Top Law Schools

Hi all,
So basically my story is that I had a really tough time adjusting to school last semester (various reasons) and long story short I pretty much bombed first semester. I'm at a school ranked 23 and I really want to get back home to Los Angeles, do you guys think I have any shot at USC or UCLA or even UCI? I know I can boost my grades a bit this semester but I guess what I'm asking is would a school overlook poor grades and see that I'm from LA and that I clearly want to practice there and all my ties are there? Or would this just an automatic no?

Comments/advice/opinions are greatly appreciated, thanks

What is your approximate class rank?

You're trying to transfer up with really low grades... not looking good. Try whatever you can to get your grades up and just give it a go.

I wouldn't think you have a shot being at one of those #23 schools to effectively transfer up unless you're top 20%, at least. Except ND, which admittedly I don't know much about, the other schools currently ranked 23 (Davis, Ill, IUB) are widely discussed here on TLS and elsewhere to be over-ranked. For example, for Davis, its wildly exaggerated employment claims and its recent embarrassingly low CA bar passage rate (relatively, http://abovethelaw.com/2012/01/californ ... s-deepens/) are issues likely affecting its perception beyond US News ranking. I know Davis and the others are good schools, but I'd think they're perceived at UCLA/USC as anything but semi-peers. Irvine's probably no different with its lofty aspirations of becoming a top school. Is it even taking transfers yet?

Just work really hard this semester and see what happens. If you improve significantly, at least you could make an argument regardless of your class rank.

The above posters are probably right. USC (according to their website, anyway), doesn't even accept transfer apps unless you're in the top 20%. I'm sure they make exceptions for schools ranked higher than themselves, but doubtful if you're from Davis. UCLA probably has similar or more stringent standards.

I guess Irvine might be worth a try. If you know you want to be in LA, try Loyola. It's a step down in the rankings, but if you truly did bomb last semester then there aren't many other options.

Seems to me that if you have bad grades, the only thing you really have going for you is the ranking of your school. I feel like you would be in a much worse situation if you transferred down. Then again you have ties to LA; maybe someone from your school can tell you how badly your lack of ties to whatever region, i'm guessing you are at ND, will hurt you.

partyrock wrote:Seems to me that if you have bad grades, the only thing you really have going for you is the ranking of your school. I feel like you would be in a much worse situation if you transferred down. Then again you have ties to LA; maybe someone from your school can tell you how badly your lack of ties to whatever region, i'm guessing you are at ND, will hurt you.

If you're at IUB and you're on a $40k+ scholly like most of the kids here, I would tough it out unless you can manage to xfer to USC or UCLA. It is hard to justify forgoing $80k + taking on much higher COL for job prospects which may not be even better and could be worse.

If adjusting to a smaller town is one of the problems you're having, I can certainly relate, but I would think twice about incurring all that debt.