Top Law Schools

As a side note: I must say that I've been seeing a lot of these "I'm
transferring from a T25 to a T14" posts on here, and if you really
are at a T25, this is INCREDIBLY STUPID in most cases. Unless you
have other reasons (family, etc.) it is ridiculous to give up
possible law review grade-on, great OCI prospects, and the high
ranking at your T25.

Myth: T14s have MUCH better job prospects than 14-25.
Fact: This is somewhat true (albeit not MUCH better in most cases).
HOWEVER, as a transfer you will probably miss some of the earlier OCI
deadlines and many firms will consider you "lesser goods" compared to
the other students. At your current school you are pretty much
guarenteed a job if you do well enough to transfer.

Myth: I have to go to New York or a T14 to get a "big law" job.
Fact: If you do well enough to transfer from a T25 you will probably
be able to get a job wherever you want to go. I'm at a lowly 25-35
and its a generally accepted rule that our top 10% get big law jobs
if they want them.

Myth: Duke travels better than Emory.
Fact: Again, maybe a little truth behind this one (not much though).
However, once again the rule applies to general students, not
transfers. You will almost certainly be in a better position at
Emory grading onto law review, and being in the top 10% than
stumbling into Duke Mid-Summer will no rank or applicable
extracurriculars to speak of (because they don't travel with you).

Conclusion: Unless you are going to a Top 5 school it is a HUGE
gamble with little reward to transfer from a T25. Nothing will upset
you more than being in the top 10% at you current school and getting
rejected at your new "better" school from the job you transferred
there to get.

*Additionally, I would encourage EVERYONE here to visit Professor
Brian Leiter's Page describing how US News Ranks Schools. It is
super-surprising how manipulable some of these rankings are(i.e. how
do schools make 10-20 place jumps in ONE YEAR).

While none of this really mattered in my T4-T1 jump, it may matter
significantly in your T25-T14 jump as your old school may surpass
your new school before you graduate under the proposed new system of
ranking (Posted on US News.com)

Myth: T14s have MUCH better job prospects than 14-25.
Fact: This is somewhat true (albeit not MUCH better in most cases).
HOWEVER, as a transfer you will probably miss some of the earlier OCI
deadlines and many firms will consider you "lesser goods" compared to
the other students. At your current school you are pretty much
guarenteed a job if you do well enough to transfer.

You will almost certainly be in a better position at
Emory grading onto law review, and being in the top 10% than
stumbling into Duke Mid-Summer will no rank or applicable
extracurriculars to speak of (because they don't travel with you).

Myth: Duke travels better than Emory.
Fact: Again, maybe a little truth behind this one (not much though).
However, once again the rule applies to general students, not
transfers. You will almost certainly be in a better position at
Emory grading onto law review, and being in the top 10% than
stumbling into Duke Mid-Summer will no rank or applicable
extracurriculars to speak of (because they don't travel with you).

Stardust wrote:How about transferring from a lower T14 to HYS CCN?

Would it be worth it to transfer from, say Georgetown to Columbia?

sbalive wrote:

Stardust wrote:How about transferring from a lower T14 to HYS CCN?

Would it be worth it to transfer from, say Georgetown to Columbia?

I would like to know the answer to this question... and maybe with an additional assumption - if you're rocking it there, solidly top 5-10% & will likely be on Law Review. (From what I've seen, you may be able to transfer with less than that.) Better to be top dog at a Duke/Georgetown/Vandy/Cornell or mid-pack at a HYS or CCN?