Top Law Schools

stupid idea, and i know that the standard answer is "only go to a school you'd like to attend."

i want to go into academia, but i can only get lower t14 because of my bad gpa (splitter).

do they consider the quality of the school when admitting transfers, or just at the absolute rank? (i.e. would i be better off going to the best (ranked) school i can get into, or going to a t2?)

perhaps i should split the difference and take $$ from wustl/vandy/notre dame?

are there any "feeder" schools for hys (or even ccn)?

i've also heard that loyola-la actually tries to retain top students by not releasing grades in time for transfer deadlines. do other schools screw students over like this?

I want to know what ppl think about this too, though I am not planning going into academia.

Go to lower t14 because there if you fail to get top 10% and transfer, at least you have a decent prospect at getting a job.

the exact ranking of which schools are best to transfer from can be found here:

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandr ... s/rankings

whymeohgodno wrote:Go to lower t14 because there if you fail to get top 10% and transfer, at least you have a decent prospect at getting a job.

due to regional perception, i think that the t2 i have in mind might actually place almost as well as a t14, plus i wouldn't have TONS OF DEBT.

I did lower T14->HYS. My 1L school was the best school I could get into, because I was also a splitter.

If you'd be happy graduating from the T14 anyway (because of the whole "don't plan on transferring" thing, which I strongly urge you to listen to), then go to the T14. There does seem to be a little more latitude given to T14s than people at lower-ranked schools, generally.

That way your options are better no matter what happens. If you get excellent grades, you can either try to transfer, or likely stay and be on LR and have awesome employment options either way. If you're not quite good enough for either, you're still in a better spot than if you'd gotten the same grades at a T30. If you get mediocre grades you'll struggle to find work ITE, but struggle less than if you went to the T30.

Those are my thoughts. Transferring is a long shot; 100% of the students at a lower T14 were chosen because of something that indicated potential for success, and they'll (nearly) all want to do well and make the time and money worth it, and yet 80-90% of them won't end up with what it takes to transfer up. It's even worse (assuming HYS is your goal) as you go down the rankings. By the time you're in T2 territory you're looking at needing top 1-2%, which means 98% of your class won't make it.

Sure, if you're at a T30 or a T2 you might not need top 1% to transfer to the T14, but if you can get into the T14 in the first place, why not just start there?

vanwinkle wrote:you're still in a better spot than if you'd gotten the same grades at a T30.

but wouldn't it be EASIER to pwn at a school where i'm well above the 75th percentile lsat?

hendrix wrote:

vanwinkle wrote:you're still in a better spot than if you'd gotten the same grades at a T30.

but wouldn't it be EASIER to pwn at a school where i'm well above the 75th percentile lsat?

Yes. Law schools give out 1L grades based on LSAT. Therefore, you will, with absolute certainty, be in the top 25% of your class.

birdlaw117 wrote:

hendrix wrote:

vanwinkle wrote:you're still in a better spot than if you'd gotten the same grades at a T30.

but wouldn't it be EASIER to pwn at a school where i'm well above the 75th percentile lsat?

Yes. Law schools give out 1L grades based on LSAT. Therefore, you will, with absolute certainty, be in the top 25% of your class.

+180.
Don't be so sarcastic though. He's proved his ability to get good grades in undergrad, so he'll be fine. Wait, ahh

Another thing to consider is that the transferee school's seem to like schools from the same region. Ex: almost all the berkeley transfers this year are from CA schools or schools west of the Mississippi.

EDIT: may be more true for bigger jumps in rankings

Nicholasnickynic wrote:

birdlaw117 wrote:

hendrix wrote:

vanwinkle wrote:you're still in a better spot than if you'd gotten the same grades at a T30.

but wouldn't it be EASIER to pwn at a school where i'm well above the 75th percentile lsat?

Yes. Law schools give out 1L grades based on LSAT. Therefore, you will, with absolute certainty, be in the top 25% of your class.

+180.
Don't be so sarcastic though. He's proved his ability to get good grades in undergrad, so he'll be fine. Wait, ahh

This was heard coming from one of my section's gunners:

"I'm probably gonna get all As because I never got less than an A- in college."

JPU wrote:Another thing to consider is that the transferee school's seem to like schools from the same region. Ex: almost all the berkeley transfers this year are from CA schools or schools west of the Mississippi.

EDIT: may be more true for bigger jumps in rankings

so cornell>michigan? if i'm gunning for H, should i consider bc/u (maybe the profs are drinking buddies with H profs?)?