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I'm ranked #1 at a school in the 30-40 range, and am on the fence about whether or not to transfer. I posted a "chance me" type thread earlier in the summer, expressing my feeling that H/Y/C were the only three schools I was certain I would transfer for. These choices do not appear to have worked out so I would appreciate a bit more feedback now that I've got to make a decision. In addition to my NYU acceptance, I was rejected at Harvard and Yale, in at Penn (didn't pay the deposit so it isn't an option), and still waiting at Columbia. NYU requires that I withdraw any currently pending applications, so depositing NYU and waiting on Columbia isn't on the table.

I made law review at my current school, and have a sizeable scholarship (the school is unwilling to increase my award, despite doing so for other students this year, which I admit irks me quite a bit). If I transfer my wife will not be joining me because she's currently in school as well.

My family is from New York originally, and I would prefer to work in NYC after graduation- my current school has a whopping ZERO NYC firms participating in our OCI. On the other hand, I enjoyed the firm I summered at and would probably prefer to work here than at a middle-of-the-road firm in New York if I end up striking out with all of the major players. If I ended up in that position I would consider splitting my summer between the lower-tier NYC firm and my current job, and possibly returning here following graduation (and kicking myself for taking on the additional debt).

Thoughts? When I started the summer I was a bit more hell-bent on needing to work in NY, but I ended up enjoying my summer experience more than I had anticipated. I also began the summer bullish on the idea that I would end up getting Harvard or Columbia, but again that didn’t happen.

I would like to clerk, and might consider doing the JD/MBA if I ended up at NYU (I’ve already taken and done well on the GMAT, and have ~8 years of work experience).

Any other questions, ask away. I’ve got all of about 2 days to make a decision at this point, and appreciate any comments, opinions, or advice.

Can you contact CLS and let them know you have a deadline approaching for a decision?

I would stay. Have you been mass mailing NYC? I would think a few firms would give you a look being #1 at a solid school.

Does your school ever place in NY? Because, if so, I might strongly consider sticking it out and going with mass mailing.

Mscarn23, if it weren’t for your wife, I would definitely give the edge to NYU.

You are clearly around your 30’s, and the extra debt sounds even more daunting to me at that age, but if you have a good amount in the bank (over 100k), the extra debt shouldn’t be a problem, but only you know your family’s financial situation. So because of your wife, and the extra debt, I see this as a true toss up, but probably still with a slight edge to NYU. However, only you know the strength of your marriage, as well as whether or not leaving for NYU will affect it. I suggest you think long and hard about your marriage before making this choice (obviously).

I wish you all the best, and thanks for being such a great contributor to TLS!

Also, I didn't vote, because without the above info, me voting would be pointless. But if I had to pick... NYU FTW, follow your dreams!

Have you mass mailed NY firms yet? I actually snagged a couple interviews with a lower rank at a lower school at some V50 schools before deciding to transfer to NYU.

Transfer if your goal is portable biglaw, academia, prestige. Stay if you want to work where your school is.

Tough to offer reasonable advice based on your post above & without knowing your current law school. Without enough information, my best guess is that you should stay with your wife, with your law review associates & with your scholarship--although my recommendation might change if you are attending one of several law schools in the 30-40 rank range.

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Thanks for the thoughtful responses. I guess it wouldn't be fair to say that Columbia would be a surefire yes, however I give it a much larger edge than most because of a personal affection for the school. It was my "dream" undergrad school (which didn't pan out), and as such I guess it holds an intangible appeal.

While NYU and Columbia are basically interchangable in terms of the quality of their law schools, the question of whether to transfer to NYU has taken on a more sterile/mathmatical analysis in my mind than Columbia would, simply because of my emotional connection to Columbia...

I've been married for 7 years, and have a strong relationship, though obviously 2 years would be a big strain on anybody.

To anyone browsing this thread, I decided to stay with my current school, and faxed my decline to NYU Friday evening (first time I've ever rejected a school outright. Very odd feeling). In the end, making the choice was exactly as I thought it would be if things came down to NYU- very tough. If the timeline had been a bit longer, maybe I would have more convisingly talked myself into attending, but who knows. Best of luck to everyone still waiting to hear!

mscarn23 wrote:To anyone browsing this thread, I decided to stay with my current school, and faxed my decline to NYU Friday evening (first time I've ever rejected a school outright. Very odd feeling). In the end, making the choice was exactly as I thought it would be if things came down to NYU- very tough. If the timeline had been a bit longer, maybe I would have more convisingly talked myself into attending, but who knows. Best of luck to everyone still waiting to hear!

I think that's a good choice (although, transferring would have been a good choice too: congrats! you didn't blow it and drop out.) This thread makes me realize what a black box transferring can be; did you apply late?

ndirish2010 wrote:I would stay. Have you been mass mailing NYC? I would think a few firms would give you a look being #1 at a solid school.

+1 to this post. I think you made the right decision to stay, but you definitely need to be mass mailing major NY firms. ASAP

Godspeed to you... Definitely a tough choice to make. At least now you've made up your mind and know where you will be! Good luck!

Just to update anyone who is interested- I ended up staying at my current T40 school, and going the mass-mail route since there were a total of ZERO NYC firms at my OCI.

I ended up sending out ~40 resumes, and took 4 callbacks in NYC- 2 V5, 2 V10. I received offers from one of the V5's and one of the V10's. I accepted the offer from the V10 on Monday (seemed like a much better fit for me personality-wise than the V5).

I'm not sure that I could have done any better with transferring, so I'm really happy with my decision not to jump ship (though I stand by my comments in my 1L study thread that gunning to transfer helped contribute to my success last year).

To everyone still looking for jobs out there, best of luck!

Congrats - glad to hear a great success story (both academic and job-search wise)!

mscarn23 wrote:Just to update anyone who is interested- I ended up staying at my current T40 school, and going the mass-mail route since there were a total of ZERO NYC firms at my OCI.

I ended up sending out ~40 resumes, and took 4 callbacks in NYC- 2 V5, 2 V10. I received offers from one of the V5's and one of the V10's. I accepted the offer from the V10 on Monday (seemed like a much better fit for me personality-wise than the V5).

I'm not sure that I could have done any better with transferring, so I'm really happy with my decision not to jump ship (though I stand by my comments in my 1L study thread that gunning to transfer helped contribute to my success last year).

To everyone still looking for jobs out there, best of luck!

You easily made the right call, I think. Congrats on the job.

mscarn23 wrote:Just to update anyone who is interested- I ended up staying at my current T40 school, and going the mass-mail route since there were a total of ZERO NYC firms at my OCI.

I ended up sending out ~40 resumes, and took 4 callbacks in NYC- 2 V5, 2 V10. I received offers from one of the V5's and one of the V10's. I accepted the offer from the V10 on Monday (seemed like a much better fit for me personality-wise than the V5).

I'm not sure that I could have done any better with transferring, so I'm really happy with my decision not to jump ship (though I stand by my comments in my 1L study thread that gunning to transfer helped contribute to my success last year).

To everyone still looking for jobs out there, best of luck!

It's great to hear everything worked out for you. A lot of people wouldn't have been brave enough to turn down NYU, but obviously it was the right choice in your case.

as a young family (with no kids), the risk of jeopardizing your marriage is less during a time of separation, you both are concentrating on ur careers... and now is the time to do it. weight in your options in terms of future prospects firms... i would personally stay in new york for better ops, hire a SPAMMER for your scouting and mass mailing...

Spammer nuked.