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[flightcontrol]

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[legends159]

stay. grade onto LR. do your SCOTUS clerkship. profit.

edit:

oh and since there are no grades at H/Y you won't know where you rank, whereas right now you know you're #1 or 2.

It'll be easier for employers/judges to sift through transcripts and quickly glance at that GPA and be dazzled than to go count H's and P's.

[AngryAvocado]

stay. grade onto LR. do your SCOTUS clerkship. profit.

+1. I'd take top of the class at CCN over Yale in a heartbeat.

[flightcontrol]

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[legends159]

cause where you go to LS is a product of stuff you did before LS and since you go to a top law school already, what you do in LS will always trump where you go.

[Z3RO]

I echo everybody else's sentiment and say "stay". I can't think of any real doors that would open to you that aren't there now. Don't mess with success.

[A'nold]

I'd probably shoot for Y and be done with it if it didn't pan out.

[XxSpyKEx]

If you get into YLS and don't go I'm going to kill a kitten.

Just transfer to Yale, network with their unbelievable alumni base, clerk at SCOTUS, and then do whatever the hell you want while YLS repays your last 2 years of law school loans and qualifying UG loans for you (maybe even your CCN loans?). I really can't think of a good reason not to transfer to Yale. From my understanding a relatively large number of students make law review and you have multiple chances to get on. Additionally, all the other journals outside of LR don't even require any kind of write-on (so you are pretty much guaranteed that). Personally, I'd think hard about HLS, and wouldn't even think twice about YLS.

Congrats on your wicked sick grades.

[98234872348]

stay. grade onto LR. do your SCOTUS clerkship. profit.

edit:

oh and since there are no grades at H/Y you won't know where you rank, whereas right now you know you're #1 or 2.

It'll be easier for employers/judges to sift through transcripts and quickly glance at that GPA and be dazzled than to go count H's and P's.

+1 million

[Arrow]

+1

Oh wow. Congrats to the max. Number 1 at CLS is generally more impressive to me than no grades at HY. I think you should stay, especially since you rock that position so hard. At this stage, barring an uncontrollable desire for academia, I would definitely stay. I cannot imagine moving up a few spots just for HYS from Columbia, however, you are from H, so you might want to head back to a familiar area.

Oh, and have fun at Watctell. Don't forget about us once you are a SCOTUS clerk. =P

Seriously, consider staying. BUT, is it possible to apply to HY still and use it to negotiate with Columbia for a full scholarship if you do not already have one?

[apper123]

+1

Oh wow. Congrats to the max. Number 1 at CLS is generally more impressive to me than no grades at HY. I think you should stay, especially since you rock that position so hard. At this stage, barring an uncontrollable desire for academia, I would definitely stay. I cannot imagine moving up a few spots just for HYS from Columbia, however, you are from H, so you might want to head back to a familiar area. Seriously, consider staying.

Oh, and have fun at Watctell. Don't forget about us once you are a SCOTUS clerk. =P

this and everyone else who agreed with it

congrats you must be a very brilliant person!

[xyzzzzzzzz]

[AngryAvocado]

If you get into YLS and don't go I'm going to kill a kitten.

Just transfer to Yale, network with their unbelievable alumni base, clerk at SCOTUS, and then do whatever the hell you want while YLS repays your last 2 years of law school loans and qualifying UG loans for you (maybe even your CCN loans?). I really can't think of a good reason not to transfer to Yale. From my understanding a relatively large number of students make law review and you have multiple chances to get on. Additionally, all the other journals outside of LR don't even require any kind of write-on (so you are pretty much guaranteed that). Personally, I'd think hard about HLS, and wouldn't even think twice about YLS.

Congrats on your wicked sick grades.

Right now, he's at the very top (or damn close) of his class at a T6. Why would you trade that to be another face in the crowd at Yale? I'd even bet his odds are better at getting SCOTUS where he's at. Remember, there are ~190 people graduating each year at Yale and only a fraction (5-10%) actually get SCOTUS...

[flightcontrol]

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[A'nold]

I am not worthy to wash the front steps at CCN, and I am not anti-NYU trolling here, but I think that it would depend if I was at N here. Columbia, I could see staying and never looking back. Chicago.......I don't know, that's more of a toss up. NYU I would probably transfer to HYS, but once again this is coming from someone that has no chance of ever ending up at a school like NYU, so this is just mere rambling.

[ToTransferOrNot]

Blatant anti-Chicago trolling.

Personally, I would have a ahrd time turning Y down. You obviously have to apply there, just to see whether you get in (and you probably will). That said... leaving money and #1 at CCN behind is a tough sell, #1 at CCN is probably going to get you a SCOTUS clerkship, whereas you're not going to stand out as much from the Yale crowd. Obviously, being at Yale is a huge thing, but it isn't enough on its own strength to get you SCOTUS, or even CoA if you miss the LR boat.

I'd probably stay. But apply to HY for scholarship negotiation purposes.

[XxSpyKEx]

I am not worthy to wash the front steps at CCN, and I am not anti-NYU trolling here, but I think that it would depend if I was at N here. Columbia, I could see staying and never looking back. Chicago.......I don't know, that's more of a toss up. NYU I would probably transfer to HYS, but once again this is coming from someone that has no chance of ever ending up at a school like NYU, so this is just mere rambling.

Agree in part.

OP, if the school you are at is NYU, don't give up Yale for that. I mean would you really rather have graduated from NYU or YALE? It seems like NYU doesn't really have a ton of prestige outside of NYC. Columbia is another story (but at the same time it is Yale, and merely attending law school there automatically makes you a genius in 90% of the people you'll meet's minds).

Also, Yale does grade after their first semester. Not very meaningful grades, but having all Hs for your 2nd year would still be better then being #1 at NYU or Columbia for SCOTUS or CoA. Additionally, keep in mind that clerkship apps don't go out until after labor day for judges on the federal clerkship hiring plan (giving you a full year to develop relationships with faculty).

[asealclubber]

OP---how can you possibly know whether you are #1 or 2? There are students who get multiple A+s in 1st semester all the time. Unless you are straight A+s you can't know if you're #1 or #2.

[twistedwrister]

I was in a similar position last year (at/near the top of the class at NYU), stayed, and couldn't be happier. I never thought about transferring. I can't speak for CC, but if you are at NYU, you should stay. During EIW this year, I got offers from every firm/organization I interviewed with. Every one. Maybe Yale is some magical place where every student gets to do anything they want, but I doubt it. Don't underestimate how amazing it is to be one of the top students at one of the top law schools in the country. From my own experience, no door is closed to you. Also, if you are a top student, your school will likely seek you out and offer to help you achieve whatever goals you have (academia, top clerkships, competitive government fellowships, etc.) - NYU did that for me. Again, maybe you will get that kind of special attention as a transfer to HYS, but I'm not sure.

All that being said, you might want to transfer if (1) you don't think you can keep your grades up, (2) you think you can be a superstar at Yale, or (3) you really don't like it at CCN. If I were you, I wouldn't worry about (1). Most top students after the first semester/year tend to stay near the top. Only you can answer (2) and (3).

[flightcontrol]

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[UCLAtransfer]

Right now, he's at the very top (or damn close) of his class at a T6. Why would you trade that to be another face in the crowd at Yale? I'd even bet his odds are better at getting SCOTUS where he's at. Remember, there are ~190 people graduating each year at Yale and only a fraction (5-10%) actually get SCOTUS...

This.

At least a few people a year get SCOTUS clerkships out of CCN. (The precise number depends on the school, obviously. UChi > Columbia > NYU.) I would be willing to bet that those who make the cut for a SCOTUS clerkship are those in a position like OP.

Stay at your current school, grade onto L. Rev., keep forming relationships with profs who can help you achieve your goals, and never look back.

[edcrane]

Does Y let you compete in the writing competition for the YLJ before you transfer? If not, I wouldn't even think about transferring to Y. If it does, though, Y might be worth it if you're extremely optimistic about ability to get straight H's.

H will let you know if you've written on to the HLR before you transfer, so that's not a problem. On the other hand, I doubt the potential marginal improvement in your clerkship and academic prospects would be worth the uncertainty associated with establishing a new academic record there.

[Kiersten1985]

A pretty awesome conundrum, my friend.

I hope once you've decided what to do you can share with us 0L's some of your tips!

My 2 cents would be to go to Harvard but that's only because I'm from Boston and it's always been a pipe dream of mine. But since you've done the Harvard thing already and wouldn't be psyched to return, I'd stay at CLS and profit.

[flightcontrol]

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[ToTransferOrNot]

+1 million to the "how to do well" advice in the last thread--manages to articulate my battle plan pretty well, and we're in similar spots as far as class rank goes (though I suppose my #1-in-the-class at UChi only kind of counts, since I skipped out on 1L, and will probably change after this cluster-f of a quarter).

The one warning I will give: Don't take the "taking it easy" bit too far. After Fall 1L, I've been testing how far I could go with the whole "not working and still do well" bit. I think I finally pushed it too far this quarter--missed a few classes for the first time, and didn't do the majority of the assigned reading. We'll see what happens, but the thing I would say is: make sure you at least skim all of the reading for class, but the most important thing: always GO to class. You can learn a lot via osmosis--and, more importantly, it is the only way to get a sense of what issues the professor thinks are important. That gives key insight on what is going to be tested.