Top Law Schools

I am currently a 1L at Seton Hall Law in the top 12% of my class after my first semester. I applied to transfer only to two schools so far, Brooklyn Law School and Fordham. I was just accepted to Brooklyn, and Fordham waits for second semester grades. I want to work in the prosecutors office in the Bronx, Manhattan or Brooklyn upon graduation. Is it worth it to transfer to Brooklyn from Seton Hall for this reason, or should I just wait to hear from Fordham, and if I don't get in there, stay at Seton Hall?

Brooklyn and SHU moved a lot closer to each other in the rankings, for whatever that's worth

Yeah, I saw that. But just from what I gather, it seems that even if SHU and Brooklyn were ranked equal, and two candidates, one from each school, all things equal on their resumes applied to a job in NYC, the Brooklyn student would get it just based on where his law school was located.

I mean, there are SHU students who lose jobs in NYC to NYLS students just because NYLS is in the city, even though SHU is ranked much higher.

When did you reply to BLS? I applied to BLS beginning of April and am still waiting for a decison. Fordham has a better reputation and is ranked much higher than BLS. I say Fordham. I don't think my grades are good enough to get into Fordham.

I applied in early April, and received a decision on Friday.

I was admitted to brooklyn the first time around, but declined in favor of a school ranked higher. Assuming I'm right at the median mark of my class at a school between 40-60, would a lateral transfer be pretty easy, or am I screwed out of attending any school in NYC other than NYLS or Hofstra?

engineer wrote:I was admitted to brooklyn the first time around, but declined in favor of a school ranked higher. Assuming I'm right at the median mark of my class at a school between 40-60, would a lateral transfer be pretty easy, or am I screwed out of attending any school in NYC other than NYLS or Hofstra?

Aren't you like top 5% of your class?

apper123 wrote:

engineer wrote:I was admitted to brooklyn the first time around, but declined in favor of a school ranked higher. Assuming I'm right at the median mark of my class at a school between 40-60, would a lateral transfer be pretty easy, or am I screwed out of attending any school in NYC other than NYLS or Hofstra?

Aren't you like top 5% of your class?

You're missing a zero in there, haha. I'll be top 50% percent after this semester

engineer wrote:

apper123 wrote:

engineer wrote:I was admitted to brooklyn the first time around, but declined in favor of a school ranked higher. Assuming I'm right at the median mark of my class at a school between 40-60, would a lateral transfer be pretty easy, or am I screwed out of attending any school in NYC other than NYLS or Hofstra?

Aren't you like top 5% of your class?

You're missing a zero in there, haha. I'll be top 50% percent after this semester

Wait, do you already have grades back? I thought one class completely screwed you and knocked you down to like top 1/4 last semester and you've been kicking ass this time around?

Plus, I don't get why op would transfer from a top 12% ranking almost anywhere to Brooklyn. Doesn't compute.
Engineer- why the desire for NYC over the school you are at now?

A'nold wrote:

engineer wrote:

apper123 wrote:Aren't you like top 5% of your class?

You're missing a zero in there, haha. I'll be top 50% percent after this semester

Wait, do you already have grades back? I thought one class completely screwed you and knocked you down to like top 1/4 last semester and you've been kicking ass this time around?

Grades probably won't post until Memorial Day. Regarding the grade that screwed me last semester, it brought me to top 1/3-1/2ish (yes, it was that low, but let's avoid that subject ) -- anyway, I obviously don't have a clue where I stand, but I said that I would be kicking ass. With finals wrapping up, I doubt that to be the case, and I strongly feel that I'll be median'd or worse this semester.

This is really all I have to say on the matter:

A'nold wrote:Engineer- why the desire for NYC over the school you are at now?

I can't get into all the reasons just yet (or on here), but proximity to family is definitely a major factor. I'm also realizing that patent law interests me most, and my school doesn't have the strongest program in that field. The remaining factors became relevant after thanksgiving break, and I just think that weighing all of the options, NYC is the best place for me. I've also opened myself to DC, because I have a pretty strong support network there, but I would favor D.C. just slightly more than remaining where I am. It would take an 'offer I couldn't refuse' in D.C. for me to consider a transfer.

SHU1L wrote:I am currently a 1L at Seton Hall Law in the top 12% of my class after my first semester. I applied to transfer only to two schools so far, Brooklyn Law School and Fordham. I was just accepted to Brooklyn, and Fordham waits for second semester grades. I want to work in the prosecutors office in the Bronx, Manhattan or Brooklyn upon graduation. Is it worth it to transfer to Brooklyn from Seton Hall for this reason, or should I just wait to hear from Fordham, and if I don't get in there, stay at Seton Hall?

I'm with a'nold, do NOT transfer to Brooklyn. That is practically a lateral move, and I would much rather be ~10% at Seton Hall than sacrifice your grades to be at Brooklyn. A median student at Brooklyn probably ain't faring too well ITE.

If you do well again this semester and jump into the top 5-10%, maybe a transfer to an upper T1 school would become a possibility. That sort of transfer would be more beneficial to you than SHU--->Brooklyn, but I'd still be skeptical. I'd rather be top 10% with law review at a mediocre school than be a median transfer student at an above-average school, but that's just me. TLS is full of anecdotal stories of transfer students striking out at OCI or struggling to find jobs in general, especially those who transferred from mediocre schools like Seton Hall.

Bottom line: Transferring is not a golden ticket to success, and can definitely be harmful if it is essentially a lateral transfer.

engineer wrote:

A'nold wrote:Engineer- why the desire for NYC over the school you are at now?

I can't get into all the reasons just yet (or on here), but proximity to family is definitely a major factor. I'm also realizing that patent law interests me most, and my school doesn't have the strongest program in that field. The remaining factors became relevant after thanksgiving break, and I just think that weighing all of the options, NYC is the best place for me. I've also opened myself to DC, because I have a pretty strong support network there, but I would favor D.C. just slightly more than remaining where I am. It would take an 'offer I couldn't refuse' in D.C. for me to consider a transfer.

What about transferring to, say, UConn or Rutgers-N? At those schools you get in-state tuition very soon and they have pretty good reps.