At the time of admission in the spring, accepted applicants are notified first by e-mail that they have been offered admission. The admission materials arrive shortly thereafter and include lists of current students and detailed information about housing so that prospective students can communicate with people who have first-hand knowledge of Chicago. Once the LL.M. class for the following academic year has been set, members of the class will be sent email addresses of their classmates so they can begin contact with each other. In July, the Law School will send two publications: the Career Services Handbook for LL.M. Students (this will help students prepare for finding practical training experience in this country if they wish to do that) and The Constitution of the United States: A Primer for the People (this introduction to some elements of American law and government was written by Professor David Currie of the Law School).

In late September, a week before classes begin in the Autumn Quarter, there are a series of orientation events and presentations. These are designed to introduce LL.M. students to certain aspects of American law and legal education, and to provide opportunities for LL.M. students to get to know each other, members of the faculty and students in the J.D. Program. There are also several presentations by the Office of Career Services for students who intend to look for internships with American firms. The events include several dinners, an LL.M. night at a baseball game, a boat ride on Lake Michigan, a picnic, and a visit to a comedy club. Also part of orientation is the Law School's first Wine Mess (a weekly Friday afternoon gathering for drinks, snacks, and conversation), which features tables with representatives from the Law School's political, social, musical, and service student organizations.

Unlike many other law schools, Chicago does not have registration in the spring prior to the following academic year. This means that LL.M. students will register during orientation, the same time all J.D. students register. This also means that LL.M. students will be able to get advice - often conflicting! - from other students and faculty about courses before they have to register. There are no specific courses which LL.M. students are required to take at Chicago, nor are there courses they may not take. LL.M. students often put together course and seminar schedules that reflect certain practice specialties such as corporate/securities, intellectual property, antitrust/regulation of business, or commercial transactions among others. Most, however, add other offerings in areas like constitutional law, legal theory, law & economics, and comparative law to round out their academic experience.

The first week of each academic quarter is a "shopping period" where students may sample a variety of classes and seminars before selecting the ones that will make up their final schedule. The typical LL.M. schedule of three courses per quarter will have nine 65-minute classes spread from Monday through Friday.

In the Autumn or Winter Quarters, many students take an optional writing course designed specifically for LL.M. students. The purpose of the course is to provide an understanding of the U.S. legal process and the fundamental writing, oral, and analytical skills that might be useful in interactions with U.S. lawyers and U.S. clients. This class introduces basic legal skills, such as effective legal writing, including the structure of legal memoranda and correspondence, and persuasive oral advocacy. But the core of the course is on writing itself. The idea is both to offer the opportunity to write in English and to receive appropriate feedback, and then also to learn that which is peculiar to American legal writing. So as to encourage students to take this skills class, and alleviate any concerns that some will be disadvantaged if their English is weaker than that of other LL.M. students, this class is graded on a pass/fail basis.

During the first week of the Autumn Quarter, the LL.M. Committee, a group of interested J.D. students, hosts a dinner to introduce LL.M. students to J.D. mentors who will be available throughout the year to provide advice, answer questions and participate in social activities with LL.M. students. Although the Law School is small enough that LL.M. and J.D. students will see each other on a regular basis both in and out of class, this mentoring program helps to set that process in motion. One Wine Mess in October usually has an international theme and includes a football (we call it soccer!) match between LL.M. and J.D. teams and some other contests to bring the two student communities together.

With a LL.M. Program of about 50 students, people find it easy to develop friendships and study or socialize together. An electronic list-serve gives each LL.M. student access to all students in the Program. Parties, dinners and other more informal social activities are often planned and organized through the list-serve. Many LL.M. students get together for lunch in the Law School's Green Lounge since there are no scheduled classes for an hour and a half starting at noon each week day. This time is also used by student organizations for extracurricular lectures, debates and meetings.

About midway through the Autumn Quarter, the staff of the library has workshops for LL.M. students on research techniques.

LL.M. students participate in social activities beyond the Law School community. The famous campus Halloween Party, organized in late October each year by law and business graduate students from Belgium, draws students from all over the University. There are several annual social events with students in the LL.M. Program at Northwestern University School of Law: a skating party, a reception, and a soccer match. A major Chicago law firm hosts the LL.M. students for a presentation about firm practice in this country. For more information on the broader arts and culture opportunities available to LL.M. students, please go here.

The four-day weekend of Thanksgiving in late November marks the beginning of the "examination season" at the Law School. Since most LL.M. students cannot return home for the weekend like many of the J.D. students, there is a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for the LL.M. students at the home of Assistant Dean Richard Badger. Autumn Quarter examinations end around December 10 and most LL.M. students celebrate with last minute holiday shopping in Chicago before returning home or traveling during the three-week vacation.

The Winter Quarter brings a new set of courses and seminars. Many LL.M. students participate in an employer interview program in New York City in late January. Social events during the quarter include the Law School auction (where students and faculty put up various goods and services for bid), the Over-the-Hump Party (a gathering at one of Chicago's many clubs to mark the half-way point of the year) and the musical show (a student organized production with several surprise faculty performers). Saul Levmore, Dean of the Law School, hosts a Super Bowl party at his home for LL.M. students. Throughout the year, the Law Students Association (the student government which includes an LL.M. representative) organizes subsidized trips to Chicago theaters and professional sporting events. The quarter ends with examinations in March and a 10-day vacation which many J.D and LL.M. students take in the warmer parts of America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

The academic pace in the Spring Quarter quickens. Papers for seminars and workshops begun earlier in the year become due around May 15. LL.M. students along with J.D. students who wish to may take early examinations during the reading period to maximize the time they will have to prepare for bar examinations. A bar review course for New York is offered at the Law School through July, and most of the LL.M. students taking the New York examination prepare in Chicago. Major social events during the quarter include a formal dance, a dinner for all graduating J.D. and LL.M. students, a Law School talent show, and a picnic for LL.M. students and their families at a professor's home the night before graduation in June.