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I go to a T30 school on the East coast and am beginning to think I want to practice law on the West Coast for a variety of reasons. How difficult would it be to transfer to USC/UCLA from a T30 school? Is it even worth transferring or should I just wait and see if I can get a job on the West coast after I graduate.

thanks

How do you feel about dropping out and reapplying if you're 100% sure that's what you want to do?

That is not an option for me at this point, for one I am liking the school I am at, and would not want to go through the process again.

Also its not that I am 100% sure I want westcoast, but I am heavily leaning towards it.

Any other input?

Depends on your class rank & the particular schools involved. Probably need to be in the top 25%, possibly top third will suffice depending upon the schools.

What school are you at and do you have any previous connection to California? Any family there? Have you even lived there?

No family there, but I did go to undergrad in SoCal

T30 to UCLA isn't exactly a lateral, but it can be done with good grades

Oban wrote:T30 to UCLA isn't exactly a lateral, but it can be done with good grades

Ya. I was talking about USC as well, and the school I am attending is only a few spots down. Just trying to ask about transferring from a t30 school to a non-t14 school...

Shoot for top 25%. Obviously, your chances increase as your grades go up.

If you want to practice on the west coast, then transfer, no question. An east coast t30 student is going to find it VERY hard to get a job through OCI on the west coast, and probably impossible.

Do you know when most schools expect transfer apps to be in by?

There really isn't any standard set of dates. All schools sort of do their own thing. Some have earlier deadlines (I dont recall if any were in June), but others are later such as mid and late July. These later schools bring their own logistical challenges (such as possibly having to move across country, at the drop of at hat, two weeks before school starts).

So, make sure to check each school's website. Really, you should probably consider UCLA and USC as target schools, with Stanford as a huge reach and Boalt as a "no one knows what the hell Boalt is going to do" reach. If you land in the top 5% of your class, I could see you at Boalt (if that interests you at all).

First, focus on your grades. Good luck

Yeah I would say if you want to work out there you should go if you have the chance. ITE the idea of "national schools" kind of dies outside of the T14. To be honest, I'm not sure it is that great even at a T14. I go to a T10 and have interviewed in secondary markets and they still are highly skeptical even with family ties to the city. So going to a feeder school for the area cannot be undervalued.

shmoo597 wrote:Shoot for top 25%. Obviously, your chances increase as your grades go up.

If you want to practice on the west coast, then transfer, no question. An east coast t30 student is going to find it VERY hard to get a job through OCI on the west coast, and probably impossible.

Shoot for top 1% then transfer to Stanford or Boalt. Otherwise don't transfer. You lose LR and will likely get hammered at USC/UCLA OCI.

BTW, definitely not even close to impossible to get west coast through OCI from an East Coast T30. Difficult, yes. But if you have the grades to transfer then you're in the ballpark.

rando wrote:

shmoo597 wrote:Shoot for top 25%. Obviously, your chances increase as your grades go up.

If you want to practice on the west coast, then transfer, no question. An east coast t30 student is going to find it VERY hard to get a job through OCI on the west coast, and probably impossible.

Shoot for top 1% then transfer to Stanford or Boalt. Otherwise don't transfer. You lose LR and will likely get hammered at USC/UCLA OCI.

BTW, definitely not even close to impossible to get west coast through OCI from an East Coast T30. Difficult, yes. But if you have the grades to transfer then you're in the ballpark.

I can definitely confirm this.