Top Law Schools

Transfer as well, so I'll continue to give a little advice based on my experience.
I think that most of the kids in my transfer class that were from the low ranked schools got plenty of interviews at oci, they just didn't get offers for the most part. I mean, maybe some of that was interviewing ability but I doubt it. Might also have been bidding. That is, a ttt transfer likely isn't getting a real look from Baker Botts or VE, but they might have a better chance at some of the smaller firms, although I can't say this for sure. There have been transfers in my class that got fed dist. court and ssc clerkships. I know of at least two fed dist. clerks and two Texas Supreme Court clerks. Still, this is a pretty small number of people when you think of how large the last couple of transfer classes have been. I think for the average ttt transfer, you can assume you aren't getting big law or a meaningful clerkship, but I don't think this necessarily answers the question of whether transferring is a good idea. A lot of it will depend on price and level of school you attend. Its hard to convince me that, for a Texas resident at least, transferring from a tttt to UT is not a good option in the absence of an ability to get big law. The UT network is huge and your degree is something that follows you forever. In a profession as snobby as the legal one, I think making the big jump is something you need to do if possible. I also think its of the utmost importance for ttt transfers o basically treat the rest of law school like 1L and get high grades.

Looking at the transfer stats for UT, the 25th percentile was 3.11 - who's getting in with such a low GPA and from what school? Looking at the list of schools from which UT accepted transfers, its not clear where 3.11 would place you in the top of your class.

159times2 wrote:Looking at the transfer stats for UT, the 25th percentile was 3.11 - who's getting in with such a low GPA and from what school? Looking at the list of schools from which UT accepted transfers, its not clear where 3.11 would place you in the top of your class.

Nowhere, because you don't have to be in the top of your class to transfer to UT (for many schools).

The main feeder schools are other Texas schools, and at most of them (smu,tech, Baylor, uh, stcl) 3.11 is roughly median. So median students may have a chance at UT?
Sandwich - if u had law review at UH/smu/Baylor plus top 25% would u transfer to UT given the opportunity? Disregard tuition $.

159times2 wrote:The main feeder schools are other Texas schools, and at most of them (smu,tech, Baylor, uh, stcl) 3.11 is roughly median. So median students may have a chance at UT?
Sandwich - if u had law review at UH/smu/Baylor plus top 25% would u transfer to UT given the opportunity? Disregard tuition $.

Top 25% yes, but you threw in law review which makes it a bit tougher. I'd say top 5% stay (to UT would be more of a lateral then. Top 10% I'd have to really think about it, but I'd probably go. Anything outside of 10% I'd probably go.

159times2 wrote:The main feeder schools are other Texas schools, and at most of them (smu,tech, Baylor, uh, stcl) 3.11 is roughly median. So median students may have a chance at UT?
Sandwich - if u had law review at UH/smu/Baylor plus top 25% would u transfer to UT given the opportunity? Disregard tuition $.

I would say stay (at least at UH/SMU) under those conditions, absent a pressing personal reason to go to UT.

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The thing is, y'all would seem to have a very high curve for a TTT. A 3.53 would be about top 12% for 1Ls at SMU. Other TTTs set their curve much lower, but it's of course inconsistent. That inconsistency is what makes it so difficult to look at the 1L GPA transfer data and glean much useful information.

(ETA: It looks like the STCL curve was brought up to 3.0 in 2011, which puts it about on par with schools in the T40-T70 range.)

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boblawlawblog wrote:Actually, I'm looking at the curve data provided on wikipedia. Though the curve data is slightly older, by about 2 years, South Texas has a relatively competitive curve compared to SMU/UH/UT... so...do these admissions officers just assume that the classes are easier at a TTTT and weigh them that way? Seems like a terrible way to miss out on some great students.

I think the better way to put it would be that they assume your competition is weaker. So top 15% at TTTT isn't top 15% at T2 or T1 because you aren't competing against the same caliber of student. May or may not be true (likely is true) but it's how they're likely going to look at it.

lawman84 wrote:

boblawlawblog wrote:Actually, I'm looking at the curve data provided on wikipedia. Though the curve data is slightly older, by about 2 years, South Texas has a relatively competitive curve compared to SMU/UH/UT... so...do these admissions officers just assume that the classes are easier at a TTTT and weigh them that way? Seems like a terrible way to miss out on some great students.

I think the better way to put it would be that they assume your competition is weaker. So top 15% at TTTT isn't top 15% at T2 or T1 because you aren't competing against the same caliber of student. May or may not be true (likely is true) but it's how they're likely going to look at it.

This exactly. They'll go deeper into the 1L class at a T1 than they will at a TTT/TTTT. For example while a top 5% might at STCL might be a near-certain admit at UT, that number might stretch to 15% at UH/SMU. (I made those percentages up for sake of demonstration).

boblawlawblog wrote:Seems like a terrible way to miss out on some great students.

So does blind obedience to LSAT/UGPA, but they've got to have some way to make decisions. At least with transfers the school's stats aren't affected so if they see a student that they think is excellent from his/her resume/PS who maybe doesn't have quite the transfer numbers they're looking for, they can still admit them without risking their ranking.

Just had a whole thing which didn't submit for some reason. Top 15% of ones class is something to be proud of. You've asked about likely chances and I don't think you have a great shot outside of top 10% at a minimum. Schools have to cut off the line somewhere, it sucks for the person that's right outside the mark because theres really no difference between top 11% and 10% for example, but it is what it is. Schools need to be able to make arbitrary distinctions with some degree of predictability if that makes sense. Its reasonable to assume t1 and t2 schools are more competitive than ttt schools. In my opinion, I don't think the difference in competition becomes palpable until you get into t20ish territory, but I think this is the minority view and it is most certainly not the view schools take.
I have, however, seen students get in from where you are at similarly ranked schools. Books awards could possible help or perhaps IP eligibility. Not really sure, but I've seen in happen.