Dear Qwertyuiop123, thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience. I would like to add, for everyone wanting to do International Law and to have an international career: this is about persistence. There are so many wonderful people out there trying to get a career in international law and the most important thing you can do is to always persist. You will be rejected from many things before getting one. Maybe it will be this master, maybe not, maybe a student assistant position, maybe a Law Review editing position, maybe you won't make it to the uni's moot court competition, etc, and life after uni is just tougher.
I've already graduated from Leiden University but during my year there I didn't get all the opportunities I applied for. After that, I've been an intern in 3 international courts in three different continent and people would probably say: "yes, you made it" but what they don't know is that in that same period of time I did around 25 applications for many other positions, paid fellowships, actual jobs and I've been rejected. I was never in a situation where I had to decide between two things I got at the same time because I never did, regardless my big number of applications. And, of course, here I am nervous about Geneve as well.
At the end, whatever happens, if IHL and Human Rights are really your thing, you have to keep going with or without Geneva, but never stop. I honestly don't think that today is already enough time to conclude they already rejected you. I think offers have been minimum so far. So, stay positive!
This is out of topic, but those who are starting to get anxious about the results might want to hear this.
For those who might not get selected for this program this school year, please don't be too hard on yourselves. This isn't entirely because your grades are not good enough or because of what you did or did not say in the personal statement. I've been rejected, too in the past, and for a specific sub-discipline/ program I really, really painstakingly worked hard for for years - and if I have any regrets, it is that I waited too long to resume how diligently I used to work after getting rejected. In case the academy does not provide feedback along with the rejection, we can always ask someone's help. One thing I did before applying again was to ask a good friend to criticize the motivation letter I submitted in a past application.
He was a true friend enough to be frank; he told me how I could have improved my letter. It took me a couple of years to recheck the documents I sent in that application. The copies of my grades weren't clear enough and they weren't scanned professionally. Also, some answers to the queries seemed to have been written in haste. What's worse, the copy of my diplomas were photographed instead of scanned (I didn't even took time to edit it in Photoshop!) Moreover, the format of my CV was not in the regular format for that country. I know these were not supposed to have affected the substance of my curriculum vitae, but maybe it reflected how I presented myself as a "professional'? Who knows, these details could have been the reason for the rejection.
So yeah, for those who will not get admitted, please don't be too hard on yourselves. It could be for a number of reasons such as your fitness to the program. Maybe they see your career path as more aligned with a track different from the expertise of the academy. It isn't always because you're not good enough. You could have excellent credentials, but one which would flourish even more in a different program, with different mentors. ^_^ <3 (So sorry for this unsolicited advice!)
EDIT: PS I said this because I read some of the past threads, and once someone starts to get anxious in the thread, it spreads to others like wildfire. :( It's pointless to worry at this point because we have done our part. After we clicked "submit", things are no longer in our hands.
[Edited by AJ3914 on Mar 05, 2020]
Dear Qwertyuiop123, thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience. I would like to add, for everyone wanting to do International Law and to have an international career: this is about persistence. There are so many wonderful people out there trying to get a career in international law and the most important thing you can do is to always persist. You will be rejected from many things before getting one. Maybe it will be this master, maybe not, maybe a student assistant position, maybe a Law Review editing position, maybe you won't make it to the uni's moot court competition, etc, and life after uni is just tougher.
I've already graduated from Leiden University but during my year there I didn't get all the opportunities I applied for. After that, I've been an intern in 3 international courts in three different continent and people would probably say: "yes, you made it" but what they don't know is that in that same period of time I did around 25 applications for many other positions, paid fellowships, actual jobs and I've been rejected. I was never in a situation where I had to decide between two things I got at the same time because I never did, regardless my big number of applications. And, of course, here I am nervous about Geneve as well.
At the end, whatever happens, if IHL and Human Rights are really your thing, you have to keep going with or without Geneva, but never stop. I honestly don't think that today is already enough time to conclude they already rejected you. I think offers have been minimum so far. So, stay positive!
[quote]This is out of topic, but those who are starting to get anxious about the results might want to hear this.
For those who might not get selected for this program this school year, please don't be too hard on yourselves. This isn't entirely because your grades are not good enough or because of what you did or did not say in the personal statement. I've been rejected, too in the past, and for a specific sub-discipline/ program I really, really painstakingly worked hard for for years - and if I have any regrets, it is that I waited too long to resume how diligently I used to work after getting rejected. In case the academy does not provide feedback along with the rejection, we can always ask someone's help. One thing I did before applying again was to ask a good friend to criticize the motivation letter I submitted in a past application.
He was a true friend enough to be frank; he told me how I could have improved my letter. It took me a couple of years to recheck the documents I sent in that application. The copies of my grades weren't clear enough and they weren't scanned professionally. Also, some answers to the queries seemed to have been written in haste. What's worse, the copy of my diplomas were photographed instead of scanned (I didn't even took time to edit it in Photoshop!) Moreover, the format of my CV was not in the regular format for that country. I know these were not supposed to have affected the substance of my curriculum vitae, but maybe it reflected how I presented myself as a "professional'? Who knows, these details could have been the reason for the rejection.
So yeah, for those who will not get admitted, please don't be too hard on yourselves. It could be for a number of reasons such as your fitness to the program. Maybe they see your career path as more aligned with a track different from the expertise of the academy. It isn't always because you're not good enough. You could have excellent credentials, but one which would flourish even more in a different program, with different mentors. ^_^ <3 (So sorry for this unsolicited advice!)
EDIT: PS I said this because I read some of the past threads, and once someone starts to get anxious in the thread, it spreads to others like wildfire. :( It's pointless to worry at this point because we have done our part. After we clicked "submit", things are no longer in our hands.
[/quote]
