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thanks!

Sounds like the access to the area of law you want to practice that GW will provide is worth it. I'd probably transfer, unless I had a full ride at my T2.
P.S. ITT = In This Thread

Congrats. It sounds like you are a great legal writer.

What is the difference in price to transfer?

ditto

"I feel like, since I was one of 3% of entrants in my write-on competition (probably only 3-5 out of 150-200 entries accepted--also recieved highest grades in LRW, fwiw), I have a pretty decent shot at a journal/LR at GW."

It's natural to feel that way, but, a couple things: (1) tougher competition at GW, and (2) every write-on is different. They vary widely in form and obviously they vary in content. You're probably better at writing about some kinds of legal problems than others. For example, I do better writing about areas where the law is relatively fixed, or areas where, even if the law isn't fixed, the issues are technical and don't raise a lot of public policy concerns, than issues where I have to essentially make policy recommendations because the law is so open that it comes down to choosing between rules and deciding which is fairer or better or kinder. Conversely, there are some people who aren't going to have much to say about some technical jurisdictional issue because those sorts of things just don't interest or speak to them. Now, I'm sure that you have a "decent" shot, but, depending on how many people their Law Review takes, I'd hesitate to say the odds are better than even, just because so much depends on what the format and issue is.

Big Shrimpin wrote:

Bankhead wrote:Congrats. It sounds like you are a great legal writer.

What is the difference in price to transfer?

Tuition + extra housing (I'll be splitting with SO, so it will be more than currently but not astronomic-DC prices) = $6-10k extra/year. While thats a good deal of money, I don't think its significant enough to be a dispositively negative element in the calculus.

Yeah, I'd transfer -- especially considering your interest in IP coupled with GW being known for IP.

Transfer to GW. You'll at least get more interview opportunities there.

4. I did pretty well this year, but not well enough. Just shy of a 3.6 and I missed the top 10% grade-on for LR by literally 4 people or probably just a few tenths of a GPA point. HOWEVER, I wrote-on to LR.

A few *tenths* of a point? Like top 10% is 3.9 and you're at 3.6?

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I voted for transferring, just based on the fact that your SO is in DC and that is where you want to end up. Even if you consider the other job-related factors as a wash (which I wouldn't necessarily), at least you have some important QOL upgrades.

I think it would also be wise to also find out what it takes to join a secondary journal at GW. If they are volunteer-based and there is no write-on for secondary journals, I would highly recommend joining one in some capacity prior to OCI, even if you plan on doing the Law Review write-on. In my experience, that is a huge advantage at OCI, because many of your fellow transfers will not be so forward thinking, and that way you get to put "Invited to join ____ Law Review" and "Editor of GW Journal of _______" on your resume for OCI.

Best of luck in making the decision!

Thanks for all the responses this far, I appreciate your time!

I said Go. It seems like if all you are hanging on to is law review, then you should just leave. LR is huge, but graduating from a school like GW is huge too, and i am certain that if you work just as hard as you did in your 1L that you will succeed at GW. Also, because of QOL. I didn't factor in your SO too much, cuz I don't know how serious you are, but if things are really serious, then that is of course a HUGE plus- though you should never make decisions cuz of a woman/man you are with unless you seriously want to get married to this person. Relationships, especially in law school, can be so unpredictable. Anyways I don't need to tell you all of that.

The real question is, are you excited to move to DC? Will it make you happier to go to GW or stay? It sounds like you worked reallly hard, and that you certainly deserve to xfer to GW (if not an even better school, i'm still crossin my fingers for GULC for you). These kinds of questions are never easy- and the truth is that you won't know if you made the right decision until you look back in hindsight. But don't live your life with regrets, if this was your goal going in and what motivated you to do as well as you did, chances are it is because it is what you really want. Follow your instincts. Nobody knows your chances of getting the job you want at your current school, more than you. So take all of your knowledge in to accoutn and decide if you will be able to achieve your career goals staying put, or if it would behoove you to xfer by increasing your chances dramatically (which is what it sounds like) and having opportunities open up for you that may have otherwise not opened up.

Best of luck in this decision. I am confident that you will make the right choice for what is best for you.

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(shameless) bump? I promise it'll be the last one .

edit: I wrote you a boring story of my own process which is similar to yours.

My recommendation: If I were you, I would go to GWU for long-term reasons, but short-term? Think about one thing: GWU has a TON (I mean this) of hard science/engineering majors who are unable to get into the t14 programs because a) their GPA was not adequately adjusted, or b) their LSAT score wasn't high enough for Northwestern/Georgetown .

Your observation that GWU's OCI options exceed those at your current school for IP needs to be supplemented with the above reality - you will face huge competition from a lot of technically trained students, many of whom are successful law students because engineering kids generally set the curve in law school.

I'm not sure you can actually go WRONG in your decision, given that employment decision will be primarily made on your 1L grades, and my own personal theory is that transferring doesn't violate the laws of conservation of academic record, you don't really accomplish anything substantial academically by the "transfer app" process. But in this instance, I think long-term a GW degree in IP will help more than hurt.

Walk away from law review cautiously, is all I'll say.

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