Top Law Schools

Im currently a 1L at Santa Clara, grades are coming in and I did pretty well this semester. If I keep it up I'm looking at being in the top 10% maybe drop down to top 15% if things don't go well. What are my chances at Davis/Hasting/Boalt. Do they give greater preference to a fellow bay area school? I can get good LOC's from two professors, though I don't know how much that helps. Any advice would be great thanks.

Not sure if Davis/Hastings/Boalt give preferential admission to local schools. Many law schools seem to so you might have a slight edge. The only school I have looked into is Boalt since it is one of the schools I want to transfer into.

Santa Clara has a good rep for a low ranked T2. Based on Arrow's guide you would need to be in the top 5-10% to have a decent shot to a T14 school. Since Santa Clara is a low ranked T2 and since Boalt is a mid ranked T14 you would likely need to be closer to the 5% mark. Further, with the improved competition lately it would help if you ranked within the top 3-5%. With a top 10%-15% ranking, your chances are low at best.

Hastings and Davis are a whole different matter. Frankly, I'd not transfer into either from Santa Clara. You would be giving up Law Review, connections, etc for a minor upgrade. Davis might make some sense since it is a T30 school, but Hastings is very much a lower ranked T1 school. Based on Arrow's guide you need to be in the top 10-20% of a T2 to get into a T1. You probably need to be closer to the 10% mark for Davis and maybe the 10-15% mark for Hastings. Note that I know very little about Davis/Hastings so am going just based on school rankings.

Source: http://www.top-law-schools.com/advice-f ... rring.html

random5483 wrote:Not sure if Davis/Hastings/Boalt give preferential admission to local schools. Many law schools seem to so you might have a slight edge. The only school I have looked into is Boalt since it is one of the schools I want to transfer into.

Santa Clara has a good rep for a low ranked T2. Based on Arrow's guide you would need to be in the top 5-10% to have a decent shot to a T14 school. Since Santa Clara is a low ranked T2 and since Boalt is a mid ranked T14 you would likely need to be closer to the 5% mark. Further, with the improved competition lately it would help if you ranked within the top 3-5%. With a top 10%-15% ranking, your chances are low at best.

Hastings and Davis are a whole different matter. Frankly, I'd not transfer into either from Santa Clara. You would be giving up Law Review, connections, etc for a minor upgrade. Davis might make some sense since it is a T30 school, but Hastings is very much a lower ranked T1 school. Based on Arrow's guide you need to be in the top 10-20% of a T2 to get into a T1. You probably need to be closer to the 10% mark for Davis and maybe the 10-15% mark for Hastings. Note that I know very little about Davis/Hastings so am going just based on school rankings.

Source: http://www.top-law-schools.com/advice-f ... rring.html

meh

random5483 wrote:Not sure if Davis/Hastings/Boalt give preferential admission to local schools. Many law schools seem to so you might have a slight edge. The only school I have looked into is Boalt since it is one of the schools I want to transfer into.

Santa Clara has a good rep for a low ranked T2. Based on Arrow's guide you would need to be in the top 5-10% to have a decent shot to a T14 school. Since Santa Clara is a low ranked T2 and since Boalt is a mid ranked T14 you would likely need to be closer to the 5% mark. Further, with the improved competition lately it would help if you ranked within the top 3-5%. With a top 10%-15% ranking, your chances are low at best.

Hastings and Davis are a whole different matter. Frankly, I'd not transfer into either from Santa Clara. You would be giving up Law Review, connections, etc for a minor upgrade. Davis might make some sense since it is a T30 school, but Hastings is very much a lower ranked T1 school. Based on Arrow's guide you need to be in the top 10-20% of a T2 to get into a T1. You probably need to be closer to the 10% mark for Davis and maybe the 10-15% mark for Hastings. Note that I know very little about Davis/Hastings so am going just based on school rankings.

Source: http://www.top-law-schools.com/advice-f ... rring.html

This seems more or less right to me. I transferred from SCU to Boalt this past year, along with a few of my classmates. Boalt seems to like SCU transfers and always takes a few. That said, I think everyone was top 5% or so (and I know for a fact that the students ranked #1, 2, and 3 were among the transfers). I didn't bother applying to Hastings or Davis because I think with top 5% at SCU you are in an as good or better position for jobs.

you need to turn on the afterburners this semester if you want to transfer to ucla or boalt.
You likely need top 5% or around there to get into berkeley or UCLA.

I think top 20% will get you in davis or hastings.

That 5-10% class rank difference between top 5% and top 15% might chance your life.
Work like you have never worked this semester and try to get a class rank in the single digits. One grade might make the difference between getting a job out of UC berkeley and being unemployed at davis/hastings.

thexfactor wrote:you need to turn on the afterburners this semester if you want to transfer to ucla or boalt.
You likely need top 5% or around there to get into berkeley or UCLA.

I think top 20% will get you in davis or hastings.

That 5-10% class rank difference between top 5% and top 15% might chance your life.
Work like you have never worked this semester and try to get a class rank in the single digits. One grade might make the difference between getting a job out of UC berkeley and being unemployed at davis/hastings.