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Beijing University LLM taught in English

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stephenlou

Joined: 18 Apr 2008
Posts: 1
Beijing University LLM taught in English
Sat Apr 19, 2008 08:19 AM
I was an LLM student in their first year, last year. I have shared some of my thoughts on as to whether the LLM was worth it, in our firm blog, www.chinalawpracticeblog, link to chinalawpracticeblog.com/?p=25. Take a look, I encourage you to post any comments or questions you have.
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fedefra

Joined: 16 Sep 2007
Posts: 14
BeiDa or NUS???
Tue Apr 22, 2008 09:50 AM
Hi,
I've been accepted into the LL.M. in Singapore/Shanghai organised by NUS and in Beijing by BeiDa. I'm really happy but I'm in two minds.
Any suggestions?
Thank you
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michaelcorleone

Joined: 17 Sep 2006
Posts: 81
BeiDa or NUS???
Tue Apr 22, 2008 11:24 AM
Hi, my colleague was admitted to the LLM in International Business Law last year in NUS too, but last year, it was jointly organized by NUS and ECUPL in Shanghai. Are you sure that the counterpart this time is BeiDa and not ECUPL? Anyway, if it *is* Beida, it seems like this is going to be the first time that this is offered ever. I knew that my colleague didn't enjoy so much some of the sessions in Shanghai which were taught by ECUPL profs, but last year, they flew profs from NUS to teach courses in Shanghai (which I thought was odd, because why have the 2nd segment of the program in Shanghai if NUS profs will teach it anyway?), and she liked those classes taught by NUS profs.
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attorney.ed

Joined: 28 Mar 2006
Posts: 6
BeiDa or NUS???
Wed Apr 23, 2008 04:05 PM
Hi, is there anyone who received an admission from Beida? I got it the day before yesterday.

Everyone in Tsinghua LL.M. program says Tsinghua LL.M. is the best one in China. Their argument is based on financial strength of Tsinghua (Tsinghua has better buildings and facilities, and their LL.M. is well-financed, etc) and overall alumni network of the University (i.e. Current Chinese leader, Mr. Hu went to Tsinghua).

Any different opinion here?
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michaelcorleone

Joined: 17 Sep 2006
Posts: 81
BeiDa or NUS???
Wed Apr 23, 2008 04:37 PM
Hey atty.ed, I'm a student in the program right now in PKU. I have not been to the Tsinghua campus myself, but my classmates who have been there say that the campus is beautiful. I would love to study in a beautiful campus too, but I think we in Peking Uni have everything that we need, like a classroom and a ceiling-mounted projector. Then again, we don't really need lots of equipment for law studies, like lab equipment and such.

I would say that the primary strength of the Peking U program over the Tsinghua program is the small size. Right now, we are only 14 in the program, with two short term students, so that really opens up opportunities with interaction with the professor, more time in class to debate points, etc. I would also say that the admin listens to us. The school will help you get internships even during the semester if you want to do an internship while studying, the school opened up a new elective in Legal Chinese since we all said that we wanted more Chinese language instruction after the beginners level class, we have lockers, etc.

Stephenlou has a good blog entry in his blog regarding teaching quality in Peking Uni.
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s-eric

Joined: 16 Mar 2008
Posts: 11
BeiDa or NUS???
Mon Apr 28, 2008 01:58 AM
to see the LLM's real life in tsinghua
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqfdhnhgXUw
www.xn--fiq.com/blog/2006/06/14/go-tsinghua-video/…
and that's great
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attorney.ed

Joined: 28 Mar 2006
Posts: 6
BeiDa or NUS???
Wed Apr 30, 2008 03:38 AM
Population and s-eric, thank you for your comments and posts. It's very hard to make a desicion...
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murph

Joined: 29 Apr 2008
Posts: 3
BeiDa or NUS???
Wed Apr 30, 2008 09:22 AM
Hey, did you figure out where you want to Tsinghua or Peking? Any other information would be great. Personally, I believe Peking sounds great. Though, the post made by the past student with the link to the article is swaying my opinion. What do you think?
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attorney.ed

Joined: 28 Mar 2006
Posts: 6
BeiDa or NUS???
Wed Apr 30, 2008 02:41 PM
Hi murph, where are you from?

Did you also get admissions from both Beida and Tsinghua? I've got one from Tsinghua today. Thus, I am at a loss which school I should choose. My Chinese friends who went to Beida law school strongly recommend that I should choose Beida because Beida has much longer history (not LL.M. but law school history), and consequently much better alumni networks when it comes to law school. They argue even many of Tsinghua professors went to Beida.

Well...it's really tough decision. Any comments or suggestions?
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murph

Joined: 29 Apr 2008
Posts: 3
BeiDa or NUS???
Wed Apr 30, 2008 03:30 PM
Hey,
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murph

Joined: 29 Apr 2008
Posts: 3
BeiDa or NUS???
Wed Apr 30, 2008 03:32 PM
Hey, I got letters from both as well, send me an email at jb308@kent.ac.uk and we can discuss it further.
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sthfishy

Joined: 04 May 2008
Posts: 3
BeiDa or Tsinghua???
Mon May 05, 2008 08:24 PM
as a Beida (well we the Chinese students are most often use PKU short for Peking University) law school graduate who had studied there for 7 years, i'd say that beida law school and tsinghua law school are doubtlessly the best two law schools in PRC and i personally regarding beida law school as the stronger one of the two, because:

1. beida law school has a history of over 100 years while tsinghua law school is very young, started public recruiting only since 1999 (before that tsinghua law school has several year of "trial operation", only admitting students transferred from other departments of tsinghua). of beida law school graduates there was Wang Tieya, the former judge in international court, who also used to teach international law in beida law school (and some of the international law professor now teaching in beida law school used to study with Mr. Wang), and many other world famous scholars.

2. tsinghua has an obvious advantange over beida in that it has more fund, but i believe buildings and furnitures are not the most important factors in evaluating a university, or law school.

3. as to gerneral reputation of the two universities, tsinghua's strenth in in engineering while beida in art and science and law. they're the best two in china, hard to say which one is the best. tsinghua students are more practical, while beida students are more liberal.

hope you may find the above comments useful. i love beida; we all call it out spiritual home. hope you'll love it too.
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N&A

Joined: 06 May 2008
Posts: 2
housing
Wed May 07, 2008 03:05 PM
Hi,
I have got an admission from PKU's LLM and decided to go there.
My biggest concern is a house. PKU website says "Students should afford their own accommodation. Peking University Law School will assist the students to arrange their accommodation."
I have a family (a wife and a baby). My wife is worried about security and daily management (she does not speak Chinese).
How does PKU assist the students to look for a room?

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michaelcorleone

Joined: 17 Sep 2006
Posts: 81
housing
Wed May 07, 2008 04:23 PM
Hi, congratulations with your admission.

PKU will assign a student host to you who will assist you with the search of an apartment that's suitable for you. The student host will have contacts or can look up Chinese language websites that list apartments.

I am a student in the LLM program and I have a classmate who is exactly in your situation; he has a non-Chinese speaking wife, only they have three kids. They decided to get an apartment in the central business district rather than an apartment that's closer to the PKU campus (the CBD is about an hour's commute) because he says that there's a larger foreign community in the CBD which does the things that they do (like Church, or Halloween, the Colombian embassy, etc). But you can certainly live near the school and your wife will probably still be able to keep herself occupied. So many malls are being constructed and are opening around school, so shopping, groceries, movies, eating out, karaoke, drinking, buffet will not be a problem.

Security is usually not a problem. My US classmate who has three kids here in China says that he feels that there are less physical threats here in China than in the US. No guns are allowed in China, and cops don't carry firearms. :)

The payment of bills varies. In the apartment where I stayed before, I got the bill then just went to the bank and paid via ATM. Some of my classmates have rechargeable electricity/gas/water cards, so you just keep charging your card (not sure how this works exactly). ATMS have bilingual instructions.

Oh there are quite a number of banks around also near the school, but if you want Citibank, you have to go to CBD.

Just a tip regarding house-hunting -- make sure to get an apartment in a new building. A newly built/renovated apartment unit in an old building is NOT equivalent to an apartment in a new building. New buildings generally have good piping, no cockroaches. So if you are sensitive to cockroaches, and enjoy Western style toilets that flush toilet paper, get an apartment in a new building. I cannot emphasize this enough. A good way to tell if it is a new building is if it has an elevator.
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N&A

Joined: 06 May 2008
Posts: 2
housing
Wed May 07, 2008 05:17 PM
Hi population,
Thank you very much for your helpful advice. Your comments are always informative. Actually, I have got admission from both PKU and Qinghua. Your comment really influenced my decision.
By the way, do you speak Chinese? I know PKU LLM program includes Chinese language class, but I think it is not enough. How do LLM students learn Chinese?
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Lic.Ani

Joined: 16 Mar 2008
Posts: 5
Beida or Tsinghua
Wed May 07, 2008 09:12 PM
Hey everyone, I was also accepted to both PKU and Tsinghua and as many of you, I'm currently debating on which program to attend.

Do you guys know what are the class schedules for both Universities? I've read about the compulsory classes and what not but I still don't understand wether we'll be in class all day long or however that is going to work.

Thanks a lot

Ani

[Edited 08 May 2008 by Lic.Ani]
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michaelcorleone

Joined: 17 Sep 2006
Posts: 81
Beida or Tsinghua
Thu May 08, 2008 03:08 PM
N&A, Lic.Ani -- private responses sent
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michaelcorleone

Joined: 17 Sep 2006
Posts: 81
Beida or Tsinghua
Fri May 09, 2008 10:08 AM
I thought that others might find this response useful, and am reposting it here.

N&A -- Peking University LLM offers a basic Chinese language class. We've suggested that a more advanced Chinese language class be offered too, for those who are starting with a more advanced competence of Mandarin. I know that Legal Chinese will be offered both semesters next year. I have been learning Chinese by hiring private tutors, getting language partners, watching chinese TV, reading Chinese novels over the internet, taking vitamin supplements to boost language acquisition, etc.

I hope you have also researched other sources apart from the replies I have been posting here! stephenlou has a good article on the LLM program, and a link can be found somewhere on this page.

Lic.Ani -- congratulations with your admission! You should post in the "LLM in Tsinghua" website and s-eric will prolly give you a response. Our class schedule is like this:

First Semester
Monday--nothing
Tuesday--9-12something, 2-4language, 530-730something every other week
Wednesday--10-12elective, 240-430something
Thursday--9-11something, 130-330language, 330-630something
Friday -- 9-12something, afternoon is for field work every other week

Second Semester
Monday--930-1110language, 240-430elective
Tuesday--9-12something, 240-430something
Wednesday--nothing
Thursday--9-12something, 2-5something, 7-9something
Friday--9-12something, afternoon for fieldwork every other week
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