After earning her bachelor’s degree in law, Cenxue Wang went to work as in-house lawyer for a fintech company in Beijing. She helped them through an IPO, the merger and acquisition process, and even litigation. After working there for five years, she decided that it was time for a career change, and she began looking at international LL.M. programs to help her grow as a professional.

The Law and Business track at Vanderbilt immediately caught her eye, thanks to its many courses on corporations, M&A, security, and regulations —all relevant to her previous work experience. After being accepted to the program, she moved to Nashville to earn her master’s degree in law.

So far, some of her favorite classes have included Corporate Law with Professor Morgan Ricks and Drafting Public and Private M&A Documents with Professor Robert Reder. She has also enjoyed class with Professor Yesha Yadav, who is the faculty co-director of the LL.M. program at Vanderbilt. Cenxue says she has also leaned on Cynthia Coleman, Director of LL.M. Admissions and Recruitment, for assistance when necessary.

“Each staff member and professor here at Vanderbilt are all very kind and so willing to offer help,” Cenxue said. “Professor Yadav is so energetic when she gives lectures, and she just wants everybody to know what she’s talking about… And anytime you send an email to Cynthia, she will reply to it as soon as she sees it. It’s been a big help for me.”

Not only have the smaller class sizes made it easier for her to attend office hours and build relationships with professors, it’s also helped Cenxue make friends with her fellow classmates, both LL.M.s and J.D.s. “That is also one of the very critical issues I was considering about choosing Vanderbilt, because it has a small class design,” she said. “Even for our LL.M. program, we can get along with each other very well… I think that is one of the most fantastic things about Vanderbilt.”

After graduating from Vanderbilt, Cenxue plans to sit for the bar in July in California, which is one of the few states that allow international students to take the bar immediately after finishing their academic program. Then she’ll look for legal jobs in M&A in major U.S. cities as well as Beijing and Hong Kong, which are big financial centers in China.

Speaking to students with a similar work background, Cenxue says, “I would encourage them to take the law and business track to help them to get an advantage in the mergers and acquisitions area, because the track is designed for LL.M. students who especially want to do well in this business and corporate law area.”

Even if prospective international students aren’t intrigued by the Law and Business track, she still says that Vanderbilt is a worthy option to consider. “I think that Vanderbilt will be a very good choice, because I think the atmosphere here will help students get a taste of what the law school is like in the States. And people are friendly here, so they won’t have a very tough time adjusting,” she said.