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I am currently a 1L at Valparaiso. My first semester GPA was 3.14 and class rank 59/192. I am looking to transfer to a more urban setting such as Chicago. I have also been looking at Rutgers-Camden as I have family there and they accept a lot of transfer students. Any advice on what my chances would be or about the highest ranking schools I would have a chance at?

mikec0824 wrote:I am currently a 1L at Valparaiso. My first semester GPA was 3.14 and class rank 59/192. I am looking to transfer to a more urban setting such as Chicago. I have also been looking at Rutgers-Camden as I have family there and they accept a lot of transfer students. Any advice on what my chances would be or about the highest ranking schools I would have a chance at?

John Marshall, Loyola, Kent, DePaul..... try all of them. What was your LSAT, btw?

Edit: Your best shot will be at J-Marshall.... which apparently places relatively well in Chicago. (big alumn network, etc)

dabears1 wrote:

mikec0824 wrote:I am currently a 1L at Valparaiso. My first semester GPA was 3.14 and class rank 59/192. I am looking to transfer to a more urban setting such as Chicago. I have also been looking at Rutgers-Camden as I have family there and they accept a lot of transfer students. Any advice on what my chances would be or about the highest ranking schools I would have a chance at?

John Marshall, Loyola, Kent, DePaul..... try all of them. What was your LSAT, btw?

Edit: Your best shot will be at J-Marshall.... which apparently places relatively well in Chicago. (big alumn network, etc)

OP, please heavily consider transferring to JMLS. I'm not saying there's never going to be a valid reason to do so, but it's generally not a good idea. Shoot for Kent, Loyola or DePaul if you're dead set on being in Chicago. If not, suck it up for another couple years at Valpo. Chances of increasing your employment opportunities from top 33% at Valpo to starting over at JMLS asymptotically approach zero.

patrickd139 wrote:

dabears1 wrote:

mikec0824 wrote:I am currently a 1L at Valparaiso. My first semester GPA was 3.14 and class rank 59/192. I am looking to transfer to a more urban setting such as Chicago. I have also been looking at Rutgers-Camden as I have family there and they accept a lot of transfer students. Any advice on what my chances would be or about the highest ranking schools I would have a chance at?

John Marshall, Loyola, Kent, DePaul..... try all of them. What was your LSAT, btw?

Edit: Your best shot will be at J-Marshall.... which apparently places relatively well in Chicago. (big alumn network, etc)

OP, please heavily consider transferring to JMLS. I'm not saying there's never going to be a valid reason to do so, but it's generally not a good idea. Shoot for Kent, Loyola or DePaul if you're dead set on being in Chicago. If not, suck it up for another couple years at Valpo. Chances of increasing your employment opportunities from top 33% at Valpo to starting over at JMLS asymptotically approach zero.

I agree with this - please also consider Chicago is a hell of a lot more expensive to live in then Valparaiso, IN. With that said, if you were able to transfer into Loyola, Kent or DePaul, it would be worth it.

dabears1 wrote:

patrickd139 wrote:

dabears1 wrote:

mikec0824 wrote:I am currently a 1L at Valparaiso. My first semester GPA was 3.14 and class rank 59/192. I am looking to transfer to a more urban setting such as Chicago. I have also been looking at Rutgers-Camden as I have family there and they accept a lot of transfer students. Any advice on what my chances would be or about the highest ranking schools I would have a chance at?

John Marshall, Loyola, Kent, DePaul..... try all of them. What was your LSAT, btw?

Edit: Your best shot will be at J-Marshall.... which apparently places relatively well in Chicago. (big alumn network, etc)

OP, please heavily consider transferring to JMLS. I'm not saying there's never going to be a valid reason to do so, but it's generally not a good idea. Shoot for Kent, Loyola or DePaul if you're dead set on being in Chicago. If not, suck it up for another couple years at Valpo. Chances of increasing your employment opportunities from top 33% at Valpo to starting over at JMLS asymptotically approach zero.

I agree with this - please also consider Chicago is a hell of a lot more expensive to live in then Valparaiso, IN. With that said, if you were able to transfer into Loyola, Kent or DePaul, it would be worth it.

Try to get your class rank up a bit higher and you should have a reasonable shot at some of the T2s mentioned above. Transferring from a T4 to a T4 is a dangerous proposition. Attending T4s is a personal choice, but attending a T4 or T3 with the disadvantages of a transfer might not be a good idea. You have no scholarship, no law review (unless write on), lost grades, lost network, uprooted social life, etc. Transferring to a T2 school could very well make sense.

I understand that life sometimes requires us to make non-optimal decisions. However, be very careful about making the decision to transfer to another T4 school. If you maintain your grades (top 1/3rd) you might be able to make it into a T2. With slightly better grades you can easily transfer to a T2.