Hi,

I wanted to ask about what my chances are of getting into an LLM program at an Ivy Leage university.

About me: I am a law student at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. I am an American citizen and had to do quite a lot to study law here. My friends and family are all in the USA - I came here alone. All of my classes are in German and I am the only American law student in my entire program (most of my professors never met one in my program before me). I had to learn German in 2 years to the necessary level to get here (only 2 months of that at a language school) and had to do very well in a pre-university program to be accepted at Heidelberg. During this time, I had to fund my stay here by working as an English teacher at a language school and then as a translator at a law firm. I also have a small company that I founded before coming to Germany in the USA that is helping with the costs. I also founded a translation company that is doing work for German law firms and will hopefully help pay my way through college (I do not come from a wealthy family and have to pay my way).
My question is if you think these factors will play into their decision of accepting me. The German grading system is very different from the American system and only very few students (maybe 1%) get what the Americans would consider an "A". In addition, I am not sure how they will compare me to German students. Will they still expect me to be in the top 5% of my class considering I am almost the only non-German?
I still have to take the "Staatsexamen" later this year, so I am not sure what my overall grades will be...

Thanks!

Hi,

I wanted to ask about what my chances are of getting into an LLM program at an Ivy Leage university.

About me: I am a law student at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. I am an American citizen and had to do quite a lot to study law here. My friends and family are all in the USA - I came here alone. All of my classes are in German and I am the only American law student in my entire program (most of my professors never met one in my program before me). I had to learn German in 2 years to the necessary level to get here (only 2 months of that at a language school) and had to do very well in a pre-university program to be accepted at Heidelberg. During this time, I had to fund my stay here by working as an English teacher at a language school and then as a translator at a law firm. I also have a small company that I founded before coming to Germany in the USA that is helping with the costs. I also founded a translation company that is doing work for German law firms and will hopefully help pay my way through college (I do not come from a wealthy family and have to pay my way).
My question is if you think these factors will play into their decision of accepting me. The German grading system is very different from the American system and only very few students (maybe 1%) get what the Americans would consider an "A". In addition, I am not sure how they will compare me to German students. Will they still expect me to be in the top 5% of my class considering I am almost the only non-German?
I still have to take the "Staatsexamen" later this year, so I am not sure what my overall grades will be...

Thanks!