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I'm currently contemplating transferring from a T40 to a T14. My first instinct was "this is definitely worth it" for reasons I'll explain later. However, others (specifically a family member who's currently in the field) has suggested I stay where I am. Here's a full read-out of my stats:

Current school
Rank: T40
Scholarship? No
Cost of finishing at this school (cost per credit hour x credits needed): $52,800
Class Rank: They don't rank, but I have a 3.76 which is well within 10% at many schools with a similar curve
Career advantages: None
Journals: Good chance of getting on at least one journal if not law review

Prospective school
Rank: Bottom end of T14
Cost of finishing at this school: $103,850
Career advantages: Tax law?
Journals: Law review is available to transfer students, but I imagine my odds are slim

My reasons for wanting to transfer
National placement. Make more money.

Reasons not to go, as provided by someone in the legal industry (though not my area of law)
1. The legal industry, public and private, isn't what it was in 2010
2. I could end up with a lot of debt and no job
3. This person knows a graduate from the T14 school who is currently bussing tables. He supposedly finished in the middle of the class.

Lastly, this T14 is my only transfer option. It's the only T14 in the area and I'm a part-time student working full-time. There is one other school in the area, but it's T20ish, costs the same as the T14 and would be a significantly harder commute for me. So fuck that shit.

I suppose the ultimate question is "should I take on twice as much debt when getting a job is apparently much harder than it used to be?"

3|ink wrote: Prospective school
Rank: Bottom end of T14
Cost of finishing at this school: $103,850
Career advantages: Renowned for its public interest programs. (I'm currently deciding between tax and securities law).
Journals: Law review is available to transfer students, but I imagine my odds are slim

My reasons for wanting to transfer
Great program for public interest law. I've wanted to go into securities since before starting law school. And my understanding is that a federal job would help you pay-off your federal loans faster in some circumstances.

First off, might as well say Georgetown.

Second, I don't get what your career focus is. If you want to work in bigfed doing securities regulation or tax law, that would generally not be considered "public interest" work and you will confuse people by referring to your goals as public interest.

If you mean real public interest, I don't think GULC is as renowned as you think, other than it being a T14 school, which means job prospects are decent overall. But if you have no scholarship, it is probably worth exploring.

Wholigan wrote:

3|ink wrote: Prospective school
Rank: Bottom end of T14
Cost of finishing at this school: $103,850
Career advantages: Renowned for its public interest programs. (I'm currently deciding between tax and securities law).
Journals: Law review is available to transfer students, but I imagine my odds are slim

My reasons for wanting to transfer
Great program for public interest law. I've wanted to go into securities since before starting law school. And my understanding is that a federal job would help you pay-off your federal loans faster in some circumstances.

First off, might as well say Georgetown.

Second, I don't get what your career focus is. If you want to work in bigfed doing securities regulation or tax law, that would generally not be considered "public interest" work and you will confuse people by referring to your goals as public interest.

If you mean real public interest, I don't think GULC is as renowned as you think, other than it being a T14 school, which means job prospects are decent overall. But if you have no scholarship, it is probably worth exploring.

Embarrassing. It's more accurate to say that I'm aiming towards corporate and securities regulation and/or taxation. I'd be open to starting in the public sector of one of those two.

This is hard. Are you comfortable living and working in the region that your current school is in? If so, and you aren't set on biglaw, it may make sense to stay at your current school, take law review, do well at OCI, etc.

Alternatively, transferring is probably best if you want to do biglaw or have some serious cajones. You'll probably do well at your new school, but there's always a chance you'll be back at median and end up in a worse spot than you would have been had you stayed (IMO T40, $50k debt, top 10% > T14, $100k, median).

Hopefully someone else can help you more.

I'll play.

Current School
Rank: UF/FSU
Scholarship: $0
Cost of finishing at this school: $0 (Generous parents)
Class Rank: Top 6%
Career Advantages: FL native and love it. I wouldnt mind leaving for a few years, but I would be most happy being south of I-4. (For non-floridians, Orlando and south )
Journals: If I dont drop too far, I will grade on law review.

Prospective School
Schools: GULC(EA already sent), anywhere else but NW, Berk, and Cornell. (Very arbitrary, but just my personal list)
Cost of Finishing: I would probably incur less than 50k of debt anywhere I would go.

Reasons for transfer: Broader career options. Better chance at biglaw. Probably better chance of biglaw in FL also.

Reasons not to go: I love Florida. Zero debt is always a plus. Being in the top 10% will probably give me a solid shot at mid-big firms in FL.

Although I am kind of a prestige whore and would love a diploma that is from a national school, I highly value the prospects of no debt. So, should I throw away the option of zero debt and decent prospects for relatively small debt better and broader career options???????

shock259 wrote:This is hard. Are you comfortable living and working in the region that your current school is in? If so, and you aren't set on biglaw, it may make sense to stay at your current school, take law review, do well at OCI, etc.

That depends on how you define comfortable. I like it here, but I'd like to have the option of moving around.

And I wouldn't mind biglaw, but I haven't decided that's where I want to end up.

shock259 wrote: Alternatively, transferring is probably best if you want to do biglaw or have some serious cajones. You'll probably do well at your new school, but there's always a chance you'll be back at median and end up in a worse spot than you would have been had you stayed (IMO T40, $50k debt, top 10% > T14, $100k, median).

Hopefully someone else can help you more.

I've got the balls. I'll probably go for it. Thanks for the advice.