In this blog post, Mr Saurabh Kumar, the Managing Partner at SK Attorneys and a Mentor at Project Abhimanyu provides guidance to a student who wants to apply for higher studies in the Legal Sector. Project Abhimanyu acts as an external placement cell that guides a student about the available career options and job opportunities as well as helps them apply for internships and jobs.
Question: The one question which intrigues me a lot is the time when should someone pursue for higher studies. Whether it will be more beneficial to apply for higher studies after earning work experience or should one apply after the completion of LLB. There is ambiguity in my mind when it comes to selection of university, type of courses they offer, their application procedure and when is the best time to start preparing for application procedure. I would like to add that my area of interest is arbitration, international investment arbitration and corporate law. So if you can suggest me any university will also be helpful. I come from middle class family, so economic considerations will also play a crucial role while selecting any university. Moreover I have not much idea regarding the scholarships programs if available for students. Also I would like to know the sort of benefits or advantages one gets when it comes job opportunities in comparison to someone who had completed his higher studies from Indian colleges.
Answer:
Regarding your query related to pursuing LLM course right after graduation or after getting some work experience, this is a very personal choice however from my experience it is always advisable to get some work experience before pursuing LLM as it is a research-based course unlike our Indian education system, therefore, having some kind of work exposure in the similar field would always add some value in understanding the subject in depth. The famous choices for Indian student pursuing LLM course would be the United Kingdom, United States of America and Singapore depending upon your specific course, faculty and admission criteria which may differ. You may do some online research regarding arbitration courses, and most of the leading Universities have representative offices in India (in all the big cities now) which can be consulted before taking the final decision. The entire process may take a year’s time from choosing the University to finalizing the course.
Regarding scholarships, various Universities are running some dedicated scholarships for deserving candidates but as per my knowledge most of the scholarships are limited to tuition & accommodation fees and one has to take care of additional expenses like daily expenses which can be quite expensive for cities like London, New York and Singapore. Therefore, it is advisable to manage your finances in advance though there would be some opportunities to get part time works while studying to take care of your daily expenses.
