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[a11 1n]

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[raskolnikov32]

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[a11 1n]

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[donniedarko]

Congrats on your stellar 1st semester! You have a very solid shot at NU (Arrow has a great post on the numerical break downs, also, you can check on lsac, they list the number of transfers to/from each school to get an idea of how friendly to transfers you target school really is). Also, the reason I say you have a good shot at NU is that rumor has it a DePaul student who didn't make the law review cut (implying she has a lower GPA than you at a peer school) made into NU. This was within the last couple of years. As has been said before, UC isn't as open to transfers as Columbia or NYU so it's the toughest of that cluster to get into. (That is based on numerous previous TLS threads and lsac numbers.) You'll likely get a slight boost at both schools because you are from a Chicago school (I assume you are also from Chicago.) To them, you are more likely to matriculate at NU or UC than someone with your stats who is based out of, say, LA or something. Either way, if you can spread out your net as wide as possible across the t14 you'll likely land something. It's worth the app fees by all means. Finally, if your goal is biglaw, as a transfer, you probably won't do significantly worse at NU than you would have done at UC. (I assume you want to stay within Chicago for your career.) Good luck!

[seattlegirl]

Congrats on your stellar 1st semester! You have a very solid shot at NU (Arrow has a great post on the numerical break downs, also, you can check on lsac, they list the number of transfers to/from each school to get an idea of how friendly to transfers you target school really is). Also, the reason I say you have a good shot at NU is that rumor has it a DePaul student who didn't make the law review cut (implying she has a lower GPA than you at a peer school) made into NU. This was within the last couple of years. As has been said before, UC isn't as open to transfers as Columbia or NYU so it's the toughest of that cluster to get into. (That is based on numerous previous TLS threads and lsac numbers.) You'll likely get a slight boost at both schools because you are from a Chicago school (I assume you are also from Chicago.) To them, you are more likely to matriculate at NU or UC than someone with your stats who is based out of, say, LA or something. Either way, if you can spread out your net as wide as possible across the t14 you'll likely land something. It's worth the app fees by all means. Finally, if your goal is biglaw, as a transfer, you probably won't do significantly worse at NU than you would have done at UC. (I assume you want to stay within Chicago for your career.) Good luck!

As someone who transferred from a T2 to NU, I think you have a very solid shot of transferring based on your current GPA / probable class rank! I agree with everything that donniedarko said, especially the advice to blanket the T14 if you are seriously considering transferring. I also recommend applying earlier rather than later (I think schools use a rolling admission process for accepting people).

Personally, I am not sure how much of a bump you will get from being in Chicago...on the one hand, you are local so you will almost certainly accept admission...but on the other hand, the number of local students who want to transfer is probably higher so you might face more stiff competition than to schools that are further away (you can also not emphasize any personal reasons other than curriculum for wanting to transfer since both schools are in the same city).

Overall, Chicago seems like it is a really hard legal market to crack (it was hit hard by the recession, has 2 in-city T14s and other T14s really close (e.g. Michigan), has a ton of T1 midwest schools that try to feed into it, and has a boatload of T2 schools in the city). So, the competition in Chicago is fierce (even for Northwestern people). However, since NU is located in Chicago and is a T14, it naturally will have better placement stats in Chicago than any school besides U of Chicago.

One thing that might make a difference for hiring is work experience. Do you have any? If not, this might hurt you at NU because during NU OCI, you will be compared with people that have at least some work experience. Having said this, I know some NU transfers that got jobs with no work experience...but I think that at OCI (at least at NU), substantial and relevant work experience helps a lot. I am not sure if work experience matters as much at other schools' OCIs because so few people have work experience. If you have at least 2 years work experience, you should be in decent shape for NU OCI.

Having said all of this, your OCI bidding strategy will be all important if you transfer (especially in Chicago since ~1/3 of the NU class probably wants Chicago...so you might not get as many interviews since you compete with other NU students to get OCI bidding slots). You see, NU OCI is 100% student-select (not employers selecting who they want). So, your access to employers through OCI will be based at NU on how well you select firms to interview with (meaning...how well you rank the firms using your 50 bids in comparison to your classmates who also have 50 bids).

I think you should apply to both U Chicago and Northwestern. Blanket the T14 if you can financially afford it...transferring is a crapshoot. But transferring was the best decision I made in law school! Northwestern is a fantastic school...I recommend going there if you get in.

[opX]

Hey Donnie, would you mind PMing me and sharing your insights? I need a lil guidance if you have time. Thanks

[a11 1n]

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