Yes, but by professional, Zoticogrillo doesn't mean you can post your resume or beg for a job. Doing so would be against the rules of this particular listserv. That being said, it is a great way to ask professional or legal questions and solicit advice/information.

oh, and regarding the list of rankings above: The People's University is the same thing as RenDa or Renmin. Most of its graduates go into public service.

Also, those rankings only consider the institution and its academic reputation. If you review the various directories of lawyers in China, you will realize that the most employed graduates in the private sector (in big firms) are from Beijing, Renmin and Fudan (in that order). The other schools aren't anywhere on the map (although you might find a rare and occassional Tsinghua graduate).

East China and Fudan are the two best law schools in Shanghai, also among the top 10 law schools in China. Technically East China has a better academic background than Fudan, while Fudan (not law school) has a better international reputation. It's true that most employed graduates in the private sector are from Beijing, Renmin and Fudan, but it depends on the area basis. If u come to Shanghai, it went without saying that the most successful attorneys are East China grads.

EK,
I was just accpeted into Beida and would like to ask you a few questions about the program.
-How difficult is it to secure internships as a student at Beida? Do the students have time (or is it possible) to participate in an internship during the first year of the LLM program?

hi gdmullen, we might be classmates, i received an offer of admission as well, and am inclined to accept it. did you also receive a notice with a note that the university will do a further evaluation of your application?

Oh yeah, Chinese schools are peculiar that way. The first acceptance is from the department, but you're not really in until the main campus administration reviews it. One of the processes is that a political review committee will look at your materials to make sure that you won't be a trouble-maker.

Which reminds me, if you're thinking about doing a thesis on human rights, you'll probably have to re-write it a number of times even after your professor approves it, because the main campus might reject it!

Great to hear you were accepted into BeiDa. It is a great program!
As you might know, the Ministry of Education requires that all LLM programs in China be two years (this has been confirmed). So, BeiDa's program is two years.

The first year is dedicated to course studying so you probably will not have time for an internship unless you set it up yourself but it is unlikely because you will be in class most of the days during the week. (You could ask Anna for help also, just not sure if you can because of the class schedule).

The second year, Anna (who is a great program director) will set up the internship for you. You are guaranteed one if you want one your second year while you write your thesis.

If you want to work your first year, you might find it difficult as with any LLM program in any country because you are going to class.

is this just the second year that the program is being offered?

BeiDa's program began in 2006. Qinghua's program began in 2005.

hey all,
can anyone pls gimme more info bout east china university of politics and law..

thanks

Zot:

I think that the human rights issue you encountered may be a symptom of Qinghua. Qinghua is much more conservative than BeiDa (for better or worse, I'm not making a judgment) but from what I gather, you would have a better chance of having your thesis approved on a human rights issue at BeiDa. In fact, BeiDa offers a LLM in Human Rights to its Chinese students (which is probably censured to some degree as well but not to the same extent as Qinghua).

enemy:

True. Wanted to point out some of the different levels in which central administration exerts control over the departments for political reasons. I feature I still find unusual and frustrating, yet rational according to the ideology.

ShockResist,

I also received an email that the university will do a further evaluation of my application.

EK,

Thank you for your insights. Your posts in this forum on Beida have been extremely informative.
Could you also provide clarification about the subsequent review by the University that takes place?

Hi EK,

Could you give us some idea on how the academic year goes? We start the program on September right? Do we have a break some time in December? Do classes resume in January? When does the fall term/semester end? When does spring semester begin? Are we expected to be in Beijing in between fall and spring term/semester? when does spring semester end? How soon are we expected to begin our internships after?

Sorry for having so many questions. :(

Hi GDMullen,

I was informed by EK and Anna that the secondary evaluation of the University should pertain to verification of age, citizenship, and that it should not affect the admission decision of the law school. It may also pertain to examination of any crimes that the applicant has committed while in China. Oh no, there goes the time when I ran naked around Shanghai after having too much Tsingtao, haha, kidding.

GDMullen:

Since last year's admission window to BeiDa was so short (beginning sometime in April and ending in May), by the time we received our acceptance letters, it was pretty late. Therefore, either the university did a rush evaluation of our applications or didn't do one at all because we only received one acceptance letter, and the letter didn't mention anything about a second evaluation by the University.

The two levels of evaluation seem to be common in China. Both Qinghua and BeiDa do it.

Shock:

I can't say for sure what your year will be, but I can tell you about mine. I arrived in late August, registration was the first week of September and school started the second week (maybe the 11th?--I can't recall). The fall semester should end around Christmas. This year, we ended so that everyone could make it back home by Dec. 24th, although there was a student who wrote the faculty, the administration, and some students to complain because it compressed the finals and the end of classes. We only had one open book final, one take home final, and three papers, one of which was due in January, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Though, the student's email caused a huge hooplah, so not sure if you guys will be home by Dec 24th this year because of that complaint. Sorry.

Spring semester ends after Chinese New Years. Since Chinese New Years is different every year, I can't tell you the exact date you will start (though I'm sure you can google and find out when it will be in 2008). We started on Feb 26th. Last day of classes will be June 1st, then reading week, then finals through the 15th.

You have a "Golden Week" in both fall and spring, which amounts to fall and spring break--1 week off. However, travel during this time is pretty much insane and you won't find booking train or plane tickets easy or booking hotels for people who may want to visit you so plan ahead.

You are not expected to stay in Beijing over winter break. When you get here, you will have to get a Foreign Residence Permit, which cancels your visa but allows multiple entries into China. So you can travel all you want during this time.

Your internship will be set up through Anna, or you can try to network and find your own. If you find your own, it might ensure that it will be something you want. You should be able to work the internship around your schedule, unless, say, you end up working for the largest law firm in China as they may have a rigid internship program. Otherwise, if you want to take a break between Spring semester and your internship, just let Anna know and she will try to work around it. I'm not doing an internship since I'll be working, so I'm not too sure about what's going on exactly with the internships. However, I know Anna is setting them up right now and if you ask in a month or so, you might get more info on what internships were secured.

enemykombatant, thank you so much for your reply.

congratulations on the job! it must be gratifying for the LLM investment to have paid off!

I finally got my admission notice from Qinghua! This time, they didn't have any notice on need for University clearance. they didn't have a "please confirm by" date, unlike Beijing Univ. But BeiDa didn't really send me a "formal notice of admission" yet, they said that would come in June.

Which one are you going to attend?

i'm going to beida. i have to say that enemykombatant really helped me out a lot when i was deciding. although technically, i haven't really made my decision since i haven't enrolled (and i have not received the final admission notice from beida!) but i will choose to go to beida.