Transfering after 2nd Year? Forum

[Tier4Baller]

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[ben4847]

Well, you could probably transfer and start as a 2L.

[BaiAilian2013]

I know somebody who did a "visiting" 3L year but got the degree from the 3L school. Doesn't seem very much like visiting to me and I don't know it's true firsthand though.

[concurrent fork]

You won't start with 3L standing at the new school unless you're visiting. AFAIK, there's no ABA standard that requires you to transfer in as a 2L, but every school worth transferring to has such a policy.

You may be able to sacrifice all of your 2L credits and get in somewhere (although I don't know of anyone who has done this), but bear in mind that employers will see what you did and probably question why you were in law school for 4 years.

[patrickd139]

The following wall of text probably only applies if you're a full-time law student.

Almost every school worth transferring to (especially, considering you have a full ride) is going to have its own standards as far as how many hours they will accept. Almost every one of those schools is going to prohibit you from transferring more than about 30-35 semester hours (or two semesters' worth of hours). This maximum number of hours is almost always going to be a hard cap. No school (that I personally know of) will allow you to 'pick and choose' which hours count toward that hard cap. This is especially true if you're way above the cap. If you are above that hard cap, then you are usually going to be free to enroll as a visiting law student, but you're not going to be able to get your degree from the school you visit.

Second point: even if you are somehow able to transfer in as a 2L, almost every school requires that you complete a specified number of hours at their school to put their name on the degree. This number is almost always equal to 2 years' worth of classes. This means you'd be throwing away your time, money and hard work from the year you're in the middle of right now. Think about that: you're throwing away an entire year of your life, plus living expenses for that year.

On an entirely different, but related, front is employment. Even if (by some miracle loophole I'm not aware of) you're successful in transferring, employers are absolutely going to see what you did when they look at your resume and transcript during the interview process. Most law students 'transfer up' to get access to "big law" jobs (or the regional equivalent). At most schools, only certain classes are able to participate in the most lucrative crapshoot for those jobs: 2L OCI. At some schools (see: Fordham), transfer students aren't eligible to participate in 2L OCI at all. Even if you are, I would imagine you might have a tough time explaining to employers why you spent two years at one school, and two years at another school, and four years total, to do something that should take a 'normal' law student 3 years to complete. This reeks of inefficiency.

What this means for you: as a rising 3L, you're going to be above the hard cap for most schools worth transferring to, since you've presumably completed more hours than a 1L. If you're hellbent on trying this plan, then call the admissions office of whatever school(s) you want to transfer to.

Transferring is for rising 2Ls. Visiting is for rising 3Ls. Them's the facts, as far as I know.