Matriculating w/ Intention to Transfer Forum

[ACSD2015]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice about enrolling in a law school with the intention to transfer after the first year.

I had a terrible GPA throughout my first two years of undergrad (2.42) and an outstanding GPA over the next three years (3.98). I don't feel that my overall GPA (3.36) is an accurate representation of my academic abilities and I'm worried that I'm going to have to pay a lot of money to go to a school with sub-par placement rates due to my poor performance in school early on. (FWIW I scored a 164 on the LSAT this past June and I hope to register an improved score next June as I've been dumping a lot of hours into preparation.)

I'm wondering whether or not it would be advisable in my case to attend a law school with the specific intention transfer up to a school with better placement rates. And if so, what kind of strategy I might consider to position myself as a competitive transfer applicant.

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If background info is any help, my family lives in California, I ultimately would like to practice law in California, and I would therefore like to attend law school in California. I would absolutely love to attend UCLA, but that's clearly not an option right now based on my GPA / LSAT. Lately I've been wondering if I might forge a trail to UCLA by first attending a law school where I'm confident that I can place highly in my class (not to overestimate myself or underestimate my prospective peers).

All thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.

[curry1]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice about enrolling in a law school with the intention to transfer after the first year.

I had a terrible GPA throughout my first two years of undergrad (2.42) and an outstanding GPA over the next three years (3.98). I don't feel that my overall GPA (3.36) is an accurate representation of my academic abilities and I'm worried that I'm going to have to pay a lot of money to go to a school with sub-par placement rates due to my poor performance in school early on. (FWIW I scored a 164 on the LSAT this past June and I hope to register an improved score next June as I've been dumping a lot of hours into preparation.)

I'm wondering whether or not it would be advisable in my case to attend a law school with the specific intention transfer up to a school with better placement rates. And if so, what kind of strategy I might consider to position myself as a competitive transfer applicant.

--------

If background info is any help, my family lives in California, I ultimately would like to practice law in California, and I would therefore like to attend law school in California. I would absolutely love to attend UCLA, but that's clearly not an option right now based on my GPA / LSAT. Lately I've been wondering if I might forge a trail to UCLA by first attending a law school where I'm confident that I can place highly in my class (not to overestimate myself or underestimate my prospective peers).

All thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.

Don't matriculate at a law school where you wouldn't be happy graduating from. Transferring to much better school is contingent on having very high 1L grades, which you cannot accurately predict based on your recently stellar UG GPA. You need to retake. Genuinely any school except for Yale or Stanford will be open to you if you can hit 175+. Last cycle, there were people getting half rides at columbia with worse grades than you and very high LSAT scores. If you can even go up 4-5 points from your 164 you'll have a great shot at UCLA. Retake even if means sitting out a cycle and don't go with the intention of transferring.

[EncyclopediaOrange]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice about enrolling in a law school with the intention to transfer after the first year.

Don't matriculate at a law school where you wouldn't be happy graduating from.

[cavalier1138]

Don't matriculate at a law school where you wouldn't be happy graduating. Don't do it. Don't. Stop thinking about doing it. It's one of the worst things you can do to yourself.

And your GPA doesn't bar you from UCLA (or any school except HYS, really). Just retake and get an LSAT you can work with.

[mjb447]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice about enrolling in a law school with the intention to transfer after the first year.

Don't matriculate at a law school where you wouldn't be happy graduating from.

[Pneumonia]

attending a law school where I'm confident that I can place highly in my class (not to overestimate myself or underestimate my prospective peers).

There is no such law school. Ever year, the number of students who attend low ranked schools hoping to transfer VASTLY exceeds the number of transfer spots. Tons of people make the mistake that you're considering, and hopefully you realize that greater numbers of transfer-intentioned students make this a worse idea, not a better one.

Why, given that you can't/won't do better on the LSAT, do you think you'll be in any better position to transfer than the rest of your school? Any better positioned than the people in your school who have this exact same plan?

The LSAT is a cakewalk compared to law school, any law school. What makes you think you'll do better at the hard thing than at the easy thing?

[ACSD2015]

Thanks for the input everyone. It looks like I should probably nip this idea in the bud.

Why, given that you can't/won't do better on the LSAT, do you think you'll be in any better position to transfer than the rest of your school? Any better positioned than the people in your school who have this exact same plan?

My reasoning was that my GPA through the final three years of school (3.98) and LSAT score (164+) would likely place me at the higher end of the incoming student pool at a lower ranked school and therefore I should be confident that I can place at the higher end of my class during my first year. Maybe that's shortsighted. I realize law school is a totally different animal than undergrad and my expectations are probably wildly different than reality.

[Law2020hopeful]

My reasoning was that my GPA through the final three years of school (3.98) and LSAT score (164+) would likely place me at the higher end of the incoming student pool at a lower ranked school and therefore I should be confident that I can place at the higher end of my class during my first year. Maybe that's shortsighted. I realize law school is a totally different animal than undergrad and my expectations are probably wildly different than reality.

I feel like you're making a whole heck of a lot of assumptions. 1) UGPA doesn't necessarily correlate to native intelligence OR ability to succeed in law school. 2) There will be a lot of people at your school that have a similar plan. 3) The law school curve is notoriously brutal.

I agree with everyone else, you should only enroll in a law school you would be happy graduating from.