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[Edited by nomenestomen on Oct 20, 2018]

Hello nomenestomen,

To narrow down your LLM research I suggest to start with less known Universities. They generally ask for a lower fee and entry requirements may be lower, too.
With regards too the UK I suggest RGU Aberdeen and the Exeter/ TU Dresden program. Both ask for a degree but do not specify a particular grade. Apart from these Universities the majority request at least a 2:2 degree (GPA 3.0). You will also need a minimum of a 6.5 IELTS score - better 7.0.

Universities in the UK that require a 2:2 degree are Swansea, Bangor, Herdfordshire, Bournemouth, Southwales. Some of them exempt you from a 2:2 requirement if you offer significant, relevant, practical experience. In that case you should state clearly in your application why you feel your qualifications/experiences are appropriate for admission.

Thanks for the reply!

Hi nomenstomen,

Amongst Universities in Belgium and Netherlands
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium may be of interest to you. They require a law degree but have not set a minimum grade. Measurements for entry are results obtained during the applicants university studies, the level
of knowledge of the English language, a statement of intent and three references.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover in Germany the EULISP Program and University of Liège - Liege Competition and Innovation Institute in Belgium require both a Bologna Masters degree in law or a degree that is equivalent (i.e. a 300 ECTS or 5 years educational programme in law), which I believe you do not have.

Thanks for your interest! I am going to search all of them.

I did llm in maritime law at swansea it was a superb experience but they also started 5 years ago llm in intellectual property and was awarded if I remember correctly a big grant by the Eu worth checking them out and even writing to them

It is a very good law school and swansea is cheap to live

Kosta

Thank you Kosta! I am going to think about Swansea.

Hello nomenstomen, you also enquiered Universities in Germany to apply to with a low GPA.

You may consider
ILF Institute for Law and Finance at Frankfurt University
Freie Universität (FU) Berlin - Institute for German and European Business, Competition and Regulatory Law
Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
Bucerius Law School - Hochschule für Rechtswissenschaft
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover - EULISP Program
All of them state require a law degree but do not specify how you need to have completed your degree.
Universität Hamburg - EMLE Programme may be a choice too. Hamburg University assesses its applicants on
1. 40% - Quality of the university career (including duration, number and quality of the degrees obtained, academic credentials and academic performance)
2. 25% - Quality of motivation letter
3. 25% - Affinity to previous studies in law and economics
4. 10% - Letters of recommendation

Good luck!

In France you may consider Catholic University of Lyon - Law School, although they give preference to someone with a 1st masters degree.
Université Panthéon-Assas Paris II - Panthéon Assas University
or
CEIPI - Université de Strasbourg, though CEIPI requires a minimum of three years practical work.

Hi nomenstomen,

I can also prefer Germany, Sweden and France, if the program is going to be English.

Thank you for all comments. :)

Hello nomenstomen, Please let us know how you proceed. I would be really interested in your outcome. Which University do you apply to? How is your application process going and most importantly your outcome.
I wish you all the best of luck.

Hello nomenstomen, Please let us know how you proceed. I would be really interested in your outcome. Which University do you apply to? How is your application process going and most importantly your outcome.
I wish you all the best of luck.

I am curious to know what happened and what you ended up deciding to do.

I was interested in the University of Swansea and contacted the school in inquire further and was told they give great deal of preference to UK 2:1.

But what I have learned in life is that you miss 100% of shots that you don't take. There isn't an application fee so apply to as many LLM programs as you wish!

You are an International student and you can pay for the tuition then go ahead and apply. I highly doubt that all the programs even at top universities are as competitive as they would like everyone to believe.

Again, you won't know what happens until you don't apply.

I completely second what Alydarvs just said. Such a shame no one recommended this approach earlier.

ALWAYS give it it a shot. ALWAYS. I would have advised the original author to try and make a great motivation letter containing all the achievements accomplished which are mentioned in the post, and if the author wanted to, specify in the letter that reason for his low GPA is outside work/economic reason and but he is as motivated as ever and (if that is the case) specify that you would not have to work on the side and/or you do not have economic issues right now.

Remember folks, GPAs are always PART of the application. The rest matters. I would honestly not be surprised if top-notch universities overall preferred an application with a meh GPA but great motivation letter (and possibly recommendation letters) and good achievements (articles published, internships, etc.) than an application with a great GPA but poor motivation letter and none/few achievements on the side.

I completely second what Alydarvs just said. Such a shame no one recommended this approach earlier.

ALWAYS give it it a shot. ALWAYS. I would have advised the original author to try and make a great motivation letter containing all the achievements accomplished which are mentioned in the post, and if the author wanted to, specify in the letter that reason for his low GPA is outside work/economic reason and but he is as motivated as ever and (if that is the case) specify that you would not have to work on the side and/or you do not have economic issues right now.

Remember folks, GPAs are always PART of the application. The rest matters. I would honestly not be surprised if top-notch universities overall preferred an application with a meh GPA but great motivation letter (and possibly recommendation letters) and good achievements (articles published, internships, etc.) than an application with a great GPA but poor motivation letter and none/few achievements on the side.

Hi Nomenestomen, If I may quickly chime in: I work for the MBL progamme at FU Berlin but I think my advice applies to many programmes: Programmes that do not have a fixed GPA requirement will obviously nevertheless take your GPA into account. Usually, however, not having a fixed GPA-threshold is and indication that these programmes are more flexible and open. So if you find a programme closely matching your interests and experience, the GPA might not be a problem.

You mentioned that your interested in international law, IP law and commercial law. If you apply for such a programme (and here I can speak from experience since I evaluate candidates for such a programme) they will not be too interested if you had bad grade in criminal procedural law or legal history. A good letter of motivation explaining why you are interested in especially this programme and how your experience enables you to succeed at such a programme goes a long way to make up for sub-perfect GPA ;-)

However you decide, good luck with your application and don't give up hope! :-)
Dominik

Oh yeah: Unless the university has a high application fee, I would not shy from applying to several universities ;-) There are so many cool places out there, one will be the right for you!

I am curious to know what happened and what you ended up deciding to do.

Hello. What can I do to improve my application to apply for LLM scholarships in Europe? I am interested in IP law. I have a low GPA (2.67) but trying to make up by attending international short courses (one was in Europe) and having working experiences in top-tier international and national law firms in IP field in my country.
In my situation, can you please recommend me some programs that I might be capable to apply. Thank you so much in advance.