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Just heard from Minnesota that I've been admitted as a transfer.

As far as I understand, there are no scholarships for transfer students, correct? WM to Minnesota is about 100 spot jump in the rankings. Is it worth it to transfer and lose my 50% scholarship (which still leaves me with plenty of debt considering housing/living expenses), and take on a bigger debt?

I don't have interest in big law, and do have an interest in admin law (federal agencies), or some other form of public interest law (e.g. public international law). I want to keep my options of working in a bigger market open; specifically NY, Chicago, and especially DC.

I am still waiting to here back from GW (Cost: 46K/Yr Tuition + Cost of living in DC) and American (Cost: 50K/Yr Tuition + Cost of living in DC) , both of which are ranked lower than Minnesota (Cost: 35K/Yr In-State Tuition + Cost of living in Mpls.).

For reference, my costs to attend WM with scholarship is 16.5K Tuiton + Cost of living in St. Paul.

Questions:

(1) Should I leave WM and the scholarship for Minnesota considering my goals?

(2) How would you rank GW, American, and Minnesota in terms of my career goals, while considering debt?

(3) How would you rank GW, American, and Minnesota strictly on my interest in working in DC, while considering debt?

What is "public international law"?

dingbat wrote:What is "public international law"?

Not sure, but it's a course offered at my law school. I got screwed into taking it because everything else was closed... boy am I glad that I'm transferring.

Minnesota is your best option because you are most likely going to end up practicing law in Minnesota.

P.S. Even if accepted to GWU & American, Minnesota is still your best option & lowest cost option among the three.

CanadianWolf wrote:Minnesota is your best option because you are most likely going to end up practicing law in Minnesota.

How do you figure?

How have you already been admitted as a transfer before grades are even out for the year (heck, before finals are even over)? Can you apply w/ just first semester grades?

How much debt will you have from WM when you graduate? What's the difference in per year cost compared to Minnesota?

I would be wary to take out a lot of extra debt. If you did particularly well, maybe you can use this acceptance to leverage even more money out of WM for the remainder of your stay there?

Others can correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me the main sales pitch for transferring up is to gain access to a better OCI, and unless you have killer grades at WM (and will therefore be competitive with really selective employers you're targeting) I'm not sure I think there's a benefit in transferring because UMN isn't known for having a very good OCI.

OP: I "figure" that you're most likely to end up practicing law in Minnesota because you are a Minnesota resident with a college degree from the University of Minnesota attending a Tier Three law school in Minnesota (Wm. Mitchell) whose only other option to date is a transfer acceptance to the University of Minnesota Law school.

salvage wrote:How have you already been admitted as a transfer before grades are even out for the year (heck, before finals are even over)? Can you apply w/ just first semester grades?

Yes, a number of schools allow this.

minnbills wrote:How much debt will you have from WM when you graduate? What's the difference in per year cost compared to Minnesota?

I would be wary to take out a lot of extra debt. If you did particularly well, maybe you can use this acceptance to leverage even more money out of WM for the remainder of your stay there?

Others can correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me the main sales pitch for transferring up is to gain access to a better OCI, and unless you have killer grades at WM (and will therefore be competitive with really selective employers you're targeting) I'm not sure I think there's a benefit in transferring because UMN isn't known for having a very good OCI.

At WM I'd probably come out with about 110K, and at MN about 160K.

Thanks for the advice and information.

CanadianWolf wrote:OP: I "figure" that you're most likely to end up practicing law in Minnesota because you are a Minnesota resident with a college degree from the University of Minnesota attending a Tier Three law school in Minnesota (Wm. Mitchell) whose only other option to date is a transfer acceptance to the University of Minnesota Law school.

Lol, fair enough.

I would go to GW if you get in. It is near all the Federal Agencies and if you do well you can get a DOJ job or the like. I know a lot of lawyers that work for the federal govt. They love it.

blackstar786 wrote:

salvage wrote:How have you already been admitted as a transfer before grades are even out for the year (heck, before finals are even over)? Can you apply w/ just first semester grades?

Yes, a number of schools allow this.

This seems odd considering only two grades are final transcript grades after one semester, compared with 7 total after the first year.

salvage wrote:

blackstar786 wrote:

salvage wrote:How have you already been admitted as a transfer before grades are even out for the year (heck, before finals are even over)? Can you apply w/ just first semester grades?

Yes, a number of schools allow this.

This seems odd considering only two grades are final transcript grades after one semester, compared with 7 total after the first year.

Agreed, but I don't make the rules.

blackstar786 wrote:

salvage wrote:

blackstar786 wrote:

salvage wrote:How have you already been admitted as a transfer before grades are even out for the year (heck, before finals are even over)? Can you apply w/ just first semester grades?

Yes, a number of schools allow this.

This seems odd considering only two grades are final transcript grades after one semester, compared with 7 total after the first year.

Agreed, but I don't make the rules.

Although they do reserve the right to reconsider your admission after spring semester grades come in. I've heard they rarely flex this muscle, and it is usually reserved for when applicants dip below the the top half of their class.

blackstar786 wrote: Although they do reserve the right to reconsider your admission after spring semester grades come in. I've heard they rarely flex this muscle, and it is usually reserved for when applicants dip below the the top half of their class.

I'd be curious to hear if anyone else knows how likely the reconsideration of a transfer admission is based on an updated spring semester transcript. I guess what I mean to ask is how badly do you have to screw up second semester to get an admission revoked?