Top Law Schools

By special request from Machine Spirit, here's a new 2L Transfer Grades thread w/ the anonymous feature. Enjoy.

1L School:
1L Grades:
Transfer School:
Transfer Grades:

I'm interested in how we all did. It may also assist prospective transfers who are curious as to how top students at lower schools perform at top schools.

Anonymous User wrote:By special request from Machine Spirit, here's a new 2L Transfer Grades thread w/ the anonymous feature. Enjoy.

1L School:
1L Grades:
Transfer School:
Transfer Grades:

I'm interested in how we all did. It may also assist prospective transfers who are curious as to how top students at lower schools perform at top schools.

My understanding is that you can expect some unflattering results. Going from the T25 to the T10 (average LSAT increases from 164 to 168) introduces a pretty crazy level of academic rigor. If you were top 5-10% at a T25, expect to be around median at your T10. Same rules going from T10 to HYS (average LSAT increases from 168 to 171). Just a different level of intellect to contend with.

Kohinoor wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:By special request from Machine Spirit, here's a new 2L Transfer Grades thread w/ the anonymous feature. Enjoy.

1L School:
1L Grades:
Transfer School:
Transfer Grades:

I'm interested in how we all did. It may also assist prospective transfers who are curious as to how top students at lower schools perform at top schools.

My understanding is that you can expect some unflattering results. Going from the T25 to the T10 (average LSAT increases from 164 to 168) introduces a pretty crazy level of academic rigor. If you were top 5-10% at a T25, expect to be around median at your T10. Same rules going from T10 to HYS (average LSAT increases from 168 to 171). Just a different level of intellect to contend with.

I'm not quite sure what this thread is, but I'm a 3L now but transferred into my current school. I went to a school ranked in the 40's on an academic scholarship and was in the top 10% at the end of the 1st year. The school I was attending was not in the state I came from, and I didn't like it very much, so I decided to transfer. I transferred to a school in the T15 (Vandy, UT, UCLA).

My grades did drop, BUT I think there are some mitigating factors to this. After transferring, I started to work part-time. Also, I tended to care less than I did as a first year. However, I will definitely admit that the academic rigor and intelligence of the student body at my current school is far superior to that of the school I previously attended. And, for what it's worth, since the comment above makes mention of LSAT scores, my LSAT score was within range of my new school. I think my new school's range of LSAT is 164-168. I had a 166. My undergraduate GPA was not nearly as high as it needed to be to get into this school when I initially applied to law school.

Also by way of anecdote, I studied with another transfer student (she transferred from one of Vandy, UT, UCLA to Vandy, UT, UCLA -- "lateral," I guess) and, while she was median at her old school after the 1st year, she ended up getting a 4.0 her second year at our new (transfer) school.

Kohinoor wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:By special request from Machine Spirit, here's a new 2L Transfer Grades thread w/ the anonymous feature. Enjoy.

1L School:
1L Grades:
Transfer School:
Transfer Grades:

I'm interested in how we all did. It may also assist prospective transfers who are curious as to how top students at lower schools perform at top schools.

My understanding is that you can expect some unflattering results. Going from the T25 to the T10 (average LSAT increases from 164 to 168) introduces a pretty crazy level of academic rigor. If you were top 5-10% at a T25, expect to be around median at your T10. Same rules going from T10 to HYS (average LSAT increases from 168 to 171). Just a different level of intellect to contend with.

I'm not sure where you're getting your info, and we will all see shortly how we do, but most of the people I spoke with transferring from T30 to T6 finished around top quarter or even higher at their new school. Law school is not about LSAT scores. I had probably one of the lowest at my old school but finished in the top 1%. I know there is a new level of competition at my new school but doing well in law school is not just about intelligence, it's about knowing how to study and take a law school exam. If you killed it at your old school, that probably means you'll do very well at your new school too. Maybe not at the very top of the class but you can still do well. Admissions told me that transfers tend to do well at their school. But like I said, hopefully this thread will give us some good info on the subject.

Kohinoor wrote:My understanding is that you can expect some unflattering results. Going from the T25 to the T10 (average LSAT increases from 164 to 168) introduces a pretty crazy level of academic rigor. If you were top 5-10% at a T25, expect to be around median at your T10. Same rules going from T10 to HYS (average LSAT increases from 168 to 171). Just a different level of intellect to contend with.

Or merely a couple extra questions they got right on the LSAT due to chance/luck/a week more studying.

/turns tail and runs out of 2L thread

It's worrisome that people are treating my comment as if it had any level of legitimacy.

Kohinoor wrote:It's worrisome that people are treating my comment as if it had any level of legitimacy.

It's more worrisome that you derailed the thread with trolling. Why???

A&O wrote:

Kohinoor wrote:It's worrisome that people are treating my comment as if it had any level of legitimacy.

It's more worrisome that you derailed the thread with trolling. Why???

+10

Aqualibrium wrote:

A&O wrote:

Kohinoor wrote:It's worrisome that people are treating my comment as if it had any level of legitimacy.

It's more worrisome that you derailed the thread with trolling. Why???

+10

haha.

Anonymous User wrote:By special request from Machine Spirit, here's a new 2L Transfer Grades thread w/ the anonymous feature. Enjoy.

Lol, I don't recall requesting this. I think my words were "let it die," or something to that effect.

Current 3L, but thought my results would be helpful.

1L School: T3/4
1L Grades: 4.15, #1 in class
Transfer School: T14
Transfer Grades: 3.96 (4.0 is highest), Top 1%

A&O wrote:

Kohinoor wrote:It's worrisome that people are treating my comment as if it had any level of legitimacy.

It's more worrisome that you derailed the thread with trolling. Why???

LMAO! Since I know the guy I immediately knew he was bullshitting but if you aren't familiar with Kohinoor it could be easy to make that mistake.

Still waiting for grades to be complete, but so far here is where I stand:

1L School: Tier 4
1L Grades: 3.1 (about top-20%)
Transfer School: Top 40
Transfer Grades: 3.56 (probably around top-20% on a 3.0 curve)

BruceWayne wrote:

A&O wrote:

Kohinoor wrote:It's worrisome that people are treating my comment as if it had any level of legitimacy.

It's more worrisome that you derailed the thread with trolling. Why???

LMAO! Since I know the guy I immediately knew he was bullshitting but if you aren't familiar with Kohinoor it could be easy to make that mistake.

Who cares? Not everyone here knows who he is, so not everyone knew whether he was serious or not. Judging from his post history, I don't think he's dumb enough to think nobody would take him seriously. The only conclusion is that he wrote that post knowing it would cause trouble. Hence, my question: Why???

Anonymous User wrote:Still waiting for grades to be complete, but so far here is where I stand:

1L School: Tier 4
1L Grades: 3.1 (about top-20%)
Transfer School: Top 40
Transfer Grades: 3.56 (probably around top-20% on a 3.0 curve)

Wow--BRUTAL curve.

BruceWayne wrote:
Wow--BRUTAL curve.

Indeed. 2.67.

1L School: Mid-T2
1L Grades: 3.4 (b/w top 10-15%)
Transfer School: UT/UCLA/Vandy
Transfer Grades: 3.8 (w/in top 10%)

BruceWayne wrote:

A&O wrote:

Kohinoor wrote:It's worrisome that people are treating my comment as if it had any level of legitimacy.

It's more worrisome that you derailed the thread with trolling. Why???

LMAO! Since I know the guy I immediately knew he was bullshitting but if you aren't familiar with Kohinoor it could be easy to make that mistake.

Apologies, Kohinoor.

Anonymous User wrote:Current 3L, but thought my results would be helpful.

1L School: T3/4
1L Grades: 4.15, #1 in class
Transfer School: T14
Transfer Grades: 3.96 (4.0 is highest), Top 1%

Wow, congrats! From what I've seen transfers seem to grade about the same at the new higher-ranked school as they did at the initial school. Kind of baffles me because I would think with the stiffer competition the grades would tend to go down considerably with a major jump. I suppose the higher ranked the school the more forgiving the curve in some cases, but I think this also is a reminder that just because someone goes to a very top school does not necessarily mean that they are intellectually more capable or skilled than those at 'lower' schools.

From what I have observed (in part based on transfer performance and in part based on the way most large firms hire), I suspect that in fact the very top students (e.g. 1-2% of the class) at lower-ranked schools are generally more intellectually capable than the median at T14 schools (I think this may even apply to the 'trinity' of top schools). There's probably plenty of students who went to a regional school initially for family or other reasons other than choosing the top school they could get into, and in other cases people screwed up UGPA for whatever reason. In still other cases what the LSAT measures in terms of ability may not have lined up as well with a particular student's intellectual profile as it did with the student who was able to go to the top school at first (and obviously the LSAT may not have captured the former student's true abilities and potential).

In any case, I myself hope to transfer to a T14, so I def think there is value at being at one of the very best schools. I also recognize that overall the students at the better schools are more capable than those at the less well-regarded and ranked schools. I just hope people will acknowledge the exceptions and acknowledge that going to a top school doesn't automatically equal being more intellectually capable (or being a better attorney) than someone who did not.

Anonymous User wrote:

BruceWayne wrote:
Wow--BRUTAL curve.

Indeed. 2.67.

I did not post this, btw. (I had the exact same curve down to the .67 part.)

I dig this thread. Only half of my grades are in so I will wait to post them.

I am definitely worried about where I will fall at my new school, between OCI and everything else I felt like shit after finals. The students were definitely smarter and the tests were MUCH MUCH harder. Policy questions FTL.

Lawl Shcool wrote:I dig this thread. Only half of my grades are in so I will wait to post them.

I am definitely worried about where I will fall at my new school, between OCI and everything else I felt like shit after finals. The students were definitely smarter and the tests were MUCH MUCH harder. Policy questions FTL.

I've only got 3/4 of my grades. Still waiting on one. I felt like the students were FAAAR smarter than me, but the tests were very very similar. I'll post as soon as I get the last grade.

In the meantime, anyone have a crude breakdown of Chicago's grade distribution, because they don't rank students officially and I'm SURE someone has done the math in the past.

megaTTTron wrote:

Lawl Shcool wrote:I dig this thread. Only half of my grades are in so I will wait to post them.

I am definitely worried about where I will fall at my new school, between OCI and everything else I felt like shit after finals. The students were definitely smarter and the tests were MUCH MUCH harder. Policy questions FTL.

I've only got 3/4 of my grades. Still waiting on one. I felt like the students were FAAAR smarter than me, but the tests were very very similar. I'll post as soon as I get the last grade.

In the meantime, anyone have a crude breakdown of Chicago's grade distribution, because they don't rank students officially and I'm SURE someone has done the math in the past.

According to wikipedia:

155-159 = F, 160-167 = D, 168-173 = C, 174-179 = B, 180-186 = A. For classes of more than 50 students, professors are encouraged to set the median grade at 177, with the number of grades above a 180 approximately equaling the number of grades below a 173.

I just hope I get a coupla 173+'s. When are you coming back, btw? We gotta go out! Send me a text or some shit when you get back.

You guys are SO lucky to have gotten grades back already. I haven't gotten any back yet from GULC yet and was told not to expect them for a while!

Top students at lower-ranked schools know how to game a law-school exam. They should do pretty well at higher schools doing the same thing, though there are probably more people at the higher ranked school who have also learned how to do well on the exams - making the competition probably a little more stiff. That's really what I think it all boils downs to.