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long-time lurker, infrequent poster, with a bit of a transfer-related dilemma.

i'm a part time student at a T2 in Chicago, currently in my third semester. did very well my first year, finished with a 3.66 GPA, near the top 10% of my class. now that the majority of the class has transferred into FT, carrying with them GPAs at the higher end of the curve, i'll probably jump to top 5-10% assuming i can maintain the same level of academic performance. at any rate, i chose not to transfer at the end of 1L. i've got a decent corporate paralegal gig, good benefits, etc., however after speaking with one of my professors this summer, i'm convinced that i should transfer.

my dilemma is this: most schools don't accept mid-year transfers. even if they did, i wouldn't be able to transfer (because of work and other obligations) until the end of this academic year. however if i waited to transfer until the end of this academic year, i'd have too many credits, and some wouldn't transfer over (or possibly not even let me apply). basically, if i end up taking classes spring semester and apply to transfer, at best i would find myself out $10-15k from the forfeited credits, and, at worse, precluded from applying to certain schools. on the other hand, i could take a leave of absence spring semester, save the money, but risk the fact that the lack of continuity in enrollment could possibly adversely affect my chances of admission.

i'm curious as to what people here think i should do. any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Georgetown accepts spring transfers.

http://www.law.georgetown.edu/admission ... udents.htm

If you really want to transfer take spring semester off and that transfer in the fall. I don’t really see your situation as being that complicated or even that unusual. Good luck in whatever you decide.

lovelaw27 wrote:If you really want to transfer take spring semester off and that transfer in the fall. I don’t really see your situation as being that complicated or even that unusual. Good luck in whatever you decide.

do you know if schools view this negatively?

teebone51 wrote:

lovelaw27 wrote:If you really want to transfer take spring semester off and that transfer in the fall. I don’t really see your situation as being that complicated or even that unusual. Good luck in whatever you decide.

do you know if schools view this negatively?

Honestly, I cannot think of a single reason for why they would care that you took a semester off. I am sure a lot of part-time students start in the fall and after three semesters they have around 30 credits and don't want to take another semester of classes so they take the semester off and then transfer. Just explain your situation in your personal statement. As long as you have a good reason for taking a semester off, and you do, I don't think they would view it negatively.

lovelaw27 wrote:

teebone51 wrote:

lovelaw27 wrote:If you really want to transfer take spring semester off and that transfer in the fall. I don’t really see your situation as being that complicated or even that unusual. Good luck in whatever you decide.

do you know if schools view this negatively?

Honestly, I cannot think of a single reason for why they would care that you took a semester off. I am sure a lot of part-time students start in the fall and after three semesters they have around 30 credits and don't want to take another semester of classes so they take the semester off and then transfer. Just explain your situation in your personal statement. As long as you have a good reason for taking a semester off, and you do, I don't think they would view it negatively.

fair enough. i'll be working full-time anyway. hopefully they'll understand. thanks for the advice.

columbia accepts spring transfers

teebone51, I have a quick question for you. What did the professor that you were talking to say that convinced you to transfer?

teebone51 wrote:

lovelaw27 wrote:

teebone51 wrote:

lovelaw27 wrote:If you really want to transfer take spring semester off and that transfer in the fall. I don’t really see your situation as being that complicated or even that unusual. Good luck in whatever you decide.

do you know if schools view this negatively?

Honestly, I cannot think of a single reason for why they would care that you took a semester off. I am sure a lot of part-time students start in the fall and after three semesters they have around 30 credits and don't want to take another semester of classes so they take the semester off and then transfer. Just explain your situation in your personal statement. As long as you have a good reason for taking a semester off, and you do, I don't think they would view it negatively.

fair enough. i'll be working full-time anyway. hopefully they'll understand. thanks for the advice.

I was considering transferring from PT at my school to FT at another and another school recommended this as the best course of action (taking a semester off).

I also agree with the view that your transfer school will not regard your semester off as something detrimental to your acceptance, especially if you note you reason for doing so in your personal statement.

I am thinking of taking my third semester at UT with only 7 credits while I figure out what to do (struck out of OCI), as long as I could still transfer, should I decide to do so (3.76, top 10-15% after the first year). I would have 39 credits, but 3 of those would be a summer judicial internship.

I know Chicago accepts up to 40 credit hours, but others like NYU typically accept only around 32. Could I still transfer if I decided that I would be willing to lose 7 credits? I have no debt, and I get paid to attend UT, so the only thing that would be lost would be time, which would be lost anyway if I were to just drop out now and wait till spring to xfer.

And what's this about spring transfers at Georgetown or Columbia? That is something I might consider. Do tell. Sounds kind of stupid not to be able to do Fall 2L OCI, or is "OCI" not something to worry about at Columbia because it's Columbia?

my thought is also if I could bust out 7 hours of A+ in the fall, I might be a better lock for Columbia/Chicago or even a slim possibility at Harvard (well into the top 10%), assuming the cum. GPA is counted and not just the transferable credits.

FYI...Georgetown: "Typically, only students who initially entered law school in the spring of the prior year may apply for spring admission. In rare circumstances, applicants who have completed 3 part-time semesters by the time they will matriculate, may apply for spring admission." They only accept 31 credits max.

Professor_Rau wrote:I am thinking of taking my third semester at UT with only 7 credits while I figure out what to do (struck out of OCI), as long as I could still transfer, should I decide to do so (3.76, top 10-15% after the first year). I would have 39 credits, but 3 of those would be a summer judicial internship.

I know Chicago accepts up to 40 credit hours, but others like NYU typically accept only around 32. Could I still transfer if I decided that I would be willing to lose 7 credits? I have no debt, and I get paid to attend UT, so the only thing that would be lost would be time, which would be lost anyway if I were to just drop out now and wait till spring to xfer.

And what's this about spring transfers at Georgetown or Columbia? That is something I might consider. Do tell. Sounds kind of stupid not to be able to do Fall 2L OCI, or is "OCI" not something to worry about at Columbia because it's Columbia?

my thought is also if I could bust out 7 hours of A+ in the fall, I might be a better lock for Columbia/Chicago or even a slim possibility at Harvard (well into the top 10%), assuming the cum. GPA is counted and not just the transferable credits.

Professor_Rau wrote:I am thinking of taking my third semester at UT with only 7 credits while I figure out what to do (struck out of OCI), as long as I could still transfer, should I decide to do so (3.76, top 10-15% after the first year). I would have 39 credits, but 3 of those would be a summer judicial internship.

I know Chicago accepts up to 40 credit hours, but others like NYU typically accept only around 32. Could I still transfer if I decided that I would be willing to lose 7 credits? I have no debt, and I get paid to attend UT, so the only thing that would be lost would be time, which would be lost anyway if I were to just drop out now and wait till spring to xfer.

And what's this about spring transfers at Georgetown or Columbia? That is something I might consider. Do tell. Sounds kind of stupid not to be able to do Fall 2L OCI, or is "OCI" not something to worry about at Columbia because it's Columbia?

my thought is also if I could bust out 7 hours of A+ in the fall, I might be a better lock for Columbia/Chicago or even a slim possibility at Harvard (well into the top 10%), assuming the cum. GPA is counted and not just the transferable credits.

Another FYI: Chicago doesn't accept up to 40 hours, it's just what they give transfers because we're on the quarter system