On Friday, I gave details of the Forbes.Com listing of the 14 most aestheticially pleasing universities. Of the 14 colleges in the list, only 7 offer LL.M. degrees. I'm now publishing details of those 7 institutions (chosen by a panel of distinguished American architects and campus designers):

Oxford University, England
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Stanford University, USA
Tsinghua University,China
University of Virginia, USA
University of Bologna, Italy
Stanford University USA

Admittedly, this is a list chosen by a team of American architects. Which LL.M.-providing universities would you include in your list of luscious locations?

Sorry. Slight mistake. I refer to Stanford twice by accident. The seventh university on this list is Yale, New Haven, USA.

Must confess that I am surprised that Yale makes the cut, but Harvard does not. In the final analysis, however, the "Magnificent 7" were chosen by a panel of distinguished American architects. If it had been a group of (say) European architects, I've no doubt that the list would have been different.

I suppose the point I'm making is that there are myriad different factors which influence a person in deciding where to study for an LL.M. degree. Undoubtedly, the academic reputation of the university (to which the candidate is applying) is if paramount importance. But, other factors, such as ambience, atmosphere and surroundings can also be of pivotal importance in making a choice.

Must confess that I am surprised that Yale makes the cut, but Harvard does not.

I find myself agreeing with you Cambridge. I have visited Harvard Law School and used the Langdell Reading Room for a couple of days. But, yes, the real reason I prefer Harvard is because it's situated in Cambridge MA (a satellite of the great city of Boston) and New Haven CT is not an inspiring or aesthetically pleasing town. So, I suppose if we are comparing Harvard with Yale purely on architectural terms within the universities themselves, your preference for Yale is well founded.

absolutely agree, from an aesthetic perspective yale>>>>harvard, especially the law schools..

If you choose locations including their towns, then the beauty of Yale (especially) and Oxford law schools is somewhat tainted by their industrial town surroundings. Both old and new (Harvard) Cambridge are far prettier.
But Constable only painted (pre-)Essex;-)))
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_SUBGzd1BG60/S0JhVydclsI/AAAAAAADqbo/YLCOvLBjEvc/Constable,%20Wivenhoe%20Park,%20Essex%201816.jpg

Oxford law schools is somewhat tainted by their industrial town surroundings.

I would agree with the last poster that Oxford is a sublime place. And the Oxford colleges are located a good distance away from the industrial side of Oxford. The reality being that you could visit the university and be blissfully unaware that the "City of Dreaming Spires" ever housed a manufacturing industry. Having visited Oxford a couple of times (and a stayed there over the course of a week), I have to say that I agree with thr Forbes.com rating which places it amonst the most aesthetically pleasing universities in the world.

The colleges are beautiful at Oxford, of course - and one side of the town (Jericho) is charming. But also bear in mind that many students live on Cowley Road which has masses of very good ethnic restaurants and is also en route to Cowley - Oxford's other side. Cowley is where the British car industry grew up - and is home to the Mini: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowley,_Oxfordshire
Cambridge's biggest industry is the University Press or hi-tech industries.
I state that as a former, very contented (Jericho) Oxford resident who worked at Balliol.

I would be happy to advise those posters who have never lived in the cities - often, life in colleges is very isolated from the real towns in which they are based. The expression 'Town versus Gown' captures the mutual incomprehension and tension that creates.

I've only been to three of these "Magnificent 7" universities, namely Trinity (my alma mater), Oxford University and Stanford University. Of the three, I have to concede (reluctantly) that Oxford is in the highest league (at least aestheticallly speaking). In the West Coast, I also like Berkeley ; but it does not appear to have registered on the Forbes.com list of favoured locations.

Given the medieval buildings in Bologna, I'm not surprised that it features in the "Magnificent 7". And, according to this thread, Yale is also something special. Presumably the same is true of both Tsinghua and the University of Virginia?

Just a brief update on this thread. For the benefit of the many people who are new to LL.M. Guide. Recently, a team of American architects and campus designers chose seven university campuses (all of whom provide LL.M. courses) which they deemed to be the most aesthetic (in terms of beautiful architecture and surroundings) in the world:

They chose the following seven campuses:

Tsinghua University, China
Yale University, USA
Oxford University, England
University of Virginia, USA
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Stanford University, USA
University of Bologna, Italy

This choice has generated a lot of correspondence and controversy in the correspondence columns of Forbes magazine. In recent weeks, an eighth university (offering LL.M. degrees) has been added to the above list. That university is Cambridge University in England.

Okay ebascom, off the top of my head, ten schools with good reputations:

Humboldt University Berlin (in the middle of one of the most happening cities in Europe)
Amsterdam University (also a great city in which to study)
Boston College Law School (downmarket compared to Harvard ; but Boston Coll has some talented professors on its staff)
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (medieval town in Belgium)
University of Copenhagen (good reputation)
Indiana University (well within the top 50 U.S. Law Schools)
Penn State University (great Faculty, good value in terms of fees charged)
Lund University (in Sweden, if you like cross-country skiing in winter, this could be the place for you)
University of San Diego (great beaches nearby)
University of Tokyo (after Fukushima has calmed down)

It would also be a mistake to forget the Australian universities. The University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales amongst many others. Sydney is a seriously alluring city. Worth thinking about as an LL.M. choice if you want to combine a university with a good reputation with the "joue de vivre" of studying in one of the southern hemisphere's finest cities.

Two other Law Schools are worth mentioning: University of Michigan in Chicago and Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. Of the two, I'd opt for Michigan over Washington. One of the reasons being that Chicago is a much more happening city than St. Louis (which struck me as somewhat provincial the time I visited there).

From an EU perspective, the European University Institute in Florence is a gem. But the problem here is that it does not offer an LL.M. degree. Most of the law students at the EUI are pursuing doctoral research. However, Florence is an idyllic place in which to spend a few years of your life.

Sorry, I was under the mistaken impression that the European University Institute did not offer an LL.M. degree. However, on checking the link to Florence created by the moderators on this site, I have discovered that the EUI offers an LL.M. degree in Comparative, European and International Law. All I can say is that both Florence and the EUI would be idyllic places in which to spend a year of your life studying for a Masters degree. I would also imagine that the international nature of such a degree - received from an institution as highly thought of as the EUI - would be a huge asset to those ultimately seeking to work in the larger international law firms.

Sorry, I was under the mistaken impression that the European University Institute did not offer an LL.M. degree. However, on checking the link to Florence created by the moderators on this site, I have discovered that the EUI offers an LL.M. degree in Comparative, European and International Law. All I can say is that both Florence and the EUI would be idyllic places in which to spend a year of your life studying for a Masters degree. I would also imagine that the international nature of such a degree - received from an institution as highly thought of as the EUI - would be a huge asset to those ultimately seeking to work in the larger international law firms.

If you are going to correct someone, at least make sure you get the spelling of your corrections correctly, It's Ann Arbor, not Ann Arber, Michigan.