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T2 --> Penn?

Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 2:49 pm
by lotsofbunnies
Just got grades back from a Philly-area T2. I had a solid first semester (top 15%), but the second semester I pulled a 3.94, and although ranks have not come out yet, I should be well within the top 5%. I have a full scholarship.

Based on threads I've read, there seems to be a reasonable possibility I'll get in somewhere if I blanket the T14. Penn would probably be my top choice. I would be perfectly fine with practicing in Philly. Does transferring to Penn (or elsewhere) give me that much more of a leg-up in applying to Philly firms than the position I'm currently in? Thanks in advance.

Re: T2 --> Penn?

Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 2:55 pm
by jarofsoup
lotsofbunnies wrote:Just got grades back from a Philly-area T2. I had a solid first semester (top 15%), but the second semester I pulled a 3.94, and although ranks have not come out yet, I should be well within the top 5%. I have a full scholarship.

Based on threads I've read, there seems to be a reasonable possibility I'll get in somewhere if I blanket the T14. Penn would probably be my top choice. I would be perfectly fine with practicing in Philly. Does transferring to Penn (or elsewhere) give me that much more of a leg-up in applying to Philly firms than the position I'm currently in? Thanks in advance.

I think that transferring from a school that is in Phili to Penn gives you an advantage for admissions, but I would still blanket the top 14. I do not know about getting into firms or if this will help, but it will certainly get your resume in front of more employers that you would not have access to at your current school. Also it would allow you to focus on a more national job search.

Best of luck.

Re: T2 --> Penn?

Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 7:04 pm
by keg411
jarofsoup wrote:
lotsofbunnies wrote:Just got grades back from a Philly-area T2. I had a solid first semester (top 15%), but the second semester I pulled a 3.94, and although ranks have not come out yet, I should be well within the top 5%. I have a full scholarship.

Based on threads I've read, there seems to be a reasonable possibility I'll get in somewhere if I blanket the T14. Penn would probably be my top choice. I would be perfectly fine with practicing in Philly. Does transferring to Penn (or elsewhere) give me that much more of a leg-up in applying to Philly firms than the position I'm currently in? Thanks in advance.

I think that transferring from a school that is in Phili to Penn gives you an advantage for admissions, but I would still blanket the top 14. I do not know about getting into firms or if this will help, but it will certainly get your resume in front of more employers that you would not have access to at your current school. Also it would allow you to focus on a more national job search.

Best of luck.
Penn takes a smattering of transfers from the local T2's, but you definitely need to apply to other schools. Especially because Penn is going to be competitive among your classmates. I was top 5% at one of the Philly-area schools last year and got into a few T14's, but got rejected from Penn because three of my classmates who had higher grades than I did all also applied (and decided to go).

However, if you want Philly -- stay at your current school. Philly firms really really did not like that I transferred.

Re: T2 --> Penn?

Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 7:15 pm
by quiver
keg411 wrote:However, if you want Philly -- stay at your current school. Philly firms really really did not like that I transferred.
keg, didn't you transfer to Mich though (i.e. to a school outside philly)? Do you think they disliked the fact that you transferred or the fact that you had access to Philly from your old school and transferred to a school that generally does not place many students in Philly?

OP, if you want to give transferring a shot then you should apply broadly as others have said. As to whether it is actually worth the transfer to Penn, that's a very tough call. You're already in Philly and receiving a full ride so transferring would obviously cost you a lot more. If you have clerkship aspirations then I think that may point more toward transferring. Likewise, if you want to target firms outside Philly (especially NYC), then you may benefit from transferring. If your sole focus is Philly firms then it may be better to stay at your current school, blanket Philly firms with mass mailings, and (hopefully) laugh all the way to the bank when you collect your SA cash.

Re: T2 --> Penn?

Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:44 am
by keg411
quiver wrote:
keg411 wrote:However, if you want Philly -- stay at your current school. Philly firms really really did not like that I transferred.
keg, didn't you transfer to Mich though (i.e. to a school outside philly)? Do you think they disliked the fact that you transferred or the fact that you had access to Philly from your old school and transferred to a school that generally does not place many students in Philly?

OP, if you want to give transferring a shot then you should apply broadly as others have said. As to whether it is actually worth the transfer to Penn, that's a very tough call. You're already in Philly and receiving a full ride so transferring would obviously cost you a lot more. If you have clerkship aspirations then I think that may point more toward transferring. Likewise, if you want to target firms outside Philly (especially NYC), then you may benefit from transferring. If your sole focus is Philly firms then it may be better to stay at your current school, blanket Philly firms with mass mailings, and (hopefully) laugh all the way to the bank when you collect your SA cash.
quiver, that's pretty much exactly what happened. Philly firms weren't all too fond of me leaving, and Michigan basically places no one in Philly (the only person I know who got a bunch of Philly CB's was a native and I don't even think he ended up with any offers). At the only Philly CB I had, people were really skeptical that I wanted to be in Philly over my home state firms or NYC.

The more I think about it, the more I think OP should definitely stay if he/she wants Philly. A very top student at Nova/Temple/Rutgers has a shot at E.D. Pa or D.N.J. Add in a free ride, and unless OP has NYC aspirations and is willing to give up Philly altogether, transferring is a bad move (since the free ride mitigates potential OCI pwnage).

Re: T2 --> Penn?

Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 2:28 am
by jarofsoup
I agree with everything that has been said on here, however, it does not hurt to apply and then see what your options are.

The key is a free ride and you like your region.

Re: T2 --> Penn?

Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 6:44 pm
by r6_philly
keg411 wrote: quiver, that's pretty much exactly what happened. Philly firms weren't all too fond of me leaving, and Michigan basically places no one in Philly (the only person I know who got a bunch of Philly CB's was a native and I don't even think he ended up with any offers). At the only Philly CB I had, people were really skeptical that I wanted to be in Philly over my home state firms or NYC.

The more I think about it, the more I think OP should definitely stay if he/she wants Philly. A very top student at Nova/Temple/Rutgers has a shot at E.D. Pa or D.N.J. Add in a free ride, and unless OP has NYC aspirations and is willing to give up Philly altogether, transferring is a bad move (since the free ride mitigates potential OCI pwnage).
I don't know your personal underlying ties to Philly, but I don't know if transferring out of Philly would bar you from getting a job here unless your ties are weak. A job in Philly from T2 is never guaranteed, and firms must understand that. Also, Philly summer classes have remained very small in the past couple of years, so maybe it's not that they don't like you transferring, they might just have too many candidates (from Penn or top local students). If that is the case, OP's rank may not net a job anyway. At least transferring out provides some backup options elsewhere.

Re: T2 --> Penn?

Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 7:56 pm
by keg411
Believe me when I say... From my personal experience with OCI and mailings that a large reason why I didn't get Philly interviews was because of my transfer. Had I stayed, I would have at least had pre-select screeners with all of them based on my grades. As a transfer I had to rely on mass mailing since most Philly firms did not do OCI at my new school.

Re: T2 --> Penn?

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 10:00 am
by HappyTransfer2012
Can you get into UPENN from a T50 if you were top 10% ? What are the numbers usually like for UPENN and how many transfers do they typically take?

Re: T2 --> Penn?

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 10:08 am
by CanadianWolf
OP: If you are "well within the top 5%" at your current law school with a full tuition scholarship, then consider Harvard since you would be sacrificing almost certain Philly biglaw placement with little debt.