Hi Everyone!

I was recently accepted to Ghent University's LL.M in European and Comparative Law program. I'd love to chat with you if you have also been accepted or are applying for the program.

Hope to see you in Ghent!

Hey napolibo,
Do you still join the LLM-programme in Gent in September? I will be joining it!
Do you have an e-mail-adress?
CU!

Hi there!

This is addressed rather to the 2009-2010 students and onwards.

I know how difficult it is to evaluate an LLM program and I remember how I had no idea what I was up to whan I started my LLM and there was no way to get some idea what's it all about.

I graduated fom Ghent LLM in 2005 and currently I am doing a PhD in competition law there. What I can say is that you find some brilliant professors like Professor Bourgeois (EC Competition law, teaches at Bruges), Professor Michel Tison (EC Banking and Capitals Market Law - a truly excellent class, very demanding and intellectually very stimulating) and Professor Inge Govaere (Law of the Common Market and Legal Framework of the WTO, she teaches at Bruges as well).

Having said that, I want to point out that good professors aren't enough to make a great LLM. The LLM in Ghent does not have reputation yet. Or at least it didn't have one back in 2005. At that time I applied to at least 20 law firms in Brussels and I did not get one single interview even though I graduated with great distinction, wrote my LLM paper in competition law and was very motivated to work in this area.

The thing is, I have no idea how does that compare to the LLM programs in the Netherlands but I have the feeling that Maastricht, for instance, has at least a little bit more reputation than Ghent. And definitely Leiden is a better choice if reputation is the guiding criterion.

So if you are looking for a job in Western Europe Ghent University should not be your top prioriy. Certainly, College of Europe is a much better choice if you speak French and get lucky enough to be admitted there. The same goes for LSE, KCL and Oxbridge, of course.

But then again, if you are looking for a career back home (in Eastern Europe) and for a more realxed and not so competitive atmosphere then Ghent is truly great option. On the whole very good professors, wide choice of subjects, great library on EU law and politics, relaxed atmosphere and good prospects for a job in Warsaw, Bucharest or Budapest.

Finally, I want to make clear that having graduated from Ghent does not mean that you can't find any descent job in Brussels. I did quite well so far in the Western European context but then I really was very lucky. Remember what I said - applications to 20 law firms and no interview! And by the way, my CV and cover letters where quite reasonably well written, having consulted books and friends who know how to land a job. The point is that no matter how good you are, if you don't have the right LLM you may not even be given the chance to show your skills.

So my advise is this. If you are very interested in contract law for instance and also want to work in a law office in Brussels or Amsterdam then don't go to Ghent just because Professor Lando is a great name. He definitely is! But the employers do not care how great he is. All they will know is that Ghent doesn't ring a bell to them and you may not even get an interview. Their logic is this: there are well-known universities like LSE or CoE, full of bright and very ambitious people. Why should we risk employing someone from Ghent where people are generally less ambitious?! And you can't change that.

On the other hand, if your interests are purely academic then Ghent is a reasonably good choice. There's no reason why after a good academic year at Ghent you shouldn't have chances to do a PhD in EUI in Florence.

Good luck to everybody!

Hi, Misho!

Thank you for taking the time to write such an exhaustive post - it is really great to have the perspective of someone who has actually had to deal with the "real world" of employment. For me at least, it's awesome to know that there is someone to give an honest opinion - enough of the glossy promotional stuff of Universities!

I am Bulgarian, I graduated with a bachelor's degree from a top-ten university in the US and have workedat a law firm in DC (and actually, much like you, I have had to deal with an awesome resume + no job offers, go figure). I am presently shopping around for LLM programs in comparative, competition, corporate law (I have yet to figure out exactly what I am interested in). Unfortunately, for many of them a JD or a bachelor's in law seems to be a prerequisite (my degree is in Political Science). In relation to that, I wanted to ask if you had a law degree when you applied.

Also, you mentioned LSE, College of Europe and Oxford. I am completely lost in the ranking of European schools, not to mention LLMs, and was wondering if you could throw in some other names that you have heard from your colleagues, peers, other law professionals.

Thank you in advance for this information, I do hope you'll have the time to jot down several names and share some more advice.

Greetings,
Victoria

I am admitted to Ghent for academic year 2009-2010. Somebody else ?

Hi, Misho!

Thank you for taking the time to write such an exhaustive post - it is really great to have the perspective of someone who has actually had to deal with the "real world" of employment. For me at least, it's awesome to know that there is someone to give an honest opinion - enough of the glossy promotional stuff of Universities!

I am Bulgarian, I graduated with a bachelor's degree from a top-ten university in the US and have workedat a law firm in DC (and actually, much like you, I have had to deal with an awesome resume + no job offers, go figure). I am presently shopping around for LLM programs in comparative, competition, corporate law (I have yet to figure out exactly what I am interested in). Unfortunately, for many of them a JD or a bachelor's in law seems to be a prerequisite (my degree is in Political Science). In relation to that, I wanted to ask if you had a law degree when you applied.

Also, you mentioned LSE, College of Europe and Oxford. I am completely lost in the ranking of European schools, not to mention LLMs, and was wondering if you could throw in some other names that you have heard from your colleagues, peers, other law professionals.

Thank you in advance for this information, I do hope you'll have the time to jot down several names and share some more advice.

Greetings,
Victoria

I think there are a number of law programs which accept non-law graduates for a LLM. Off the top of my head, I'm pretty sure LSE is one of them.

Yes, a few places do admit students on to an LLM programme without a law degree, but this is normally in exceptional circumstances (maybe having a background working with the law, eg. accountants, tax advisors). I would doubt a degree in political science would qualify under 'exception circumstances'. Admissions would want to see evidence that the student has the necessary legal knowledge to perform at masters level.

I might be wrong, but the external University of London LLM may accept non-law graduates without any 'exceptional circumstances' criteria.

I would think political science graduates would be uniquely suited for areas such as public law and international law and as such would fall under the 'exceptional' category you mentioned. Besides LSE, I'm pretty sure Edinburgh also accepts non law graduates for their LLM. If i recall correctly, quite a few political science faculties do include constitutional law and public international law courses as part of their syllabus. Furthermore, it is relatively common for journal articles dealing with these two fields of law to employ insights gleaned from the study of politics. For example, international law articles have used insights gleaned from areas as diverse as political philosophy (Kant's towards perpetual peace is a favorite as well as Rawl's theory of justice) to the study of international relations.

On a personal basis, I am legally trained and specialize in private law and I find myself using political theory all the time. Some of the best insights on private law come from Aristotle's, Kant's, Hegel's and Sidwick's works on political philosophy. I use it so much that I wished I had done political science courses in my undergraduate days.