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Hello all,

I am halfway through my law degree at Widener and I am truly not happy here in Harrisburg. I was originally waitlisted at William Mitchell in MN and decided to apply to see if I could get in after this semester was over.

I just got a call from Admissions stating that I was accepted and that classes start on Monday, lol. They have been helpful with what I should do in terms of Financial Aid and told me to call the registrar to get registered for classes (they accepted all of my credits).


My question is, what is the potential pitfall of transferring halfway through school? How hard is it to meet other classmates that have been there since the beginning and forge relationships?

Also, I know William Mitchell is a T2/T3 school, but do you think my earning potential and/or job prospects will be any greater than had I stayed at my original T4 school?

Any and all advice is welcome!

Thanks,
Andy

Billy Mitchell has a solid reputation in the Twin Cities. I cannot speak of Widener's job prospects, but the TTT status of WM matters less than the fact it is the undisputed number 2 in the Twin Cities legal market. Obviously, the most important thing with any law school is to perform well to increase job prospects, but if you did well enough in one semester to merit an offer of admission, I think you will be fine. Billy Mitchell is in a great location and has a strong alumni network. My father was a professor of Pharma Law there, and he always found that the strongest students did well for themselves upon graduation...that was before the economic downturn however.

brockw82 wrote: I am truly not happy here in Harrisburg.

Go with your gut. But, you are receiving all your credits and although the school difference may not be significant upon graduation it can't hurt that you left to go to a better ranked school....

If you would be happy practicing in MN following graduation then transferring may be the better decision here. Just make sure the stress of doing so on such short notice doesn't affect your 2L performance.

I can't speak to this regardless, but it might help people to know why you specifically chose Widener and William Mitchell - cost, family location, etc.

To be honest, I didn't choose Widener, it was basically the only school I could get into with my LSAT score. I did well enough 1st year to apply to schools, but waited until I had 3 semesters in to boost my grades/chances.


I wanted to go to Minneapolis because I have friends there from undergrad and they have all 4 major sports teams (bad reason I know).

You're transferring mid-year? I wasn't really aware that this was possible.. Anyway congrats on the transfer acceptance. I think William Mitchell is a good school if you are sure you want to be in Minneapolis/St. Paul area, though I know that people who are not high in the class may struggle quite a bit with employment (but perhaps not as much as where you're at- I don't know).

I know someone who goes there and is doing quite well at the school who I could try to put you in contact with if you're interested. You could maybe PM me your email address and I can contact him to see if he is willing to get in touch. He could maybe give some more tailored and specific advice and feedback. Or, if you want me to check with him first before sending your email address then just PM me to let me know. I can contact him and let you know what he says- if yes, you could send your contact info at that point instead.

So wait are you a 2.5L right now?

People transfer in after 1st semester of 1L at my school. They integrate just fine.

This sounds like a great opportunity for you. I say take it and don't look back. Long term, it will likely be the best career move.

1.5L, I have 3 semesters completed.

Thanks for the advice, deep down I know I need to be in a bigger city and I don't see myself wanting to be in PA and it would be really difficult to get a job outside of Harrisburg coming from my school.

The worst part of all of this is finding and apartment --- classes start Monday! lol.

I'll probably write a thread after this is all done to warn all the 0L's who plan on transferring and tell them to just re-apply after they take the LSAT -- I was originally waitlisted at William Mitchell before I came here, should have waited and just reapplied a year later.

Thank you so much -- I just sent you a PM

--Andy

Lawquacious wrote:You're transferring mid-year? I wasn't really aware that this was possible.. Anyway congrats on the transfer acceptance. I think William Mitchell is a good school if you are sure you want to be in Minneapolis/St. Paul area, though I know that people who are not high in the class may struggle quite a bit with employment (but perhaps not as much as where you're at- I don't know).

I know someone who goes there and is doing quite well at the school who I could try to put you in contact with if you're interested. You could maybe PM me your email address and I can contact him to see if he is willing to get in touch. He could maybe give some more tailored and specific advice and feedback. Or, if you want me to check with him first before sending your email address then just PM me to let me know. I can contact him and let you know what he says- if yes, you could send your contact info at that point instead.

I transfered to my school when my old school's classes started in 2 days.....it can be done, haha.

t10 or the best school in the market in which you want to work. If neither applies, drop out/don't go. if one prong does apply, then you go to go the scholarship/debt aversion step in the analysis, which would be irrelevant here at least for WM as it fails step one.

solidsnake wrote:t10 or the best school in the market in which you want to work. If neither applies, drop out/don't go. if one prong does apply, then you go to go the scholarship/debt aversion step in the analysis, which would be irrelevant here at least for WM as it fails step one.

lol, but kind of an asshole reply, dont u think?

dood wrote:

solidsnake wrote:t10 or the best school in the market in which you want to work. If neither applies, drop out/don't go. if one prong does apply, then you go to go the scholarship/debt aversion step in the analysis, which would be irrelevant here at least for WM as it fails step one.

lol, but kind of an asshole reply, dont u think?

Meh. It's about to snow again here just when it started warming up

So....just wanted to give an update.

I decided not to transfer to Wm Mitchell at the very last minute. Even though I'm still at a Tier 4 school, I do ultimately want to be in on the East Coast (Baltimore or Philly as a prosecutor at least for the first few years out).

brockw82 wrote:So....just wanted to give an update.

I decided not to transfer to Wm Mitchell at the very last minute. Even though I'm still at a Tier 4 school, I do ultimately want to be in on the East Coast (Baltimore or Philly as a prosecutor at least for the first few years out).

If you dislike it still maybe transfer to UMD or something after the year.

AreJay711 wrote:

brockw82 wrote:So....just wanted to give an update.

I decided not to transfer to Wm Mitchell at the very last minute. Even though I'm still at a Tier 4 school, I do ultimately want to be in on the East Coast (Baltimore or Philly as a prosecutor at least for the first few years out).

If you dislike it still maybe transfer to UMD or something after the year.

Yea just keep your grades up, you'll have options.