Top Law Schools

Long time lurker, but now I need some feedback. I currently attend Fordham Law, around top 5% and I graded onto Fordham Law Review (top 28 students). However, I recently go admitted to Cornell Law School and I am wondering if the transfer is worth it.

My goal: best possible big firm job.

How well does Fordham Law place its top 10%, law review students ? If satisfactory to your career goals & assuming that you retain a ranking within the top 10%, then why ruin a good thing. But, if top 10% & law review at Fordham doesn't offer a strong chance at NYC biglaw, then transfer.

Stay. Not even close.

do the firms you desire come on campus to interview? if so, presumably you are one of the few students who is almost guaranteed an interview. are there firms that go on campus to cornell but not to fordham? i can't imagine there are many. if you were talking CN or HY this may be a different story but i don't see why you'd transfer. can you write onto LR at cornell?

(anon b/c I am in a similar position...)

Easy call. Stay.

[quote="CanadianWolf"]How well does Fordham Law place its top 10%, law review students ? If satisfactory to your career goals & assuming that you retain a ranking within the top 10%, then why ruin a good thing. But, if top 10% & law review at Fordham doesn't offer a strong chance at NYC biglaw, then transfer.[/quote]

If top 10% + LR at Fordham didn't offer a chance at NYC biglaw, why would anyone ever enroll at Fordham?

In my opinion, I would not. LR students particularly with grade-on caliber GPAs seem to be set at Fordham, and I don't think your options would drastically improve (if at all) at Cornell. I think maybe if you are paying sticker at Fordham, your mindset might change a bit but overall I still don't think I'd recommend transferring.

FWIW, I am in exact same situation as you rank-wise & on LR at Fordham - I thought about transferring but I'm more than pleased being top of the class at Fordham- in those circumstances from what I understand, an excellent job is mine/yours to lose.

How much scholarship are you giving up? If none, and if you do not mind living in Ithacal, and you have the ability to write onto LR, and can participate in all of Cornell's OCI, then yes maybe transfer. If no, and or any sizeable scholarship, I would stay put.

I would say its probably not worth it. You are sitting pretty right now for biglaw, but if you transfer to Cornell, you will have to do a repeat performance. You will probably get a good gig either way, but why risk it? That said, if you really want the best firm you can possibly get, you should go to Cornell.

Did you apply to any other schools? I would think top 5% at Fordham would have a shot at CCN.

OP
no scholarship from fordham... could i potentially get some money out of fordham?

if at cornell, how would they view my GPA since it cant directly be compared w/ other Cornell students' GPAs?

OP, did you apply to either CLS or NYU? You would certainly get into one or both of them with that GPA. I agree staying is probably the better bet, but if you are going to leave, might as well go to the best school you can (and one that is not in Shithica).

Cornell places very well in BigLaw generally, but Fordham places very well in NYC. I'd imagine with top 5% and LR you're set for NYC and probably for anywhere in the country.

Why are you asking about Cornell? Did you not apply to HYSCCN? You should get in at Columbia and you have a really good shot at Harvard.

That said, moving up from Fordham to Cornell absolutely isn't worth it. Frankly, I'd say that even Columbia wouldn't be worth it. I'd go to Harvard.

Good advice all over here. Well done TLS.

OnceUponAMemo wrote:Good advice all over here. Well done TLS.

+1

Absolutely no benefit to biglaw hiring...may have a benefit to other employment options (clerkship, prestigious federal spots and academia down the road), but for initial biglaw hiring, OP should simply stay put.

I'm in a similar situation: ~ top 7-8% at Fordham and wrote onto law review. Applied only to NYU and CLS. Haven't heard from either, but it would be a tough decision. I definitely wouldn't give up what I have at Fordham for Cornell.

ToTransferOrNot wrote:Why are you asking about Cornell? Did you not apply to HYSCCN? You should get in at Columbia and you have a really good shot at Harvard.

That said, moving up from Fordham to Cornell absolutely isn't worth it. Frankly, I'd say that even Columbia wouldn't be worth it. I'd go to Harvard.

This is the credited response, OP, unless you have a highly pressing reason to go to Ithaca. Anything you can get at Cornell careerwise, you are set for at Fordham with your grades, and that does include firm jobs outside NYC. If the specific office isn't at our OCI, you should apply directly.

You know you could've gone to like, NYU or CLS, right?

And frankly, I think you'd be better off staying at Fordham over those, too.

With those stats, if you're normal, you'll get a callback at any firm you want outside of Wachtell/Sull Crom

ndirish2010 wrote:

CanadianWolf wrote:
If top 10% + LR at Fordham didn't offer a chance at NYC biglaw, why would anyone ever enroll at Fordham?

PPl enroll at worse schools in NY, where top 10% +LR doesn't really lead to biglaw, not too hard to imagine


I would stay, especially if you are looking in NY. The only benefit Cornell might have is for location other than NY and maybe an impact later in your career (extremely doubtful considering the impact your first job has on your legal career)

spanktheduck wrote:

ndirish2010 wrote:

CanadianWolf wrote:
If top 10% + LR at Fordham didn't offer a chance at NYC biglaw, why would anyone ever enroll at Fordham?

PPl enroll at worse schools in NY, where top 10% +LR doesn't really lead to biglaw, not too hard to imagine

You're generally right, but in this case he's right.

Top 10% + LR at Fordham will be good for BL, no problemo.

OP here:
i am awaiting to hear from other schools, however, as of right now i am assuming that this is my only choice.

if i decide to transfer to cornell though, i wouldnt have worse prospects for big firm job than if i stayed at fordham, right?
how will employers look at my GPA (as it is from fordham)? That is, with my GPA from fordham, with whom will i be in range with at Cornell during OCI?

Anonymous User wrote:OP here:
i am awaiting to hear from other schools, however, as of right now i am assuming that this is my only choice.

if i decide to transfer to cornell though, i wouldnt have worse prospects for big firm job than if i stayed at fordham, right?
how will employers look at my GPA (as it is from fordham)? That is, with my GPA from fordham, with whom will i be in range with at Cornell during OCI?

You'll also have to explain at every interview why, when you were already in NYC with Law Review at the top of your class, you gave all of those things up to go to a marginally better school. Absolutely not worth it.

GeePee wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:OP here:
i am awaiting to hear from other schools, however, as of right now i am assuming that this is my only choice.

if i decide to transfer to cornell though, i wouldnt have worse prospects for big firm job than if i stayed at fordham, right?
how will employers look at my GPA (as it is from fordham)? That is, with my GPA from fordham, with whom will i be in range with at Cornell during OCI?

You'll also have to explain at every interview why, when you were already in NYC with Law Review at the top of your class, you gave all of those things up to go to a marginally better school. Absolutely not worth it.

No one is going to ask OP that question. And if so, OP just has to reply with a stock answer that he really wanted to take advantage of "X" at Cornell. People don't generally ask why people transfer to better schools because most students would do so if they had the opportunity. I mean OP could transfer to Chicago and NYC firms would still be lining up to hire him.

alumniguy wrote:

GeePee wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:OP here:
i am awaiting to hear from other schools, however, as of right now i am assuming that this is my only choice.

if i decide to transfer to cornell though, i wouldnt have worse prospects for big firm job than if i stayed at fordham, right?
how will employers look at my GPA (as it is from fordham)? That is, with my GPA from fordham, with whom will i be in range with at Cornell during OCI?

You'll also have to explain at every interview why, when you were already in NYC with Law Review at the top of your class, you gave all of those things up to go to a marginally better school. Absolutely not worth it.

No one is going to ask OP that question. And if so, OP just has to reply with a stock answer that he really wanted to take advantage of "X" at Cornell. People don't generally ask why people transfer to better schools because most students would do so if they had the opportunity. I mean OP could transfer to Chicago and NYC firms would still be lining up to hire him.

No, people ask this all the time.

I am considering a similar transfer (T25 --> T10), and when I visited, even the kids at the T10 kept asking me why I would bother transferring.