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My dream is to live and practice law in Austin TX. I love the city. The problem is I only got accepted to a lower ranked T2 school, outside of Texas, and I have no Austin or Texas ties. My goal is to work very hard and try to be in the top 10% of my class so I can transfer out. But I hear that UT Austin doesn't accept transfers who don't have Texas ties, is that true ? So what's my best shot at getting to practice in Austin ? If I somehow manage to transfer to a T14 would I be able to work in Austin without having ties to the city, or is that a must ?



thanks in advance

How do you give yourself a shot at that goal? By retaking and going to UT (though even then it won't necessarily be easy).

Why do you care so much about Austin if you don't have any ties?

bk187 wrote:How do you give yourself a shot at that goal? By retaking and going to UT (though even then it won't necessarily be easy).

Then do really well at UT. Then pray. Austin is hilariously competitive.

bk187 wrote:How do you give yourself a shot at that goal? By retaking and going to UT (though even then it won't necessarily be easy).

that'll be impossible.My GPA is also too low. Is there there other way ?

Tom Joad wrote:Why do you care so much about Austin if you don't have any ties?

I've visited there a few times. It's got everything I could ever want in a city.

Jimmy Krickets wrote:

bk187 wrote:How do you give yourself a shot at that goal? By retaking and going to UT (though even then it won't necessarily be easy).

that'll be impossible.My GPA is also too low. Is there there other way ?

What's your GPA?

Other realistic option is work somewhere else for a few years and try to lateral.

Jimmy Krickets wrote:that'll be impossible.My GPA is also too low. Is there there other way ?

Uhh how about this:

1. Move to Austin right now and work there for a few years.
2. Go to SMU/UH with a good scholly.
3. Get amazing grades.
4. Pray to the deity of your choice.

bk187 wrote: 4. Pray to the deity of your choice.

glad this is sorta catching on

Get a job in San Antonio, live in New Braunfels, play in Austin.

[OP] Not sure what you're looking for in terms of answers. I think it'll be easier to retake and get into UT as a 1L than to transfer. You can retake the LSAT as much as you'd like but you can only do 1L once, and you don't really know how well you'll do. I don't know if your GPA is as damning as you seem to think - if it's below their 25th percentile, then score above their 75th percentile LSAT and they'll be happy to look at you. That's all there is to it.

Also, it's worth mentioning that UT reserves something like 60% or 70% of their seats for Texas residents due to state law, so you might want to work there and get Texas residency before applying.

,

How willing are you to compromise on your dream? Is it unconditional that you both live in "and" practice law in Austin-Austin?

If the answer is "somewhat" or even "a bit," then your problem would be easily solved if you decided to go T2, find a job that lets you commute up to 20 minutes in one of the four cardinal directions away from Austin, and then actually just live in Austin formal. *

*This assumes that you can't or won't transfer out of where you're at.

Thanks for the advice guys, that's a lot of good information. But what are my odds of getting a job in Austin if I finish from a T14 school ? Is Austin really that insular ?

with no texas ties, just t-14 will probably not get you there. probably your best bet is to work as a paralegal or something in austin for a few years, gain connection, gain residency, re-take and go to UT. The residency thing is definitely going to be required, a lot of people who go to t-14's got rejected from UT (probably because of residency)