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I'm terrified about the adverse responses I know this is going to yield from the TLS community. But just try to bear with me here...

All I want to know is... if I want to attend a school like Columbia or NYU, would it make more sense to try and transfer from a T20 or from a local school like Fordham? Assuming (and this is the word that's going to bring out the angry Zuck's and Nova's) I'm *MAGICALLY* able to make it to the top of my class at either school (again, this is a magical fairytale unicorn scenario so just pretend)... bearing in mind that I would be SUPER comfortable at either school if I'm unable to transfer...

Which would be better?

I know.. I know. Just retake. Or drop out/give up. I get it. But looking past that for just a moment.... T20 or regional T1 for solid transfer prospects to CN or T14 in general?

Neither makes sense.

Retake. I say that with as much dispassion as humanly possible. It's a standardized test, and this site has all the resources to help you conquer it that you could ask for. Stop being silly, Billy.

I have never met Nova in real life but he seems like a chill bro to me. I can confirm that I am, indeed, a chill bro.

There is a whole forum devoted to transferring. I suggest you look there.

Domke wrote:There is a whole forum devoted to transferring. I suggest you look there.

However, 0Ls aren't allowed to post questions in that forum. (Which Dark Kite probably realizes.)

It is a great resource, though (for instance, I believe there's a consensus that U Chicago noticeably favors transfers from other Chicago schools, though I don't know if that's the case for the NY schools) (though I also COMPLETELY that this is not the calculus you should be making when choosing a school).

Dark Kite, you've been here long enough to know the answer to this question.

Retake.

First, you shouldn't do this. Go to a lawschool you'd be comfortable graduating from. UCLA or wherever you got in.

Second, it would be *weird* to transfer from UCLA to NYU. Employers would be a little confused and weirded out. You'd have to have a compelling personal reason. Do you have a compelling personal reason to be in NY? If so, why is it only compelling this year? Why didn't you go to Fordham last year? You will be asked these questions in interviews. If you do well, it's prettymuch equally easy to get into Columbia and NYU I've heard (they both have big transfer classes, so I wouldn't worry too much). But employers will think your transfer is odd from UCLA and normal from Fordham, so if you're really hell-bent on transferring, I guess Fordham.

But seriously, don't do this. NY biglaw exists at most T20 schools, and if you do well enough to transfer, you probably have done well to have the same shot at biglaw anyway. So just retake or go to the better school.