Top Law Schools

Just for giggles, I am curious what the process is like to transfer within HYS.

I am not sure about my candidacy for any (shot down at Y) but possibly might get into H or S.

To be clear - I think I'd have a blast at any of them (wouldn't anyone? ) However, I have a clear preference to live on one side of the country which may switch in the future.

How tough is transferring within these schools? When does it have to be done, in the spring?

Kulax22 wrote:Just for giggles, I am curious what the process is like to transfer within HYS.

I am not sure about my candidacy for any (shot down at Y) but possibly might get into H or S.

To be clear - I think I'd have a blast at any of them (wouldn't anyone? ) However, I have a clear preference to live on one side of the country which may switch in the future.

How tough is transferring within these schools? When does it have to be done, in the spring?

If you're having doubts about your relationship right now, it's probably best to end it deliberately and go to school at the most preferable location you'll have available.

Few to no one do it unless it's for personal reasons that go beyond simply deciding where you want to work after your graduate.

TLS blow up the distinction but at the HYS tier the differences are marginal at best between each school and the connections and relationships you form with professors/classmates will be more important than anything else.

We have a transfer at S from Y this year. Personal reasons.

MarkTwain wrote:We have a transfer at S from Y this year. Personal reasons.

There's also a S-to-Y transfer this year, and there was one last year as well. Both for personal reasons. It's not *that* uncommon.

I think the relative presence (or absence) of IP-related coursework & general tech-y environment is one additional reason why people switch between the two schools. Some people realize they really want an IP-heavy education that's easier to get at Stanford, and some people realize that such an environment isn't really for them and they'd be happier at Yale.

I think that makes sense in general, but in this person's case I think the reasons were not career-related. I think it was just personal/family stuff. IMO, at that level of education, those are great reasons to move from one place to the other.

rabbit9198 wrote:

MarkTwain wrote:We have a transfer at S from Y this year. Personal reasons.

There's also a S-to-Y transfer this year, and there was one last year as well. Both for personal reasons. It's not *that* uncommon.

I think the relative presence (or absence) of IP-related coursework & general tech-y environment is one additional reason why people switch between the two schools. Some people realize they really want an IP-heavy education that's easier to get at Stanford, and some people realize that such an environment isn't really for them and they'd be happier at Yale.

Hmmm are these people already admitted to the transfer-school and simply chose to go to the other one the year before?

I ask because, especially with YLS, I'm going to presume people wanting to transfer there did not get in initially. Add to that the fact that all 3 have an imprecise grading system (no real grades right?), how the hell are you going to stand out enough for them to admit you if you're taking 1L courses, and presumably having little chance to distinguish yourself as a top performer, plus they probably rejected you the year before?

MarkTwain wrote:I think that makes sense in general, but in this person's case I think the reasons were not career-related. I think it was just personal/family stuff. IMO, at that level of education, those are great reasons to move from one place to the other.

Agreed. I know the person you're talking about, and I think/know they're much happier at S.

Kulax22 wrote: Hmmm are these people already admitted to the transfer-school and simply chose to go to the other one the year before?

I ask because, especially with YLS, I'm going to presume people wanting to transfer there did not get in initially. Add to that the fact that all 3 have an imprecise grading system (no real grades right?), how the hell are you going to stand out enough for them to admit you if you're taking 1L courses, and presumably having little chance to distinguish yourself as a top performer, plus they probably rejected you the year before?

Of the three people I know personally, one was admitted to the other school the first time around, one was not, and I don't know about the other person. [Small sample, regardless.]

Remember that transferring depends a great deal on professor LORs. If you have a professor (or three!) that can vouch for you and your work, I imagine these peer schools take that seriously. Moreover, it's not the case that grades are totally absent; Stanford and Harvard provide two semester of H/P/LP-type grades and even Yalies have one semester of H/P/LP grades by the time apps are submitted. It's not entirely difficult to see who's performing well compared to their classmates. That, combined with LORs and a compelling personal reason to want to switch, is probably enough to make someone a competitive transfer applicant even if they didn't get admitted the first time around. [I say all this not knowing the total number of people who even try to transfer between the three schools in any given year, but my best guess is that it's only 0-3 people at Yale and Stanford, and maybe a handful+ at Harvard.]