I need to ask whether it's worth making an application to the LLM at Harvard, regarding my grades.

I am from a middle-tier university in England. I had Cambridge interviews and offers from top London universities (UCL and King's) but because of severe depression I missed out on these. There are very real factors for this depression but I would rather not go into them.

Anyway, I have a first. I completed my course in two years, with a total of 74% (which less than 0.5% of law students in the UK get). I got these marks by understanding evey word on my course, and following all the teachers' instructions. I have also had two pieces of work published, and started a fairly successful Law School Law Review containing law articles from my university.

Given that I really did mess up my A Levels (and got into a fairly bad university) do I still have a shot at Harvard?

Nobody here can tell you with any confidence if you would be likely to get in. As I understand it the applicant pool is incredibly diverse and people will naturally have very different experiences.

I doubt HLS would care about your A-levels (you do not even need to include this information on the application unless you choose to). I have no idea how much university brand name influences admissions decisions.

Thing is, you only have $85, a bit of time and a bit of pride to lose if you apply and don't get in. Based on this, I would apply. There is no real 'risk' to speak of. Make sure you get good recommendations and craft your application with care if you apply (obv this is common sense). I think the applications for 2011 entry open in late summer of this year.