t50 to yale or stanford ... am I dreaming? Forum

[marycrawley]

I am currently attending a t1 school (at the lower end of things), and I think I might be ranked first in the class (I'm not sure if I'm first, but I did get straight A's and finished with the highest grade in several of my classes, so I'm up there somewhere).

I am very very happy at my current school, way happier than I actually thought I would be, and I assume I'll be able to get a job from OCI from my current school, though I'll be limited a bit regionally. I guess I'm wondering whether its worth it to consider applying for Stanford or Yale (and sort of Columbia/Harvard/Berkeley/NYU).

I know with such small transfer class for Stanford and Yale, its going to be a crapshoot. The original plan was to do Biglaw, but I see my friends are absolutely miserable working in firms, so I'm wondering if I should try and expand my horizons. I do have a biglaw job lined up for this summer, so hopefully that'll give me a better idea of what I want to do. My preference in terms of working are NYC/Bay Area tied, with DC close behind. I haven't given academia/clerkships that much consideration, just because I never thought I'd even be in a position to consider such things.

Is it better to be big fish in a small pond? Do I even have a chance at Stanford or Yale? What schools do you think are worth it to transfer to, given what you lose in terms of relationships with professors/scholarships/etc?

(If it makes a difference, I am not a URM, my LSAT wasn't anything special, and my undergrad GPA was truly abominable, albeit from a great school. I did go to office hours a lot, so if they're willing, I think my professors can write decent LORs)

[spleenworship]

I would try it and only if you get in would I worry about it. But personally if I was number 1 at my T2 and thought I could get HYS I would do it even though I am very happy with my school. Fact is that the opportunities at those schools are amazing, life changing, and even just above median at HYS probably has better opportunities than your current school.

Happy to be corrected if others know more though, just a 1L.

[Wholigan]

That disappointed that H dropped to third this year, huh?

There is a poster here who transferred from Wisconsin to SLS last year, and he has said they took one person from a T2 and a few from lower T1s, so if you're around #1 in your class at a lower T1, you might as well try if you are going to be playing the transfer game. I don't recall seeing anything around here about Yale reaching down that far in recent cycles, but not every transfer posts on TLS or transfer apps. You might as well try if you are going to the trouble of applying to other schools.

Is your biglaw job for this summer in one of your preferred markets, or would you likely need to transfer to get into one of those markets?

[Br3v]

I am currently attending a t1 school (at the lower end of things), and I think I might be ranked first in the class (I'm not sure if I'm first, but I did get straight A's and finished with the highest grade in several of my classes, so I'm up there somewhere).

I am very very happy at my current school, way happier than I actually thought I would be, and I assume I'll be able to get a job from OCI from my current school, though I'll be limited a bit regionally. I guess I'm wondering whether its worth it to consider applying for Stanford or Yale (and sort of Columbia/Harvard/Berkeley/NYU).

I know with such small transfer class for Stanford and Yale, its going to be a crapshoot. The original plan was to do Biglaw, but I see my friends are absolutely miserable working in firms, so I'm wondering if I should try and expand my horizons. I do have a biglaw job lined up for this summer, so hopefully that'll give me a better idea of what I want to do. My preference in terms of working are NYC/Bay Area tied, with DC close behind. I haven't given academia/clerkships that much consideration, just because I never thought I'd even be in a position to consider such things.

Is it better to be big fish in a small pond? Do I even have a chance at Stanford or Yale? What schools do you think are worth it to transfer to, given what you lose in terms of relationships with professors/scholarships/etc?

(If it makes a difference, I am not a URM, my LSAT wasn't anything special, and my undergrad GPA was truly abominable, albeit from a great school. I did go to office hours a lot, so if they're willing, I think my professors can write decent LORs)

go for it why not

[CanadianWolf]

Are you currently enrolled at a Tier One law school or at Northeastern ?

[spleenworship]

Are you currently enrolled at a Tier One law school or at Northeastern ?

I am currently attending a t1 school (at the lower end of things), and I think I might be ranked first in the class (I'm not sure if I'm first, but I did get straight A's and finished with the highest grade in several of my classes, so I'm up there somewhere)

[concurrent fork]

Curious why you're only "sort of" interested in H? Their transfer class is larger than YS and gives you the best chance of admission.

Anyway, blanket the T6 and decide once acceptances roll in.

[keg411]

Curious why you're only "sort of" interested in H? Their transfer class is larger than YS and gives you the best chance of admission.

Anyway, blanket the T6 and decide once acceptances roll in.

+1.

Also, OP shouldn't assume, even at #1, that he/she is a lock at H (and fa from from it at YS). Transfer cycles can be weird, which is why the "blanket the T6" advice is best since some schools might treat lower T1's similarly to T2's However, I definitely think the entire T6 is worth applying to unless OP wants to stay in the market of the current T1. There is no harm in staying with #1, LR, etc.

[Br3v]

Curious why you're only "sort of" interested in H? Their transfer class is larger than YS and gives you the best chance of admission.

Anyway, blanket the T6 and decide once acceptances roll in.

+1.

Also, OP shouldn't assume, even at #1, that he/she is a lock at H (and fa from from it at YS). Transfer cycles can be weird, which is why the "blanket the T6" advice is best since some schools might treat lower T1's similarly to T2's However, I definitely think the entire T6 is worth applying to unless OP wants to stay in the market of the current T1. There is no harm in staying with #1, LR, etc.

What are chances of biglaw if OP stayed and graduated #1 (if, if, if I know)

[marycrawley]

Haha, my preference for SY over H existed prior to all the ranking changes. In fact, there was a bit of anger/cursing when I found out S went up a spot. Not that it actually matters, of course, but psychologically, it feels that much farther away... I am very very aware that neither school is even close to being a sure thing, so I guess I was just trying to figure out if it would be worth it in exchange for uprooting the comfortable niche I've made for myself at my current school.

My "reticence" towards Harvard isn't so much anything to do with Harvard itself, but just because that I have family/support systems in CT, NY and the Bay Area, and some connection to each school, whereas I have nothing for Harvard. Thus, when I think about wanting to transfer to Harvard, the only reasons I can articulate are generic to all three schools, the "it's a top school!" response. I think I've also been a little scared off by the size of Harvard, and the fact that their transfer instructions talks about how their transfer students generally had applications that would have been at least strong enough to be considered during the original round of applications. Harvard would've laughed at me if I tried to apply with my undergrad GPA/LSAT. (All the t14 would laugh, to be fair. I barely made it into my current school.)

To answer the other question, my current biglaw job is in one of my preferred markets, thankfully. If I stay, and I continue to do well (stares sadly at her 90 pages of unread reading), I shouldn't have any problem for biglaw. But the reach of my school is fairly regional unless I do some major hustling, so I know it will be limiting in that respect.

Thanks for the advice. I know I have to just stop being indecisive about this. I guess I wasn't expecting to like my current school so much, and trying to balance that against this idea that I might be in a position to dream big.

[quiver]

Thanks for the advice. I know I have to just stop being indecisive about this. I guess I wasn't expecting to like my current school so much, and trying to balance that against this idea that I might be in a position to dream big.

Congrats on doing great so far. But it's still a dream right now. Repeat the performance this semester, blanket the T6, and come back to ask whether it's worth it at that point.

[trooper492]

I think I've also been a little scared off by the size of Harvard, and the fact that their transfer instructions talks about how their transfer students generally had applications that would have been at least strong enough to be considered during the original round of applications. Harvard would've laughed at me if I tried to apply with my undergrad GPA/LSAT. (All the t14 would laugh, to be fair. I barely made it into my current school.).

Don't be scared by that - all across TLS you'll find that people have transferred to HYS with really really bad GPAs/LSATs. At this point, none of these schools care about your undergrad performance. If anything, Harvard seems to care the least out of HYS.

[TatteredDignity]

I don't recall seeing anything around here about Yale reaching down that far in recent cycles, but not every transfer posts on TLS or transfer apps. You might as well try if you are going to the trouble of applying to other schools.

A current 2L Yale transfer told me that her class had only 2 transfers from outside the T14, and the lower-ranked school was Fordham. Total class was 8.

[CodyRuegger]

The school you graduate from will be on your resume for life. I'll echo what some above posters have said: blanket the top 6 and attend what seems best for you.