Top Law Schools

I'm interested to know what everyone listed or plans to list as their reason for transferring. I recently met with a professor at my current (top 30) school, and he was not compelled by my reasons to transfer (I miss my friends/family/boyfriend in New York, I miss being in New York, and my current school has only regional job prospects).

I'm assuming schools ask you to write an essay or statement on your reason for transferring, and this is a factor in their decisionmaking process. I feel like schools think some reasons are more "legitimate" than others. I'm worried mine aren't compelling enough.

What's yours?

(I posed this question to the yahoo transfer group and got like 2 responses. so, uh, i welcome TLS contributions).

Your reasons seem much more compelling than most I see. Desire to be in that geographic area and work in that city, as well as family issues are quite compelling in my opinion

DeseoQueSea wrote:I'm interested to know what everyone listed or plans to list as their reason for transferring. I recently met with a professor at my current (top 30) school, and he was not compelled by my reasons to transfer (I miss my friends/family/boyfriend in New York, I miss being in New York, and my current school has only regional job prospects).

I'm assuming schools ask you to write an essay or statement on your reason for transferring, and this is a factor in their decisionmaking process. I feel like schools think some reasons are more "legitimate" than others. I'm worried mine aren't compelling enough.

What's yours?

(I posed this question to the yahoo transfer group and got like 2 responses. so, uh, i welcome TLS contributions).

Your professor sounds biased.

These are really the same reasons Im looking to transfer, and my profs seemed to think they were great reasons. Location, family, and better job prospects seems to cover about all of the major reasons. If anything I think these reasons will help you rather then hurt you.

It's all in how you frame it I guess. If you went to the professor saying you want to transfer because you "miss" your family/friends, then I can see why he/she may have thought the reasons were not compelling. I'm sure if you discuss your family connections, career placement goals, etc. in the personal statement, then I think the reasons should be fine. I would not use the term "miss" in the personal statement.

My primary reason for wanting to transfer is a strong dislike for the school I presently attend (obviously, this reason will be left out of my personal statement) ... basically, I go to what I would personally consider a TTT (for all intents and purposes).

W/r/t one school, I am particularily interested in a dual JD/LLM program that they offer. The other school was my top choice and I wasn't able to crack the WL in the end of August. They strongly encouraged me to apply as a transfer; so I will.

I think transferring within the same city is more difficult as far as giving a good reason

ZXCVBNM wrote:I think transferring within the same city is more difficult as far as giving a good reason

I will apply to Chicago from NU stressing an interest in clerkships, academia, and a more law & economics viewpoint of things.

chadwick218 wrote:

ZXCVBNM wrote:I think transferring within the same city is more difficult as far as giving a good reason

I will apply to Chicago from NU stressing an interest in clerkships, academia, and a more law & economics viewpoint of things.

I want to get into your TTT!

chadwick218 wrote:

ZXCVBNM wrote:I think transferring within the same city is more difficult as far as giving a good reason

I will apply to Chicago from NU stressing an interest in clerkships, academia, and a more law & economics viewpoint of things.

What do you dislike most about NU?

Desert Fox wrote:

chadwick218 wrote:

ZXCVBNM wrote:I think transferring within the same city is more difficult as far as giving a good reason

I will apply to Chicago from NU stressing an interest in clerkships, academia, and a more law & economics viewpoint of things.

What do you dislike most about NU?

It has less to do with NU and more to do with the fact that there are 7 other schools that I would attend.

professor wants u to ditch the bf so he can swoop in...

seriously though, sounds totally biased like a previous poster mentioned. Ask a different one for a rec. if thats what you want to do, wouldn't trust that one.

Fair enough, the professor did seem really critical of my reasons. He did, however, say he 'd write a good rec for me once I sent him a formal statement of my reasons (so that he could write a really personalized rec).

If I choose to ask another prof, do you think I can ask a prof who gave me a B+? That prof likes me, I think, but I wasn't happy with my grade and it was my lowest last semester. I'm wondering whether it'll raise eyebrows that I asked my B+ prof and not both of my A profs.

DeseoQueSea wrote:Fair enough, the professor did seem really critical of my reasons. He did, however, say he 'd write a good rec for me once I sent him a formal statement of my reasons (so that he could write a really personalized rec).

If I choose to ask another prof, do you think I can ask a prof who gave me a B+? That prof likes me, I think, but I wasn't happy with my grade and it was my lowest last semester. I'm wondering whether it'll raise eyebrows that I asked my B+ prof and not both of my A profs.

This seems like quite a predicament, actually. I wouldn't trust that one professor either. I've heard that some professors that you don't even think really know you give great rec's just because you got good grades in their classes. Maybe you should get one from a medium graded class.

DeseoQueSea wrote:I'm interested to know what everyone listed or plans to list as their reason for transferring. I recently met with a professor at my current (top 30) school, and he was not compelled by my reasons to transfer (I miss my friends/family/boyfriend in New York, I miss being in New York, and my current school has only regional job prospects).

I'm assuming schools ask you to write an essay or statement on your reason for transferring, and this is a factor in their decisionmaking process. I feel like schools think some reasons are more "legitimate" than others. I'm worried mine aren't compelling enough.

What's yours?

(I posed this question to the yahoo transfer group and got like 2 responses. so, uh, i welcome TLS contributions).

Quite simply, I'm over 1,000 miles away from my family and friends and can no longer afford to fly home a couple times a month to see them. I'm really close with my family, and it's just emotionally eviscerating to keep doing this to myself. I chose to attend a school far away because I thought a change in culture would be great. However, I'm realizing that if I want to live near my family and friends while simultaneously being employed as a lawyer, I cannot graduate from this school. It has decent placement in this region, but I don't want to be in this region. That said, I'm even willing to take a substantial hit in rankings to go back home. I'd transfer from a T1->T2,3 to live in NYC.