Top Law Schools

I transferred from a lower ranked T2 into the top 6 last year. Basic stats were: top 1%, LR, a couple CALIs, and some non-legal work experience between UG and LS. Also, although its irrelevant, LSAT of 159 and a UG GPA of 3.1. Oh yes. So give me questions about transferring strategies, where you should apply, LOR and PS, timing, or anything else you think up. I will try to answer questions daily for a while, and then bump after exams.

Thanks for answering! I think I am applying to CCN so this is pretty helpful. When did you submit your apps? How are you doing at your new school?

t4 (in FLA), ranked 2 / 253. Three CALI's.
I have no work experience, went straight from college to LS (similar to Kobe and Lebron, replace college with high school)
Law School offered 28k out of 35k tuition next year.

From Chicago originally. Majored in Economics in college (magna cum laude). President of Econ Club in undergrad.

I was thinking t14 or stay where Im at? Plan to send apps to Notre Dame and Illinois though? Thoughts? Thanks!

ilovesf wrote:Thanks for answering! I think I am applying to CCN so this is pretty helpful. When did you submit your apps? How are you doing at your new school?

I also applied to Georgetown EA (was deferred then admitted in June) and this helped my get all my stuff together early. My school also got grades out in June, so all my apps were complete around June 15th (although I think some deadlines were July 1 and July 15th). If you aren't admitted in the first big waves that C/N do, its harder (although not impossible) to get in.

I'm doing pretty well at the new school and enjoy living in the city, going to a V50 SA this summer along with almost everyone else in my transfer class.

BTW, unless you have a compelling reason to Chi, I would save my transfer app money. Just so few spots.

IsTheFatLadySinging wrote:t4 (in FLA), ranked 2 / 253. Three CALI's.
I have no work experience, went straight from college to LS (similar to Kobe and Lebron, replace college with high school)
Law School offered 28k out of 35k tuition next year.

From Chicago originally. Majored in Economics in college (magna cum laude). President of Econ Club in undergrad.

I was thinking t14 or stay where Im at? Plan to send apps to Notre Dame and Illinois though? Thoughts? Thanks!

It will be difficult, but not impossible, to crack the T14 from a T4. I would aim at GULC. Beyond that, I never gave much thought to transferring to T1 schools as you mentioned, so while I'm sure its plausible, I'm not all that qualified to talk about it. But I would recommend that if you intend on staying in Florida, you put apps into UF and FSU. GL.

ETA - make sure you get your LORs from the CALI profs.

Hey Vronsky thanks for taking question. Can you talk a little bit about your employment prospects? (1) How they changed, (2) How did OCI go for you, (3) What range of firm you are in with now (assuming that you decided to go for biglaw) and any other helpful advice. Thanks again!

donniedarko wrote:Hey Vronsky thanks for taking question. Can you talk a little bit about your employment prospects? (1) How they changed, (2) How did OCI go for you, (3) What range of firm you are in with now (assuming that you decided to go for biglaw) and any other helpful advice. Thanks again!

My employment prospects changed tremendously. I eventually decided that at my T2, being in the NY area, I could get a big law job, but would have to take what I could get basically. At OCI at my new school, the number of firms participating is simply crazy. I don't think I was as prepared as some of my other transfer class mates, but I did get 5 CBs. I eventually settled on a V50 firm, whereas many transfer classmates are headed to V15, with about half of us in the V50 category.

In the end, its possible I could've gotten a V50 firm at my old school. But I think in the end, it was worth it for employment prospects, but also the 'focus' of the law school i'm now attending. Whereas Columbia and NYU are heavily focused on big litigation, corporate law, and big public interest, my previous law school was designed to train its students for family law, prosecution, and lower level local-attorney stuff.

What did you write your PS about? Was it similar to your first PS to get into law school?

Good info! How did you prepare of OCI? What would you do differently if you went back in time?

Quick question about your LR, did your original school let 1L's participate in that. Or did you just grade on and include it on your resume that you were accepted on LR?

ilovesf wrote:What did you write your PS about? Was it similar to your first PS to get into law school?

Yes it was basically a modified version of my original PS, about 2 pages, and slightly more 'creative' than the generic "I Want to Transfer Because." I also worked on it when I applied to GULC EA and then continued to edit and tweak it during the summer cycle. In the end I think it was a strong piece of my application and helped distinguish me from several of the other top students from my school who applied to transfer out. I would recommend putting in some time for it.

donniedarko wrote:Good info! How did you prepare of OCI? What would you do differently if you went back in time?

I spent most of my time learning about different firms on ATL and Chambers. In retrospect, I should've spent more time thinking about practice areas, but it was difficult having only done the 1L course load to understand how to become more well versed in the realities of big law practice areas. I had little to no understanding of securities laws and corporate work.

yabuddy wrote:Quick question about your LR, did your original school let 1L's participate in that. Or did you just grade on and include it on your resume that you were accepted on LR?

I graded onto LR but I didn't know for sure that I would in May, so I had to do the LR competition as well. They called to offer a spot before I got accepted to CN but after GULC. You basically have to operate as though you won't transfer, but disclose that you are applying. I was up front when they offered the spot on LR about that and they just said to let them know ASAP when I decide about transferring. It happens every year, and they are understanding.

What were your stats after the first semester which GULC deferred you? Thanks!

IsTheFatLadySinging wrote:What were your stats after the first semester which GULC deferred you? Thanks!

3.8 first semester, but no rank. Probably within top 5%. I got the sense that GULC EA was focused on mostly high T1s. There is a much larger wave for admissions in June.

I improved overall to a 3.9 after second semester, and my school gave precise class ranks, which I think helps in admissions decisions against other candidates who don't have as precise rankings.

BTW, I think GULC EA is mostly a scam. If you have stats good enough for it, you can get into a better T10 and save yourself the seat deposit in May. The same is well understood for UChiED/Harvard.

Quick question thats not really about transferring, but it looks like you got a 4.0+ in your second semester. With finals coming up I'm just wondering if you did anything differently to improve your GPA? And what did you do leading up to your 2nd semester finals?

I'm in almost the exact same situation after 1st semester and I'm kinda worried about tanking it.

Thanks!

tag.

yabuddy wrote:Quick question thats not really about transferring, but it looks like you got a 4.0+ in your second semester. With finals coming up I'm just wondering if you did anything differently to improve your GPA? And what did you do leading up to your 2nd semester finals?

I'm in almost the exact same situation after 1st semester and I'm kinda worried about tanking it.

Thanks!

I had a 3.95 second semester and finished with a 3.89. One advantage I had was that my school taught some courses over both semesters (e.g. Con Law I and II) with the same prof. I had one B+ in the fall and really reviewed that exam and focused on outlining the course differently than I had first semester. Having the same prof. both semesters allowed me to adjust to her method. Of course, everyone else had that same course both semesters, too, but I did manage to get an A in that course the second time around.

With finals coming up, keep your eyes on the prize. If you did well enough first semester to have a shot at transferring to a top school, work even harder. Most everyone else in your class will improve from first to second semester, so you have to outpace that improvement. I started outlining earlier and worked more on final exams and practice problem sets. Don't worry about tanking it; worry about the areas that you can improve while maintaining the areas you already mastered.

It also helped me to print out pictures of the schools I wanted to transfer to and put them over my desk while I studied.... pretty nerdy/gunnerish but I guess effective!

Thanks for taking questions. Do you prefer foreign born asians or american born ones?

lawschoolgrapedme wrote:Thanks for taking questions. Do you prefer foreign born asians or american born ones?

Get out of my thread, 0L!