James_expat

Thank you very much for your response exactley what I was looking for

E3only

I think the mob here is temperamental. I have seen people getting shot down at the very first post. OP says long time reader – well, what can I say……

Should this thread be moved to US immigration ?

Bob

OPT lasts a year...could try a J1 after if you qualify and weren't able to get a job...

LivAtl

You can actually get a Student loan in teh US and ask for US Family to be a co signer, after graduation you can apply for a special visa for work experiecne whcih lasts for a year, most students within this time get a job offer etc and stay here in the USA.

I know this as im goin this route.

We are makin USA British again one person at a time

Bob

BoA offer a student loan, but the rates are a load of spank and what plonker is going to co-sign a loan for someone that isn't family? You miss a payment and wreck their credit history.

You don't need to apply for OPT generally speaking, it's a year of work training upon graduation...the problem with this, gradutation and when folks are allowed to work on an H1B don't line up well generally, leaving you with a period of none legal status, which means you have to bugger off, so you can't do a change of status, unless you want to be land locked, but that's a rubbish idea.

yorkieuk

Hi,

Just thought would offer my input as I am going to be applying for the JD and am a British myself. Anyway I started thinking about moving to the U.S about 2 years ago (had U.S b/f at time who if now fiance) and seeming I wanted to have a career in law I decided to look around at options. Anyway here are the options I found:

1) Take the LSAT and apply for the 3 year J.D. This however requires a hell of a lot of money. As was mentioned above international students are not eligible for the student loans or many scholarships etc (as of this moment I haven't found any scholarships for the JD open to international students). Therefore you have to pay for the whole thing yourself or get a U.S co signer. I don't know if you have looked into how expensive the J.D actually is. You might want to do this. The schools I have been looking at (and these are a mixture of state schools and private) run between $30k and $50k a year. This does not include living costs so you are looking at between $90k and $150k loan just for tuition, depending on where you will go to school living costs could be a ton extra on top of this. Someone mentioned above about getting a U.S co signer to co sign the loan. This s normally done based on credit score so you will have to find someone who has a good credit score and is willing to be put in that position. Remember after you graduate you have to start paying the loan back, however, if you haven't managed to find a job the loan gets put on the co signer. Personally, after looking into it this is not what I wanted to do with such a large amount of money. Also without being a U.S PR or citizen when you graduate may hamper your job search. I mean if there is say a graduating class of 200 and you have the exact same qualifications as someone else, the likelihood is that the company is going to pick the the U.S PR/citizen as they wont have to apply for a visa for them. On the other hand if you go to law school, meet and American and then marry by the time your done with law school then you would be a PR and open to the same employment opportunities as everyone else.

2) Get an l.l.b from a UK University and then an L.L.M from an American school. If you have a prior degree you can apply at a handful of universities in the UK (Leeds, Wales, some in Scotland) to do the l.l.b in 2 years rather than 3. In terms of tuition in the UK you are looking at between £1250 a year and £3000 (some universities apply the old fees because you already have a degree some apply the new fees). Either way it is a hell of a lot cheaper than the U.S, if you find a uni that is near home you could also save on living costs and end up saving money for you trip to the U.S. You would then go to the U.S and get the L.L.M, again this costs quite a lot but it is nowhere near as costly as a 3 year J.D. However, I would be worried about job prospects with just and L.L.M and also sitting the bar. From what I have researched in some states you can take it with an L.L.M and in others your can't.

3) Get and l.l.b from a Uk Uni then go and do the J.D. Quite a lot of U.S law schools in the U.S offer a accelerated J.D program is you have a foreign law degree. This is the route I decided to take and have gone around a lot of U.S law schools this summer asking them about applying with a foreign law degree and if you can get credit for it. The good news is that most said yes (the list is quite extensive you you would like it I can send it in a PM) and most said you would be able to have between a year and a year and a half for credit earned from the U.K l.l.b. This is mostly because the 2 countries are based on the same common law system and courses that are compulsory in the l.l.b (i.e contract, constitutional, administrative, tort, criminal, land, equity and trusts etc) are also compulsory for the J.D and many schools recognize this and will offer you credit so you don't have to take the same classes again. Therefore if you decide to take the 2 year l.l.b then the accelerated J.D you could technically get the whole thing done in between 3 and a 1/2 to 4 years. Again you would still have the cost of between 1-2 years of law school but this is still better than 3. From my interviews at law schools in the U.S this summer I also found that they are going to be less strict about LSAT score and even to an extent GPA if you already have a law degree. Basically I was told because I already have a law degree the LSAT/GRE requirements are likely to be different as I have already proved I can make it through law school. However once you graduate with the J.D you are still in the same position as option (1) so I strongly suggest finding an American g/f while there!

Hope this is in anyway helpful. If you have any more specific questions please feel free to PM me.

Sophie

LivAtl

All colleges require you to do general Studies in the US first, you can do that at a college that does not require a LSAT, for instance Georgia Perimeter College then once you've done that you you can get any transfer to any college you want after and you wont have to sit/pay for the LSAT.

yorkieuk

Sorry I don't understand what you mean my general studies? Any law school I have met with or looked at online has the requirement that you have to have a undergraduate bachelors degree before being admitted to law school. It doesn't matter if the undergraduate degree is from abroad you just use the LSAC service to apply and through this if you are international you use the JD CAS service to make sure the degree you are taking abroad is the equivalent of a bachelors.

You then take the LSAT. No school I have met with has said you can get away with not taking this as it is one of the two main factors (along with GPA) in deciding likely success at law school. The only exception I was told where you don't need an LSAT score is if you apply for an L.L.M.