Advice for a transfer and OCIs Forum

[Jumper391]

I am currently attending a top 25 law school. I am carrying a GPA that puts me in the top couple of percent of the student body. I have applied to transfer to 3 schools, Columbia, Harvard, and Yale. Stanford's application deadline was too early for me to get everything together in time for various reasons. People have successfully transferred to Harvard from my school with a GPA lower than mine. There is absolutely no guarantee on either Harvard or Yale, but everyone thinks I have a really good shot at Columbia.

With that said, I won't find out about that for some time. There is also always the chance I won't get into any of them. As such, I am currently going through the long process of applying to different firms through my current school's OCI program. My question is about applying to firms not on my current school's OCI list. If I am accepted to one of these schools, I believe I will be eligible to participate in their OCI. My point of confusion is should I apply now to different firms not at my current school's OCI or should I wait to see the results of my attempt at transferring? I am just about done with the applications for the firms that interview on campus and was about to start flipping through the resume collection sections and sending out other applications.

Thank you.

[2014]

You are earlier than people usually recommend to mass mail and you should find out about your transfer app early enough to mass mail immediately after. I would just have your resume and cover letter ready and wait until you hear back on your transfer apps and then immediately get to work.

[Anonymous User]

You should definitely wait until you have received a decision. Now is way too early to begin mass mailing. If you get in to the schools you are applying to there is a good chance the firms you want to mail will be at OCI.

One thing you can do now is begin networking based on your 1L law school and grades. I was in a similar situation two summers ago and I spent the entire summer networking only to get a transfer acceptance a couple weeks before OCI. I ended up transferring and couldn't use that network anymore, but I am confident that my efforts before transferring would have been a sufficient safety net had I decided to stay.

[Jumper391]

Thanks for the help. I will wait until I know where I am ending up.