Hello Everyone!

I have a question regarding letters of recommendation. Who do you ask to write it for you? Your professors? I finished uni 2,5 years ago ( masters of law) and past years I was working in the legal field yet not connected with human rights topic and have no idea where to get these recommendations from.

Thanks for your advice!

Hi there. I asked a professor and a work supervisor. Usually they recommend (if not specified by the programe) to present a work and an academic letter. However, I think there is no right or wrong here. It can be hard to get letters

Hello there!

Have you guys already submitted your applications? And are they with full scholarships or not? I am just curious about what sort of information you have included in your essays i.e the motivation, future career plans and personal statements. What information do you think would contribute to making the applications strong?

I am applying for the LLM in IHL and HR, a full scholarship. I have not submitted the application yet. 

Thanks!

Hello Everyone!

I have a question regarding letters of recommendation. Who do you ask to write it for you? Your professors? I finished uni 2,5 years ago ( masters of law) and past years I was working in the legal field yet not connected with human rights topic and have no idea where to get these recommendations from.

Thanks for your advice!

Thanks a lot! Will try to get letters from my professors then :) 

Is it your last year experience? Did you get a spot or you are applying only this year?

Hello Everyone!

I have a question regarding letters of recommendation. Who do you ask to write it for you? Your professors? I finished uni 2,5 years ago ( masters of law) and past years I was working in the legal field yet not connected with human rights topic and have no idea where to get these recommendations from.

Thanks for your advice!

Hello, if its not too late. I finished uni 2 years ago, I work in a commercial law-based law firm so I didn't think a professional recommendation would support my application for IHL and HR. So I got both letters from professors at my former uni. I don't know if 2 letters from the same institution was a good move, but I don't think a letter from work would have been of any use in relation to what I am applying for. But like CandeV said, I don't think there is a hard and fast rule, otherwise, GA would have been more specific ( some other universities or scholarship bodies are specific about who the letters should come from and what they should talk about.)

Shall we make a WhatsApp group or something where people who are applying for 2023-24 can have a conversation and follow up

[Edited by Rishabh Srivastava on Jan 17, 2023]

I think that is a great idea!

Anyone applying for an LLM in Technology Law

Shall we make a WhatsApp group or something where people who are applying for 2023-24 can have a conversation and follow up

I don't think so,you can go ahead with it. This thread seems a bit more silent than the previous ones. 

Yes, the forum is awfully quiet this year. I wonder why....

WhatsApp group sounds like a nice idea.

Okay, on popular demand, I went ahead and made a Whatsapp group for the 2023/24 LLM/MTJ/MAS applicants at the Geneva Academy.

Here's the link:



https://chat.whatsapp.com/BF8htmNb9NtACQrNJ7CjgY

Dear future applicant, if you are reading this commentary and plan to send an application for FULL SCHOLARSHIP track LLM (IHL and HR) for the next program, in order to avoid disappointment, If I may sincerely give you a suggestion, do yourself a favor and DO NOT send it unless:

- You have a relevant WORKING EXPERIENCE of AT LEAST 1 YEAR. This is just a MUST criterion. For limited number of fully funded scholarships you are competing with VERY STRONG candidates from all around the developing world who have relevant working experience (some might even have 3+ with dozens of academic paper publications). It does not matter how high your GPA or how strong your motivation letter is, well obviously they matter but, there is nothing you can write there that will impress the admission committee. One thing is to impress the committee of STEM fields with your super-duper research topics which they have little thought about before, and another is to impress the committee of IHL/Human Rights, as it is very UNLIKELY to write something special about your motivation and goals in IHL/Human Rights, as all topics have been thoroughly studied and there are practical answers to every current legal issue. Hence, they have read and seen it all over the years from brilliant students. Even their congratulatory mail of scholarship says it all - ‘we are impressed by your ACADEMIC and PROFESSIONAL credentials’. Hence, the candidate who has several years of working experience in human rights/international law NGO and/or in relevant state jobs like the Ministry of External Affairs will always have HEAD AND SHOULDERS higher chances than you. ALSO, as I understand, If you are an applicant from the developing country of Eastern or Southern Europe, obtaining full scholarship is even harder, as according to their report in 2022, only one candidate from Europe was awarded full scholarship on LLM and 0 on MTJ! 

- You have completed a master’s degree in your country. The thing is, since you are coming from a developing country, even if your knowledge in IHL is very deep and substantial, your LLB was obtained at less-known universities with low world rankings which is not enough for the most part. HOWEVER, this might not be necessary if you have 2 or 3 years of professional working experience. (Some past candidates who won scholarships did not have master’s degrees in their countries at all but had 2-3+ years of working experience in several NGOs and state jobs.)

- Have participated in a number of national and international moot courts like the Jean Pictet Competition and/or Jessup Competition. If You did not participate in them I am not sure whether it has a HUGE impact on your application, but I have noticed this pattern that the candidates who were awarded full scholarships, the majority of them had participated in at least one international competition.  


Also, Keep in mind that this commentary is not based on the air, I have made an observation on successful past candidates, who had very strong profiles before being awarded the full scholarships. You can also check them on the website of Geneva Academy or look through their CVs on LinkedIn and you get an idea about your chances in case of doubt :) I wish I did it before sending an application…

P.S. Anyways, the choice is yours. The rejection letters reaaaaally hurt. Moreover, you lose 100 CHF for the application fee (which is unreasonably high tho). Hence, if you still decide to apply, KEEP IN MIND that DO NOT make any expectations, in order to avoid DISAPPOINTMENT in the future, as you will most probably won’t win the scholarship unless you fulfill all the requirements I have posted above. And even if you do, nothing is guaranteed.

ALSO,  if you send application, KEEP IN MIND that  acceptance letters come way too late!!! in mail they wrote that they will being sending acceptance letters from March 2023, while they did it on 18th of APRIL!  REJECTION LETTER came on first of JUNE! so if you have other variants than Geneva Academy plan in advance! 

P.S.S. This message addresses all candidates from developing countries who want to obtain a FULL scholarship for LLM TRACK, not the ones who are ready to pay for it. If you have 18 000 CHF to pay for a master’s degree they will accept you with probably just only 1/3 of the accomplishments I have listed above.

[Edited by Novakovski on Jun 16, 2023]

This is a valuable advice to everyone! I am a scholarship awardee for this year. 

I want to encourage all that you should make your own plan according to your own situation. Go ahead! it is totally possible to get one! But... prepare your profile!

Dear future applicant, if you are reading this commentary and plan to send an application for FULL SCHOLARSHIP track LLM (IHL and HR) for the next program, in order to avoid disappointment, If I may sincerely give you a suggestion, do yourself a favor and DO NOT send it unless:

- You have a relevant WORKING EXPERIENCE of AT LEAST 1 YEAR. This is just a MUST criterion. For 2 or 3 fully funded scholarships you are competing with VERY STRONG candidates from all around the developing world who have relevant working experience (some might even have 3+ with dozens of academic paper publications). It does not matter how high your GPA or how strong your motivation letter is, well obviously they matter but, there is nothing you can write there that will impress the admission committee. One thing is to impress the committee of STEM fields with your super-duper research topics which they have little thought about before, and another is to impress the committee of IHL/Human Rights, as it is very UNLIKELY to write something special about your motivation and goals in IHL/Human Rights, as all topics have been thoroughly studied and there are practical answers to every current legal issue. Hence, they have read and seen it all over the years from brilliant students. Even their congratulatory mail of scholarship says it all - ‘we are impressed by your ACADEMIC and PROFESSIONAL credentials’. Hence, the candidate who has several years of working experience in human rights/international law NGO and/or in relevant state jobs like the Ministry of External Affairs will always have HEAD AND SHOULDERS higher chances than you.


- You have completed a master’s degree in your country. The thing is, since you are coming from a developing country, even if your knowledge in IHL is very deep and substantial, your LLB was obtained at less-known universities with low world rankings which is not enough for the most part. HOWEVER, this might not be necessary if you have 2 or 3 years of professional working experience. (Some past candidates who won scholarships did not have master’s degrees in their countries at all but had 2-3+ years of working experience in several NGOs and state jobs.)

- Have participated in a number of national and international moot courts like the Jean Pictet Competition and/or Jessup Competition. If You did not participate in them I am not sure whether it has a HUGE impact on your application, but I have noticed this pattern that the candidates who were awarded full scholarships, the majority of them had participated in at least one international competition.  

Also, Keep in mind that this commentary is not based on the air, I have made an observation on successful past candidates, who had very strong profiles before being awarded the full scholarships. You can also check them on the website of Geneva Academy or look through their CVs on LinkedIn and you get an idea about your chances in case of doubt :) I wish I did it before sending an application…

P.S. Anyways, the choice is yours. The rejection letters reaaaaally hurt. Moreover, you lose 100 CHF for the application fee (which is unreasonably high tho). Hence, if you still decide to apply, KEEP IN MIND that DO NOT make any expectations, in order to avoid DISAPPOINTMENT in the future, as you will most probably won’t win the scholarship unless you fulfill all the requirements I have posted above. And even if you do, nothing is guaranteed.

P.S.S. This message addresses all candidates from developing countries who want to obtain a FULL scholarship for LLM TRACK, not the ones who are ready to pay for it. If you have 18 000 CHF to pay for a master’s degree they will accept you with probably just only 1/3 of the accomplishments I have listed above.