Does the highly stratified German educational system accentuate class division? This study explores this educational system and the choices students must make at three critical transition points. Taking into account modeling techniques introduced by Breen and Jonsson in Analyzing Educational Careers: A Multinomial Transition Model, this study draws its observations from the German Socio-Economic Panel data to test the influence of previous paths and parental characteristics on German students. The parental characteristics studied include occupational status, number of years of education and country of origin. Education and occupation of the parents does play a significant factor; however, for the first generation, motivations for the parents emigration to Germany are much more influential on early decisions. Also, due to challenges with completing non-traditional routes, the previous path a student has taken is also an important factor. This leads, in general, to students with comparable parental backgrounds choosing similar paths.