Double Degree Programme:
Columbia Law School
Study in the US
Students should be alerted that studying at a US law school may present challenges, both personally and academically. First is the challenge of adapting to life in a new city and country; further, students will be faced with a very different academic culture. Typically, US law students will have completed at least one university degree and sometimes several, and as such LSE students will be part of an older and in some respects more focused cohort of students. In this context, students may find it difficult to perform at as high a level as that which they achieved at LSE, particularly during their first term of study. Given these challenges, students must not take the decision to pursue the double degree programme lightly.
In terms of financing, students are responsible for meeting their own tuition costs and living expenses while at Columbia, and this cost may be prohibitive; opportunities to apply for funding are discussed here: funding. Students are also responsible for satisfying all immigration requirements to study in the US. Advice is available from Columbia with respect to financing, housing, immigration, and other matters – please see here: Information about CLS
Note also that Columbia may require, as a condition of admission, that students obtain a particular result in their second year exams at LSE.
In light of the challenges of study in the US, students who are admitted to the programme – and particularly those who obtain an average in their second year exams that is significantly lower than that in their first year exams at LSE – are advised to consider very carefully whether to pursue the programme, particularly in light of the possibility that they may find it difficult to perform at a high level in a new and challenging academic environment.
That said, LSE students have
typically adapted well to life and study in the US, have competed successfully
for jobs in US law firms, and have performed at an academic level that is
comparable to (although very rarely better than) that achieved at LSE. More
broadly, Columbia offers a stimulating curriculum and an excellent foundation
for pursuing future job opportunities in the US and elsewhere.
Please visit the links on the right for further information.
