Top Law Schools

In other words, should I stay or should I go?

I'm at a mid-T1 in a small-southern town. Still waiting on one grade, but GPA currently sits at a 3.9 (so realistically will end up somewhere between 3.85 and 3.95) - grades currently are A+, A+, A, B+, B, one waiting (probably an A or A-). Looking at previous years, this is probably somewhere between top 3 and top 5 %. Trying to figure out if I should stay or I should transfer - I'd love to end up at S, but I think it's a longshot. Do I have a shot at CCN?

My goals:

1. Clerkship after law school, followed by biglaw
2. Eventually work in IP

Is it worth transferring? If so, where do I have a shot at? S? CCN? Penn and NW?

Do it. If you get anywhere from HYSCCNMVPB, you should go

No offense intended, but does anyone who's not a 0L have an opinion?

Any advice?

Go for it. With your numbers you'll likely get CCN unless you botch the App. S might be a stretch, but you certainly won't get in without applying. Good luck.

Transfer, and apply to all T14 that you'd consider going to, you never know what will stick.

This is assuming your current school doesn't place well in the region you want to practice?

From what I've heard, transferring to S is nearly impossible, but with your grades it's worth a shot.

Lastly, well done

Pilaf Rocket wrote:Transfer, and apply to all T14 that you'd consider going to, you never know what will stick.

This is assuming your current school doesn't place well in the region you want to practice?

From what I've heard, transferring to S is nearly impossible, but with your grades it's worth a shot.

Lastly, well done

Thanks .

We have 20ish firms coming to OCI this fall - my school places well in the city I want to practice in, and it's cheap(!), but there's the temptation of:

1. Having a much bigger name on your resume.
2. The possibility of more prestigious clerkships/firms in other cities.

I submitted Stanford last night, and will probably take a crack at H, Chicago, P, and maybe NU.

Just to play devils advocate. If your school places well in the city you want to practice in, it may rub some interviewers the wrong way that you transfered from a school that is presumably the same that many of those attorneys went to. For example, I do not know how it would be viewed amongst the Atlanta firms (who have many Emory and UGA grads) when they interview a student who has transfered from the school they went to. Same thing for UNC within the state of North Carolina. I am not saying do not transfer, but I would think about this aspect if you know that you want that market. I just know in my situation a couple of years ago it was better to stay at my mid T-1 school and be at the top of the class than transfer because I was dead set on big law in the city that was located within the state of my school. That being said this is just how I would feel as an alumni of my school interviewing students in a couple of years. As for clerkships, that is completely dependent on how well your school places.

mebeSajid wrote:

Pilaf Rocket wrote:Transfer, and apply to all T14 that you'd consider going to, you never know what will stick.

This is assuming your current school doesn't place well in the region you want to practice?

From what I've heard, transferring to S is nearly impossible, but with your grades it's worth a shot.

Lastly, well done

Thanks .

We have 20ish firms coming to OCI this fall - my school places well in the city I want to practice in, and it's cheap(!), but there's the temptation of:

1. Having a much bigger name on your resume.
2. The possibility of more prestigious clerkships/firms in other cities.

I submitted Stanford last night, and will probably take a crack at H, Chicago, P, and maybe NU.

Just got an e-mail from NYU Career Services congratulating me on being accepted. Some quick research suggests that it would cost me roughly 50k/year more to attend NYU. I'm really, really conflicted.

mebeSajid wrote:Just got an e-mail from NYU Career Services congratulating me on being accepted. Some quick research suggests that it would cost me roughly 50k/year more to attend NYU. I'm really, really conflicted.

If your goals are clerkships and BigLaw, I personally think you should transfer.

Congrats, btw, though now is the hard part.

vanwinkle wrote:

mebeSajid wrote:Just got an e-mail from NYU Career Services congratulating me on being accepted. Some quick research suggests that it would cost me roughly 50k/year more to attend NYU. I'm really, really conflicted.

If your goals are clerkships and BigLaw, I personally think you should transfer.

Congrats, btw, though now is the hard part.

For the biggest of law, transfer no-brainer. But OPs current school places extremely well into Art. III clerkships (better than T-14 except for the usual suspects), so that's tough.

vanwinkle wrote:

mebeSajid wrote:Just got an e-mail from NYU Career Services congratulating me on being accepted. Some quick research suggests that it would cost me roughly 50k/year more to attend NYU. I'm really, really conflicted.

If your goals are clerkships and BigLaw, I personally think you should transfer.

Congrats, btw, though now is the hard part.

I've had screeners from a few firms at job fairs, both in the secondary market my current school places well in, and in other larger markets - the school I'm at places quite well in its secondary market if you have the grades. My engineering background opens up doors in a few others (in addition to local market, I've had interviews with Chicago, NYC, Cali, DC and Seattle firms in the past week).

My school places quite well in Article III clerkships as well (as also mentioned by the poster above). If it wasn't for the debt, I'd have gone in a heartbeat. But I'm looking at:

1. The extra 100k that attending NYU costs (both in tuition and NYC CoL)
2. Having to pack up and move in a week

And comparing it against the plethora of biglaw options that NYU gives you.

It's not as straight forward a decision as it seems - that 100k is a lot of loan repayments, especially when compared to no debt upon graduation from my current school.

mebeSajid wrote:I've had screeners from a few firms at job fairs, both in the secondary market my current school places well in, and in other larger markets - the school I'm at places quite well in its secondary market if you have the grades. My engineering background opens up doors in a few others (in addition to local market, I've had interviews with Chicago, NYC, Cali, DC and Seattle firms in the past week).

My school places quite well in Article III clerkships as well (as also mentioned by the poster above). If it wasn't for the debt, I'd have gone in a heartbeat. But I'm looking at:

1. The extra 100k that attending NYU costs (both in tuition and NYC CoL)
2. Having to pack up and move in a week

And comparing it against the plethora of biglaw options that NYU gives you.

It's not as straight forward a decision as it seems - that 100k is a lot of loan repayments, especially when compared to no debt upon graduation from my current school.

Oh, holy shit, you're an engineer? And literally no debt? That changes things dramatically. I'd like to recast my vote, you should stay.

You have top grades, no debt and already have had interviews? Definitely stay.
And no, I'm not saying that just because I have yet to hear from NYU .

The federal judge I'm working for right now, and her clerks (one of whom went to H) said the same thing you guys are saying.