Emory or UGA? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I was accepted to Emory and UGA to transfer from Mercer (Top 15%). I would most likely want to stay and work in Atlanta after graduation. Also, I would likely make law review at Mercer. Should I transfer, and if so which school? (Both Emory and UGA are at regular tuition) Just wanted to get some outside opinions.

[stego]

How much scholarship money do you have at Mercer? Debt upon graduation from the 3 schools? What are your career goals (besides being in Atlanta)?

[DCAF]

How much scholarship money do you have at Mercer? Debt upon graduation from the 3 schools? What are your career goals (besides being in Atlanta)?

$10K scholarship at Mercer (After my first year). Debt: Mercer - 100K; UGA - 80K; Emory - 140K (Rough estimates). Would like to work for a firm, medium to large size.

[chuckbass]

Definitely UGA. Similar placement to Emory, and cheaper than your TTT

[stego]

If UGA will have better employment outcomes than Mercer AND put you in less debt transferring there would seem to make more sense than staying.

The question is, do the much better outcomes from Emory justify paying more to transfer there rather than to UGA? Hopefully someone a little more knowledgeable/experienced than me can weigh in on that.

[Bubbles 4 Life]

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[stego]

Definitely UGA. Similar placement to Emory, and cheaper than your TTT

It's not that similar in my opinion.

[BruceWayne]

Wait a minute, you're trying to work in GA after graduation and you won't get a big scholarship by transferring? Why in hell are you thinking about transferring to one of these schools?

Wait I didn't realize Mercer even with the 10K scholarship would be more than UGA. I forgot that they are overpriced.

Honestly though don't give up law review and top 15 percent at Mercer. Law review and good grades at one of the traditional GA schools is big for getting a job in Atlanta. I honestly think that having law review at Mercer with top 15 percent is the safest way to go for getting a job in ATL in your current situation.

[stego]

Wait a minute, you're trying to work in GA after graduation and you won't get a big scholarship by transferring? Why in hell are you thinking about transferring to one of these schools?

Wait I didn't realize Mercer even with the 10K scholarship would be more than UGA. I forgot that they are overpriced.

Honestly though don't give up law review and top 15 percent at Mercer. Law review and good grades at one of the traditional GA schools is big for getting a job in Atlanta. I honestly think that having law review at Mercer with top 15 percent is the safest way to go for getting a job in ATL in your current situation.

When does a transfer law student ever get merit scholarship money from their new school?

Emory has much better placement than Mercer and UGA has somewhat better placement than Mercer. Does having law review at Mercer negate that?

[chuckbass]

Definitely UGA. Similar placement to Emory, and cheaper than your TTT

It's not that similar in my opinion.

Top 15% Mercer to Emory transfer probably isn't getting biglaw, but UGA actually puts 70% into LT/FT legal jobs, which is 10% more than Emory. I don't see Emory being worth that kind of money here.

[stego]

Definitely UGA. Similar placement to Emory, and cheaper than your TTT

It's not that similar in my opinion.

Top 15% Mercer to Emory transfer probably isn't getting biglaw, but UGA actually puts 70% into LT/FT legal jobs, which is 10% more than Emory. I don't see Emory being worth that kind of money here.

Where are you getting those numbers? Emory put 83% of their 2014 class into LT/FT legal jobs (232 out of 268). 29% got biglaw or a federal clerkship (78 out of 268). Granted, I'm only looking at one year's worth of data.

[WheatThins]

You're probably not getting "biglaw" in Atlanta from any of your options. It's really competitive. You probably have a shot at a medium or smallish sized firm in the city though.

Don't transfer to UGA - you're still not in the city to network and hustle, and you'll lose your impressive ranking and law review. If you can afford it or if you are paying too much at Mercer, I'd go to Emory and cross my fingers if you're set on transfering. Otherwise, you're not in that bad of a shape from where you are. It's just going to be tough not being in Atlanta for this job hunt.

[stego]

You're probably not getting "biglaw" in Atlanta from any of your options. It's really competitive. You probably have a shot at a medium or smallish sized firm in the city though.

Don't transfer to UGA - you're still not in the city to network and hustle, and you'll lose your impressive ranking and law review. If you can afford it or if you are paying too much at Mercer, I'd go to Emory and cross my fingers if you're set on transfering. Otherwise, you're not in that bad of a shape from where you are. It's just going to be tough not being in Atlanta for this job hunt.

How does this work? Are transfers just not allowed to have a ranking or do they get a new ranking based on their grades at the new school? If OP is top 15% at Mercer they'll probably do well at any other school.

[chuckbass]

Definitely UGA. Similar placement to Emory, and cheaper than your TTT

It's not that similar in my opinion.

Top 15% Mercer to Emory transfer probably isn't getting biglaw, but UGA actually puts 70% into LT/FT legal jobs, which is 10% more than Emory. I don't see Emory being worth that kind of money here.

Where are you getting those numbers? Emory put 83% of their 2014 class into LT/FT legal jobs (232 out of 268). 29% got biglaw or a federal clerkship (78 out of 268). Granted, I'm only looking at one year's worth of data.

Do you see the red asterisk on LST? 20% of those are school-funded jobs. Would you like to continue being dense?

[trebekismyhero]

Go to UGA, unless Mercer gives you a lot more money. Emory at that much debt is not worth it since you are still unlikely to get big law from there as a transfer

[stego]

Do you see the red asterisk on LST? 20% of those are school-funded jobs. Would you like to continue being dense?

Don't be a dick. I looked at the ABA employment stats, not LST. School-funded jobs deserve a big red asterisk for sure, but you're the one who just pretended they didn't exist and then insulted me when I asked where you got that number.

[chuckbass]

Do you see the red asterisk on LST? 20% of those are school-funded jobs. Would you like to continue being dense?

Don't be a dick. I looked at the ABA employment stats, not LST. School-funded jobs deserve a big red asterisk for sure, but you're the one who just pretended they didn't exist and then insulted me when I asked where you got that number.

There's a reason 0Ls aren't supposed to be posting advice in here.

[stego]

Do you see the red asterisk on LST? 20% of those are school-funded jobs. Would you like to continue being dense?

Don't be a dick. I looked at the ABA employment stats, not LST. School-funded jobs deserve a big red asterisk for sure, but you're the one who just pretended they didn't exist and then insulted me when I asked where you got that number.

There's a reason 0Ls aren't supposed to be posting advice in here.

Once again, you're being a dick. Stop being a dick.

I can interpret numbers just as well as anybody else can but I'm also in this thread to ask questions because I obviously don't understand how everything works.

[Bubbles 4 Life]

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[goldgirl786]

If you want to stay in Atlanta and have no desire to leave, UGA is the way to go to incur the least debt - if money is really that big of an issue.

However, to keep your options open in the national legal market, Emory is the better choice.

Personally, I would take Emory over UGA. It's a top 20 school and if you're going to transfer, might as well take the better option otherwise what's the point? top 15 and law review at Mercer would land you a decent job in the atlanta legal market, but of course someone with the same credentials as you coming out of emory will take priority. And similar credentials from UGA and Emory would still put the Emory grad on top of the list.

Just my two cents. Goodluck.

[chuckbass]

Does no one see 140k as estimated debt from Emory? OP is not likely to get biglaw even transferring to Emory.

[Bubbles 4 Life]

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[DukeofCambridge]

Want to stay in GA? Go to UGA. Otherwise? Go to Emory. The choice is simple.

[stego]

Does no one see 140k as estimated debt from Emory? OP is not likely to get biglaw even transferring to Emory.

It's a lot of debt. But Emory placed almost 30% of its last class into biglaw or a federal clerkship. OP will lose their ranking if they transfer, but if they made top 15% at Mercer it's probable they'll make top 1/3 grades at Emory (at least). They'll probably miss out on law review, but what else? I guess I'm a little unclear on the reasons why people think it's so much harder for transfers to get biglaw than the numbers would otherwise suggest. Is it because OCI is more difficult as a transfer for some reason? Shallower faculty references? What am I missing?

[timmyd]

A cool thing about being a transfer is you can still put the law review from old school on your résumé. Just say (invitation extended). Sucks not being on LR at the new school but at some point you just have to weigh what's best. Everyone reviewing your résumé will view you as a kid that did well at Mercer and will have a degree from Emory, you don't lose your 1l success. You arnt getting biglaw though no matter what. I would stay out and try and graduate magna. In my opinion, magna from mercer with LR is better than just having a degree from Emory.