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I am not assuming that I will get into a t14 or even the state school as a transfer, but should I find myself incredibly lucky and it all works out, which would you choose and why?

Also no preference on where I want to practice.

edit: typo

I am in a similar situation, with the exception of almost no debt staying at my TTT. I would take the T14, only use the state school as scholly leverage and stay at the TTT if I don't make the T14 cut. My reasons are:

1) I have polled several of my profs who have graduated from varying levels of law schools, if you have any interest in future academia is is difficult without the name. I want to have that option at some point, so it is worth the upfront cost.

2) Transferring to a state school does not give you the name, while it still is likely just a regional school. You lose your ranking, GPA, order of the coif and a possible a shot at law review (in some cases).

3) No money available for a transfer, but big money for staying (potentially). As noted above, you will have likely similar options as a top student in your original school as transferring to a state school, might as well have little or no debt.

These are my opinions, and perspective only. I do not have hard facts, fancy charts or other empirical data. Good luck on your decision.

Ya the interesting twist in my situation is that the TTT is in SoCal while the state school is in Ohio, OSU. So it would be: TTT job prospects in SoCal vs. job prospects in Columbus from the #1 school in the state.

Also the 60k is assuming that I get offered a full-ride to stay, otherwise it would be slightly cheaper to goto OSU.

I don'y much interest in academia in the future, but hate the idea of closing doors so early in my career.

If your grades are good enough to get into a T14, you'll keep getting good grades in the T14. Take the transfer and the chances at better post-graduation employment.

vanwinkle wrote:If your grades are good enough to get into a T14, you'll keep getting good grades in the T14. Take the transfer and the chances at better post-graduation employment.

Interesting. Do you have anything to back up this claim?

JPU wrote:Ya the interesting twist in my situation is that the TTT is in SoCal while the state school is in Ohio, OSU. So it would be: TTT job prospects in SoCal vs. job prospects in Columbus from the #1 school in the state.

Also the 60k is assuming that I get offered a full-ride to stay, otherwise it would be slightly cheaper to goto OSU.

I don'y much interest in academia in the future, but hate the idea of closing doors so early in my career.

Just saw this. Is OP from Ohio? You realize you are talking about going from this:



to this:

tome wrote:

vanwinkle wrote:If your grades are good enough to get into a T14, you'll keep getting good grades in the T14. Take the transfer and the chances at better post-graduation employment.

Interesting. Do you have anything to back up this claim?

Nothing specific that I can cite to, sorry. I have read several different posters on here who transferred up talk about their experiences with grades and how they have managed to do fairly well in their new school. Also, from what I have heard from law students all the way up to H and Y is that the knowledge in how to "think like a lawyer" and apply the law rapidly enough in the limited timeframe of an exam to score well is somewhat rare in any school. The same principles that cause you to get good grades in a lower-ranked school will cause you to get good grades in the school you transfer up to, in part because you already have a powerful understanding of how to take law exams that many students, even at T14 schools, lack.

Like everywhere else, in the T14 what separates the best from the rest is a knowledge of how to exceed in law school exams and an ability to apply law to facts quickly and correctly. If you are doing these things well enough to put you ahead of everyone else at a lower-ranked school, you're doing them well enough to put you ahead of at least a majority of students at a T14. Just because the students have higher UGPAs or LSATs doesn't mean they magically have a better understanding of how to score a law school exam properly, and that knowledge, if you possess it well enough to grade high consistently, will continue benefiting you in your new school.

I realize that without any good info to cite to I carry little weight, and I hope that some of the folks on here who have transferred will come out of the woodwork and back me up on this.

vanwinkle wrote:

tome wrote:

vanwinkle wrote:If your grades are good enough to get into a T14, you'll keep getting good grades in the T14. Take the transfer and the chances at better post-graduation employment.

Interesting. Do you have anything to back up this claim?

Nothing specific that I can cite to, sorry. I have read several different posters on here who transferred up talk about their experiences with grades and how they have managed to do fairly well in their new school. Also, from what I have heard from law students all the way up to H and Y is that the knowledge in how to "think like a lawyer" and apply the law rapidly enough in the limited timeframe of an exam to score well is somewhat rare in any school. The same principles that cause you to get good grades in a lower-ranked school will cause you to get good grades in the school you transfer up to, in part because you already have a powerful understanding of how to take law exams that many students, even at T14 schools, lack.

Like everywhere else, in the T14 what separates the best from the rest is a knowledge of how to exceed in law school exams and an ability to apply law to facts quickly and correctly. If you are doing these things well enough to put you ahead of everyone else at a lower-ranked school, you're doing them well enough to put you ahead of at least a majority of students at a T14. Just because the students have higher UGPAs or LSATs doesn't mean they magically have a better understanding of how to score a law school exam properly, and that knowledge, if you possess it well enough to grade high consistently, will continue benefiting you in your new school.

I realize that without any good info to cite to I carry little weight, and I hope that some of the folks on here who have transferred will come out of the woodwork and back me up on this.

I completely second this. I transferred from a school in the 60s to UCLA, and actually did a little bit better at UCLA than I did at my old school. (Its hard to tell precisely because UCLA doesn't rank, but I know that I am well within Order of the Coif territory now.)

From my own experience and what I have seen of fellow transfers, anyone who worked as hard (or even close to as hard) as their first year did just about as well, if not better after transferring.

UCLAtransfer wrote:

vanwinkle wrote:

tome wrote:

vanwinkle wrote:If your grades are good enough to get into a T14, you'll keep getting good grades in the T14. Take the transfer and the chances at better post-graduation employment.

Interesting. Do you have anything to back up this claim?

Nothing specific that I can cite to, sorry. I have read several different posters on here who transferred up talk about their experiences with grades and how they have managed to do fairly well in their new school. Also, from what I have heard from law students all the way up to H and Y is that the knowledge in how to "think like a lawyer" and apply the law rapidly enough in the limited timeframe of an exam to score well is somewhat rare in any school. The same principles that cause you to get good grades in a lower-ranked school will cause you to get good grades in the school you transfer up to, in part because you already have a powerful understanding of how to take law exams that many students, even at T14 schools, lack.

Like everywhere else, in the T14 what separates the best from the rest is a knowledge of how to exceed in law school exams and an ability to apply law to facts quickly and correctly. If you are doing these things well enough to put you ahead of everyone else at a lower-ranked school, you're doing them well enough to put you ahead of at least a majority of students at a T14. Just because the students have higher UGPAs or LSATs doesn't mean they magically have a better understanding of how to score a law school exam properly, and that knowledge, if you possess it well enough to grade high consistently, will continue benefiting you in your new school.

I realize that without any good info to cite to I carry little weight, and I hope that some of the folks on here who have transferred will come out of the woodwork and back me up on this.

I completely second this. I transferred from a school in the 60s to UCLA, and actually did a little bit better at UCLA than I did at my old school. (Its hard to tell precisely because UCLA doesn't rank, but I know that I am well within Order of the Coif territory now.)

From my own experience and what I have seen of fellow transfers, anyone who worked as hard (or even close to as hard) as their first year did just about as well, if not better after transferring.

What Vanwinkle writes is absolutely my understanding of things as well.