Long story short, I was accepted into the LLM program at the Geneva Graduate Institute last year (graduation is just around the corner), and I'm completely disappointed! I was also admitted to Leiden University, Utrecht, and UCL but ended up going to Geneva. If I could go back in time, I would have chosen the University of American Samoa before even considering spending my time and money at the Graduate Institute. The program looks appealing from the outset, but it is very chaotic, disorganized, and extremely expensive. Geneva is a nice city but super expensive for students. The professors at the Graduate Institute and Geneva University are generally good, although some faculty members apparently do not even know the difference between the International Criminal Court and the ICJ. I was interested in specializing in environmental law, so I took most classes in that stream, including a class about International Environmental Law and Policy. I was honestly shocked by how little the professor in question knew about international (environmental) law, to the point that she didn't even know what the Rio Declaration or UNFCCC were. Not to say that we had half of the semester with student presentations. I complained to the administration, but the professor in question was also the head of the LLM program and nothing was done. The program manager was also unhelpful most of the time. In the end, I lost one year of my life and 40k. I really feel like I got scammed.

Not discrediting your experience, but I am curious why you chose Geneva for 40k over UCL or Leiden. To me, the latter are much more reputable, even prestigious, than the former. What made GGI seem appealing?

Not discrediting your experience, but I am curious why you chose Geneva for 40k over UCL or Leiden. To me, the latter are much more reputable, even prestigious, than the former. What made GGI seem appealing?

[Edited by Internationalist1995 on Jul 06, 2024]

I am also a current student of the GGI LLM in international law graduating this September, but I really had a different experience from internationalist1995! I thoroughly enjoyed the program and can say that the classmates with whom I have spoken did too. For me, the best aspect of the program is undoubtedly its faculty. I agree that sometimes the schedule can feel a bit chaotic, but I think the reason for that is that GGI is bringing the best professors in their given field to the institute to teach (including one stellar professor from Leiden). For example, our international human rights law class was taught by a former member and chair of the ICCPR human rights committee, law of the sea taught by an ITLOS judge, etc. I feel like I learned so much! To me the program is as advertised-the school is very upfront about the high costs of living in Geneva and the tuition fees. On the other hand, due to being in Geneva, I was able to attend so many interesting UN sessions and am currently assisting a member of the ILC at the UN for the summer who has asked me to co-author a paper with him, which will undoubtedly further my career. I can’t speak to the environmental law courses myself but others who took those classes have reported finding them to be beneficial. In short, I hope people won’t place too much weight on the opinion of one person because I and so many of my classmates thoroughly enjoyed this program. 

I am also a current LLM student at IHEID and my experience has been totally different to that of @internationalist1995. I agree 100% with what @lshaw4934 said in her comment. Yes, Geneva and the Institute are expensive, but the faculty consists of some of the world's most renowned international lawyers and come with great theoretical and practical expertise and experience as well as excellent teaching skills. The professors are definetely not as @internationalist1995 described. Only very few schools in the world can compete with the Institute's reputation in IL.
I chose the environmental law stream and, in contrast to @internationalist1995, for me it was a great experience through which I could considerably deepen my already existing knowledge in IEL. It also gave me the unique opportunity to be part of a legal clinic team for UNEP. Generally, being based in Geneva gives you the opportunity to gain practical experience in IL during and directly after your studies, such as in one of the hundreds of Geneva-based IOs and NGOs - something that neither Oxbridge nor Leiden or Harvard etc. can provide, which is why IHEID was by far my first choice. And after the LLM year I can say that the tuition and living expenses in Geneva were absolutely worth it.
I have studied at many universities in Europe and the US and IHEID was the best of them all in terms of organization, reputation and quality of the program. I doubt that @internationalist1995 would have been any happier at Leiden, Utrecht or UCL. In any case, in my experience and that of my fellow students, the IHEID LLM program would not give rise to such frustration. On the contrary, I highly recommend it!

[Edited by globalist2000 on Jul 14, 2024]

I have also studied at the Graduate Institute - in fact, I still am. I did the MA in International Law, but was also admitted into the LLM at the Institute, the Geneva Academy, UCL, KCL, and LSE. I was between the LLM and the MA in the end, but went for the latter since I wanted to follow a career in academia. Although I did not do the same programme as @internationalist1995, I do know the faculty quite well and can only subscribe to what Lshaw4934 and globalist2000 have already said. Indeed, there has been a change in the research focus at the Institute in the past decade or so, but I think the LLM Programme was barely affected by that. The programme managers seem very attentive to the needs of a professional-oriented, LLM programme (just check the leading practitioners and scholars they invite to teach there). Geneva is indeed a very expensive city, I give you that. But it is also one of the beating hearts of the international law profession. You have the ILC, OHCHR, UNHCR, IOM, ICRC, WTO, WIPO, ITC, and some hundred or so of Permanent Missions, NGOs etc. There is a good chance that you will be getting that 40k back in less than a year.

[Edited by Master22 on Jul 15, 2024]

I actually agree with internationalist1995. I was in another Master programme. During evening hangouts I remember my friends in the LLM programme joining us in sharing their experience.





The institute is good and they try to offer decent programmes. However, we all shared the view that what happens to students and what we become out of the academia that they try to provide is none of their concern.





I actually stayed in Swiss for another 8 months working with a UN organisation. Thanks to a friend of mine who was doing a similar programme in Geneva, who helped me get it. I am back in the US now.





I won't say totally avoid it. It's a decent institution. But don't dream too big and have high expectations.

[Edited by James Sidanius on Aug 01, 2024]

I know the professor internationalist1995 is talking about and completely agree with the assessment. I was unfortunate to cross paths with them. It's a pity that such a reputable place is now run by ppl who don't know basic international law. Instead, these same ppl are now spending tax payer money on pointless projects like "Inside-Out Approaches to International Law" instead of doing real research. The IHEID is no longer what it used to be and I would definitely go for another school. PS I have recently graduated from the PhD program so I know what I'm talking about...

[Edited by James Crawford on Aug 03, 2024]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently contemplating applying for the LLM program at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva. I interned at UNEP in Geneva about two years ago, and that experience really made me consider IHEID for my LLM, given its excellent location surrounded by international organizations, UN agencies, and various NGOs. I’m also considering other programs like those at Berkeley, UCL, or LSE, but IHEID’s proximity to such a rich ecosystem of international entities is a big draw for me.

From what I’ve gathered, IHEID is highly prestigious, particularly for its International Relations and Development programs. However, it seems like the LLM program is relatively new (correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe it was established around 10 years ago?). I’m curious how this impacts the program’s reputation and the employability of its graduates, especially when compared to more established LLM programs at other institutions.

For me, the measure of a successful LLM program is employability. Do you have any insights into the employment rate for recent graduates? With the LLM batch size being relatively small (under 50 students, if I’m not mistaken), how many of your cohort have secured full-time employment before or shortly after graduation? Would you say more than 50%?

For current students: internationalist1995, Lshaw4934, globalist2000, Master22, have you personally secured a job before graduating? How supportive is the institute in terms of career services, networking opportunities, and helping students land jobs?
I would really appreciate hearing your experiences and thoughts!

Thanks in advance!

Hi all.

I came across this post doing some quick research to help out a friend with her plans to apply for LLMs so I thought I’d chip in. At the outset I have to say I’m VERY surprised to hear about Internationalist1995's experience. Not denying it at all though, and clearly the posts reflect different experiences. I'm actually very sorry that you had such a bad experience @Internationalist1995.

For my part, I've graduated from both the Graduate Institute (but the MA, not LLM) and a US Ivy-league law school, and my experience is very different. I would agree with some of the comments on life being expensive (100%, though actually not as much than the US college town where I was and where at some point I paid 800 USD for a shared room), I would also agree on some admin-related aspects, and I've definitely heard other students complain about some of their classes or their faculty, or too many student presentations etc., but not really any more so than in the other schools I attended.

The point that surprises me the most though is on the faculty's lack of substantive knowledge, which is not a complaint I’ve heard before. I know there’s been some changes in the faculty since I was there, but I’d be curious to know more about how that played out and in what context. In any case, even though I didn’t take environmental law back then and can’t speak to that particular professor, I have a hard time believing that *any* professor there wouldn't know the difference between the ICC and the ICJ (!), or about the Rio Declaration or the UNFCCC (a little more niche but still basic knowledge).

Now to be clear I was not necessary blown away by *all* the classes I took there, but I was very happy with the vast majority. In my experience all the professors I had or interacted with (or teaching assistants and many fellow students for that matter) had exceptional knowledge and expertise, and practical experience as well for a lot of them. Many of them were also practitioners, quite a few of them had an impressive academic record in their fields (some of them have written some major books/articles in their field), many of them had appeared before international courts/tribunals, had been member of UN or other bodies etc. Same with my teaching assistants with whom I interacted probably more than the profs themselves: a bunch of them had worked for UN bodies, the WTO, international courts/tribunals including the ICJ, one of them had even pleaded before the ICJ, a few had worked with the ICRC, some were working on arbitration panels. It doesn’t necessarily mean a lot, but a lot of them had also attended great programs before, all over the place (quite a few did their masters in Geneva I think, but some did theirs in Yale, Harvard, NYU, Cambridge, Oxford, Georgetown, McGill, LSE etc.). A lot of them also seemed to think that the GGI/Geneva was the best place for international law, even though in private they’d voice other complaints about the school, but mostly management/funding-related stuff.

As far as hardcore international law knowledge, experience, and network are concerned, it was incomparable with my experience in the US, and I learned a lot more of the substance in Geneva than any of the other places I've gone to, even though I had a blast in the US. I also found internships/careers opportunities in Geneva quite easily (even though the field is clearly extremely competitive, the work conditions so-so, and I did apply to a lot of places).

Now on the downsides, not all the faculty or students had a flawless mastery of English (but it’s also a very international place so fair enough, and I feel it’s part of the Geneva/UN-experience anyway), a lot of things could have worked better on the admin side, and I wish it were a little more lively student-life wise, and more opportunities to collaborate with the school on projects too. I also had to study a lot and lived like a monk, but no regrets looking back. I also have many other random complaints about all sorts of things ranging from VPN access, to the intranet, access to some resources at the library, the cafeteria, the bike racks, some rooms being a little small etc., but honestly I've had similar good/bad experiences in the other schools I attended, so I don’t think it was anything different, and certainly nothing that dramatically impacted my experience.

Overall I’d say it was definitely not as much of a well-oiled-machine as my US school, we didn’t have as many perks, free stuff, informal interactions with faculty etc. and we weren’t nearly as spoiled and pampered as we were in the US. In retrospect, I absolutely loved my time in the US, but my time in Geneva was more of a game-changer career-wise. And though the shininess of my US LLM has been a great door-opener/conversation starter, I think I’ve probably gained more substantive knowledge, experience, contacts etc. at the GGI.

I realize it’s a ridiculously long message, but I hope it can be useful. Also, I talk about Geneva and the US because it’s the only thing I know from experience, but there’s lots of other programs I’ve heard great things about, including Leiden and quite a few others in the Netherlands, and the UK, like Oxbridge/LSE/King’s etc. But I do recommend looking carefully into the curriculum, the courses offered on any given year, paying attention to changes in faculty, and planning very carefully the financial aspects. Ultimately Geneva was a bit of an investment (overall not too different from what my time in the US costed), so unfortunately I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to anybody, but I don’t regret it. Oh and final caveat: again I can’t speak of the Geneva LLM, I did the two-year MA and it was quite different. Though our impression back then, being in the MA, was that the LLM students were a lot more spoiled than we were, so I don’t know…

Sorry for the long post and best of luck to anybody reading this and applying to masters/LLMs! Wherever you end up you can make the best of it and have a great time! Also remember that sometimes you learn almost as much from your classmates, from mentors you meet along the way, through internships, student life etc., as through your classes!