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I am looking to apply to the t-14 (for context, my stats are 4.0/174 URM) and I am wondering if I should explain my decision to transfer universities my first year?

For personal reasons (relating to mental health/death in the family), I transferred after my first semester from a university that was highly ranked to a mid-tier university. The decision was related to location & major changes rather than grades and I maintained a 4.0 at both schools, which admissions will be able to see on my transcripts, but do you think this will be looked down upon at all? Is this something that would require an addendum to explain? It would be difficult to explain, so I would prefer not to, but I am worried law schools might speculate about the quick transfer.

Thanks!

No. That doesn't seem to me like something you need to give details about. A lot of students transferred. Your GPA and LSAT is very strong and, as a URM, you have a very good chance of walking into ANY law school in the U.S. with a full scholarship.

Synapse2018 wrote:No. That doesn't seem to me like something you need to give details about. A lot of students transferred. Your GPA and LSAT is very strong and, as a URM, you have a very good chance of walking into ANY law school in the U.S. with a full scholarship.

Seconding this. A freshman transfer won't raise any eyebrows. Personally, I wouldn't even mention the mental health thing at all (whether in the context of the transfer or not).

I'd only mention a transfer if there were two or more transfers, the transfer was "forced" due to being dismissed, there was an unexplained gap during the transfer, etc. But a run-of-the-mill single transfer - not worth mentioning.

In the very unlikely event you're asked about the transfer in an interview, simply say that you had to relocate for family reasons.

Good luck (not that you'll need it - you'll get amazing results for sure given your stats!).