Verder studeren in het buitenland

WORKSHOP “HOW TO APPLY”

Content

• Language Tests• Resumé• Recommendation Letter• Statement of purpose• Scholarship and funding

Language Test

TOEFL: www.ets.org

IELTS: https://ielts.britishcouncil.org

Preparing Application Package as a Persuasion Exercise

Appplication Package

You

Reject

Admission Committee

• Admit You are in!

- It’s about selling yourself: present yourself in your best light!- But think carefully about your audience!

Be a forward-looking candidate!

Where I am now

LLM Programme

Where I want to go

- Studying is not an end in itself but a MEANS to an end!- What you’re likely to do AFTER your LLM matters as

much as what you will be doing DURING your LLM

Resumé

- No Europass- Chronological ordering: most

recent first- Highlight job experience and

internships, specify duties (+ reference person if possible)

- Do not try to hide significant “gaps”: There is no failure, only feedback!

Resumé

- Provide detail of grades and ranking (e.g. “top 5% of the class”)

- “avoid clutter” (no unnecessary headings)

- Pay attention to e-mail adress (permanent; avoid weird, unprofessional nicknames)

Resumé

- Languages: Don’t be too modest (e.g. may specify that courses in English and French are part of the regular, mandatory curriculum at KU Leuven)

Resumé

- Hobbies and interests: carefully consider how they reflect on you as a person (running perhaps, chess certainly, piano of course, fishing and heavy metal probably not)

- Think about your “social resumé”! (Charity work, student union…)

Resumé

- layout: clean, well-polished (use same fonts throughout, consistent sectioning and underlining)

- 1 or 2 pagina’s (better not one and a half, by no means 3)

- if more than 1 page use headers- Grammar and spelling: be

perfectionist!- Beware: you may be googled…

Resumé

For writing tips, see:

http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/asis/agep/advcv.pdf

Resumé

For those considering applying in 2015, think about beefing up your creds with:

- Summer internships- Summer courses- Moot court competitions- “Civic engagement” (e.g. youth

movement, NGO, politics, unions…)

Recommendation Letters

Whom to ask? - Think carefully- You need two or three- May vary from application to

application

Recommendation Letters

Whom should I ask? Criteria:- Professor, internship supervisor,

assistant,..- Someone who knows you and had

direct contact with you (the more the better)

- If possible someone prominent in the discipline/business/policy area

Recommendation Letters

Whom should I ask? Criteria:- Alumnus of the institution applied

to- Prestige of referee- Relevance to your specific focus

and ambition

Recommendation Letters

How to ask?- Don’t be pushy - Give her/him sufficient time- Provide relevant information- Make her/his work easy

Recommendation Letters

What you need to send her/him?- “Where do I know her/him from?”- Resumé- If academic referee: detailed

grades- Explain why you chose

programme/university- State your goal/ambition

Recommendation Letters

What you need to send her/him?- Indicate deadline!!!- Specify if you need several letters- For academics: offer to provide a

draft letter

Recommendation Letters

What is a good recommendation?- Does not replicate resumé - Focus on personal contact and

interaction- Identify skills- Give a sense of the candidate’s

potential

Statement of purpose

- Sometimes called “personal statement”

- For some US Law Schools: “autobiographical essay” is also required

Statement of purpose

- Choose a topic or domain that is relevant to law broadly defined

- Demonstrate that you are a driven, ambitious forward-looking candidate

- Always have your audience in mind (if applying for scholarship: committee not always jurists)

Statement of purpose

- Try to link what you have studied and what you want to study (in LLM programme) to your long term goal

- Bring out your ambition!- And show you have a strategy to

achieve it!- Convey self-confidence but don’t

arrogant

Statement of purpose

- Be concrete- Avoid platitudes (e.g. “I find law

exciting”)- Statement should be organised

around a unifying theme/common thread

- Strive for clarity and elegance!

Autobiographical essay

- Don’t replicate your resumé- Be concrete and personal- Strive to answer the question

“Who is the candidate?”, “What does he stand for?”, “Where is he coming from?”

Scholarships and Funding:

- BAEF- Fullbright- Rotary

(http://rotary.belux.org/nl/programmas/studiebeurzen)

- Stichting Fernand Lazard- Doctoral students: FWO

Scholarship & Funding

- Sometimes LL.M. programme itself offers scholarship

- Alternative: “tuition waiver”

Scholarship & Funding

- After your LL.M.: some law firms compensate for cost of LL.M. “sign on fee” (cash bonus to cover student debts)

- Tax rebate?

Last but not least

- Seek advice- Speak alumni- Hedge your bet and keep your

options open