Is transfer from lower T1 --> lower T14 really worth it? Forum

[3ThrowAway99]

Edited for privacy.

[vanwinkle]

Transferring sucks. It can be worth it, but that doesn't mean it doesn't suck.

What do you want to do? Do you just want a job when you graduate and your debt to be low? If that's what you want, and folks who are top 10% at your school are finding work, stay at your school. Generally, people who transfer and are successful at it have a reason for doing so. What's yours?

(If you can't easily answer that, then you probably don't have one.)

[3ThrowAway99]

...

[vanwinkle]

In my experience, transfers do extremely well during OCI, but I've also been told by others on here that this may be limited to HYS (and Fordham->CN) transfers, and things are not quite so consistently great for transfers into the lower T14. I don't know that you'd do very well at a lower T14 in the job hunt, and you'd be trading being at the top of your class and on LR where you are for likely a lower T14 without LR.

Is there a specific city/region you want to work when you graduate? If so, trying to transfer to a T14 that places strongly there might make sense. However, given your comments about the weather, I'm assuming you both don't currently live near one and don't want to after you graduate. (Sounds like you're further south than most T14s.) In that case you might want to stay put. You'll be in a good hiring position where you are.

Also, while "most" people from non-T14s do struggle to get things like prestigious government positions, keep in mind that those who do are usually the ones in the top of their class and on LR where they are. You're not totally disqualified from these things by staying put, and if you can maintain your grades and find a respectable first SA job, you can build up your resume and make yourself into one of the few from your school who succeeds at that level.

When addressing 0Ls, we discuss job prospects at a school broadly and generically because they can't know how well they'll do well. But you do know how well you're doing, and it's very well. You need to weigh your job options based on that, and not on generic suggestions of what people at your school usually get. You're not an ordinary or median student there, you're shaping up to be a top student. Ask what the people at the top get at your school, and then judge if that's good enough for you.

[concurrent fork]

+1 to VW's comments. I would not give up 1/2 scholly + LR at a T1 unless I had a T6 acceptance, or a compelling personal reason to relocate.

[keg411]

This thread is confusing me. What are we talking about by "lower T14"? CG? MVP down? Also, what if we know that the placement for even top 5% at the school isn't all that great and won't guarantee employment AT graduation (not counting state clerkships)?

I mean, the point of Arrow's entire transfer article is basically: "you should transfer". The only person I know who is totally miserable and got OCI shut out transferred to GULC and focused on primarily DC for employment.

[vanwinkle]

This thread is confusing me. What are we talking about by "lower T14"? CG? MVP down?

I'm going to follow concurrent fork's lead and say "anything below T6", for this particular poster.

Also, what if we know that the placement for even top 5% at the school isn't all that great and won't guarantee employment AT graduation (not counting state clerkships)?

Then those circumstances would be different than OP's and lead to a different result. OP was being told to stay put because 1) it sounds like he has satisfactory job prospects if he stays and 2) he's receiving significant scholarship funds. If you take away one or both of those things, like you're doing in your hypothetical, then transferring might make more sense.

Please keep in mind that people here aren't saying "transferring to any school other than T6 is always a bad idea". We're addressing one poster's specific circumstances, and his circumstances strongly suggest he should stay.

I mean, the point of Arrow's entire transfer article is basically: "you should transfer". The only person I know who is totally miserable and got OCI shut out transferred to GULC and focused on primarily DC for employment.

It's likely that few who transfer are "miserable" because most who do so have strongly weighed their options and decided beforehand that transferring was better than staying put. However, that doesn't mean that transferring is always the right choice for anyone who can; there are also those who stay put and are happy with their choice, as well. Sometimes it makes more sense to stay put, and whether or not that's true depends on facts unique to each person's school and position.

There's no "you should always transfer" rule of thumb. If that's what's confusing you, then let me make that clear: There's no clear rule that says transferring is always a good idea. Sometimes it's not. Whether you transfer should be based on weighing your circumstances, both in terms of where you are now and what schools you're likely to get into, and will make a lot more sense for some people than it does for others.

[patrickd139]

+1 to VW's comments. I would not give up 1/2 scholly + LR at a T1 unless I had a T6 acceptance, or a compelling personal reason to relocate.

Agreed. Happily turned down the same for T2, basically no debt, and LR. Very personal decision though and your results may vary.