Transfer From WUSTL to VANDY or UT? Forum

[jedgarhooter]

I am in the top ~15% of class as of first semester. Anyone have any idea what my chances would be of transferring to a slightly higher school with that class rank? Or if I could break into the top ~10% (no easy task, obviously)? Not sure if pre-law data matters, but I had a 162/3.8+.

Thanks for any insight.

P.S. I partly want this so I can use the transfer as leverage for financial aid. If anyone has any insight on negotiating more financial aid based on having a transfer letter in hand, that would be great too.

[Stephanie13]

Tag. I'd like to know this for curiosity's sake.

[mazzini]

What's the point? You will be transferring to a similarly ranked school, albeit higher ranked, only to lose your first year grades, sacrifice any law review/academic honors you may have earned, and only for marginally better job opportunities. Reconsider, WUSTL will not care if you have the ability to transfer to a higher ranked school. There are plenty of students to replace you, including those trying to transfer in from T2 schools with very high grades.

[CanadianWolf]

Transfer if you want to work in Texas or in the geographic areas populated by Vanderbilt law grads.
Finishing in the Top 15% at WashUStL School of Law, without more, is not enough leverage to negotiate a scholarship from WashU., in my opinion. You need more, but I am not sure if the threat of transferring to another law school is sufficient. Have you made law review or moot court? Are you degreed or certified as a CPA, MBA or other highly marketable certification that would make WashU want to keep you to show off to potential employers?
Nevertheless, I could be wrong, although retention data does not play into USNews ratings to the best of my knowledge. Top 15% is probably not good enough to make you a strong candidate for a federal judicial clerkship so I am not certain as to what WashU would be losing if you were to transfer other than a very good law student.

[jedgarhooter]

What's the point? You will be transferring to a similarly ranked school, albeit higher ranked, only to lose your first year grades, sacrifice any law review/academic honors you may have earned, and only for marginally better job opportunities.

I don't intend to actually transfer, only to use it as leverage at WUSTL for financial aid.

Reconsider, WUSTL will not care if you have the ability to transfer to a higher ranked school. There are plenty of students to replace you, including those trying to transfer in from T2 schools with very high grades.

Thank you for the feedback. I agree there are students to replace me, but Wustl competes hardcore with Vanderbilt (and probably UT also), so something tells me they might at least give me something. I mean, even if they gave me $1000 it would be a big deal, since I'm paying sticker price. Anyone have any further insight on this?

[CanadianWolf]

Yes, I have further insight. Why not just ask for merit aid since you did well during your first year while paying full price. You might be surprised by the response--especially since some of the top five (5%) percent might actually transfer leaving scholarship money behind.

[jedgarhooter]

I could be wrong, although retention data does not play into USNews ratings to the best of my knowledge. Top 15% is probably not good enough to make you a strong candidate for a federal judicial clerkship so I am not certain as to what WashU would be losing if you were to transfer other than a very good law student.

Yeah, I'm afraid this may be the case. Nonetheless I'll try to get in one of those places and do what I can, because like I said, any small amount they'd give me would be money in my pocket. As far as having unique marketable skills, I do have some which are decent (and may become a more impressive soon if a venture I am pursuing works out) but prefer not to be more specific in the interest of not outing myself to my classmates.

[jedgarhooter]

Yes, I have further insight. Why not just ask for merit aid since you did well during your first year while paying full price. You might be surprised by the response--especially since some of the top five (5%) percent might actually transfer leaving scholarship money behind.

That will be a part of my pitch. Is merit aid common? I do feel it's sincerely unfair that I know a number of kids with huge scholarships who I am ranked above (though in fairness I fully understand that WUSTL benefits from their high LSAT scores, as they don't from my 162).

[upgrade]

The problem with your plan is that your "leverage" will only be usable around mid-to-late July. If the administration at WUSTL has a sense for the deadlines attached to transfer offers, you will also only have a couple of weeks where that leverage is meaningful. I doubt the school is filled with administration waiting to fulfill scholarship requests from transfer students over the summer, so even getting a response may be difficult. You do run the chance of pissing off some of the faculty and administration, though.

You should apply, if it's not too late, to GULC ED. That gives you a much longer window to negotiate with administration.

[Total Litigator]

So how did this work out?