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I am a 1L at the University of Texas. I love it in Austin. But as Don Draper has taught us, just because you have a happy home doesn't mean your eyes can't wander. (In case you're wondering, it's because I want to do policy but not policy in Texas.)

UT wasn't the most highly ranked school I got into. I also got into Duke and the University of Pennsylvania. Now I'm curious about my chances of transferring to either Georgetown (to which I did not apply) or to Penn and above.

Obviously I haven't gotten any grades back yet, but I was just curious to hear other people discuss what a successful transfer process would look like. Thanks.

Seems a little silly that you are going to leave UT for schools you got into/ could have gotten into earlier. I suppose if you are interested in a specific field, policy, that you probably won't be able to do out of UT then a transfer might not be a terrible idea. However, I think you should do some research into the difference in cost between UT and your target schools and how much better off you will be in your chosen sub-field at the new institution. Obviously HYS would be an improvement, but I don't know if GULC is going to make your life any better.

I really can't imagine that you'd do much better as a UT -> Georgetown transfer than you would as a UT student with a great targeted mailing campaign. Then again, I might just be a particularly jaded transfer.

If you finish at/near the top you'll have a real shot at YHS (usually H since YS are tough to predict and take smaller classes). Other than that, I completely agree with this:

ThomasMN wrote: I think you should do some research into the difference in cost between UT and your target schools and how much better off you will be in your chosen sub-field at the new institution.

I'm just looking at the opportunities for 2Ls and it's making me realize that I probably should be in DC. If I stay in Austin, I can work in the Texas Capitol or in state agencies. If I was in DC, I could work for the CIA, SEC, DOJ, FBI and a whole host of other organizations plus the entirety of Capitol Hill during the school year.

I am aware that Texas is the second most important state in the country, but the individual might of Texas pales in comparison to the collective weight of the federal government.

Bump: all I want to know is what kind of grades I need to get to transfer laterally.

I don't know what to tell you man. I'm a 1L too at UT. I guess median could get you to GULC but they wouldn't give you any scholarships if they took you. But why do you want to transfer? If you did well enough to transfer, you'd be doing well enough to get policy work out of UT.

The 0L ban on transfer thread participation should be extended to first semester 1Ls.

That is all.

It seems that between the time you sent in your deposit to UT and now (probably under six months), your goals as to what you want to do as a lawyer changed completely. What's to say they won't change again in six months or twelve months? It happens to lots of law students. Don't worry about transferring for now. Forget about it completely and take stock in the spring semester after you have grades.

patrickd139 wrote:The 0L ban on transfer thread participation should be extended to first semester 1Ls.

That is all.

This this a million times this.

Bildungsroman wrote:

patrickd139 wrote:The 0L ban on transfer thread participation should be extended to first semester 1Ls.

That is all.

This this a million times this.

+ 1,000,001

I am a 1L and this is what I know so far. You are in a T14. It does not matter where you go...it matters where you spend your summers.

So do awesome at UT..... build connections.....spend summer interning in DC or NY or whereever.

jarofsoup wrote:I am a 1L and this is what I know so far. You are in a T14. It does not matter where you go...it matters where you spend your summers.

So do awesome at UT..... build connections.....spend summer interning in DC or NY or whereever.

Yes, this is correct. Also, transfers just slightly up or even laterally usually look for 1/3-1/4 and a damn good reason. Why would one school want to take a mediocre student from a peer?

P.S. If you got in and declined the offer, don't expect them to take you as a transfer no matter what.

Veyron wrote:P.S. If you got in and declined the offer, don't expect them to take you as a transfer no matter what.

Personal anecdotal experience tells me this is wrong.

Curiosity Bevo wrote:I am aware that Texas is the second most important state in the country, but the individual might of Texas pales in comparison to the collective weight of the federal government.

When did this happen? NY and CA are more important in every socioeconomic indicator (GDP, Population, etc...) Maybe in 50 years Texas will have eclipsed California. But by that time you will be near retirement...

Anyways, do well at Austin and you should have similar employment opportunities as (almost) the entire T14. Think about transferring if you can get into HYS -- or at the very least CCN.

kapital98 wrote:

Curiosity Bevo wrote:I am aware that Texas is the second most important state in the country, but the individual might of Texas pales in comparison to the collective weight of the federal government.

When did this happen? NY and CA are more important in every socioeconomic indicator (GDP, Population, etc...) Maybe in 50 years Texas will have eclipsed California. But by that time you will be near retirement...

It always peeves me when people make these inaccurate and unsubstantiated statements based on some anti-texas or anti-south bias. Actually, Texas has a larger population and higher GDP than NY. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U. ... _(nominal)

f0bolous wrote:

kapital98 wrote:

Curiosity Bevo wrote:I am aware that Texas is the second most important state in the country, but the individual might of Texas pales in comparison to the collective weight of the federal government.

When did this happen? NY and CA are more important in every socioeconomic indicator (GDP, Population, etc...) Maybe in 50 years Texas will have eclipsed California. But by that time you will be near retirement...

It always peeves me when people make these inaccurate and unsubstantiated statements based on some anti-texas or anti-south bias. Actually, Texas has a larger population and higher GDP than NY. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U. ... _(nominal)

Is this all a troll to get people to get worked about the contention that Texas is actually a T14 or that Texas is actually a peer school to schools like Penn?

Bildungsroman wrote:Is this all a troll to get people to get worked about the contention that Texas is actually a T14 or that Texas is actually a peer school to schools like Penn?

I think OP just has some "Texas is hot and I totally don't want to live here after law school despite getting a scholly and I fallaciously believed that its new-found T14 status would make it good for D.C. biglaw" remorse.

f0bolous wrote:

kapital98 wrote:

Curiosity Bevo wrote:I am aware that Texas is the second most important state in the country, but the individual might of Texas pales in comparison to the collective weight of the federal government.

When did this happen? NY and CA are more important in every socioeconomic indicator (GDP, Population, etc...) Maybe in 50 years Texas will have eclipsed California. But by that time you will be near retirement...

It always peeves me when people make these inaccurate and unsubstantiated statements based on some anti-texas or anti-south bias. Actually, Texas has a larger population and higher GDP than NY. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U. ... _(nominal)

Wow! I stand (partially) corrected. Production and population are both larger in Texas than NY. Thank you.

However, in NY's defense, it's GDP per capita is 25% higher than TX (do the math with the wikipedia article) and it has the largest regional economy in the U.S (NYC). Also, NYC is arguably the only international city in the U.S. (with the possible exception of LA). No Texas market can compare.

This isn't anti-Texas or anti-South trolling. The sunbelt is a developing region in the U.S. which has just recently (last ~30-50 years) started to catch up with the northeast. It will still be a while before Texas can be said to be "the second most important" state in the country.

kapital98 wrote:

f0bolous wrote:

kapital98 wrote:

Curiosity Bevo wrote:I am aware that Texas is the second most important state in the country, but the individual might of Texas pales in comparison to the collective weight of the federal government.

When did this happen? NY and CA are more important in every socioeconomic indicator (GDP, Population, etc...) Maybe in 50 years Texas will have eclipsed California. But by that time you will be near retirement...

It always peeves me when people make these inaccurate and unsubstantiated statements based on some anti-texas or anti-south bias. Actually, Texas has a larger population and higher GDP than NY. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U. ... _(nominal)

Wow! I stand (partially) corrected. Production and population are both larger in Texas than NY. Thank you.

However, in NY's defense, it's GDP per capita is 25% higher than TX (do the math with the wikipedia article) and it has the largest regional economy in the U.S (NYC). Also, NYC is arguably the only international city in the U.S. (with the possible exception of LA). No Texas market can compare.

This isn't anti-Texas or anti-South trolling. The sunbelt is a developing region in the U.S. which has just recently (last ~30-50 years) started to catch up with the northeast. It will still be a while before Texas can be said to be "the second most important" state in the country.

Similarly, China is not all that important of a country since their GDP per capita is so low. Also, its cities are not very international compared to the leading European municipalities. It will still be a while before we can say that China is the second most important state on the planet.

f0bolous wrote:
It always peeves me when people make these inaccurate and unsubstantiated statements based on some anti-texas or anti-south bias. Actually, Texas has a larger population and higher GDP than NY. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U. ... _(nominal)

I mean, I'm definitely not from Texas. But I'm not about to deny that Texas is a big deal. It also cracks me up that intelligent, thinking, research competent JD candidates can't look at Wikipedia for all of 30 seconds.

mrloblaw wrote: I think OP just has some "Texas is hot and I totally don't want to live here after law school despite getting a scholly and I fallaciously believed that its new-found T14 status would make it good for D.C. biglaw" remorse.

I don't want D.C. biglaw, I want to work for the SEC or the DOJ.

The reason for transferring now is because I was campaigning for an incumbent and it blew up. Seriously, it was a terrible loss. My quick-two-month disenchantment coincided perfectly with the window to apply and by the time I realized I still wanted to work government, I was beyond applying to GTown.

Curiosity Bevo wrote:

f0bolous wrote:
It always peeves me when people make these inaccurate and unsubstantiated statements based on some anti-texas or anti-south bias. Actually, Texas has a larger population and higher GDP than NY. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U. ... _(nominal)

I mean, I'm definitely not from Texas. But I'm not about to deny that Texas is a big deal. It also cracks me up that intelligent, thinking, research competent JD candidates can't look at Wikipedia for all of 30 seconds.

mrloblaw wrote: I think OP just has some "Texas is hot and I totally don't want to live here after law school despite getting a scholly and I fallaciously believed that its new-found T14 status would make it good for D.C. biglaw" remorse.

I don't want D.C. biglaw, I want to work for the SEC or the DOJ.

The reason for transferring now is because I was campaigning for an incumbent and it blew up. Seriously, it was a terrible loss. My quick-two-month disenchantment coincided perfectly with the window to apply and by the time I realized I still wanted to work government, I was beyond applying to GTown.

While Georgetown would be better for that than UT, I think it'd be primarily because you could do school year internships with agencies like that, building a resume for it during law school. You could see if the DoJ (other agencies too, but I'm betting DoJ would be most likely) accepts semester interns in your town. If you could find such an opportunity, that would shift the balance toward staying for me.

If you nail it and can transfer to HYS, that's another story.

mrloblaw wrote: If you nail it and can transfer to HYS, that's another story.

+1

Curiosity Bevo wrote:I don't want D.C. biglaw, I want to work for the SEC or the DOJ.

Step 1: Invent a time machine.
Step 2: Go to law school 7-10 years ago, so you could graduate at a time when these jobs were still attainable.

Curiosity Bevo wrote:The reason for transferring now is because I was campaigning for an incumbent and it blew up. Seriously, it was a terrible loss. My quick-two-month disenchantment coincided perfectly with the window to apply and by the time I realized I still wanted to work government, I was beyond applying to GTown.

That's not a reason for transferring.

Transferring involves significant sacrifices. You lose all the positive relationships you were building with your 1L professors, it may be more difficult to try out for LR or get on a journal you want, etc. You should only do it when there's a significant personal gain, either in terms of personal reasons for geographic relocation or in vastly improved employment opportunities.

You haven't given a valid reason for relocating. Wanting to work in DC isn't a valid reason, especially since you can apply for government jobs as a UT student. GULC will not give you substantially better chances at these jobs than staying at UT would. It probably would have given you some advantage if you'd gone there in the first place, but the truth is, your odds of getting a job at one of these two agencies right now is very low from either school. Your idea is like a lottery player moving from Florida to California because you have higher odds of winning Mega Millions than Powerball.

If you were beyond the deadline for GULC, and wanted to go there, that would have been a valid reason for waiting a year and reapplying.