How I Got Admission to LL.M. Programs at Harvard, Cambridge, NYU, and MIDS and Over $140k in Scholarship Offers: My System Explained

photo credit (c) Himesh Kharel

Introduction

A few years ago, I decided to do a master of laws (LL.M.). I secured four offers: Harvard, New York University, Cambridge, and the Master’s of International Dispute Settlement (MIDS) in Geneva. I also received over $140,000 in scholarship offers, including CHF 40,000 from MIDS, a $30,000 Dean’s scholarship from NYU, a $30,000 grant from Harvard, an $8,000 grant from the Harvard General Committee on Scholarships, and $28,000 from the Russian-US Legal Education Foundation.

In this post, I’ll distill my success strategy in 8 steps.

I applied over two years. The first year, I applied to Oxford, Cambridge and MIDS. I had an admission offer from Cambridge and both admission and a full scholarship from MIDS. However, after reflecting, I realized that my vision for the future had changed - I no longer planned a career in arbitration. I decided to reject the offers and reapply the following year to programs in the United States.

The steps I'll outline are not meant to be performed in a linear fashion, one after another. They will overlap. For instance, determining when to start will depend partly on the language you plan to study in and whether you need to improve your fluency for a required language test.

At the same time, developing a timeline will depend on where you're applying. You’ll need to choose your programs, revisit your timeline, and update it accordingly.

If you're applying for scholarships, start the scholarship search in parallel with program selection. Many scholarships have early deadlines, and some may even require applications before submitting your admissions materials. Scholarship availability might also influence your choice of programs.

Let’s dive in!

Step 1: Choose Your Programs

Start with your why – why do you want to pursue this degree? What is it that you want to get out of it?

It’s a bit like Alice in Wonderland:

“If you don't know where you want to go, then it doesn't matter which path you take.”

To plan your steps and the path to take, you need to know where you are going and why.

When I was choosing programs, I started with a long list of options - everywhere I could potentially apply, without constraints. I then went through the list and made notes. I assessed each program in light of what mattered to me. (I explain this process in detail in my Harvard State of Mind on Demand course).

For instance, I noted that Stanford didn’t offer financial aid to LL.M. students, and they only had one merit-based scholarship. I also noted that I didn't feel attracted to many programs in the EU because I’ve done multiple shorter study programs there before and knew a lot about European systems of education. For an LL.M., I wanted to turn my world upside down and do something completely new.

Notes I made related to:

• funding, i.e. available scholarships and resources I could access.
• industry focus: programs connected to industry clusters, like MIDS.
• reputation: renowned universities globally or in my field.
• proximity: close to home and easy to visit.
• career connections: programs that facilitated the transition from study to work.
• academic focus: Yale, for instance, as I was planning to pursue academic career.
• curriculum, especially experiential and hands-on learning.
• my knowledge of country’s culture: I personally eliminated programs in already knew well.

After adding my notes, I created a shortlist.

When you do this exercise yourself, certain programs will naturally stand out as priorities. I applied to three programs in the first year and four in the second year - seven total. It felt like a lot. For you, it may be different. The final number of programs you apply to will ultimately depend on how much effort you can invest and your goals. Most people target between 4 and 10 programs.

Step 2: Create a Rough Timeline

When planning my applications, I first checked the deadlines and worked backward to allocate the time I needed. For each estimate, I multiplied the time by 2-3 times to account for any unexpected delays that might derail the process. This strategy has worked for all my applications since.

I also considered specific planning requirements for each document, eg, waiting times for the English test. I discuss them in depth in this blog post.

If you work at a law firm, I recommend multiplying all timeframes by 3-4 times, as tasks will take longer than you expect.

Depending on what works for you,

• frontload the effort, especially in the beginning: invest more time early in the process so you can reduce stress closer to deadlines. I completed a lot of work early on to ensure I had a safety net later.
• set aside focused time: dedicate periods when you can solely focus on applications. This might mean taking holidays, working part-time, or committing weekends. I used a lot of weekends to write my applications.
• find pockets of time you can use: use small windows of free time. For me, it was the waiting time at train stations; for you, it might be something else.

For more details, check our my productivity guide: on how to write your applications without sacrificing your family, career, or studies.

Step 3: Think Through Your Funding Strategy

Consider as many funding options as possible. You won’t necessarily use all the options you explore, but having multiple fallback plans is essential (for more detail on how to build your funding strategy, please check out my 70-page Ultimate Guide to Funding Your Master's Degree). For instance, when I was crowdfunding for my Harvard tuition, a partner at my law firm offered me a personal loan. I managed to raise the needed funds without accepting his help, but knowing I had a backup plan was reassuring.

Expect that your funding strategy will evolve throughout the application cycle, and some options may fall through.

Incorporate your funding considerations into your choice of programs:

• If you rely on scholarships, prioritize programs offering relevant scholarships.
• Alternatively, target programs where you can source funding through other means, such as loans from family, friends, or an employer.

Some funding options, like negotiating financial aid, will only become available after you're admitted. While you can't plan extensively for these in advance, it's good to know they exist.

Generally, consider where you are and the actions you can take to get where you want. Your funding path might not be straightforward, but that's ok – be prepared for it, and consider what you can do in the circumstances you've been dealt.

What helped me tremendously was talking to others who had done an LL.M. and learning how they funded their degrees. Not everyone will be open to share this information, and that's ok. But some of them will, and you’ll discover there's no single way to finance a degree.

Step 4: Have an Essay Strategy

I attribute a huge part of my success to my original 5-step methodology for writing personal statements that I started developing during that time.

When I talk about essays here, I mean motivation letters, personal statements, and any writing that explains your background, goals, and motivations. For example, Cambridge asks about your reasons for applying, while Yale simply calls them ‘required essays.’

A personal statement, as well as a statement of purpose or a motivation letter, is one of the most critical components of an LL.M. application. This essay is your opportunity to talk about your past, present, and plans for the future. It’s also one of the most important documents in your application because it’s the one you have the most control over. One of the biggest mistakes you can do here is to simply restate your CV. So it pays off to have a strategy for your essays to maximize your chances of success.

My essay strategy included the following elements:

1. reserve 2 to 3 months for writing your essays, preferably more:

Essay writing is often the most challenging part of the application process, so allocate enough time for it. If you aim for around 2 months for it, expect to work on them almost every day; otherwise, you’ll need more time. If you're not a native English speaker or it’s your first time writing about yourself, plan for even more time.

I applied two years in a row, and both times I started 3-4 months before the deadline. For U.S. applications, with December deadlines, I began in August - September. It felt barely sufficient, and if I had to do it again, I would start sooner. The only reason I managed to submit my applications on time was because I was not starting from scratch: I had material to reuse from the previous year.

Writing is a continuous alternating between focused writing and your brain working on it in the background. Allow time for both - actively developing ideas and letting them ‘stew’ in your mind.

2. track the essays you need to write:

I used a separate Word document to track each essay. I kept track of the questions asked (the essay prompts), deadlines, and required word counts.

3. read the questions early, but don’t answer them directly at first:

Early on, I made the mistake of trying to answer questions directly. It kept me stuck, until I started to develop a coherent narrative about who I was first, and then map it to the questions.

To be clear: You still need to answer the essay prompts. There is nothing more annoying to the admissions committee than ignoring the questions asked or answering a different question. However, if you write by immediately trying to answer the questions, you’ll most probably get stuck, and your essay may sound unconvincing and shallow because it won't reflect your deeper motivations.

Instead of letting the questions drive what you say, I suggest developing your personal story first, then aligning it with the essay prompts.

Most prompts are broad and cover a mix of your past (background), present (where you are now), and future (post-LL.M. goals). Even seemingly narrow questions are often hard to answer without digging into your background and choices. This overlap simplifies the process since ideas from one essay can often be reused in another.

I was only able to produce strong essays after reflecting deeply on my background and addressing the questions at a much deeper level than they seemed to present at first.

4. separate your writing into distinct stages:

There is no continuous process of ‘writing.’ ‘Writing’ is an umbrella term for a variety of activities that include idea generation, idea selection, writing draft, and editing.

A key to my success was protecting my creative process from my inner critic. For essays, it’s vital to recognize and separate these two modes:

• Use the creative mode for generating ideas and drafting.
• Use the critical mode for selecting ideas and editing.

If you allow your critic to judge your work during the creative stage, it will stifle progress. I trained myself to recognize when the critic interfered and politely asked it to “wait” until the editing stage. I didn’t suppress it—I just handled it carefully.

5. write one core essay and customize it for other programs:

I focused primarily on Harvard’s essay because it offered the most significant payoff. It consumed about 90% of my effort. Once it was polished, I adapted it for other programs, which required far less time.

6. edit like your life depends on it:

I edited and rewrote each essay multiple times—literally dozens of iterations. I treated it as though my life depended on it, because in admissions, it does.

It took me approximately 30 drafts to reach a point where I felt I could submit the essay. I only stopped when I could no longer think of anything else to improve.

If you'd like to learn more, I've shared my process writing the Harvard LL.M. personal statement in a three-part post series here: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. It's an illustration of my original 5-step methodology for writing personal statements. The core of this methodology is identifying and focusing on formative life experiences to craft a compelling LL.M. application. In this post I explain how I strategically chose what experiences to include and what to leave out. You can also read about my philosophy on using personal stories, as opposed to professional, here (the overarching framework) and here (how I applied it to my Harvard essay).

For writing samples and essays on a legal issue, such as part 'b' of the Harvard's personal statement, Oxford's written work, or the NYU Hauser scholarship essay, please check out this post.

I also published a selection of my application essays and created a comprehensive course, The Ultimate Guide to a Personal Statement That Gets You Admission, with a full roadmap for writing a winning personal statement, motivation letter, or statement of purpose.

If you'd like personalized help with your application essays, such as feedback on your drafts or helping you choose a good topic and analyze your background to identify examples you can use in your essay, you are welcome to read about how I work and reach out for a quote.

Step 5: Polish Your CV

CV is a core component of an LLM application, and it's crucial to get it right. I've written in depth about my insights from sitting on the admission committee and evaluating hundreds of LLM CVs before, but for the purposes of this post I'll give you several actionable recommendations that, in my view, will make the most difference:

• Readability: Above all, optimize for readability. Your CV must be skimmable - the reader should be able to identify your professional milestones within seconds.

• Prioritize education: Your education should come first, and it should be crystal clear what are your degree programs. Degree programs act as guarantors of your eligibility, so ensure they stand out.
• Length: Check the program’s requirements. If no length is specified, limit your CV to 2 pages maximum.

If you’re looking for more guidance, I’ve outlined the most common mistakes to avoid so you can make your CV as competitive as possible here and written about an amazing Stanford's framework for CVs. An actionable summary of my insights is available as a downloadable guide.

You can also check out CV samples here (Harvard) and here (Yale).

If you'd like a personalized review of your CV, please feel free reach out for a quote.

Step 6: Get Stellar Recommendations

Early in the process, I made a list of potential recommenders, prioritizing:

1. academic references
2. people who knew me well and could comment on different aspects of my profile.

Something that I strongly recommend is try to have a list of people who are your plan A and then plan B. One of my references fell through, and I had to find a replacement last minute. I asked a professor from a summer school I attended, and she kindly agreed. It worked out, but things might have been very different.

If finding recommenders is difficult,

• revive old relationships - reach out to former professors or colleagues.
• ask newer connections, but keep in mind that they should write an academic-sounding reference. If it’s your employer, your teamwork and workplace achievements (like raising revenue) might be important in the context of your work but irrelevant for your future academic study.

Actionable tips:

• Reach out to your recommenders at least 4 weeks in advance - the sooner, the better.
• After they agree, have a list of things you'll ask them to include in the reference letter.
• Be clear about your needs: Specify how many letters you need upfront. Asking for one letter after another can lead to “recommender fatigue” and strain the relationship.
• If asked to draft a letter yourself, identify the experiences and qualities you want them to mention. These should be the things your recommender knows about you or can be reasonably expected to know.
• Check the vocabulary. Use achievement words, ie words that signify accomplishment.
• Minimize bias: Research shows that recommenders sometimes use different vocabularies for male and female applicants. Test for bias by switching pronouns in the draft and see if it still works. If it doesn't, rewrite.

I talk about the process of choosing recommenders in my Harvard on Demand course, including what to do if you've been asked to write a letter of recommendation yourself and provide it to your recommender for review. You are welcome to check it out.

Step 7: Ask for Help

During my application journey, I sought help in various forms.

Note: many universities state on their websites that you should not seek help. What they mean is unethical help - like having someone else write your applications for you. This is dishonest and unfair to others and is definitely something you should not do.

The type of help I refer to is different. I’m talking about ethical help, the one that does not interfere with your authorship of the application materials. The things I asked for included:

• Feedback on essays: I asked for substantive feedback, eg, whether the essay worked on the idea level - and had an English native speaker review the grammar.

Tip: Not all feedback needs to be implemented. For example, a native speaker told me that mentioning Pollyanna in my personal statement was a cliché. While it might be for an American, for me it was a sign of deep respect and knowledge. I ignored that feedback, and it didn’t affect my results.

• Information, especially information on funding: I asked others how they funded their degrees. Not everyone shared, but those who did provided valuable insights for my own funding strategy.

• Examples of winning essays: I asked for sample essays to understand what worked and what didn't. It was incredibly important for me to see, and that's the reason I decided to publish some of my own.

Even if you don’t know anyone who’s done an LL.M. personally, you can always find someone who does. For instance, you can find alumni or current students of your desired program on LinkedIn and reach out through polite emails or messages to ask about their experiences.

Step 8: Note on the Language Test

By the time I applied for a master’s, I had been working in English for years. I took both IELTS and TOEFL without formal preparation. I read about the format beforehand, and then came the testing center and took the test. I achieved a score of 7.5 on the IELTS and 106 on the TOEFL.

If you need to prepare for the test:

• Factor it into your strategy, including deadlines, assessing your level, and improving weaker areas.

If resources are limited:

• try requesting a waiver. Be very clear about your circumstances – don’t make the admissions committee guess what your life circumstances are and how they affect your ability to take the test. Plan it in advance.
• provide evidence of your academic proficiency. Indicate the things are you’ve done in your life, professionally and academically, that qualify you for a full-time study in English.

The test is not a just formality. It proves your ability to handle rigorous academic work in English. If you ask for a waiver but simply state that you cannot afford the test without demonstrating your proficiency, the committee will likely decline your request due to a lack of evidence.

A cliché that people say about the language test is that it’s all about the format, not the language. It is true, with a reservation that you still need to develop sufficient language skills to be able to train yourself for that test and perform well.

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for an even more in-depth guide to successful master's applications, I created an affordable course: Harvard State of Mind on Demand. This is the exact system I use myself and when helping other people get into the top universities in the world. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out.

I hope this helps, and good luck! ☺️