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i am currently a 0L but accepted at the t4 schools. im deciding between florida coastal and cooley ( yea i know both schools are not great at all) either way my only option as of now. i dont want to retake lsat when i can just use that time to be in school and finish a semester. but has anyone here transferred out of florida coastal and to what schools? it median 1L gpa is around 2.6, what it require of me to get up to a tier 2 school realistically and what school is it easier to transfer out of? cooley or coastal? let me know your input it would by greatly appreciated. thanx.

I understand not wanting to wait a year before starting school (I was in that boat myself at one point) but seriously, it is much easier, for the most part, to do better on the LSAT than it is to get good enough grades to transfer. If you truly desire to graduate from a better school, waiting a year to retake the LSAT and applying much earlier is going to make that more likely than going to a T4 and trying to transfer.

oh yea your def right..i think i can def earn 160+ on the lsat with really putting effort into it 100% but i can apply the same effort in actually getting the grades. i dont care too much about big Law..i just want to enjoy my job really. i'd like to practice real estate law or immigration law given the fact im south Asian and from NYC i can earn a decent or good living from that. but i want to know if anyone has really done it from coastal.. i know cooley grads have done it and in large numbers everyyear but dont hear much about coastal students doing it but their stats show about 70 students transferring out each year. so i wana know where they have transferred to and what gpa did they earn to be able to do that.

My point wasn't about biglaw. If you want to graduate from Cooley/Florida Coastal, then that is fine. But if you want to graduate from somewhere else, then your best chance at that is retaking the LSAT. All I am saying if that you are trying to maximize your chances of ending up at a different school then waiting a year will give you your best chance, if you truly want to graduate from a different school.

Don't go. You're about to ruin your life.

Rule of thumb: You should never go to a school you're not comfortable getting your JD from.

Cooley and coastal =/= comfortable getting anything from

flame

I know someone who transferred from Florida Coastal to UIUC 2 years ago. I don't know how well she did during 1L year, but she had ties to the region (from Chicago).

A good portion of Florida Coastal students transfer after the first year. Probably with good reason, but I'm not going to lecture you about your choices. I believe UF and FSU get the bulk of transfers. No data to back this up, just anecdotal evidence.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter what the students at FC got that enabled them to transfer. The problem is there is absolutely no way in hell to predict what your 1L LS grades will be, so it's a moot point until you have at least 1 semester of LS grades. If 70 students were transferring out last year, that means the class size is huge and those students surely had fairly high grades. Actually, with a 2.6 median, a decent number of students will probably fail out after 1L so to start thinking about transferring at this point is really getting ahead of yourself.

Again, no way in hell to predict how you will fall in the curve so your best course of action is to retake the LSAT if you're not going to be happy attending FC for 3 years and graduating from there.

for coastal transfers I have heard UF, FSU, Miami, Tulane, WF, American, WUSTL, GMU.

no this is not a flame at all..total # of students that left the school last year was 151 and 70 of that were transfer outs. so im sure its the top 15% that do transfer. yea i figured it would be better florida schools that they transfer to. thats really all i wanted to know, id say law school would be what you make of it. the amount i put into the school would hopefully be the return i get and yea im sure that also applies for the lsats which i should have taken more time with but its not the lsat that i find difficult i just have a problem with finishing the test in time. so i'll take my chances, i dont mind getting a jd from fc as anyone else would, i'd rather get it from the better school. i dont think doing immigration law differs with a degree from FC or from UF.

rajS wrote:no this is not a flame at all..total # of students that left the school last year was 151 and 70 of that were transfer outs. so im sure its the top 15% that do transfer. yea i figured it would be better florida schools that they transfer to. thats really all i wanted to know, id say law school would be what you make of it. the amount i put into the school would hopefully be the return i get and yea im sure that also applies for the lsats which i should have taken more time with but its not the lsat that i find difficult i just have a problem with finishing the test in time. so i'll take my chances, i dont mind getting a jd from fc as anyone else would, i'd rather get it from the better school. i dont think doing immigration law differs with a degree from FC or from UF.

Just look at that first number you posted. That number means you have a greater chance of attrition than you do of transferring. But the most likely scenario is that you'll do neither. Do you think you can get a good job somewhere from FC upon graduation? if not, don't enroll at FC.

rajS wrote:oh yea your def right..i think i can def earn 160+ on the lsat with really putting effort into it 100% but i can apply the same effort in actually getting the grades. i dont care too much about big Law..i just want to enjoy my job really. i'd like to practice real estate law or immigration law given the fact im south Asian and from NYC i can earn a decent or good living from that. but i want to know if anyone has really done it from coastal.. i know cooley grads have done it and in large numbers everyyear but dont hear much about coastal students doing it but their stats show about 70 students transferring out each year. so i wana know where they have transferred to and what gpa did they earn to be able to do that.

LSAT scores are infinitely more predictable than 1L grades. Also, the effort to increase your LSAT score is almost guaranteed to be a minor fraction of the work required to get top grades, regardless of the school you attend. (For me, a boost of 10 point from my initial practice LSATs to my final LSAT took about 6-10 hours per week for a month, compared to getting top 1L grades taking 40-60 hours per week for 9 months. Also, the higher LSAT resulted in substantial scholarship awards.)

rajS wrote:no this is not a flame at all..total # of students that left the school last year was 151 and 70 of that were transfer outs. so im sure its the top 15% that do transfer. yea i figured it would be better florida schools that they transfer to. thats really all i wanted to know, id say law school would be what you make of it. the amount i put into the school would hopefully be the return i get and yea im sure that also applies for the lsats which i should have taken more time with but its not the lsat that i find difficult i just have a problem with finishing the test in time. so i'll take my chances, i dont mind getting a jd from fc as anyone else would, i'd rather get it from the better school. i dont think doing immigration law differs with a degree from FC or from UF.

You can practice to get quicker at the LSAT. There really is no guarantee that putting more time into school will give you good returns considering almost all your classmates will be operating under the same mentality. As noted above, it is much easier to predictably get a better LSAT than it is to get predictably good grades 1L.

i agree with the advice pushing you away from florida coastal and cooley. though, you can realistically do well for yourself with a degree from either place, it doesn't seem like you're too excited about anything those schools have to offer (accept the potential to transfer somewhere else).

my uncle graduated from cooley like 300 years ago or something and works in personal injury. he does well for himself, but i personally don't know think all he has had to put himself through was worth the outcome.

i know where you are coming from with not wanting to wait and to get into the swing of law school, but take a year off, study, and take the LSAT again. a score in the mid/upper 150's can even open a significant amount of doors for you, prodivided your GPA isn't horrible. i managed a T2 acceptance with a dismal LSAT, decent GPA, and decent softs.

Best of luck

Just for reference, after my first couple LSAT practice exams, I resigned myself to a Tier 3 or Tier 4 school because I was intimidated by the LSAT. Instead of rushing my application to those schools, I retook the LSAT (total of three times) and ended up with a substantial scholarship from a Tier 2 that I probably would not have been competitive for with my original LSAT. I am now at a T6 school via transfer.

I understand not wanting to take the test again, but I also find my perspective and resignation three years ago to be laughable when looking back on things. I know several people who were approaching law school admissions with a "I just want to start" or "I don't want to retake" attitude. The people that chose to not put the effort into the admissions process and ended up at Tier 3/4 schools have either dropped out or hate law school. The few who chose to focus on the LSAT and have improved their admissions prospects have done well at their schools and share the same hindsight I have.

The answer to this question probably hinges on whether you would be willing to practice in Florida or Michigan.

CMR wrote:The answer to this question probably hinges on whether you would be willing to [strike]practice[/strike] be unemployed in Florida or Michigan.

FTFY

Here's how I see this playing out:

Step 1: You ask for advice of transferring from FC or Cooley. People tell you to retake the LSAT and never plan on transferring. You ignore them and go to FC because you like the weather.

Step 2: Your 1L year you make median grades. Possibility of transferring is shot. You ask TLS for advice; they tell you to drop out. You think it's just elitism and negativity, so you stay.

Step 3: Your graduate at median, don't get a legal job, and have a harder time finding non-legal work with your JD because JDs are useless outside of law, and people don't like to hire JDs because they think they'll bolt if given the chance at a legal job.

Step 4: You are heavily indebted and enter debt peonage for govt. IBR on the 25 year forgiveness plan.

Step 5: Regret, followed by depression, drinking, and drug usage.

rajS wrote:i dont want to retake lsat when i can just use that time to be in school and finish a semester.

Taking a year off and studying for the LSAT is a much better & easier option than hoping to transfer from two of the worst law schools in the country. Don't go to Florida Coastal/Cooley just because you don't want to take a year off. You could be committing career suicide.

but there is also other successful posters that have transferred from a t4 school to a t1/t2, i'm sure the same advice applies to them. but they still did what they had to do and worked their way up. your posts, what everyone is sayin is totally realistic but i prefer to be in school and attempt the impossible, i can't regret that b/c it was my choice to do so. personally i think there will be several opportunities for me after law school no matter what school someone graduates from only t14 grads are making 120+ right out out of school, everyone else lands in the same boat. im South Asain American from Nyc, there is so many little immigration firms and real estate brokers that are south asian. my father was an attorney and now does real estate and the lawyers that work with his brokerage make shit load of money and live well. i dont mind FC at all but i def dont want mediocre grades either, thats pointless with a jd. i have no other option whether i go to a top school or t4 ill be working just as hard anywhere to get those grades.

rajS wrote:but there is also other successful posters that have transferred from a t4 school to a t1/t2, i'm sure the same advice applies to them. but they still did what they had to do and worked their way up. your posts, what everyone is sayin is totally realistic but i prefer to be in school and attempt the impossible, i can't regret that b/c it was my choice to do so. personally i think there will be several opportunities for me after law school no matter what school someone graduates from only t14 grads are making 120+ right out out of school, everyone else lands in the same boat. im South Asain American from Nyc, there is so many little immigration firms and real estate brokers that are south asian. my father was an attorney and now does real estate and the lawyers that work with his brokerage make shit load of money and live well. i dont mind FC at all but i def dont want mediocre grades either, thats pointless with a jd. i have no other option whether i go to a top school or t4 ill be working just as hard anywhere to get those grades.

It matters just as much where those grades came from. If an employer looks at you in the top 10% at FC and someone who's top 10% at Fordham, guess who gets the job? It's a good thing that you prefer to "attempt the impossible," because that's exactly what you'll be doing.

rajS wrote: i prefer to be in school and attempt the impossible

. . . as opposed to employing the same work ethic and mindset to the LSAT for 2 months, getting into an amazing school, and then doing the impossible. Oh no, you're totally right.

rajS wrote:but there is also other successful posters that have transferred from a t4 school to a t1/t2,

And there's even more that weren't. These few are outliers.

but i prefer to be in school and attempt the impossible,

This is just idiotic. Why set yourself up for failure?

[strike]no matter what school someone graduates from only t14 grads are making 120+ right out out of school, everyone else lands in the same boat.[/strike]

No.

other option whether i go to a top school or t4 ill be working just as hard anywhere to get those grades.

So will all your classmates. There's a 90% chance you won't be in the top 10%-ish that gets decent jobs. FC is a joke in FL.

By not listening to what we are saying, imploring you to retake, you are already fulfilling Step 1 of my prophesy, as outlined above.