transferring and clerkships Forum
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Anonymous posting is only available to the creator of each thread. The anonymous posting feature is intended to permit the solicitation of anonymous advice regarding the transfer application process, chances of being accepted, etc. Unacceptable uses include: testing the feature, questions which are clearly fake or hypothetical in nature, harassing other users, etc. Posters should also read and understand the announcements posted at the top of the Transfers forum prior to using the anonymous feature.
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transferring and clerkships
Suppose a student ends up transferring from ~T12-16 to ~T1-3.
How does this affect one's ability to obtain clerkships in the fall of 3L year? Supposing the student gets good grades at his/her new school, I imagine the only stumbling block would be finding faculty recommenders at the new school (and interviewing of course). Does anyone know how successful transfer students are at finding clerkships? Do judges frown upon hiring transfer students? Would these students have been better off staying at their old schools?
How does this affect one's ability to obtain clerkships in the fall of 3L year? Supposing the student gets good grades at his/her new school, I imagine the only stumbling block would be finding faculty recommenders at the new school (and interviewing of course). Does anyone know how successful transfer students are at finding clerkships? Do judges frown upon hiring transfer students? Would these students have been better off staying at their old schools?
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Re: transferring and clerkships
G.T.L. Rev's clerkship thread in Legal Employment addresses the issue of transfers and clerkships.
Basically, even though you could kill your 2nd year and end up in the top 10% of your class, it doesn't mean they'll just presume you would have done equally as well if you had taken your 1L year there. I imagine this applies a lot more so for T3-T14 transfers more than T16-HYS transfers though.
Edit: not to mention not having the LR credential, which I think is pretty important for the more prestigious clerkships.
Basically, even though you could kill your 2nd year and end up in the top 10% of your class, it doesn't mean they'll just presume you would have done equally as well if you had taken your 1L year there. I imagine this applies a lot more so for T3-T14 transfers more than T16-HYS transfers though.
Edit: not to mention not having the LR credential, which I think is pretty important for the more prestigious clerkships.
- thexfactor
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Re: transferring and clerkships
is there really that big of a difference between first year and 2nd/3rd year classes?
A lot of schools still maintain a pretty strict curve on 3nd and 3rd year classes.
A lot of schools still maintain a pretty strict curve on 3nd and 3rd year classes.
- Helmholtz
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Re: transferring and clerkships
My school averages around 3.2 for 1L's and 3.45 for 2Ls + 3Ls.thexfactor wrote:is there really that big of a difference between first year and 2nd/3rd year classes?
A lot of schools still maintain a pretty strict curve on 3nd and 3rd year classes.
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Re: transferring and clerkships
Helmholtz: U Chicago has a totally different gradings scale.
At my law school, the mean GPA is the same 1L and 2L/3L years. While C+s are not mandatory during 2L and 3L years, there are fewer grades in the A range during 2L and 3L years. Of course there are small classes that are off-curve during 2L and 3L year. Our small writing class 1L year is on-curve.
At my law school, the mean GPA is the same 1L and 2L/3L years. While C+s are not mandatory during 2L and 3L years, there are fewer grades in the A range during 2L and 3L years. Of course there are small classes that are off-curve during 2L and 3L year. Our small writing class 1L year is on-curve.
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Re: transferring and clerkships
my school's 1L median is 2.9, while the 2L/3L median is 3.33.
I thought it was the norm for 2L/3L years to have higher medians...
I thought it was the norm for 2L/3L years to have higher medians...
- XxSpyKEx
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Re: transferring and clerkships
This is less of a big deal than people on TLS make it out to be. You will find recommenders at your new school. And you don't lose anything by transferring. For example, if you got the book award in LRW and had a decent relationship with your LRW prof, he/she will be happy to write you a letter of recommendation, despite your decision to transfer. I still talk to my LRW prof over email every now and then.saladfiend wrote:Suppose a student ends up transferring from ~T12-16 to ~T1-3.
How does this affect one's ability to obtain clerkships in the fall of 3L year? Supposing the student gets good grades at his/her new school, I imagine the only stumbling block would be finding faculty recommenders at the new school (and interviewing of course).
saladfiend wrote:Does anyone know how successful transfer students are at finding clerkships?
Yes.
No.saladfiend wrote:Do judges frown upon hiring transfer students?
In my case, no because there was no chance in hell I would have gotten the clerkship I did from my old school.saladfiend wrote:Would these students have been better off staying at their old schools?
This is actually kind of a big thing and your odds of getting LR at the new school are pretty low. You just have to recognize this factor going in and weigh your options carefully. A t12—HYS transfer might not make sense for this reason (because it may end up limiting your ability to get a clerkship, or at the very least, it will limit your ability to get as prestigious of a clerkship as you might have gotten had you stayed at your old school). However, in the case of Yale (not sure about SLS), I think the risk of not getting LR is lower (don’t quote me on this, but I think something like a 1/3 of transfers get onto LR and you get something like 3 chances to get on, AND getting onto some journal is guaranteed). Also YLS is a clerkship powerhouse (what, does something like a 1/3 of their class get article III clerkships?). Personally, I would have a difficult time justifying not transferring to YLS with all that in mind.zomginternets wrote: Edit: not to mention not having the LR credential, which I think is pretty important for the more prestigious clerkships.
Grade inflation is the only big difference between 1st year and 2nd/3rd year classes... Oh those seminars with their 3.9 GPA medians tend to have that impact.thexfactor wrote:is there really that big of a difference between first year and 2nd/3rd year classes?
At most schools, it is.zomginternets wrote:my school's 1L median is 2.9, while the 2L/3L median is 3.33.
I thought it was the norm for 2L/3L years to have higher medians...