84
Finance
Legal
Sponsored
UCLA-Law
LLM
Advisor: Mr. Stephen Round
Program: LL.M.
School: UCLA
Application Year: 2012
Other: Corporate-sponsored applicant (finance)
Overall, I was extremely satisfied with my counseling experience with Mr. Round. I was able to enroll in a California state law school, which had been my goal from the very beginning of the application process. In addition, I also received an offer of admission from Columbia University. My counseling sessions with Mr. Round were primarily devoted to reviewing advice regarding recommendation letters and essays. I handled TOEFL testing, LSAC registration, and résumé preparation on my own. Since LL.M. programs tend to require very similar essay topics across schools, Mr. Round and I repeatedly refined a core essay, polishing and elevating its content through multiple rounds of revision.
I obtained one recommendation each from my supervisor at work, my university seminar professor, and an attorney. With the exception of the attorney’s letter, I had to suggest suitable contents for the recommendations drafted by my supervisor and professor. Mr. Round’s advice on appropriate topics for them to include in these documents was highly beneficial.
I developed the core themes and structure of my essays myself, while Mr. Round refined the language and adjusted the content with each school’s specific motivation statements and page limits in mind. He was very open to incorporating new ideas into the essays, and with each round of review, the essays became increasingly sophisticated. When I reread my final Stanford essay, I could clearly see how much stronger it was compared with the earlier versions prepared for Columbia and UCLA. That said, essay quality does not always directly translate into admission results—unfortunately, Stanford was not successful in my case. UCLA’s application process, which did not go through LSAC, required a significant amount of additional work, but Mr. Round handled this patiently and thoroughly.
Beyond formal counseling sessions, Mr. Round was always willing to provide thoughtful advice on a wide range of matters. His support extended well beyond admission decisions, including guidance on final school selection, student visa applications, and correspondence with universities. Much of this post-admission support was provided at little to no additional cost. While my company subsidized another LL.M. preparation service from a large, well-known provider in parallel with Round One, the difference in service quality was so stark that I discontinued the other service midway—it was simply unusable.
I chose Mr. Round for three main reasons: (1) his highly attentive and comprehensive counseling, (2) his flexible and open-minded approach to essay development, and (3) the fact that many senior colleagues at my company had already used his services, eliminating the need to repeatedly explain my corporate background. To be completely honest, I believe Round One is the only provider capable of delivering truly competent counseling for LL.M. applications. Many large prep schools simply have MBA-focused counselors who do not understand the LL.M. process and handle it as an afterthought. Advice such as “include episodes that can compete with lawyers or judges” reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of LL.M. admissions—it is merely a recycled MBA counseling approach. LL.M. applications hinge on constructing a logical, persuasive narrative that ties together one’s legal experience to date, motivation for the specific school, and post-LL.M. career goals. I am genuinely grateful to have received counseling from Mr. Round.
