MVPB, $$, law review OR Harvard Forum

[dbt]

If you get a chance to go to Harvard, you go. Unless you also get a chance to go to Yale.

I have been informed that this is monumentally stupid advice, in light of OP's goals, and I have to say I tend to agree. Move to retract!!

I only think it's worth transferring if you're dead-set on academia/very competitive COA/SCOTUS clerkships.

[grobbelski]

If you get a chance to go to Harvard, you go.

titcr.

its harvard - it will stay with you forever. you just don't pass up the oppourtunity to go there, no matter what.

Unfortunately I once did this. UG, not law school, mind you. Won't ever live it down, unfortunately.

[yellowjacket2012]

If you get a chance to go to Harvard, you go. Unless you also get a chance to go to Yale.

I have been informed that this is monumentally stupid advice, in light of OP's goals, and I have to say I tend to agree. Move to retract!!

I only think it's worth transferring if you're dead-set on academia/very competitive COA/SCOTUS clerkships.

two profs at NU told me that transferring to HYSChi most definitely makes matters harder than easier for academia or elite clerkships, going from NU to HYSChi, better to be top of the top at NU for those kinds of goals, fortunately for me i have zero desire @ academia/clerkships - not that I'd be eligible for a clerkship anyway given my non-citizen status.

[mallard]

If you get a chance to go to Harvard, you go. Unless you also get a chance to go to Yale.

I have been informed that this is monumentally stupid advice, in light of OP's goals, and I have to say I tend to agree. Move to retract!!

I only think it's worth transferring if you're dead-set on academia/very competitive COA/SCOTUS clerkships.

This is precisely when not to transfer in this situation.

[yellowjacket2012]

. . . mainly because you can't make law review (unlikely), lose 1L faculty connections, and might have a tough time making those connections in a short 2-year span . . . plus academia = as or more superficial than biglaw, transfer = no good, the more pretentious your field.

[Bosque]

If you get a chance to go to Harvard, you go. Unless you also get a chance to go to Yale.

I have been informed that this is monumentally stupid advice, in light of OP's goals, and I have to say I tend to agree. Move to retract!!

I only think it's worth transferring if you're dead-set on academia/very competitive COA/SCOTUS clerkships.

This is precisely when not to transfer in this situation.

QFT

OP, stay where you are. See if more money can be acquired, but stay where you are.

[D-ROCCA]

Tough decision. I've always been a proponent of going to the best school, and am currently in a Harvard or bust mindset. That said, it seems like you already have so much going for you. I say stay where you are, keep tearing it up, only transfer if you get into Yale. For sure try to use your Harvard acceptance to leverage some $$$ out of MVPB.
Congrats by the way.

[dbt]

If you get a chance to go to Harvard, you go. Unless you also get a chance to go to Yale.

I have been informed that this is monumentally stupid advice, in light of OP's goals, and I have to say I tend to agree. Move to retract!!

I only think it's worth transferring if you're dead-set on academia/very competitive COA/SCOTUS clerkships.

This is precisely when not to transfer in this situation.

? This seems wrong. The difference in clerkship placement at HYS as compared to CNMVP is pretty staggering.

[mallard]

? This seems wrong. The difference in clerkship placement at HYS as compared to CNMVP is pretty staggering.

What's the most important aspect of clerkship placement? Strong recommendations from professors. What happens when you lose all your connections from 1L?

[vanwinkle]

? This seems wrong. The difference in clerkship placement at HYS as compared to CNMVP is pretty staggering.

You lose professors to recommend you, Law Review, and being ranked at the very top of your class. Yes, more people from Harvard clerk, but they're the people who're on Law Review and have great connections with the professors that matter already. If you're at the peak of a T10 like MVP, you're at a school where very few people get COA or SCOTUS clerkships, but unless you fuck up you're going to be one of those very few.

[dbt]

? This seems wrong. The difference in clerkship placement at HYS as compared to CNMVP is pretty staggering.

You lose professors to recommend you, Law Review, and being ranked at the very top of your class. Yes, more people from Harvard clerk, but they're the people who're on Law Review and have great connections with the professors that matter already. If you're at the peak of a T10 like MVP, you're at a school where very few people get COA or SCOTUS clerkships, but unless you fuck up you're going to be one of those very few.

Hmm. The way I see it, you can keep your professors to recommend you (which is at least the case in my situation/at my school), and Law Review is only so valuable. If 10% of the class is on Law Review but only 3-4% if placing into really competitive COAs, you might be better off trying your hand at Harvard. Nor do I think all of the competitive clerkships at Harvard are restricted to people on LR.

[mallard]

? This seems wrong. The difference in clerkship placement at HYS as compared to CNMVP is pretty staggering.

You lose professors to recommend you, Law Review, and being ranked at the very top of your class. Yes, more people from Harvard clerk, but they're the people who're on Law Review and have great connections with the professors that matter already. If you're at the peak of a T10 like MVP, you're at a school where very few people get COA or SCOTUS clerkships, but unless you fuck up you're going to be one of those very few.

Hmm. The way I see it, you can keep your professors to recommend you (which is at least the case in my situation/at my school), and Law Review is only so valuable. If 10% of the class is on Law Review but only 3-4% if placing into really competitive COAs, you might be better off trying your hand at Harvard. Nor do I think all of the competitive clerkships at Harvard are restricted to people on LR.

Of course they aren't restricted to people on LR.

[savagecheater]

If you get a chance to go to Harvard, you go. Unless you also get a chance to go to Yale.

I have been informed that this is monumentally stupid advice, in light of OP's goals, and I have to say I tend to agree. Move to retract!!

I only think it's worth transferring if you're dead-set on academia/very competitive COA/SCOTUS clerkships.

This.

If you want BIGLAW, stay. If you want SCOTUS/COA, Harvard.

[XxSpyKEx]

The notion of transferring to Harvard because you want to clerk at SCOTUS is incredibly dumb. Odds of ever clerking at SCOTUS are terrible, and it takes a lot more than grades to get there... There are a total of 83 Harvard grads that have gone on to clerk at SCOTUS from 2000-2008, and Harvard has a class size of 550. That's 83 SCOTUS clerks out of 4,400 grads, or 1.88% of all Harvard grads. Definitely not a good reason to transfer.

See http://www.leiterrankings.com/jobs/2000 ... erks.shtml

[EddardStark]

OP here.

It seems like the majority of TLSers think it is never a good idea to transfer to Harvard if you at at a T10 (unless there is a personal reason).

Is this a fair summary, or are there any situations (other than for personal reasons) that someone from MVPB who has made law review should transfer to H?

[Journeybound]

Prestige.

[itsfine]

dont lose your rank...plus you can always say you DECLINED harvard. thats bad ass

[TheBigMediocre]

Disregard females transferring to Harvard; Acquire currency more scholarship $$$.

[jnorsky]

Do what you feel man. But honestly, i think you are in a better situation at MVPB with Law Review than Harvard without, or at least equal situations. I have taken time to meet with partners at some firms in NYC, ranging from V100 to V5 and each one pretty much talks about T-10 or T-14 as creme de la creme, none think harvard is all that much better than any other t-10 school (prestige in the real world is not as important once you reach the "top" in people's eyes). Obviously YHS are great and grads have great opportunities, but do not forget that you are at one of the best law schools in the country, on law review (extremely impressive) and you have money and connections to alum and faculty. Honestly, unless you are a huge prestige whore or you really really really want scotus/academia/COA (all of which you can get from a T-10 with law review and all of which you still have only a 10-15% chance at from harvard) then there is no reason to give up what you have.

[vanwinkle]

OP here.

It seems like the majority of TLSers think it is never a good idea to transfer to Harvard if you at at a T10 (unless there is a personal reason).

Is this a fair summary, or are there any situations (other than for personal reasons) that someone from MVPB who has made law review should transfer to H?

If you wrote onto Law Review and have a shitty GPA, then I'd still say transfer to H.

But if you have both the ballin' GPA and LR to go with it, being at the top of a T10 school is a very pretty place to be.

[tylenol_jones]

If you wrote onto Law Review and have a shitty GPA, then I'd still say transfer to H.

But if you have both the ballin' GPA and LR to go with it, being at the top of a T10 school is a very pretty place to be.

probably credited. Though OP must have an awesome gpa if OP got into H

[RonSantoRules]

There is no wrong choice.

But are you really going to be sad if you don't get to spend the next 2 years working your ass off on L. Rev. when you can go to H where there is no grades (may or may not be relevant depending on which of the MVPB you attend) and still get the benefit of interviewing for 2L OCI with L. Rev. on the resume?

Also, if you think you may want to get out of law, H would be a great choice because the name has serious sway outside of the legal field (more so than any of the MVPB).

H transfers this year that I know of in NY (which is a limited pool) got jobs at most of the top NY firms (Cravath, Latham, Dewey, etc.). Also, most of the H transfers from 2 years ago that applied for clerkships got them (including COA clerks and D. Ct., they were not in the 2/7/9/DC but still federal court clerkships).

You'll be great wherever you end up. Congrats on killing it.

[Eeyore]

What's your present financial situation, and where do you want to be in ten years?

You should transfer from a T14 with LR + scholarship to HLS only if (1) money isn't a concern; (2) you're planning to lateral to business or consulting; or (3) you're dead-set on academia, and you're willing to risk take a substantial risk to get there.

Here, you took money at a T14. Thus, money was likely important to you even before the economy completely collapsed. Now, with no signs of short-term recovery, money's even more important. Further, you want to clerk and work for a big firm, which suggests you're going to stick it out as an attorney.

And transferring to HLS is risky. You'll instantly lose a lot of money right off the bat. That money may not seem like much now, but after you graduate, that money is your ticket to work at the DOJ or some other employer if you change your biglaw plans. Further, you're already on LR at a top school with top grades. Your grades could slide at HLS, or you might not make HLR.

Consider too that law-school rank quickly recedes into irrelevance once you get into the "real world." In my experience, the topic of law schools never comes up. Consequently, I don't draw any distinction between, say, Harvard or Georgetown or Duke, or the other fine-grained rankings that apparently carry over from the application process.

Moreover, if you clerk, you'll find that your clerkship experience will replace your school as a signal to potential employers. And you'll likely think of your clerkship, rather than your law school, as your formative experience. Many people, including me, would rather hire, and work with, a top Fordham grad with an E.D.N.Y. district-court clerkship under his belt, than work with a middling HLS grad. I'm not suggesting that you wouldn't do well at HLS---maybe you'd be a top student there too---but you already have a very good idea of how to succeed at MVPB.

In sum, I think transferring is a step down. Maybe I'm biased, because I attended MVBP, clerked for a semi-feeder COA, and greatly enjoyed my time at MVBP. But when you're spending a late night at the law firm taking orders from a partner with a NYLS diploma hanging on his wall, the memories that'll keep you happy are the great times you had with your friends, not your degree.

If I were you, I'd use your HLS offer to negotiate a full scholarship from MVPB, and enjoy the rest of the ride.

[EddardStark]

Thanks for all the responses. I have a lot to think about.

[concurrent fork]

If I could swap lives with you, I would probably take your current situation over a Harvard transfer. It is a tough decision, but you are in stellar shape either way.