1. Admission Requirements
MIPLC students bring to our learning community a high level of excellence expressed in a rich diversity of backgrounds, accomplishments, talents, and interests. Students in past classes have consistently found this special atmosphere to be very conducive to their studies – and great fun, too.
To be eligible for admission, applicants need to have at least a prior university or college degree, professional experience, and very good knowledge of the English language.
A Completed University or College Degree
All applicants must hold a Bachelor's degree or higher. While most of our students have a previous degree in law, natural sciences or engineering, we also welcome students from other disciplines. If the subject of your prior studies seems to lack an obvious relation to IP, we invite you to persuade us in your letter of motivation why you are nevertheless an interesting candidate for our LL.M. program.
To start your studies at the MIPLC, you are required to have attained at least 240 ECTS* credits, which are generally equivalent to a four-year Bachelor's degree. At MIPLC, you will earn 60 ECTS credits, amounting to 300 ECTS credits, which is the minimum required for the Master's degree.
If you have fewer than 240 ECTS credits, e.g. because you only have a three-year Bachelor’s degree, we can recognize additional credits you have acquired through professional experi-ence. You can earn a maximum of 60 ECTS credits in this manner. However, if you are awarded 60 ECTS credits for prior professional experience, you must have at least two years of professional experience: one year for the extra credits, and another year to satisfy the pro-fessional experience requirement (see 1.2).
* ECTS is an acronym for "European Credit Transfer Scheme". It is part of the "Bologna Process" that aims at creating a unified European university landscape, where credits gained at one university can be transferred to another.
Professional Experience
Our LL.M. program is a non-consecutive "program of further study" (in German: "weiterbildender Studiengang"). Under German law, such programs are designed for professionals and are thus open only to applicants with a minimum of professional experience gained after the completion of the first university or college degree. All applicants to MIPLC are therefore required to have at least one year of full-time professional experience.
"Full-time" means a working time of approx. 35-40 hours per week. Part-time work will be calculate on pro-rata basis. Apart from employment in a paid position, the MIPLC also recognizes the following as professional experience: postgraduate internships, work as a graduate research assistant, and legal traineeships for the bar exam.
English Language Skills
Since the program is taught entirely in English, all students are required to have very good knowledge of the English language. One of the MIPLC admission requirements therefore is a minimum score in one of the following tests taken within the last three years:
- TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language):
minimum score of 85 (iBT), 223 (CBT), or 563 (PBT); or - IELTS (International English Language Testing System, academic version):
minimum score of 6.5; or - Cambridge C1:
minimum score of 185.
The test requirement is waived for applicants who either are native speakers of English or have received a degree from an institution at which English was the language of instruction. In the latter case, please add a written confirmation from your university if you have studied in a country other than the UK, Ireland, the USA, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand.
Please note that even if you are exempt from the test requirement for your LL.M. application, you may still need to take such a test for your visa application (Indian citizens in particular). To avoid a delay in your visa application, please check with the German Embassy or Consulate in your country at the same time you are applying to the MIPLC.