Hello,
I am a 2nd semester at Cooley Law (Yes laugh at me, it's OK) and while I have surprisingly enjoyed my 1st semester at Cooley (the professors are awesome) I am for obvious reasons thinking of transferring. I pulled a 4.0 in my first semester managing to book Torts and getting best essay in Torts and Property. I also was 1 point away from booking Property! My question is this, do I have a shot to get in at Georgetown ED? My goal is to become a prosecutor upon graduation, and although I have no particular preference per se of where I would like to practice I do love the DC area. I currently am getting an 85% scholarship at Cooley, yes I know big deal. However being very debt adverse, what would you guys' advice be to me? I am not here to get into a debate of the merits of Cooley, for many different personal reasons I chose Cooley over other law schools, however I understand the disdain towards Cooley felt by the majority of the people on this site. I just would like some honest advice. Should I even attempt to transfer? Thanks!

P.S.
Being ignorant of such things I do not know how relevant this is but I studied only 3 weeks for the LSAT and pulled a 158 also have a 3.8 undergrad GPA if that has any relevancy to this topic I do not know. Just throwing it out there.

Don't ask, just do! If you want to transfer to a school that is ranked higher, start getting your LORs and apps together over break, send it in when transfer apps open, and be confident. You did really well IN law school, so I don't see why you wouldn't get a fair look. Good luck!

Thanks Snoopy for the advice! I remembered another question I have, how much of a determining factor is the personal statement in a transfer app?

Transfer apps are 95% grades.

If I were you I would apply to several schools. Great grades like that will help, but do not guarantee that a particular school will take you. Consider also applying to other T14 or at least T25 schools.

If you wanna take a long shot, ED to Chicago. I don't think it's very likely at all that they'd take you, but it gives you at least a small chance at it. Those are awesome grades, maybe that'd work. Chicago is one of the few schools to offer a binding transfer ED, it might help you shoot big. If you don't get it, you can always just apply everywhere else.

Why wouldnt UCHI take him though??? Does it have more to do where you are transferring from?? I mean, OP's grades are stellar why wouldnt a school like UCHI be willing to take on this student? Is it because they have students coming from better schools? I am genuinely interested

Arrow's transfer guide suggests that Y and S only take folks from T1 schools, and H only takes folks from T2 and up: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=82937

I'm not sure whether Chicago is as elitist as H and S are, but it wouldn't surprise me that much. Being ED might make the difference (they might be more likely to take him knowing he's committing to go there). I think OP has a much stronger shot at lower T14 schools like GULC, and maybe even UVA or Michigan (which take about 30 transfers each).

I know someone who recently transferred from a T30 to a T4, I have to say much of the transfer was grades, but I do think that a strong personal statement can definitely support a good application.

Transferring is tough because the spaces are very limited for these students. However, you do have LORs from professors who have seen your ability in law school, that must count for something. I would definitely apply to more than 1 school because transferring is so competitive. And really, aside from grades, adcoms just have to like you more than someone else w/ the same stats. Thus, since you can't depend on other's perception, I'd apply to a few.

I really say apply, pray on it, and let it go. See if you can get fee waivers and apply even to the highest ones. You really never know in a game like this. And, we've all seen some pretty unexpected acceptances for ppl on this site!

Also, Im not sure about how much institution is considered, but perhaps adcoms make some kind of personal judgement? Who knows about that though...

Ohhh okay, gotcha. Thanks for the info.