounds.
However, this does not mean that applying during
the first round will guarantee admission. Usually
the first round is heavily populated with
candidates who were rejected in the previous year
(and who already have their application packages
prepared) and the highest achieving Top 20% of
candidates. Thus, if you plan to apply early, it is
important to submit a top-quality application that
reflects a real understanding of the particular MBA
program. Remember - you are constantly being
compared on an absolute basis as well as a relative
basis. You are being judged against the “statistical
norm” of prior candidates, as well as against the
current applicant pool of candidates. In order to
be accepted, you must match the profile of this
“statistical norm” AND rank in the top 20-30%
(or even 10% for the most competitive MBA
programs) of all applicants. Think of the “yield
management” systems used by many airlines to
establish the appropriate price for a ticket- the
airlines know the historical level of traffic between
destinations, but some seasonal factors or
unforeseen events may sharply impact the price
offered to the consumer. The B-schools also have
a type of “yield management” system, in which
they attempt to admit the most talented incoming
class possible by altering their admissions standards
during the admissions cycle.
Failure to understand the differences
between B-schools
Simply sending the same application to four or
five different B-schools (and only changing the
names) is a clear recipe for rejection. Applications
need to be personalized for the respective Bschool. If your goal after graduation is to work in
banking and finance, it makes little or no sense to
attend an MBA program without a strong finance
program or without a proven ability to place
students in rewarding summer internships on Wall
Street. Moreover, similar to corporations, each
B-school has a unique culture and campus
environment.
Consider Dartmouth Amos Tuck, which is
basically located in a forest, with the nearest large
city (Boston) located 3 hours away by car. Students
typically are outdoorsy, adventure types who enjoy
skiing and outdoor sports such as hiking and
canoeing. As a Moscow applicant, writing about
cosmopolitan travels and an appreciation for city
life (museums, fine arts, cafes) may mean that
the admissions committee will consider that you
are not the appropriate ‘fit” for that program. If,
on the other hand, you mention your skiing trips
to Volen Sports Complex or Krasnaya Polyana,
your chances are probably increased. After all,
Dartmouth is one of the rare U.S. B-schools with
its own ski slope, Dartmouth Skiway.
Lack of one of the three critical success
factors.
While most of what is written in admissions
brochures is pure marketing and PR, it is a fact
that B-schools are looking for three very
important characteristics in each applicant:
international exposure, managerial experience,
and teamwork. However, simply writing that you
are a “team player” or a “leader” means nothing.
And visiting the Greek Isles on vacation does not
qualify as “international exposure.” Moreover,
candidates must show that they will be able to
contribute to the MBA program and add value for
their classmates.
working for Baker & McKenzie and teaches the
grammar section at Pericles ABLE Project.
Most importantly, the application needs to show
evidence of these success factors without using
jargon and cliches. Consider some of the classic
mistakes made in applications. For instance,
claiming that you are a team player, yet later in
the same essay claiming that your career goal is
to “become the chief executive of a large
multinational company.” Or claiming that you
have “a solid grasp of Western business concepts”
after only 2-3 years of experience. Or writing
that you are an “experienced manager”, without
somewhere in your essays being able to describe
your managerial style or provide insights into how
to lead and manage people.
Legal professionals in Russia frequently encounter
common law issues in the context of sales
agreements, incorporations, franchising, adoption,
immigration and other matters.
Absence of Izuminka (èçþìèíêà)
Izuminka is a difficult quality to describe, but easy
to recognize. It usually refers to qualitative factors
that are nearly impossible to measure objectively.
For example, consider the annual rankings of the
world’s top business schools: these rankings
employ a mix of quantitative and qualitative
factors. While objective measures such as “average
GMAT score” are important, so are subjective
measures such as “recruiter satisfaction” and
“student satisfaction.” Plus, certain B-schools
such as Harvard have an indefinable “mystique”
that is impossible to measure. In much the same
way, the admissions committee will tend to select
a candidate with that indescribable izuminka. In
other words, impressive GMAT scores and high
academic marks are only a sign that you are
intelligent, and not a guarantee of admission.
So how to show evidence of this izuminka? True,
B-schools tend to emphasize diversity, but they
are looking for a special type of diversity that
makes a candidate special. Merely listing a group
of 10 extracurricular activities does not count.
And never rely on academic interests: enjoying
both Pushkin and Gabriel Garcia-Marquez does
not qualify as izuminka- it qualifies you to attend
a master’s level English program. Attending a
prestigious university does not make you special.
Working for a prestigious employer does not make
you special. Instead, B-schools are looking for a
background or life philosophy that makes a
candidate special and different. Elite B-schools
tend to ignore candidates who work 24 hours a
day and spend their weekends sleeping and
dreaming about becoming a CEO.
Rebounding from a rejection letter is never easy,
but it is possible if you understand the mindset of
the admissions committee. One admissions officer
for an elite Ivy League university once was asked
for an example of the perfect candidate. Without
missing a beat, he answered, “Huck Finn.” In the
USA, the story of Mark Twain’s fictional character
Huckleberry Finn is probably as well known as the
story of Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin in Russia. In
other words, a candidate who is simultaneously
bright, interesting, and, well, prone to adventure
and curiosity. (For a look at the darker side of the
admissions game, a good article is: “The Runner:
How did a 29-year-old drifter, petty thief, and
ex-con turn himself into a 19-year-old freshman
at Princeton?”, which appeared in the September
3, 2001 issue of the New Yorker magazine.
Seeking Career Advancement With
a J.D. or LL.M. Degree
-Peter Kraybill received his JD from Pennsylvania
State University at Dickinsen. He is currently
If you find yourself in that situation, then
attending law school, either for a one-year LL.M
(Masters of Laws) degree or a three-year J.D. (Juris
Doctorate) degree in the United States or Canada
might be appropriate for you. Here’s a brief guide
to what is required to obtain a J.D. or LL.M.
degree.
Law schools do not require any prerequisite courses
for admission, but many of your classmates in law
school would already have taken courses as
undergraduates within such subject areas as
accounting, economics, philosophy, history,
English composition and literature, psychology,
sociology, political science, public speaking,
religion and logic. As a general rule, courses that
involve doing extensive, critiqued writing are
excellent preparation for law school.
Law schools do not expect that applicant students
will have work experience in the legal field. Any
work experience is valuable, however, in teaching
time management, leadership, responsibility or
bookkeeping.
J.D. Applicants:
If you are applying for a J.D. program, you will
need to take the Law School Admissions Test
(LSAT), a half-day standardized test necessary
for admission to all 199 Law School Admissions
Council (LSAC) law schools in the United States
and Canada. Along with your undergraduate degree
grade point average, the LSAT score you achieve
is the most important factor in being admitted
into law school. The LSAT tests logical analysis
and analytical reasoning skills that are essential
in studying law. A further description of the LSAT
exam, fees and schedule, as well as on-line
registration for the 2002-2003 testing year, can
be found at www.LSAC.org.
Many J.D. program applicants chose to take LSAT
professional preparation courses from Barbri,
Princeton Review or Kaplan.
In addition to taking the LSAT, J.D. program
applicants must also purchase a subscription to
the Law School Data Assembly Service, the
clearinghouse for all student data. The LSDAS
submits your student data and LSAT score to one
law school without an additional charge, and then
to additional law schools for $8 per school.
In addition to the J.D. program applicant’s need
to prepare for the LSAT, subscribe to the LSDAS
and obtain a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, both
LL.M. and J.D. program applicants should
carefully consider which law school to attend.
The LSAC recommends that law school applicants
not get too worried over a law school’s “ranking.”
Instead, consider the size, composition, and
background of the student body; the location, size,
and nature of the surrounding community; the
particular strengths or interests of the faculty;
the degree to which clinical experience or
classroom lyour chances of acceptance, since you
likely will not be accepted everywhere you apply.
As a J.D. program applicant, when you are ready
to apply to the law schools that you have chosen,
you can do your application once and submit it to
multiple schools using the LSACD, a $59 internetbased tool for preparing applications. With LSACD
you can print every application from your own
computer printer. See www.LSAC.org for further
information on this time-saving device.
LL.M. Applicants:
For LL.M program applicants, you can anticipate
that your program will be simpler and lesscompetitive than for a J.D. Also, your courses in
law school will mostly be in the area of specialty
of your LL.M. and will not provide the broad
survey of law of a J.D. program.
Although you likely will have most of your classes
with J.D. program students, in some law schools
the grading is easier and the class hours per
semester are fewer for LL.M. program students.
Obviously, every student would choose an LL.M.
if these were the only criteria. The primary
drawback of an LL.M. degree is that it does not
create eligibility to apply for Bar membership as
an Attorney in most states in the United States
and Canada. For foreign lawyers, however, an
LL.M. is ideal, since Bar membership in the United
States or Canada is less significant and the degree
alerts employers to substantive academic
experience in American or Canadian law.
Foreign applicants to LL.M. programs must
submit their TOEFL scores with their program
application.
For information on required scores, see the
admissions web site of the law school program
where you are applying. Most law schools would
require a TOEFL score of at least 550.
An LL.M. program will vary greatly depending
on the nature of the degree to be awarded - whether
it is in Comparative Law, Transnational
Litigation, Tax or any number of others. If a law
school has an LL.M. program, and most do, the
most common program is a LL.M. in Comparative
or International Law. Most LL.M. programs
require a course on the fundamentals of American
or Canadian law, as well as several courses taken
from the “core” curriculum of the first-year of
the J.D. program. These core courses would likely
include Administrative Law, Civil Procedure,
Constitutional Law, Contracts, Corporations,
Criminal Law, Property, Taxation, and Torts. In
addition, most LL.M. programs have a thesislength paper requirement or equivalent.
If you desire to receive an LL.M. without leaving
Russia, consider the program designed and
administered by ABLE Pericles right here in
Moscow. While most LL.M. programs prohibit
students from working full time, the ABLE Pericles
LL.M. allows you the freedom to pursue your
career while also earning your degree - and all
without leaving Moscow.
As a foreign student in an American or Canadian
LL.M. program, during your studies you likely
will draw considerably on your legal experience
prior to entering the program. An LL.M. will
thus allow you to solidly build on the legal education
you already have, while preparing you with more
options in your local legal practice.
For more information, consult the students’
section of www.findlaw.com, www.LSAC.org and
advisors at ABLE Pericles.