Transfers -- Tough Year? Forum

[inthebooks]

To the transfers, did you find that this was exceptionally tough year for you? At my T14, it seems that most of the transfers had a very tough time at OCI. They all had great grades from great schools too. What gives? Anyone else in the T14 notice this?

[Hitachi]

That's bizarre. You'd think with nobody else getting jobs, there'd be more jobs left over for the transfers.

[CE2JD]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svAs-6MiqxE

transfers aren't the real thing

[legends159]

My guess is that transfers are seen as median or slightly below rank-wise and since medianish didn't fare too well this year...

[Inygma]

My guess is that transfers are seen as median or slightly below rank-wise and since medianish didn't fare too well this year...

Ya... thats why I think transferring ITE is bad idea. Being top-10% at a lower school might result in better job offerings.

[Interested Observer]

My guess is that transfers are seen as median or slightly below rank-wise and since medianish didn't fare too well this year...

Ya... thats why I think transferring ITE is bad idea. Being top-10% at a lower school might result in better job offerings.

While this is probably true, I'm still glad I transferred. I'm pretty sure I would have been offered a job if I was at my old school (I was a diversity scholarship recipient at a big firm), but I think in the long run, I'll be happier coming out of my current school especially since it's closer to the market I'm really aiming for.

When I transferred, I was mindful of the fact that I would likely not get a big firm job. In some ways, I think of this as a blessing in disguise. It may give me the chance to explore other areas of the law that I may have precluded b/c of big firm offer.

[reasonable_man]

My guess is that transfers are seen as median or slightly below rank-wise and since medianish didn't fare too well this year...

Ya... thats why I think transferring ITE is bad idea. Being top-10% at a lower school might result in better job offerings.

While this is probably true, I'm still glad I transferred. I'm pretty sure I would have been offered a job if I was at my old school (I was a diversity scholarship recipient at a big firm), but I think in the long run, I'll be happier coming out of my current school especially since it's closer to the market I'm really aiming for.

When I transferred, I was mindful of the fact that I would likely not get a big firm job. In some ways, I think of this as a blessing in disguise. It may give me the chance to explore other areas of the law that I may have precluded b/c of big firm offer.

You're serious?

[Interested Observer]

My guess is that transfers are seen as median or slightly below rank-wise and since medianish didn't fare too well this year...

Ya... thats why I think transferring ITE is bad idea. Being top-10% at a lower school might result in better job offerings.

While this is probably true, I'm still glad I transferred. I'm pretty sure I would have been offered a job if I was at my old school (I was a diversity scholarship recipient at a big firm), but I think in the long run, I'll be happier coming out of my current school especially since it's closer to the market I'm really aiming for.

When I transferred, I was mindful of the fact that I would likely not get a big firm job. In some ways, I think of this as a blessing in disguise. It may give me the chance to explore other areas of the law that I may have precluded b/c of big firm offer.

You're serious?

Yeah, completely. I was never really sold on the idea of working for a big firm, but knew that if I was offered a position, I would almost certainly have to take the job (for a whole host of reasons). Prior to law school, I worked for a two attorney firm doing civil litigation work in land use. It was an amazing experience and, more than anything, I think I realized I liked the fact that the attorneys really had so much control over what they wanted to do. Now, I completely understand that I can't graduate law school and immediately open up my own shop without risking some major malpractice, but if I intend to one day be a sole practitioner or a part of a small firm, I need to hone those skills.

Plus, the school I transferred to is a good school (think: Vandy, UCLA, Texas) and the school I was attending was out of my state and in the lower half of the tier 1. I really wanted to come back home.

[Anonymous User]

I am a transfer from a legit T4 to GULC. Got four offers - 4 V50-100, 1 V20. All in DC. Every transfer I know (granted - I only know a few) has BigLaw lined up somewhere (DC or Cali for the ones I know). Very glad I transferred.

[Anonymous User]

Odd, I heard the transfer class at GULC this year got butchered.

I know that quite a few transfers in to my school didn't get anything through OCI, though most of us managed to get something lined up. It certainly wasn't a good year, though.

That said, I ended up with an offer at a firm that wouldn't have touched my resume if I had stayed at my original school, so it paid off for me. Traditionally, transfer students have done better than median (at least according to OCS at the schools I looked at.) Impossible to say if this year was an anomaly because of the market, or if firms are starting to have a negative reaction to transfers (the whole transfer phenomena is a relatively new thing, or so I was told at a few interviews).

[Anonymous User]

Anon from GULC cannot possibly be right. I'm a transfer to MVP, and out of 35 of us, I only know 1 for sure who has Big Law. Most have nothing, some are going to work for small to mid law. Almost nobody got what they wanted.

[Anonymous User]

transfers at H did very well; partially, i think, based on the fact that no other 2Ls had real grades (but we did). every transfer i know that wanted a firm job got one with a good firm where they wanted one. no complaints. very happy to be here.

[Anonymous User]

GULC Anon here.

Like I said, I know very few people (5 transfers total -this place is massive), but all five got BIGLAW.

Maybe work experience counted for something this year - I have a few years as do most of the transfers I know.

[XxSpyKEx]

GULC Anon here.

Like I said, I know very few people (5 transfers total -this place is massive), but all five got BIGLAW.

Maybe work experience counted for something this year - I have a few years as do most of the transfers I know.

That's not very good representative pool considering there are around 100 transfers there each year. I heard even GULC students that were there last year and had decent grades got butchered this year.

[Anonymous User]

I agree. That's why I said I don't know many people.

Just wanted to give my experience - I'm a million times better off than I would have been at my T4. Perhaps the size of the jump just made a huge difference for me.

[Anonymous User]

Anon from GULC cannot possibly be right. I'm a transfer to MVP, and out of 35 of us, I only know 1 for sure who has Big Law. Most have nothing, some are going to work for small to mid law. Almost nobody got what they wanted.

You either go to M or P since V took 15 transfers last year. Do you think location might have hurt? I know Chicago was hit pretty hard and Philly ain't doing to well, at least most of the big firms (e.g., Morgan Lewis, Drinker).

[Anonymous User]

My guess is that transfers are seen as median or slightly below rank-wise and since medianish didn't fare too well this year...

This really doesn't make sense. Many of the transfers in my class got offers from Sullivan Cromwell, Cravath, Davis Polk, Wachtell, Cleary, etc. This fact is further confirmed by the transfer boards. Things may be different because of the economy, but I'm not sure how the claim that transfers are seen as median or below at their new school can be reconciled with the above offers...

[biglaw930]

Got an offer from Dewey, Cheatam & Howe, I'm ecstatic to say the least...

[TTT-LS]

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