Hello everybody,

I'm a german student and I'm about to finish my bar exam (Staatsexamen) in a few months (at least I hope so haha).
My grades in the "Hauptstudium" were around 7,x points. Let's say I'll finish my Staatsexamen with the same average, how are my chances to get into an 2nd-3rd tier LLM program?
I would really like to get an LL.M. at a school like Indiana University, Ohio State or an accelerated JD at one of the Arizona Schools. (these schools are just examples)
I`d really appreciate your help!

Honestly, I think you'll have a pretty good chance at a 2nd tier or possibly 1st tier school for their LLM. Be prepared for the amount of reading you will have to do at any of the schools.

Depending on what you want to do, the LLM may be all you need. Do you plan on returning to Germany or want to remain in the US? Trying to get a job with just an LLM (even if passing the bar). I am working on that at the moment (find a job) and I am at a top rated school.

Hopefully the job fairs will work out for me. There seems to be MUCH better chances though to find a job at a lot of these if you speak Chinese or have ties to China. A lot of growth in these areas regardless of what practice area of law.

Thank you very much for your answer!
I'd like to stay in the USA at least for a few years. I used to live there and I miss it. That's why the 2 year JD- programs at the University of Arizona and Arizona State are very interesting for me.
But my main goal is to continue my education and improve my chances to get a decent job in Germany or the United States, so I'd be also fine with an LLM.
Are you from Germany too? I've heard about the problems of finding a job with an LLM.
But I checked out the websites of some law firms and they definitly had some foreign lawyers who just got an LLM. So it's definitly possible, you just need to be in the right spot at the right time, I guess (and pretty good grades of course haha).

No I am not from Germany but I have been there. :-)

I looked at the Arizona program and thought about a 2 year JD. The problem is the only school ranked high enough to really consider for a 2 year JD was Northwestern and the cost was the ultimately the same as going for a 3 year JD.

The advantage to going to one of the top-ranked schools is the LLM job fairs you can attend. That was what ultimately swayed me to going to a top-ranked school as it would improve my chances of finding employment in the US. They also tend to have very strong alumni networks that you can often leverage. What I have noticed though is there isn't much interaction with the JDs even though we attend a lot of classes that are in the normal JD curriculum.

I realize that it is a tough market for lawyers in general in the US, it is truly almost impossible for LLMs to find work. You really only have a chance (and a small one) if you go to a top-ranked school (T14 or better). Of course if you happen to know someone that is working in the US at a firm/agency/corporation then that is your best hope.

In general the earlier your get your application into the schools, the better your odds of getting admitted to a school. I didn't start the process early enough to be honest.

Okay, thank you very much for your help! And good luck for your job search of course.