Top Law Schools

I've just finished up my 1L year at Seattle U (#86 last I checked), and if my second semester grades are consistent with my first, I'll be top 3%-ish. I had 1.5 years of work experience following undergrad, half of which was at a firm. My undergraduate experience was dreadful to mediocre - I had an academic dismissal my sophomore year, but I rebounded to graduate with a 3.0. (There were some difficulties with bipolar disorder, and I've written the obligatory I-turned-my-life-around-and-took-care-of-my-shit essay.) My LSAT was 173. I was waitlisted the first time around at Northwestern, Cornell, and UVA, so I assume I'd have a decent shot at transferring there, but I'm wondering if CCN are simply out of my league and I should save my money.

Many thanks for the feedback.

Conventional TLS wisdom on transferring says that it's incredibly rare to transfer from a T2 into HYSCCN; generally, they want top 10% (or 5% for YS) coming from a T1 school. That said, it does happen, and I wouldn't say it's "wasting" your money. Columbia's actually pretty transfer-friendly, and honestly, every year's transfer applicant pool is so different that it's tough to predict. Good luck!

MusicNutMeggie wrote:Conventional TLS wisdom on transferring says that it's incredibly rare to transfer from a T2 into HYSCCN; generally, they want top 10% (or 5% for YS) coming from a T1 school. That said, it does happen, and I wouldn't say it's "wasting" your money. Columbia's actually pretty transfer-friendly, and honestly, every year's transfer applicant pool is so different that it's tough to predict. Good luck!

Credited.

win200 wrote:I've just finished up my 1L year at Seattle U (#86 last I checked), and if my second semester grades are consistent with my first, I'll be top 3%-ish. I had 1.5 years of work experience following undergrad, half of which was at a firm. My undergraduate experience was dreadful to mediocre - I had an academic dismissal my sophomore year, but I rebounded to graduate with a 3.0. (There were some difficulties with bipolar disorder, and I've written the obligatory I-turned-my-life-around-and-took-care-of-my-shit essay.) My LSAT was 173. I was waitlisted the first time around at Northwestern, Cornell, and UVA, so I assume I'd have a decent shot at transferring there, but I'm wondering if CCN are simply out of my league and I should save my money.

Many thanks for the feedback.

I would apply to all of them. I had a similar rank after 1L and made it into these schools from a T2 school that was ranked in the 60s.

you went to Seattle with a 173

Big scholarship + Close to home I would suspect.

aPosseAdEsse wrote:Big scholarship + Close to home I would suspect.

+ so-so UGPA

I had a 2.52 undergrad GPA with an academic dismissal. That was a bit of a hurdle. I was accepted at SU and L&C, and then in June at Wash & Lee, but I'd already started my summer Crim Law course at SU and my wife had accepted an offer at UW. I was waitlisted at Northwestern, Cornell, GULC, UVA, and Vandy. That was actually encouraging in light of the dismal UG performance. I figure with that rendered a relatively moot point by my 1L performance, my options should change a bit.

win200 wrote:I had a 2.52 undergrad GPA with an academic dismissal. That was a bit of a hurdle. I was accepted at SU and L&C, and then in June at Wash & Lee, but I'd already started my summer Crim Law course at SU and my wife had accepted an offer at UW. I was waitlisted at Northwestern, Cornell, GULC, UVA, and Vandy. That was actually encouraging in light of the dismal UG performance. I figure with that rendered a relatively moot point by my 1L performance, my options should change a bit.

I agree that it should be encouraging and with a successful year of law school behind you I think you have a decent shot at the schools you are targeting.