I just wanted people to know that the program is highly disorganized. People are great and education is ok but it lacks organization.

The program costs 20,000 euro and the course materials are not available on time, the course schedule is still not available and the course offers were only available about 2 weeks before classes started.

Business courses are taught in a compact way and it is very hard to learn a whole subject in 2-3 days. So for people with a law background it is very hard.

On the other hand, people with a business background should stay away from it. At least until now after doing the fall semester, the level of the business courses is not advanced at all (to be in a masters level). It is rather basic and the legal courses are indeed difficult because of the lack of familiarity with the subjects experienced.

Overall, nice people, nice location provided by Bucerius Law School, great idea with the internships but not worth the large amount of money. Maybe in the future things improve...

Hope this post helps people make informed decisions. Let me know if you have any further questions.

I am thinking of applying this programme but feel it is too expensive of a one-year education. Are the graduates welcomed in the job market in Germany and all the world?

I totally disagree that the program is disorganized! The MLB team is always trying to help us with all relevant information required for the preparation of each course. It is true that the courses, specially the business ones, are though in a compact way. But this is the price to offer students the choice of the course they want to take - we have each term almost 8 law and 5 business courses to choose (minimum 3 of each field). As I came from a law background, the business courses are really challenging and interesting. The law courses are not so deep, as one may say, but it is taught in a comparative perspective and by excellent lecturers, which give you important tools for your professional life. Definitely the course is worthwhile and I fully encourage others to know it better.

Regarding job prospects after the Program it is not so clear because the Program is quite new. But if you consider that good part of the lawyers of the Program got an internship offer from the Magic Circle Law Firms (including outside of Germany) and as far as I know the business people got good internship offers from major Germans companies, the job prospects after the Program tend to be naturally very good.

This programme is perhaps the most expensive one as I know and they only have limited scholarships. Have anyone gotten a scholarship or loan from MLB?

As far as I know almost everybody that applied for scholarships (and proved necessity) got tuition reduction that vary from 3,000 to 15,000. Aditionally, Allen & Overy provided 2 full scholarships for high qualified students approved and there were a couple of others for midle east and african students.

It is important to stretch out your neck every once in a while and raise your opinion about those things which concern yourself and/or your fellow students. One such opinion was raised by WXYZ (above) who clearly seems to be a fellow student of our current MLB class.

I would like to respond to the criticism presented by WXYZ from my personal perspective and I would like this to be seen as such throughout. I doubt that the points raised by WXYZ really allow a prospective student to make an informed decision.

The MLB programme is a truly unique programme which has sofar been unrivalled by any other institution in Germany and across Europe. The reason for this is simple: the programme combines both legal and business fields in a compact manner not least because both the Bucerius Law School and the WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management can present themselves as universities where academic requirements are very high.

The experience that business courses for those people with a business background are easier than the legal courses (and vice versa) should not come as a surprise. The idea is not to deepen your economics/finance/business knowledge in the first place but rather to broaden your knowledge in those fields which are not directly covered (or not covered at all) at the Bachelor level. Examples of such business and legal courses are Investment Banking, Comparative Venture Capital, International Capital Markets and many more. The fact that these courses are taught by very high ranking professors as well as executives from the corporate and legal industries is again a true asset of the programme. In fact many lecturers are able to convey first hand experience from the leading investment banks, law firms and research institutes in Germany and Europe.

So in order to really make an informed decision there are clearly many more points that would need to be raised such as the fact that we are all exposed to a very international learning environment with more than 20 nationalities being represented in our current class. Also the networking potential within both universities is truely impressive.

I would like to re-emphasise that everyone is entitled to his/her own views and opinions. Undoubtedly this also holds true for WXYZ who has chosen the World Wide Web to do so. The fact that WXYZ has also chosen to remain anonymous is again completely within his/her rights to do so. However, I feel that the concerns should have and could easily have been discussed internally (i.e. not chosing the WWW) not least because the academic and administrative staff have continuously stressed that they can be approached for any concerns/issues that arise. I can confirm that problems are dealt with discretely and quickly because of the flat hierarchies within both universities.

I am proud to be a student of this programme and these two very prestigious German universities. I will gladly respond to any further questions.

Axel Moeller

All,

Thanks for the insight and exchange of ideas concerning the MLB program. I have been accepted for 2008/09 and plan on attending, if finances permit.

Because I am almost certain to be attending, I would like to know more about internships and subsequent job prospects. For example, how effective is the school in helping to arrange internships? Or does it primarily depend on the initiative of the student? Also, at what point in the program do students begin applying to internships and what materials are required for an application? Is it common, when desired, for MLB graduates to stay in Germany with an extended contract from the companies/firms where they did their internship or otherwise? To do so, is one of my primary reasons in choosing the MLB. By the way Fialdini, which are the Magic Circle Law Firms referred to you in your post and what are the criteria for internship offers. Are offers based primarily on what has been accomplished (i.e. grades) while in MLB, or prior studies and work experience. Also, do they pay and if so, how much?

I have also been waitlisted at ILF, and will consider that program as well if accepted. Also, already accepted to Erasmus, Amsterdam, and Utrecht with several others still pending.

Also, I would like to establish contact with others who have been accepted, whether or not you intend on attending and can also be reached directly at Lhardaway@law.gwu.edu

For those of you currently attending, I will surely be back in touch to take more advantage of your insight and experiences, once more questions arise.

Regards

As a student from the 06/07 class I can not agree more with Moeller who posted his opinion above me!

And to answer some of your questions - the BLS is providing a lot of assistance for the internships, from interviews and guidance to the application to some additional training and preparation for the internship interviews themselves. The whole effort that the school is making has effect and almost everyone of the students in my year got amazing placements. The application itself usually consists of a cover letter and a cv, but you will get the necessary assistance.

As far as working in Germany afterwards - it depends where you come from and what is your background. I personally have not applied for any position there (so far) but several of my classmates are already working permanently in Germany.

In any case if you have additional questions - I would be happy to reply here or via e-mail.

Dear Moeller and Rayniac,

I was wondering if you could elaborate a bit about job prospects in Germany after graduating from the program. I am actually German but never studied law there (studied in the US instead). Being German it is important to me to get a degree that would give me a reasonable chance to get a job in Germany. Could you recommend the program for that purpose? Thanks a lot in advance.

I would also like to hear about post-Bucerius/WHU job prospects. I am comparing various programs. I am a U.S.-trained lawyer with several years of experience, and want to be confident that my investment (particularly with the low value of the dollar!) will lead to real job prospects in Germany or elsewhere in Western Europe. Thanks!

Dear Moeller or anyone who has experience with/is in the program,

From the internship list it seems people also establish ties/do internships in London. Do you know anything about that? Would love to hear.

Thanks,

hello, I have had experience of this program belonging to the first batch here. I can say that, the internships which my batch did spanned from New Ýork, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Rome and there were for institutions like the UNIDROIT, Allen and Overy, Linklaters, HSH Nord Bank, Deutsche Bank, Hapag Lloyd, Baker Mckenzie to name just a few. It is an experience worth having. The current batch is also doing an awesome job.

Hey,

I got accepted to the MLB Program 2008/2009 as well and am very looking forward to start in Fall.
I would really like to hear from anybody who has or will attend this program as well. My email adress is kagr05ad@cbs.student.dk

Katharina

PP65468, I am a current MLB and at the moment I am completing my internship at Allen & Overy in London. I am happy to clarify any of your queries.

Alexandre

Hey thanks a lot, I PMed you.

hey,guys who have already got the offer from MLB program, I think this is a place deserved to be appreciated since I have been looking for people also intending to attend this program in fall.so happy to meet you here
anyway,if anyone of them interested in further communication,just follow this contact information:liheng8239@hotmail.com

sorry,I am not able to reply to anyone of you who just sent me the email through hotmail.And since I am now in edinburgh and have not got any specific plan of my following trip to hamburg,I cannot tell you whether I will attend the precourse activities.However,I am to some extent certain to go to hamburg before the course get started and your email makes me look forward to our meeting there.

are you still thinking about the programme? i can only recommend it - it's a diverse group of students from all walks of life and it's great fun to be among them.
depending on your background, the classes tend to be either challenging or at least a decent backup of what you have learned in the past. for those with a business background, the whu classes will be interesting - many times things are backed up by the profs' own research which makes it all the more exciting.
it's a great programme and the subject complement each other very well.