Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) (VIADRINA EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY)

7 minutes agoNEW
⚠️ I  enrolled at Europa- Universitat Viadrina in their LL.M., in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law program. I heard positive things from a colleague who attend their program some years back. Big mistake on my part. The LLM program is a disaster. It's poorly run and not flexible for working adults. I was told I would have to take exams during the day despite working full-time. I asked for flexibility and was told no. There's also very little communication and transparency between students and professors or program administrators. There's absolutely no contact between students and professors, one has to submit their questions to program staff and then wait until they send they send the professor an email and get a response back. This is asinine. Students should be able to email their professors directly.  Also, often times program staff are slow to answer emails or student requests simply ignored. One or two of the professors are interesting, the rest have outdated teaching styles and methods. Not everyone can teach a dense topic like international law. Their online teaching platform is also outdated. After one semester, I decided to leave the program and asked for a refund of the money I'd paid for the full program. Believe it or not there is not policy. I wrote to the university several times about this matter and gave me very few answers or ignored my emails. I finally hired a lawyer and then they started responding. Basically, they argued that they aren't entitled to give a refund because under current German law there's no requirement to do so. Which also explains the lack accountability, students are basically trapped into finishing a poorly run degree program. None of this or the universities policies are explained in any of the matriculation documents. Apparently, I was told after the fact that I could have taken one semester and then applied for the full program. So basically, I'm out of 6,000 euros with no degree. I wouldn't recommend this program, there are better programs that are well managed. Several other students have contacted me noting that they are unhappy about similar things too. Students too are customers and there should be transparency and accountability. My lawyer even noted they were negligent in not explaining all facts of the program to students during orientation or the matriculation stage. This against typical academic standards, students and prospective students should know what they're getting themselves into. Especially foreign students, who don't know the vast gazette of German federal or state laws governing education. Take my advice and avoid. If anyone needs proof of the dysfunction of this LLM program I'm happy to provide it. I wish I'd heeded the warnings of others from this review. ⚠️