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so, I end with exams on the 6th. on the 7th I plan to go to school and ask two professors for letters of rec. Unfortunately, I don't have many profs that I really am close with and the one prof I am close with is very closely related to the dean, but I still think since I got the highest grade in that class and that prof loves students and would do anything for them I will ask her and maybe my LRW prof depending on how I do on my open memo - if not I will ask another random prof. Hopefully they will get those done sometime in early-mid may.

Going to write a Personal statement before the 20th.

Then fill out rest of the transfer school apps.

Get a letter of certification from school...

anything else I need to do? What should I plan on getting done early, what are the hardest parts of the app? getting profs to actually get letters of rec back?

Im just really scared to start planning before I get my grades back....

I was top 10% from a lower T1 school hoping to crack T14 or BC or BU....

by lower I mean 40-50 ranking

Make sure you get two LoRs. You should ask professors NOW. Don't wait, ask asap. You generally want to give professors a month to get their LoRs done. You are getting pretty close to 1 month from the deadline for some schools so you should get on the ball now.

Also, try to get your applications done sometime in early or mid-May (everything but grades/LoR submitted). Some schools start accepting in early/mid June and you don't want your application to have not been reviewed prior to the initial acceptances.


My plan is similar to yours. I will work on my PS the second week of May and I intend to have everything done by the 15th. I will send my applications out around the 15th other than for schools that might not have opened their admissions window by then (I am fairly certain all the schools I am applying to have opened their transfer app window).

The final grades and letters of good standing only need to go out after your Spring grades are available. No rush on these. Worry about them after finals but make sure you order them soon after finals.

Request letters of good standing now, unless the school's website actually says post spring semester, GA and Emory do, but 14 other schools didn't mention it. Also, you can file your transcript request forms now if your school is like mine and just check the wait until term grades are up. Finally, LOR should have been requested in February. Professors have 5 million exams to grade right now so I would guess a month would be the minimum wait. I would have also started drafting the personal statement a while ago, maybe I just like to take my time.

Headybrah wrote:I was top 10% from a lower T1 school hoping to crack T14 or BC or BU....

Aim higher unless you have personal reasons to be in boston. And talk to your profs about the LORs now.

what is best way to ask for letter for rec? e-mail?

and Im guessing the letters should be for first semester profs since I wont know grades for second?

always ask for LOR in person, if possible.

wish I had fostered better relationships with profs. oh well!

maf70 wrote:always ask for LOR in person, if possible.

This. Also, do it yesterday.

Better to ask via email now than wait and ask in person later. Always best to ask in person when possible, but you are really late in the game for LoR requests. Send an email saying you want to meet them regarding an LoR request. That way you can schedule a meeting and put them on notice asap.

random5483 wrote:Better to ask via email now than wait and ask in person later. Always best to ask in person when possible, but you are really late in the game for LoR requests. Send an email saying you want to meet them regarding an LoR request. That way you can schedule a meeting and put them on notice asap.

Let me start by saying that this is a perfectly defensible view, although I dispute somewhat the "really late in the game" statement.

However, just for a different point of view, I didn't meet with my profs until immediately after finals to request transfer LoRs, and everything worked out just fine. Work on the parts of your apps that you can get in as soon as the apps open up, and meet with your professors as soon as possible to talk about LoRs. I personally wouldn't want to mention the LoR issue by email, but would instead just email about setting up a time to meet and then bring it up in person. But if you feel comfortable doing it I don't think it's a big deal either way.

When I met w/my profs in early May, and talked to them about letters, I just told them that most applications were due by the beginning of June, and they had absolutely no problem getting them in by that time. One thing that can help in terms of rushing though is getting your fall transcript in immediately w/your app, supplementing w/unofficial spring grades as soon as they come out, and then sending official 1L transcript/rank once they become available.

There is a lot of good info stickied in the transfer forum, but if anyone has any specific questions re transferring let me know.

Ask in person, and also ask the professor who you are wary about asking.

I had a similar professor - he has longstanding ties to university and on paper seemed like a bad candidate to ask. But he actually ended up being very supportive and understanding. As long you handle it with some tact, the worst that can happen is the professor politely declines.

Does anyone know if it is a problem if Dean Certs arrive before your transfer application is received? I didn't want to risk getting stuck waiting for Certs from UG/Grad schools but probably do not have time to get my application finished before the end of finals.

Your LORs should come from first semester profs and should have been submitted to lsac a few months ago. Asking a prof for an LOR to transfer law schools, where admissions is almost entirely grade based, when you have yet to receive a grade from that prof is very presumptuous and, were I that prof, would leave a very bad taste in my mouth.

bodhis wrote:Does anyone know if it is a problem if Dean Certs arrive before your transfer application is received? I didn't want to risk getting stuck waiting for Certs from UG/Grad schools but probably do not have time to get my application finished before the end of finals.

I just sent out my dean certs to my UG school today, even though most of my transfer apps won't go out for a couple weeks. I think it'll take them a while to get the certs out, plus they have your LSAC number on them, so I think the law schools will hold them if they happen to arrive before your app. I'm not positive though.

solidsnake wrote:Your LORs should come from first semester profs and should have been submitted to lsac a few months ago. Asking a prof for an LOR to transfer law schools, where admissions is almost entirely grade based, when you have yet to receive a grade from that prof is very presumptuous and, were I that prof, would leave a very bad taste in my mouth.

This is ahead of the game. I transferred and had my apps in before time, but didn't ask for LORs until the very end and after finals. I made it a point to talk to my 1st semester prof about transferring during the school year, but didn't ask him for a letter until May. My second letter was from a second semester prof, who I didn't ask for a letter until after grades were out. For him, after I received my grades I e mailed him (and another professor who I did well w/) for advice. Based on their response, I picked one and asked for a letter. Note, I did this via e-mail because I was on the other half of the country.

I think it is helpful to 'warn' the professor and give some background about what you're thinking and why. This makes it seem like you value their opinion and have thought it through. Only then should you ask for a letter.

Also, it should be noted that my 1L school got grades out fairly quickly, before June for the most part.

Wholigan wrote:

bodhis wrote:Does anyone know if it is a problem if Dean Certs arrive before your transfer application is received? I didn't want to risk getting stuck waiting for Certs from UG/Grad schools but probably do not have time to get my application finished before the end of finals.

I just sent out my dean certs to my UG school today, even though most of my transfer apps won't go out for a couple weeks. I think it'll take them a while to get the certs out, plus they have your LSAC number on them, so I think the law schools will hold them if they happen to arrive before your app. I'm not positive though.

I sent my Law School deans certs for Berkeley and Georgetown a while ago and I still haven't sent either of those apps (hoping to have my PS's done for those schools in the next few days); mostly because if I'm not in "good standing" after this semester I'm screwed for a transfer anyway . I'm also pretty sure the only T14's that ask for undergrad Dean Certs (based on the spreadsheet I compiled) are Columbia and NYU. Then again, I'm not applying to or looking at YHS, so maybe they need them too.