Michigan 2012 Transfer Thread Forum

[transferbound]

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[Should I Transfer??]

Fair enough.

I'm probably going to PM you tons of questions about your experience soon.

No prob, glad to help .

I'll be PMing you as well. I'm in the same NU vs. Michigan boat and I really have no idea which one to pick...!

PM as you please obviously, but also feel free to post it here itt or in a separate nu v m thread; i think theres a good number of ppl trying to make the same decision.

[Benjamin1987]

What % would a t1 (45-50) with strong Michigan ties need to place in to have a realistic shot at a transfer after 1L?

[shock259]

~10%

*insert obligatory post about how going to a school with the intent of transferring is a bad idea*

[donniedarko]

The NLJ250 numbers DO NOT APPLY TO TRANSFERS. M transfers do better than NU transfers.

Could you elaborate keg411? How is it that M does better with its transfers than NU? Aside from "Should I Transfer's" analysis, are there any affirmative steps the administration takes that other schools don't? Or....

Thanks in advance!

And a big congrats to everyone who got in! I just got a place and will be moving out there on the 31st. Very excited to meet everyone!

[keg411]

The NLJ250 numbers DO NOT APPLY TO TRANSFERS. M transfers do better than NU transfers.

Could you elaborate keg411? How is it that M does better with its transfers than NU? Aside from "Should I Transfer's" analysis, are there any affirmative steps the administration takes that other schools don't? Or....

Thanks in advance!

And a big congrats to everyone who got in! I just got a place and will be moving out there on the 31st. Very excited to meet everyone!

I think generally M transfers have had better stats than NU transfers. Additionally, they take a lot of transfers who are either from Michigan or went to Michigan undergrad. A lot of the OCI interviewers, even those from out-of-state firms, have some type of Michigan connection, which helps because there is an instant discussion topic and an instant "Why Transfer?" answer. Also, Michigan places less emphasis on WE for initial admissions, so everyone at the law school didn't spend 3 years doing consulting for an ibank or some other prestigious job. The Michigan 1L curve is also significantly lower, so your high grades stand out more.

(But Should I Transfer's analysis was also pretty spot-on)

[donniedarko]

The NLJ250 numbers DO NOT APPLY TO TRANSFERS. M transfers do better than NU transfers.

Could you elaborate keg411? How is it that M does better with its transfers than NU? Aside from "Should I Transfer's" analysis, are there any affirmative steps the administration takes that other schools don't? Or....

Thanks in advance!

And a big congrats to everyone who got in! I just got a place and will be moving out there on the 31st. Very excited to meet everyone!

I think generally M transfers have had better stats than NU transfers. Additionally, they take a lot of transfers who are either from Michigan or went to Michigan undergrad. A lot of the OCI interviewers, even those from out-of-state firms, have some type of Michigan connection, which helps because there is an instant discussion topic and an instant "Why Transfer?" answer. Also, Michigan places less emphasis on WE for initial admissions, so everyone at the law school didn't spend 3 years doing consulting for an ibank or some other prestigious job. The Michigan 1L curve is also significantly lower, so your high grades stand out more.

(But Should I Transfer's analysis was also pretty spot-on)

Makes sense, thanks again keg.

Does Michigan have the kind of grade inflation that NU has after 1L?

[keg411]

Makes sense, thanks again keg.

Does Michigan have the kind of grade inflation that NU has after 1L?

It seriously depends on what classes you take. If you can get in small classes and seminars that don't curve, you're in good shape. Otherwise, the curve is still kind of ugly. Best to ask current transfers which classes you should take and ACTUALLY LISTEN TO THEM. I definitely made a mistake in taking certain curved classes that probably hurt me GPA-wise.

The only positive is you get 2 pass/fails where you can convert a grade you don't like to a Pass, which takes it out of your GPA. The downside is once you use both of them, you're SOL if you get a lower grade.

[donniedarko]

Oh wow, so you can change a graded class to pass fail after the grade comes out, thats cool! I'm coming in from a TT (Kent) that curved to below a 3.0. What are the grades curved to at Michigan?

[keg411]

Oh wow, so you can change a graded class to pass fail after the grade comes out, thats cool! I'm coming in from a TT (Kent) that curved to below a 3.0. What are the grades curved to at Michigan?

Around a 3.2-ish. The curves by class are published once you have a UMID/password. Go to the page for the Registrar's Office and look all the way on the right. There are a bunch of links and one of them is past curves. There is also a rule if a class has under 40 people, profs can curve higher and don't have to curve to the 3.2.

I wouldn't over-worry about grades or the curve, though. First, I probably have the worst grades of any transfer and I still have a chance to get honors (you need a 3.4). Second, there are a bunch of transfer that are close to the 3.7 you need for the higher honors. So overall, transfers do well. I had a bunch of outside reasons that hurt my GPA, but honestly it really doesn't matter (my firm has not asked for grades and doesn't seem to care). It just sucks because at NU my GPA would be a ton prettier than it is .

[donniedarko]

I probably have the worst grades of any transfer and I still have a chance to get honors (you need a 3.4).

Haha, rock on! A 3.4 at M is impressive in my book so there.

[starchinkilt]

Oh wow, so you can change a graded class to pass fail after the grade comes out, thats cool! I'm coming in from a TT (Kent) that curved to below a 3.0. What are the grades curved to at Michigan?

Michigan also publishes the curve distributions for every class for the past 4 terms...it's useful to consult that list to see how generous professors are, especially if the class is under 40.

[donniedarko]

Thank you for the helpful response starchinkilt; I juuust figured out how to find all this info. Very useful.

[keg411]

Oh wow, so you can change a graded class to pass fail after the grade comes out, thats cool! I'm coming in from a TT (Kent) that curved to below a 3.0. What are the grades curved to at Michigan?

Michigan also publishes the curve distributions for every class for the past 4 terms...it's useful to consult that list to see how generous professors are, especially if the class is under 40.

Also, be smart. Actually look at them before signing up for classes .

[donniedarko]

You got it keg... Not the being smart thing, but the looking professors up thing!

Now, how do you know which professors don't allow laptops in class? (I'm presuming that this is not all that uncommon at Mich?)

[keg411]

You got it keg... Not the being smart thing, but the looking professors up thing!

Now, how do you know which professors don't allow laptops in class? (I'm presuming that this is not all that uncommon at Mich?)

If you look at the footnotes linked with the classes, one of them means "no laptops allowed". It's actually not that common to not allow laptops, but some profs do it (I had one all of last year). So if you want to make sure you're in laptops-allowed classes, just look at the Footnotes and avoid as necessary .

[donniedarko]

If you look at the footnotes linked with the classes, one of them means "no laptops allowed".

Got it! Footnote 41 for everyone else who is interested.

[eastcoast_iub]

The NLJ250 numbers DO NOT APPLY TO TRANSFERS. M transfers do better than NU transfers.

Could you elaborate keg411? How is it that M does better with its transfers than NU? Aside from "Should I Transfer's" analysis, are there any affirmative steps the administration takes that other schools don't? Or....

Thanks in advance!

And a big congrats to everyone who got in! I just got a place and will be moving out there on the 31st. Very excited to meet everyone!

I think generally M transfers have had better stats than NU transfers. Additionally, they take a lot of transfers who are either from Michigan or went to Michigan undergrad. A lot of the OCI interviewers, even those from out-of-state firms, have some type of Michigan connection, which helps because there is an instant discussion topic and an instant "Why Transfer?" answer. Also, Michigan places less emphasis on WE for initial admissions, so everyone at the law school didn't spend 3 years doing consulting for an ibank or some other prestigious job. The Michigan 1L curve is also significantly lower, so your high grades stand out more.

(But Should I Transfer's analysis was also pretty spot-on)

.

[lawskewl]

So, I got an email giving me info/access to the admitted students cite and congratulating me on my recent acceptance. This is the first news I have gotten from Michigan. Has this been the case for other people? I take this to mean I'm in...I think I'm going to call them to make sure.

PS Wahoo! (hopefully)

[shock259]

I got that same email, but I got a phone call last week. Did you give them a valid phone #? Maybe they couldn't reach you?

[lawskewl]

I got that same email, but I got a phone call last week. Did you give them a valid phone #? Maybe they couldn't reach you?

That's exactly what happened. I just spoke to them on the phone and they didn't have the right number for me. So far I'm in at Penn and Michigan, waiting on NYU/Columbia. I think I'm leaning Penn right now though as I want to be on East Coast. Although I would love to be in Ann Arbor and watch Big 10 football. I've heard that Michigan law students are really happy, but have heard same thing about Penn too.

[shock259]

Nice! Congrats.

I'm still waiting to hear from Penn, but I would probably take Penn over Michigan (if I get accepted). Also still waiting on Columbia/NYU, but I'm doubtful I'll get into either of those.

[keg411]

As someone with no ties to Michigan and substantial W/E, this post leads me to believe that the benefits that Michigan offers vs. NU may not necessarily apply to me. Michigan seems like a great place to me, but I am still having a hard time wrapping my head around the BigLaw placement stats from last year. I know it's only one year, but it was a huge difference.

If you don't believe me, PM traekhat (I think that's the spelling). He's a NU transfer from last year and he can tell you what went down there if you don't want to believe me.

[eastcoast_iub]

As someone with no ties to Michigan and substantial W/E, this post leads me to believe that the benefits that Michigan offers vs. NU may not necessarily apply to me. Michigan seems like a great place to me, but I am still having a hard time wrapping my head around the BigLaw placement stats from last year. I know it's only one year, but it was a huge difference.

If you don't believe me, PM traekhat (I think that's the spelling). He's a NU transfer from last year and he can tell you what went down there if you don't want to believe me.

It's not that I don't believe you, I just want more concrete information to back up your assertion. I don't have much in the way of statistics to go off of with regard to transfers, so the info I get in on here is very important to my decision. I tried PM'ing traekhat for his/her thoughts, but I can't find a user with that name. Any other suggestions for what the screen name is?

[shock259]

User is here: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/m ... le&u=41254

I spoke with him briefly about it and he mentioned that a handful of NU's transfers struck out. Some seemed to be due to poor interviewing skills, poor bidding, or similar circumstances. For others, it was not clear why they struck out.

The nice thing about this decision is that you can't really choose wrong. Both schools are great. And if you follow the school of thought that says employers just look at your 1L school + grades, then you will have a pretty equal shot at an SA from either school.