Transfering from Phoenix School of Law to ASU Forum

[jdhonest]

OP must have grown tired of Candy...

[GettingReady2010]

Don't go to any school banking on a transfer. You have to be happy graduating at the school you attend.

+1

The question is how high OP's grades would have to be to transfer. OP may only need to be in the top third of his class to transfer to ASU. Most of the transfer discussion on TLS is about transferring from a mediocre school to a good school and not about transferring from a bad school to a mediocre school (the former generally requires being at the top of your class). So it's really hard to definitively say how difficult of a time OP will have transferring, because of the dearth of info on the subject.

[gwuorbust]

don't attend Phoenix or ASU. Plz retake and then go somewhere much better.

don't be seduced by Candy...

[GettingReady2010]

I am so sick of people randomly telling others to just retake, get a 170 and go to a T14. OP already raised his/her score from a 142 on the real thing to a 158. Do you think OP is just being lazy and has decided that a really good score is not worth it?

Also, do you even know anything about ASU or the AZ market? I certainly don't and would never speculate on what the career prospects are from that school.

[A'nold]

LULZ. OP already succeeded in transfering from Pheonix to ASU. In your faces biotches!

[GettingReady2010]

LULZ. OP already succeeded in transfering from Pheonix to ASU. In your faces biotches!

Wow, I did not realize how old this thread is. Do you know where OP graduated in his class by chance?

[studebaker07]

Wow I was surprised to see that this thread still had legs after 1-year+ haha.

I did end up transfering, so mission accomplished! And to those who are interested: I ended up top-23% and I wrote on to law review. Many of my classmates who I knew for a fact wanted to transfer from day one, however, were not so lucky and even ended up finishing below median for their first year. I went in knowing I was going to try to transfer but also knowing that if I didn't transfer I would be fine staying at PSL. I wanted to practice in Phoenix ultimately and none of the other schools I got into would have placed me back in Phoenix. Retaking was obviously not an option for me as a third crack at the exam is, in my opinion, a very risky and inadvisable thing to do especially if you have a lot to loose by getting a lower score than what you currently have.

Hope that proves informational. It feels GREAT to be going to one of the best schools for my target market (opinions of others about ASU on this thread aside)

[studebaker07]

don't attend Phoenix or ASU. Plz retake and then go somewhere much better.

don't be seduced by Candy...

FWIW, ASU really isn't a bad school for the Phoenix market. Most of the bigger firms in Phoenix recruit from ASU and many of the clerkships in town at both state and federal level courts go to ASU Law students. If you are talking about ASU being a bad school in terms of the portability of the degree to travel to somewhere and compete with the likes of a T25, you may be right but I think it is conjecture at best.

And no I wasn't seduced by Candy. Are we all talking about the Candy I think we are here?

[dukelawguy145]

Dukelawguy144 please please please please please do not go to Phoenix School of Law. These law schools should not exist and are considered a joke in the legal community. ASU is not much better either, but atleast it is on the lower end of mediocre. Just please retake the LSAT and reapply. Do not give a dime for the shithole that is Phoenix Law School.

TCR

[GettingReady2010]

Wow I was surprised to see that this thread still had legs after 1-year+ haha.

I did end up transfering, so mission accomplished! And to those who are interested: I ended up top-23% and I wrote on to law review. Many of my classmates who I knew for a fact wanted to transfer from day one, however, were not so lucky and even ended up finishing below median for their first year. I went in knowing I was going to try to transfer but also knowing that if I didn't transfer I would be fine staying at PSL. I wanted to practice in Phoenix ultimately and none of the other schools I got into would have placed me back in Phoenix. Retaking was obviously not an option for me as a third crack at the exam is, in my opinion, a very risky and inadvisable thing to do especially if you have a lot to loose by getting a lower score than what you currently have.

Hope that proves informational. It feels GREAT to be going to one of the best schools for my target market (opinions of others about ASU on this thread aside)

Out of curiosity, what was the general GPA cutoff for transferring to ASU. Could pretty much anyone in the top half of their class transfer?

Also, why would you not advise taking the LSAT a third time? Don't most all schools take the highest score?

[studebaker07]

Out of curiosity, what was the general GPA cutoff for transferring to ASU. Could pretty much anyone in the top half of their class transfer?

Also, why would you not advise taking the LSAT a third time? Don't most all schools take the highest score?

In response to your first question, I would say GPA cutoff would probably be around T25% but that could be generalizing the criteria a little too much more than is reasonable. I think that my application to ASU as a transfer student from PSL was unique in that the school was already well-aware of who I was (I applied to it two years ago and was waitlisted; I maintained contact with the school; I made it very clear in my personal statement that I wanted to go to ASU, etc.) Also, I had an LSAT and undergrad GPA that would have made me competitive when I applied to the school originally and as much as people on these boards doubt the weight of these two criteria in transfer applications, I think they played a small factor in my overall application. Finally, I think the fact that I wrote on to law review at PSL gave me a boost as well because shortly after I informed ASU of this development they sent me the acceptance.

There are other classmates of mine from PSL who finished much higher than I did but are not transferring (or if they applied to transfer, they were not successful). I don't know if they made a decision at the last minute and decided to stay despite some acceptances at other schools or if they simply got denied; one of these classmates really really wanted to transfer so I doubt the former is true. More likely they were denied. Why they were denied when they had higher numbers than I did and also were on law review is beyond me but it just shows you how random transferring admissions can be.

The bottom line: you may not be able to transfer even if you are T25%. As you know, grades are just one piece of the puzzle and I think for my transfer application, although they may have given me somewhat of a boost, I don't think they were at all what brought me an acceptance to ASU.

In response to your second question, I would not advise a person to take the LSAT for a third time because I think it is a tremendous gamble to assume you will score higher a third time. Others might then question why I took the LSAT a second time and I would say that I really had nothing to lose. I think if you scored low enough on your second retake then a third try might be advisable but (at least given my personal circumstances) I don't think taking the test for a third time would have been a smart thing to do because, based on my practice tests, I had "maxed out". For me, it was just time to stop taking the test and walk away with what I had and call it a day. Would other people have retaken a third time to try and score 160+? Probably from my perspective it was just too risky of a proposition.

[LoyolaLaw2012]

Don't go to any school banking on a transfer. You have to be happy graduating at the school you attend.

This is the best advice. Finishing in the top 10-20% is a long shot.

[pslstudent]

I have to say that all of the posts here about PSL are way off. I am a current 3L at PSL who has gained many contacts at this school that nearly ensure that I will be employed within a year after graduating. There is definitely something to be said for the school with highest bar passage rate, highest percentage employed within a year, and now largest student body in the state.

[studebaker07]

I have to say that all of the posts here about PSL are way off. I am a current 3L at PSL who has gained many contacts at this school that nearly ensure that I will be employed within a year after graduating. There is definitely something to be said for the school with highest bar passage rate, highest percentage employed within a year, and now largest student body in the state.

Sounds like an informercial to me.... With only one post and a very generic username, I am inclined to think that this is a flame. Anybody reading this forum topic take what the aforementioned poster says and carefully consider your options before going to PSL.

That is all.