Top Law Schools

I am at a top 20 and I finished the semester in the top 3% of my class. I came into school just hoping to get biglaw in the city my school is in and I think at this point I'm looking pretty good for that. But, honestly I'm kind of a prestige whore and if I had a chance to go to Harvard it would be pretty hard to turn down. I have thought about ED at Chicago because there is no guarantee I will do as well next semester and that would let me "cash in on my success" now. My brother lives in Chicago as well so it would be a good place to spend the next few years, despite the fact I don't want to end up there. What I'm thinking is probably the better route is to wait it out and apply to Harvard, Yale, and Chicago at the end of the year. I couldn't see the sense for me in transferring anywhere besides those schools.

I do have some actual reasons to transfer beyond just being a prestige whore. I would like to have the opportunity to clerk after school. My school produces Court of Appeals Clerks, but I wouldn't really say it opens up the opportunity to do something like clerk for the Supreme Court. I know these kinds of positions are extremely competitive even for those at HYS, but by transferring I feel like I can go from no chance to a small one.

More realistically, I can see myself going into academia sometime in the future. I'm pretty sure I want to work in a firm for a while, but I would also like to have this career path open to me.

Downside: I have a half-tuition scholarship where I'm at that I would lose. I might be able to negotiate more scholarship money at my current school, so I might be able to save a lot of money by staying here. There is a chance if I transfer I will end up in the same biglaw position that I would have gotten anyway.

So this leads me to a few questions...1) Would I be crazy to ED to Chicago? 2) Do I have a realistic shot at Harvard or Yale if my grades stay this good? 3) If I were to get in, should I go?

I'm not in law school yet so freely disregard anything I say. However, from what I have read on this board I think you would have a legitimate chance at Harvard, probably a shot at Yale. Honestly, if I was in your shoes(and it would be awesome if I am next year, BU will be the highest ranked school I most likely get into) I would probably go for the transfer to HYS if possible. If you are interested in academia Yale would be an amazing opportunity.

WiggyWoo wrote: So this leads me to a few questions...1) Would I be crazy to ED to Chicago? 2) Do I have a realistic shot at Harvard or Yale if my grades stay this good? 3) If I were to get in, should I go?

1)No, I mean do u believe you can repeat your early success? If you stay in teh top 10% of your class then H is still a great possibility, so u could fall a little (i wouldn't ED).

2)Yes, at Harvard and probably at Yale to....I do think it will be harder to transfer this year as many more people seem interested in it

3)I would go to Chicago, Harvard or Yale. You only have a half scholarship, and you said you want academic, something all 3 of those schools make MUCH easier.

From what I understand, H requires that, in addition to 1L GPA, your 0L stats would have made you competitive for the waitlist had you applied there for 1L (3.8+/170+). Worth investigating further. UChi probably doesn't have this requirement. Plus UChi only wants one semester's worth of grades; you can't bomb 2d semester, but they probably won't rescind admission if you fall back in rank a bit.

solidsnake wrote:From what I understand, H requires that, in addition to 1L GPA, your 0L stats would have made you competitive for the waitlist had you applied there for 1L (3.8+/170+). Worth investigating further. UChi probably doesn't have this requirement. Plus UChi only wants one semester's worth of grades; you can't bomb 2d semester, but they probably won't rescind admission if you fall back in rank a bit.

yahoo law school transfer group-evidence to the contrary.
in yahoo groups see:transferapps · Law Students Attempting to Transfer

Top 10% at a T20 does not have a shot at H. I'd say top 2-3% (based on the people I know who were rejected - which is far from a representative sample). If you're not confident in maintaining grades, and you're admittedly a prestige whore, I see nothing wrong with ED to Chicago. However, don't count on that getting you a SCOTUS clerkship. You'd need to make LR at Chicago (fairly hard for transfers), and maintain amazing grades there.

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'm gonna pass on Chicago for now and hold out for Harvard or Yale. It's not that I think I will do significantly worse next semester. It's just that I feel like there is probably some randomness with grading at the very top of the class based on professors, if the exams you take suit you well, etc. I'd be pretty confident saying I'll be in the top 10% next semester but finishing in the top 2-3% is a pretty lofty goal for any semester in my opinion.

I get the academia thing with Yale and that is a big draw. However, at this point I'm not sure if I want to go down that road or not, I just don't want it to be closed to me. Guess its about time for me to start figuring out what I might want to do with my life, huh?

WiggyWoo - We are in almost exactly the same boat (T20, top 5%+, decent scholarship). I just posted a thread along very similar lines. A big part of me would be happy just cracking the t6 at chicago, but part of me also thinks I might regret not taking a shot at HYS when the possibility is really there.

Tough choice...but I guess its really not that bad of a choice to have, haha.

solidsnake wrote:From what I understand, H requires that, in addition to 1L GPA, your 0L stats would have made you competitive for the waitlist had you applied there for 1L (3.8+/170+). Worth investigating further. UChi probably doesn't have this requirement. Plus UChi only wants one semester's worth of grades; you can't bomb 2d semester, but they probably won't rescind admission if you fall back in rank a bit.

This is absolutely not true.

H states on their website that people who manage to perform well enough to transfer there typically had stats that would have made them eligible to attend H in the first place. However, there is no evidence at all that they actually take LSAT or UG GPA into consideration. It was simply a statement by them that effectively just means "those who are smart enough to transfer to HLS probably could've gotten into HLS in the first place", that's all.

I don't think you need a combo of high UG GPA and high LSAT to transfer into H, but I do think you need at least one on top of having great 1L grades so as to distinguish yourself from the masses. Again, I told OP he simply should investigate further. I wasn't making some proclamation from Mt. Sinai. Why don't you work on improving your median grades instead of giving transfer advice.

solidsnake wrote:Why don't you work on improving your median grades instead of giving transfer advice.

QFP

Someone's about to get destroyed...

solidsnake wrote:I don't think you need a combo of high UG GPA and high LSAT to transfer into H, but I do think you need at least one on top of having great 1L grades so as to distinguish yourself from the masses.

Your personal opinion means absolutely nothing to anyone else, especially when you have nothing to back it up with.

solidsnake wrote:Again, I told OP he simply should investigate further. I wasn't making some proclamation from Mt. Sinai.

Then you shouldn't have a problem with someone correcting your incorrect statements.

solidsnake wrote: Why don't you work on improving your median grades instead of giving transfer advice.

This can't possibly refer to me. Who else are you talking to?

solidsnake wrote:I don't think you need a combo of high UG GPA and high LSAT to transfer into H, but I do think you need at least one on top of having great 1L grades so as to distinguish yourself from the masses. Again, I told OP he simply should investigate further. I wasn't making some proclamation from Mt. Sinai. Why don't you work on improving your median grades instead of giving transfer advice.

RC fail. Two different posters provided evidence which suggests that neither UGPA nor LSAT matter.

OP, I am in a similar position and I am not at all confident in repeating my first semester performance. I am strongly considering the Chicago ED for this reason. However, I may stay put because my school does pretty well in the local market and my family is here. It kind of reminds me of exams. There's just no right answer.