@AJ3914, I agree, she really rocks! :-D We can breathe easy now as we keep waiting. There's still hope.

Saashi, you rock!!! Thank you so much for the info.

Hi guys,

I received my acceptance letter on Friday for the LLM in IHL, I am really delighted however I might have to decline...I was hoping to secure an external scholarship to fund the LLM which would be the ideal option but it looks like it's not happening. So investing that amount of money is a dilemma especially because I am not sur about the outcome.

Let me give you a little bit of background to explain my situation:

I have 5 years of professional experience in IHL and human rights (UNHQ in New York, UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, UN peacekeeping mission in Congo). For example, I have worked on monitoring human rights violations with internal and external partners comprising of military, police and civilians. I assisted country military and police to develop and implement training programs in the field of human rights investigation, international humanitarian law and international criminal law but also conduct investigation and monitoring missions on the field with the military court. I now want to play a bigger role in the prosecution of war crimes and severe breaches of IHL, especially through investigations because for me the OHCHR mandate is too political and we don’t see any progress.

I do not have a first level degree in Law (I studied international relations in the UK) but I have gain strong field experience in IHL/HR on the way ( I wanted to do a postgraduate degree in law to be able to work for organization like TRIAL, CIVITAS MAXIMA, the ICJ, the ICC etc. which play a bigger role in the prosecution of war crimes including the representation of victims.

I also did the flagship "International investigator course" at the International Institute for Criminal Investigations in the Hague which is unique and the best in this field to improve my skills in war crime investigation, but also the use and interpretation of forensics data, learn to analyze open sources to document a case but also collect evidence for international criminal prosecution.

This is my dilemma:

Most of my UN colleagues and friends working in INGO, at the ICC or the ICRC tell me that a degree from the Geneva Academy is great (as they are the number 1 in the world for IHL) but it only makes a difference when you don't have professional experience in the field and can only wave your degree to get your first professional experience. Within the UN, the ICRC or big organization in general nobody cares about where you studied, it's a fact, they just want you to have a master’s degree in a relevant field AND professional experience because this is what they value. No matter how good a school/ a degree is, at the end of the day this a theoretical and academic qualification.

So I wanted to ask you guys some advice on this matter. Will this LLM guarantee me to find in job in the field of IHL straight afterward? If yes I would be willing to take on a student loan to cover the cost, but if not then I don't think it's wise to invest that much money with the huge economic crisis coming up (a lot of organizations and NGOs will lose their funding and the humanitarian sector will be hit very badly including projects and contracts getting cut. It's happening already to some of my friends working in the field including with the ICRC or INGOs...).

It seems you all know better the Academy than me, so I wanted to ask you guys what do you think?

You can see on the GA website that a lot of their students go work for the ICRC, OHCHR etc. but I can guarantee you that they got these positions thanks to their professional experience (maybe through their internship also), or a combinaison of both the experience and the degree from GA not simply thanks to their degree.

In the light of everything I just explained, what would you do? Do you think it’s worth it to invest 18,000K in the LLM or is my experience enough on its own for what I want to do? Would it really give me employability guarantees?

Thanks a lot in advance for your response!

Hi guys,

I have enquired as to the potential timeline of admission decisions on the scholarship track for the LLM, owing to a fast approaching deadline and have received the following answer:

"Dear Sir/Madam,



Thank you for your e-mail.



All applicants will receive an official e-mail from the Geneva Academy by the end of May. This is decision is made by the Admission Committee.



Please note that applicants who have been admitted have already been notified of this by the Academy. The deadline for a final decision on admissions has been extended until the end of May in case some of them cancel their participation in the programme, in which case another applicant may be accepted.



Best regards,

The Geneva Academy "

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but thought you should know.

Thank you so much for letting us know! I guess it will ease our anxiety but it is really sad to know.
Thanks again!!

Hi guys,

I have enquired as to the potential timeline of admission decisions on the scholarship track for the LLM, owing to a fast approaching deadline and have received the following answer:

"Dear Sir/Madam,


Thank you for your e-mail.


All applicants will receive an official e-mail from the Geneva Academy by the end of May. This is decision is made by the Admission Committee.


Please note that applicants who have been admitted have already been notified of this by the Academy. The deadline for a final decision on admissions has been extended until the end of May in case some of them cancel their participation in the programme, in which case another applicant may be accepted.


Best regards,

The Geneva Academy "

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but thought you should know.

Hey,guys. Any update news for non-scholarship track? I assume there are some offer they will send within this month? If I am wrong, please correct me, thanks.

Hey,guys. Any update news for non-scholarship track? I assume there are some offer they will send within this month? If I am wrong, please correct me, thanks.

Hello guys i just want to know how many people got admitted to LLM for both tracks full scolarship and non-scolarship.
Who got an offer within this week from 20 to 24 Apr 2020?
Many thanks in advance for letting us know.
Regards.

Hello guys i just want to know how many people got admitted to LLM for both tracks full scolarship and non-scolarship.
Who got an offer within this week from 20 to 24 Apr 2020?
Many thanks in advance for letting us know.
Regards.

Hey, Zak, so many thanks for your information and congratulations to you!!!

Hey,guys. Any update news for non-scholarship track? I assume there are some offer they will send within this month? If I am wrong, please correct me, thanks.

Hi TalilaQIU,

They have indeed started accepting students on the non-scholarship track. I received my letter around 2 weeks ago, and i’m pretty sure they go into may!

Hello guys i just want to know how many people got admitted to LLM for both tracks full scolarship and non-scolarship.
Who got an offer within this week from 20 to 24 Apr 2020?
Many thanks in advance for letting us know.
Regards.

Hi Peaceful, there's a facebook group called 'Geneva Academy admitted students masters 2020-2021' if you wanted to check that. On the group, there are currently 15 people who have said they were admitted to the LLM on both tracks, but there are definitely more!

[Edited by Peaceful on Apr 30, 2020]

Congratulations to the thread owner for receiving her acceptance letter!  <3

Congratulations to the thread owner for receiving her acceptance letter!  <3

Congratulations to the thread owner for receiving her acceptance letter!  <3

yesterday! there were also two new members of the fb group

Hello, Could you let us know when she received her offer? Many thanks

[Edited by Qwertyuiop123 on May 08, 2020]

Hello! I received my offer for a partial scholarship for the MTJ a day ago. It was a long process with the donor! 

Congratulations to the thread owner for receiving her acceptance letter!  <3

Hello, Could you let us know when she received her offer? Many thanks

Many thanks for your clarify, all the best wishes

Congratulations to the thread owner for receiving her acceptance letter!  <3

yesterday! there were also two new members of the fb group

Hello, Could you let us know when she received her offer? Many thanks

Wow, many congratulations dear for your acceptance letter, all the best wishes for achieving your goals 

Hello! I received my offer for a partial scholarship for the MTJ a day ago. It was a long process with the donor! 
 

Hi guys,

I received my acceptance letter on Friday for the LLM in IHL, I am really delighted however I might have to decline...I was hoping to secure an external scholarship to fund the LLM which would be the ideal option but it looks like it's not happening. So investing that amount of money is a dilemma especially because I am not sur about the outcome.

Let me give you a little bit of background to explain my situation:

I have 5 years of professional experience in IHL and human rights (UNHQ in New York, UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, UN peacekeeping mission in Congo). For example, I have worked on monitoring human rights violations with internal and external partners comprising of military, police and civilians. I assisted country military and police to develop and implement training programs in the field of human rights investigation, international humanitarian law and international criminal law but also conduct investigation and monitoring missions on the field with the military court. I now want to play a bigger role in the prosecution of war crimes and severe breaches of IHL, especially through investigations because for me the OHCHR mandate is too political and we don’t see any progress.

I do not have a first level degree in Law (I studied international relations in the UK) but I have gain strong field experience in IHL/HR on the way ( I wanted to do a postgraduate degree in law to be able to work for organization like TRIAL, CIVITAS MAXIMA, the ICJ, the ICC etc. which play a bigger role in the prosecution of war crimes including the representation of victims.

I also did the flagship "International investigator course" at the International Institute for Criminal Investigations in the Hague which is unique and the best in this field to improve my skills in war crime investigation, but also the use and interpretation of forensics data, learn to analyze open sources to document a case but also collect evidence for international criminal prosecution.

This is my dilemma:

Most of my UN colleagues and friends working in INGO, at the ICC or the ICRC tell me that a degree from the Geneva Academy is great (as they are the number 1 in the world for IHL) but it only makes a difference when you don't have professional experience in the field and can only wave your degree to get your first professional experience. Within the UN, the ICRC or big organization in general nobody cares about where you studied, it's a fact, they just want you to have a master’s degree in a relevant field AND professional experience because this is what they value. No matter how good a school/ a degree is, at the end of the day this a theoretical and academic qualification.

So I wanted to ask you guys some advice on this matter. Will this LLM guarantee me to find in job in the field of IHL straight afterward? If yes I would be willing to take on a student loan to cover the cost, but if not then I don't think it's wise to invest that much money with the huge economic crisis coming up (a lot of organizations and NGOs will lose their funding and the humanitarian sector will be hit very badly including projects and contracts getting cut. It's happening already to some of my friends working in the field including with the ICRC or INGOs...).

It seems you all know better the Academy than me, so I wanted to ask you guys what do you think?

You can see on the GA website that a lot of their students go work for the ICRC, OHCHR etc. but I can guarantee you that they got these positions thanks to their professional experience (maybe through their internship also), or a combinaison of both the experience and the degree from GA not simply thanks to their degree.

In the light of everything I just explained, what would you do? Do you think it’s worth it to invest 18,000K in the LLM or is my experience enough on its own for what I want to do? Would it really give me employability guarantees?

Thanks a lot in advance for your response!

There are no guarantees. You should ask the school these questions specifically, and even have them put you in touch with graduates who have made this kind of transition (so that you can ask them for frank feedback.)

You can also ask the school about their career support, how it works, and whether they feel your goal is achievable. 

Try to get a complete understanding of the possibilities, especially in terms of the organizations that you would be looking to land a job in. The real value of any degree is in the network and the doors the network can help you open.