Top Law Schools

I just got my grades back from 1st semester: A-, B, B, B-, and C+. My GPA is 2.93. I don't know where exactly I fall in the rankings, but I think the curve is between 2.00 and 2.5.

I am at a T4 school and want to transfer to a school ranked in the 50s.

Do I have a prayer assuming I can pull my GPA up in the range of 3.4?

Thanks.

studebaker07 wrote:I just got my grades back from 1st semester: A-, B, B, B-, and C+. My GPA is 2.93. I don't know where exactly I fall in the rankings, but I think the curve is between 2.00 and 2.5.

I am at a T4 school and want to transfer to a school ranked in the 50s.

Do I have a prayer assuming I can pull my GPA up in the range of 3.4?

Thanks.

I know someone who transferred from Whittier to WashU with grades similar to those, fwiw. Not sure about your chances, though if you can get that GPA up to a 3.4, that would change things drastically.

studebaker07 wrote:I just got my grades back from 1st semester: A-, B, B, B-, and C+. My GPA is 2.93. I don't know where exactly I fall in the rankings, but I think the curve is between 2.00 and 2.5.

I am at a T4 school and want to transfer to a school ranked in the 50s.

Do I have a prayer assuming I can pull my GPA up in the range of 3.4?

Thanks.

Make sure the transfer school knows your ranking that could be your only saving grace given a curve between 2-2.5.

I'd imagine 3.4 would be top 10%, if not top 5% on a curve like yours. Because of that your odds of getting your GPA up that high by the end of the year probably aren't great (but if you do it would obviously drastically change what options you have in terms of transferring).

Just got my class rank.... top 27%. Not too happy. Is this at least a decent rank to transfer to any T2?

studebaker07 wrote:Just got my class rank.... top 27%. Not too happy. Is this at least a decent rank to transfer to any T2?

Well, the positive thing is that you are basically top 1/4 and you have next semester to improve on that even. So, good job.

Would you mind giving us your school name or a range of like 3 similar t4's? T4 schools are not all created equal for transferring purposes from what I've seen.

studebaker07 wrote:Just got my class rank.... top 27%. Not too happy. Is this at least a decent rank to transfer to any T2?

get into the top 20% and you may have a shot at FSU

A school like the one I am at is Florida Coastal. I would like to transfer to a school that is currently ranked between 50 and 60. I got waitlisted at this school when I applied fall 2008 if that makes a difference.

studebaker07 wrote:A school like the one I am at is Florida Coastal. I would like to transfer to a school that is currently ranked between 50 and 60. I got waitlisted at this school when I applied fall 2008 if that makes a difference.

That makes things a little more difficult, from what I understand. I met a guy once (you can see his cycle on like the 2007 or 2008 yahoo database) that applied to an enormous amount of schools from Florida Coastal. He was about top 1/3 and he was rejected everwhere but Seattle University I believe. There are a few schools that seem to have a bad stigma, such as Cooley, Florida Coastal, Appalachian, Whittier, etc. and it seems like students applying to transfer from these schools face more of an uphill battle than a lot of other t4 students.
PLEASE do not get down b/c of this post. This is just what I've seen. If you can pop those grades up to into the top 20% I think you could have a decent shot, good luck and don't get down! Use this as motivation.

No offense taken Arnold (I mean a'nold haha). I see it as a win-win situation. I went into this school I am at now knowing that if I did well there was a possibility I could transfer. However, in the event I don't do well enough to transfer, I know that this school is in a market that I want to ultimately practice in. Maybe I took a gamble going to the school, but I am just going to do the best I can. I am still on a very generous scholarship and it would cost exactly the same to attend the school I want to transfer too, so it is not like I am getting hosed.

Does anybody know any way to overcome the stigma of a school. Fwiw, there are usually a handful of transfer from this school I am currently at into the higher ranked school that I want to be at.

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

studebaker07 wrote:No offense taken Arnold (I mean a'nold haha). I see it as a win-win situation. I went into this school I am at now knowing that if I did well there was a possibility I could transfer. However, in the event I don't do well enough to transfer, I know that this school is in a market that I want to ultimately practice in. Maybe I took a gamble going to the school, but I am just going to do the best I can. I am still on a very generous scholarship and it would cost exactly the same to attend the school I want to transfer too, so it is not like I am getting hosed.

Does anybody know any way to overcome the stigma of a school. Fwiw, there are usually a handful of transfer from this school I am currently at into the higher ranked school that I want to be at.

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

Exactly. I had the same mindset in choosing to go to my t3. It is at least semi in the market I want to practice in and cheap.

** An update **

Second semester grades are starting to post and I couldn't be happier with my first grade:
Civ-Pro II: A

This shot my GPA up to a 3.11. I know it is still way too early to tell what my prospects will be for transferring, but I am feeling very confident.

However, the bad news is that the school I want to transfer to just improved to between 30 and 40 in the rankings so it is now a T1 as opposed to a high T2

Don't know how the jump in ranking of the school I want to transfer to will impact my chances.

What does everybody think? Do I face a tougher battle transferring into the school if it just jumped in the rankings?