I'm currently at a tier 4 school. My heart is really set on Southwestern in LA (now a tier 3, was a tier 4 until 08) and a long shot Loyola (top 50). I REALLY want to transfer to southwestern. What kind of grades do I need to transfer? I feel like Southwestern is almost a lateral transfer, but since it moved up a tier it might be a little more difficult. I'm always told its best to be top 10%...but i'm not trying to go Cal or UCLA here. How much of a disadvantage would i be in if i ended up top 20%? 25%? even 30%? Is it all about grades for transferring? Lets assume i'm in a transfer pool of students with scores in the top 15%, do they automatically disregard my app? Will they look at my essays etc? I also hear that in those essays, its important to include things outside academia for reasons to transfer. EX: family moved to LA, spouse works in LA, better opportunities than this podunk town im in?
please advise me. i'm struggling thru 1L and i can see my dream of moving to LA fading away.

thanks