Top Law Schools

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I'm assuming you want BigLaw from the tone of your post. Why would you even think of transferring? You're at the very top of a school in NYC that most of the major NYC law firms come to. If any of them are going to hire anyone from your school it's going to be you, and since firms are trying to maintain good relations with schools they're at least hiring away a few of the best students from each even in lean times.

I see no advantage here for you. You haven't given a reason to jump ship at all, and I think you'd be shooting yourself in the foot by transferring without a clear reason to do so.

Then again, transferring would be much simpler for you than most since you're in the right city already. Hell, if you live near Fordham then CLS is just a few stops north on the 1...

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Honestly, you have no reason to transfer. You can waive that top 1% around, and the biggest firms in NYC will be fighting to get you. It couldn't possibly get any better than that if biglaw is your goal. Its all about getting the first job. After that, your work will speak for itself.

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ramon987 wrote:Thank you. Yes, I do want BigLaw--the highest ranked firm possible. Thinking about transferring for the usual reasons: prestige, connections, mobility for next job, making partner, etc. Don't want to have to explain away Fordham for the rest of my life.

1) Fordham is not exactly considered the worst law school in New York.

2) You'll get something impressive from where you are now. That means you'll have two things that do the explaining for you on your resume for years to come: "Fordham Law Review" and the name of your first firm. Both of those will get the kind of respect you want in future job searches.

3) Prestige of your degree might have a tiny influence of things, but by the time it comes to being made partner, what they're going to care a hell of a lot more about is whether or not you make the firm money. It doesn't matter where you graduated from if you can do that, and it doesn't matter where you graduated from if you can't.

vanwinkle wrote:

ramon987 wrote:Thank you. Yes, I do want BigLaw--the highest ranked firm possible. Thinking about transferring for the usual reasons: prestige, connections, mobility for next job, making partner, etc. Don't want to have to explain away Fordham for the rest of my life.

1) Fordham is not exactly considered the worst law school in New York.

2) You'll get something impressive from where you are now. That means you'll have two things that do the explaining for you on your resume for years to come: "Fordham Law Review" and the name of your first firm. Both of those will get the kind of respect you want in future job searches.

3) Prestige of your degree might have a tiny influence of things, but by the time it comes to being made partner, what they're going to care a hell of a lot more about is whether or not you make the firm money. It doesn't matter where you graduated from if you can do that, and it doesn't matter where you graduated from if you can't.

There needs to be a forum/site on discussing ways to develop the nuances of points 2 and 3 of you post. Sort of an "I graduated from a TLS. Now what?" Forum. /off-topic

vanwinkle wrote:I'm assuming you want BigLaw from the tone of your post. Why would you even think of transferring? You're at the very top of a school in NYC that most of the major NYC law firms come to. If any of them are going to hire anyone from your school it's going to be you, and since firms are trying to maintain good relations with schools they're at least hiring away a few of the best students from each even in lean times.

I see no advantage here for you. You haven't given a reason to jump ship at all, and I think you'd be shooting yourself in the foot by transferring without a clear reason to do so.

Then again, transferring would be much simpler for you than most since you're in the right city already. Hell, if you live near Fordham then CLS is just a few stops north on the 1...

contrary to what people think interviewing as a transfer at nyu or cls is much better than top of fordham. they see you were top of fordham and had ambition to transfer. instead of hoping to land one offer at a top firm you'll have multiple offers. firms schedule callbacks for nyu/cls weeks before fordham students. it is an advantage to transfer.

ZXCVBNM wrote:contrary to what people think interviewing as a transfer at nyu or cls is much better than top of fordham. they see you were top of fordham and had ambition to transfer. instead of hoping to land one offer at a top firm you'll have multiple offers. firms schedule callbacks for nyu/cls weeks before fordham students. it is an advantage to transfer.

I will defer to more knowledgeable people here. ZXCVBNM has a difficult-to-type name but a good reputation, and also has direct experience with the Fordham job hunt situation. If he says there's an advantage to transferring from Fordham, then I would assume that there is despite what I said earlier.

Your for-serious goal is to work at the "highest ranked firm possible"? Hopefully your pre-OCI research will help you a lot in this department.

vanwinkle wrote:

ZXCVBNM wrote:contrary to what people think interviewing as a transfer at nyu or cls is much better than top of fordham. they see you were top of fordham and had ambition to transfer. instead of hoping to land one offer at a top firm you'll have multiple offers. firms schedule callbacks for nyu/cls weeks before fordham students. it is an advantage to transfer.

I will defer to more knowledgeable people here. ZXCVBNM has a difficult-to-type name but a good reputation, and also has direct experience with the Fordham job hunt situation. If he says there's an advantage to transferring from Fordham, then I would assume that there is despite what I said earlier.

I also know someone who went from the top of Fordham to CLS who didn't regret it at all and was very happy he/she made the transfer.

vanwinkle wrote:I'm assuming you want BigLaw from the tone of your post. Why would you even think of transferring? You're at the very top of a school in NYC that most of the major NYC law firms come to. If any of them are going to hire anyone from your school it's going to be you, and since firms are trying to maintain good relations with schools they're at least hiring away a few of the best students from each even in lean times.

I see no advantage here for you. You haven't given a reason to jump ship at all, and I think you'd be shooting yourself in the foot by transferring without a clear reason to do so.

FWIW the #1 kid from Fordham transferred to CLS last year and from what I heard, he did exceptionally well at EIW (15 CB's from his first 15 interviews).

DeweyWins wrote:

vanwinkle wrote:I'm assuming you want BigLaw from the tone of your post. Why would you even think of transferring? You're at the very top of a school in NYC that most of the major NYC law firms come to. If any of them are going to hire anyone from your school it's going to be you, and since firms are trying to maintain good relations with schools they're at least hiring away a few of the best students from each even in lean times.

I see no advantage here for you. You haven't given a reason to jump ship at all, and I think you'd be shooting yourself in the foot by transferring without a clear reason to do so.

FWIW the #1 kid from Fordham transferred to CLS last year and from what I heard, he did exceptionally well at EIW (15 CB's from his first 15 interviews).

fordham doesn't rank at the top so hard to know who was #1. what was her gpa? i was always curious which is why i ask. over 3.95?

DeweyWins wrote:

vanwinkle wrote:I'm assuming you want BigLaw from the tone of your post. Why would you even think of transferring? You're at the very top of a school in NYC that most of the major NYC law firms come to. If any of them are going to hire anyone from your school it's going to be you, and since firms are trying to maintain good relations with schools they're at least hiring away a few of the best students from each even in lean times.

I see no advantage here for you. You haven't given a reason to jump ship at all, and I think you'd be shooting yourself in the foot by transferring without a clear reason to do so.

FWIW the #1 kid from Fordham transferred to CLS last year and from what I heard, he did exceptionally well at EIW (15 CB's from his first 15 interviews).

I did concede since then there are people with better knowledge than me about the Fordham-specific situation claiming the opposite of what I said. I'll endorse their views over my own. To make it clear, I admit that what I said earlier may be wrong and would rather people listened to folks with more direct knowledge instead of what I said, regarding Fordham transfers.

Why not apply to HY?

ZXCVBNM wrote:

DeweyWins wrote:

vanwinkle wrote:I'm assuming you want BigLaw from the tone of your post. Why would you even think of transferring? You're at the very top of a school in NYC that most of the major NYC law firms come to. If any of them are going to hire anyone from your school it's going to be you, and since firms are trying to maintain good relations with schools they're at least hiring away a few of the best students from each even in lean times.

I see no advantage here for you. You haven't given a reason to jump ship at all, and I think you'd be shooting yourself in the foot by transferring without a clear reason to do so.

FWIW the #1 kid from Fordham transferred to CLS last year and from what I heard, he did exceptionally well at EIW (15 CB's from his first 15 interviews).

fordham doesn't rank at the top so hard to know who was #1. what was her gpa? i was always curious which is why i ask. over 3.95?

I'm not sure, I never met the Fordham student. Another CLS student told me about it during EIP.

concurrent fork wrote:Why not apply to HY?

This is an excellent question which deserves a response.

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I apologize in advance for deviating from the topic slightly but I have to ask. If this were the same situation, except the student was at Brooklyn or St. John's, would attempting to transfer to a Columbia/NYU be a no brainer?

rocon7383 wrote:I apologize in advance for deviating from the topic slightly but I have to ask. If this were the same situation, except the student was at Brooklyn or St. John's, would attempting to transfer to a Columbia/NYU be a no brainer?

Yes, I think so. The gap between CLS/NYU and Brooklyn/St. John's is far more substantial. You're likely competitive enough to get into at least one if you have the same caliber grades (top 1-2%).

Looks like Wachtell and S&C don't even interview at Fordham...

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(1) Use your grades as leverage for money from Fordham. If they don't give you a substantial amount, head to CLS/NYU.

(2) Cravath, Simpson, and Skadden have no issue taking transfers. The real problem, though, is that it's not really worth it to transfer just for a better shot at Skadden. I think that's one one poster was talking about above: A V5 isn't always the best choice simply because it's a V5.

True. Although I guess Wachtell would be impossible anyway. But S&C would be great.

Not true. WLRK has hired transfers. W&C, though, does not interview at NYU.

A&O wrote:(1) Use your grades as leverage for money from Fordham. If they don't give you a substantial amount, head to CLS/NYU.

I already have the max scholarship ($25k). I don't think they ever give more than $5k to their top 1L performers.

A&O wrote: (2) Cravath, Simpson, and Skadden have no issue taking transfers. The real problem, though, is that it's not really worth it to transfer just for a better shot at Skadden. I think that's one one poster was talking about above: A V5 isn't always the best choice simply because it's a V5.

Ah, I didn't catch that earlier. Isn't a V5 firm the best place to launch a career? Are there better private-sector opportunities available to CLS/NYU students?

Ah, I didn't catch that earlier. Isn't a V5 firm the best place to launch a career? Are there better private-sector opportunities available to CLS/NYU students?

I don't know. I'm just saying that there are firms outside the V5 that one might want to consider taking above firms in the V5. That's the point about doing your research and understanding law firms.