is transferring a viable strategy? Forum

[trqdor]

i wonder what your opinions is on transferring. since i am out of retakes, it looks like im going to have to apply this year. I will most likely not get into the t14.. and even if i do, it looks like i'll be paying a pretty hefty price for it.

alternatively, i could gain admission to a lower ranked school in the top tier and grab some sizable scholarship money. is it wise to take the money, attend for a year, and transfer out? I know transferring into a top program is probably super-optimistic and by no means guaranteed. but if the lower ranked school is offering as much as a full scholarship, wouldn't that be a worthwhile risk to take? I recognize that this strategy is probably the path of most resistance. . .

and if transferring is a viable strategy, should I expect to pay sticker for the next two years at the school i transfer into?

[mjb447]

Obligatory 'don't attend a school you wouldn't be happy graduating from.'

[Pneumonia]

No, it is not a viable a strategy. It is a foolish strategy.

Every year, the number of students who attend low ranked schools hoping to transfer VASTLY exceeds the number of transfer spots. Tons of people make the mistake that you're considering, and hopefully you realize that greater numbers of transfer-intentioned students make this a worse idea, not a better one.

Why, given that you can't/won't do better on the LSAT, do you think you'll be in any better position to transfer than the rest of your school? Any better positioned than the people in your school who have this exact same plan?

The LSAT is a cakewalk compared to law school, any law school. What makes you think you'll do better at the hard thing than at the easy thing?

[Rigo]

and if transferring is a viable strategy, should I expect to pay sticker for the next two years at the school i transfer into?

Not a viable strategy, and yes.

Go to a school for the get-go that you'd be content graduating from at median.

[cavalier1138]

Nope.

[psu2016]

It's a viable strategy for about 1-5% of people beginning in the lower tiers. The problem is that you don't know who those people are yet.

Statistically, though, it's probably not you.

[existentialcrisis]

Nope.