Chicago Transfer Class of 2013 Forum

[NakedPowerOrgan]

Congrats to everyone else accepted. This will be thread in which we can try to figure out what "contingent on consistent performance" means and how many years it's been since a transfer wrote onto law review.

[starchinkilt]

Congrats to everyone else accepted. This will be thread in which we can try to figure out what "contingent on consistent performance" means and how many years it's been since a transfer wrote onto law review.

This thread is just going to be you and the one other person they take during ED

[NakedPowerOrgan]

Congrats to everyone else accepted. This will be thread in which we can try to figure out what "contingent on consistent performance" means and how many years it's been since a transfer wrote onto law review.

This thread is just going to be you and the one other person they take during ED

......






I'm sure a number of people will be let in once Chicago starts doing RD apps. I guess this thread will be here for them then. In the meantime, maybe some current students who transferred in can stop by? I'm generally curious about how many transfer applicants, out of those who try, get on any journal.

[zcc2012]

In the meantime, maybe some current students who transferred in can stop by? I'm generally curious about how many transfer applicants, out of those who try, get on any journal.

Transfer class of 2012:
0 on Law Review
4 on CJIL
0 on Legal Forum

[NakedPowerOrgan]

In the meantime, maybe some current students who transferred in can stop by? I'm generally curious about how many transfer applicants, out of those who try, get on any journal.

Transfer class of 2012:
0 on Law Review
4 on CJIL
0 on Legal Forum

Interesting. Thanks. Would have expected at least one in Legal Forum, but four students in CJIL seems vaguely impressive...

[tycho_brahe]

Do many more than 4 transfers actually participate in the write-on? I would think the number would be pretty low, considering how few students are accepted ED.

[bizen boat]

The best part about transferring is having a great excuse for not being on a journal! I know some of my fellow transfers have really enjoyed their journal shiz though, so go ahead and write on if you're so inclined.

Anyway, I just wanted to pop in to answer any questions you might have. I got in via early decision last year from BC.

[NakedPowerOrgan]

The best part about transferring is having a great excuse for not being on a journal! I know some of my fellow transfers have really enjoyed their journal shiz though, so go ahead and write on if you're so inclined.

Anyway, I just wanted to pop in to answer any questions you might have. I got in via early decision last year from BC.

Very cool - thanks for the offer. How do transfer students go about hammering out a plan for OCI in terms of who you interview with, etc.? Anything in general that you wish you would have known going in a transfer or that you would have done differently?

[bizen boat]

Very cool - thanks for the offer. How do transfer students go about hammering out a plan for OCI in terms of who you interview with, etc.? Anything in general that you wish you would have known going in a transfer or that you would have done differently?

OCI strategy is going to vary greatly depending upon the particular background of the transfer. From my experience, the most important factors were:
1. interviewing skills (basically just how personable you are b/c they almost never ask any actually difficult questions).
2. ties to a location. In my case, I only bid on Chicago/Midwest, which is where I have ties.
3. work experience, if only to have something interesting to talk about during interviews.

Grades didn't come up at all. They will assume you were at the top of your class b/c you transferred. My grades weren't even that good (yay early decision!), but it didn't seem to matter.

I know a lot of the transfers are going to the best firms in Chicago and New York. I bid really conservatively and ended up with a lot of callbacks and offers, but my one regret is that I focused so much on firms in the middle of the Vault rankings that I didn't even give myself a chance at the very top firms.

[tycho_brahe]

I have an easy question--how many credits/courses does one take per quarter? You'd be surprised how hard this information is to find on the website.

[zcc2012]

I have an easy question--how many credits/courses does one take per quarter? You'd be surprised how hard this information is to find on the website.

Between 9 and 12 credits a quarter. I think the max is 13 credits/quarter, but there's no reason to do that to yourself. You need 105 credits to graduate, and if you've taken the classes that UChicago 1Ls take, you'll get 40 credits for your 1L coursework. That leaves 65 credits spread across 6 quarters.

[NakedPowerOrgan]

My grades weren't even that good (yay early decision!), but it didn't seem to matter.

Is this because your grades dropped your second 1L semester (yes, this is something I personally am very worried about right now)? I'm really curious as to what Chicago means by "consistent performance" and how quick they would be to drop the hammer on an ED admit whose second semester wasn't up to snuff.

I ask about OCI strategy mainly because I'm transferring from a T10, and I'm trying to decide if the best way to proceed would be to do all my bidding and such as if I was still at my old school, but at a different locale. It seems like it would be a little different situation than a transfer who, e.g. rocked 1L at a mid/lower T1 (I don't know if that's you or not).

[bizen boat]

Well, I went from being in the top 10 students to being in the top 15%. Standing alone, my second semester GPA would have only had me in the top 1/3. I think maybe 2 Chicago firms came to BC's OCI, and I wanted to work in Chicago. You could say transferring was a pretty integral part of my OCI strategy, then. I would imagine that the top firms from most of the big cities already come to your old school's OCI, so your bid strategy is likely to be similar to whatever you would have done there.

Some would say that because your transfer is lateral, you won't getting a "bump," and in fact might even be hurt slightly because interviewers (quite often UoC alums) won't be as familiar with your school. I don't know if I subscribe to that theory, but the safest route is just to bid like you would have had you stayed at your old school.

[NakedPowerOrgan]

Just wondering if any transfers felt the fact that they didn't manage to write onto any journal hurt them at OCI (alternatively, if you did write onto a journal, did you see it helping at all for OCI?).

Also: Looks like there were a total of seven ED transfer admits.

[Transferthrowaway]

Anyone commit already? It looks like I'll be in HP next year.

[TransferRisk]

Anyone still under review at Chicago?

[tww909]

Anyone still under review at Chicago?

+1

[mebeSajid]

Anyone still under review at Chicago?

+1

+2

[NakedPowerOrgan]

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 7&t=155329

Two months ahead of you

[Chiglaw]

Anyone still under review at Chicago?

+1

+2

+3 (sigh)

[buxfactor]

I don't think being on a journal harmed anyone's employment chances, as long as you had the grades, good interviewing skills, and some good experiences to talk about. Also, from my friends who did write on to a journal (as transfers), I didn't notice any difference in the firms they are working at.

If anyone has questions re: transferring / U Chicago Law / housing in HP, please shoot me a PM. I don't check these boards frequently, but figure I should now since I'm helping out with transfer orientation!

[ToTransferOrNot]

Re journals:

C/O 2012:

Worth noting that one of the transfers on CJIL made executive editor, and was really close to making EIC.

C/O 2011 from the write-on competiton:

0 LR
0 Legal Forum (I think one person was invited to Legal Forum and turned it down)
1 CJIL (ended up comments/developments editor)

Subsequently, one person noted-on to Law Review (not soon enough to get an editorial board position,) and one noted-on to Legal Forum.

I was the CJIL person. I don't think I would have gotten my 2L summer job without the journal, but I was CO 2011 and only bid on Chicago firms (bad - Chicago was *dead* in our OCI), I pulled the "I haven't made up my mind between lit and corporate!" in OCI interviews (bad, though still true to this day - go bankruptcy!), don't have significant work experience, and am generally just not the world's best interviewer.

In C/O 2010, someone also noted-on to LR, early enough to get on ed board, and got managing editor.

Re: "consistent performance" - for CO 2011 and 2012, it meant "you didn't epic fail" - lots of people had moderate drops in grades and noone was revoked. C/O 2013 *could* be different because the class in general is over-enrolled (and there will be a smaller overall transfer class than prior years as a result). Frankly though, I think it will stay the same as previous years.

Re: the "lateral transfer" - we had someone transfer from Northwestern to Chicago in C/O 2011; she did very well in OCI.

Re: credits - USE ONE OF YOUR 9-CREDIT QUARTERS IN YOUR 2L AUTUMN QUARTER. It will let you get acclimated to the quarter system. I think this is very important.

Re: other thoughts. The 3L hiring process matters a lot for transfers who do reasonably well in 2L year. I can think of 5 people off the top of my head who "upgraded" in 3L OCI/mass-mailing. Also, you should mass-mail in addition to 2L OCI - one of the C/O 2012 transfers didn't have much luck via OCI, but landed V5 via his letters.

[Dany]

I'll just be a lowly 1L in the fall, but I wanted to say congrats to the transfer admits and I'm glad you'll be in Hyde Park next year!

Sort of relevant - one of my absolute favorite people I met during my visit was a transfer. He had done really well (awesome SA position) and seemed really well acclimated and fit in perfectly with other students after just two quarters.

[NakedPowerOrgan]

C/O 2011 from the write-on competiton:

0 LR
0 Legal Forum (I think one person was invited to Legal Forum and turned it down)
1 CJIL (ended up comments/developments editor)

Wow. That is not very encouraging. What's the reason not many transfers write on? Is it just that not a lot make a go at it?

Re: other thoughts. The 3L hiring process matters a lot for transfers who do reasonably well in 2L year. I can think of 5 people off the top of my head who "upgraded" in 3L OCI/mass-mailing. Also, you should mass-mail in addition to 2L OCI - one of the C/O 2012 transfers didn't have much luck via OCI, but landed V5 via his letters.

Can you go into this more? I'm a little confused. The student did 2L OCI (and OCI which every v5 attends) but got a job with a V5 outside of OCI during his 2L year? I'm mass-mailing firms that aren't coming to OCI, but it seems a little silly to mass-mail firms that come.

[mebeSajid]

I'm wondering if the people who are still under review are basically a waitlist.