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I need some serious advice. I'm in the ~top 15% at Hastings and I want to transfer to a better school. When I applied admissions just didn't work out the way I wanted it to since I didn't apply to many schools and I applied way late (like the last day.)

I don't like how those outside of law don't know the school and I do feel pressure to go to a higher-ranked school. I realize this probably isn't the most compelling reason to transfer. Of course I also would like to transfer for employment benefits, less cutthroat atmosphere, more connections, respect, opportunities to work with renowned faculty, etc.


Other than atmosphere it seems to me that staying at Hastings would be better for me.

Transfer or not?

Just wanted to add that I'd like to hear about the employment prospects.

You'll probably need to do better this semester to transfer. I have a friend who transfered to UCLA from Hastings last year. He was top 11 percent and a former All American water polo player at UCLA.

My guess is that you want to shoot for the top 10-15% to have a decent chance. My guess is that at top 15-20% at Hastings, GULC/UCLA will be a bit of a stretch, though not impossible. I'll throw out a wild guess, top 20% at Hastings maybe gives you maybe a 20-30% chance of acceptance?

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Top 15-20 should be fine for UCLA, considering top 10 would probably go to a higher ranked school. Wouldn't be so confident about GULC.

It sounds like you already figured out the pros and cons, so thats a less interesting subject.

I'm curious about why you're so dissatisfied with Hastings. You mentioned a cut-throat atmosphere, but as a fellow Hastings 1L, I have to say I really haven't encountered it. Nor have I noticed an inferiority complex. You and I have similar grades, and I'm considering transferring to UCLA as well, but I would be really sad to leave Hastings. In fact, I'm not sure that the potential benefit of transferring is enough to outweigh my personal attachments.

Are you sure that transferring will actually make you enjoy law school more? I'm not trying to say that your feelings aren't legitimate, but if prestige is your main concern, it makes me wonder if perhaps you're just dissatisfied with law school in general.

Without a doubt, there are a lot of nice people at Hastings. There are a lot of people I'd miss... I wouldnt be posting this if I didn't have qualms. However, I don't feel like the general atmosphere here really fits my personality.

Maybe it's not as cutthroat at Hastings now. But I don't like the emphasis and refernces to competing with Boalt/Stanford students and losing. UCLA is pretty much the top-ranked school in socal. So maybe by cutthroat I am thinkng about the general area and not Hastings itself so much. I would prefer being somewhere more relaxed, with less pressure to constantly prove myself.

It's all in your head. If you transfer to UCLA there will be plenty of competition from both higher and lower ranked schools.

^ I kinda agree with that guy.

This is almost my exact scenario. I opted to apply EA to Georgetown and am also planning on applying to UCLA and USC at the end of Spring. In addition to the obvious prestige/prospects analysis I have considered connections in LA and family/friends being in the area, but to be honest I won't be totally devastated if I have to stay at Hastings for another 2 years.

I've thought about it a lot and I understand the feeling that you "belong" at a place like UCLA and things will be "better" when you get there. However, the reality is that law school is a grind no matter where you are and all transferring will really do is work to break up the monotony associated with one school or the other. I realize this is an over-simplification of the considerations, but it is something to think about. Also, there is some truth to Danteshek's argument that all you're really doing is substituting "Boalt/Stanford" for "Michigan/Columbia/NYU/Georgetown/Boalt/Stanford." Still, I think trying to transfer is definitely worth it. Just realize that you made a decision to attend a school knowing that the odds of transfer were not in your favor.

Bankhead wrote:Top 15-20 should be fine for UCLA, considering top 10 would probably go to a higher ranked school. Wouldn't be so confident about GULC.

It sounds like you already figured out the pros and cons, so thats a less interesting subject.

I agree. I was top 15% from an east coast mid-T2 last year and transferred to UCLA. There are quite a few people here who transferred from Hastings.

I think top 10% from Hastings is more likely headed into the lower T14, possibly even Berk.