USC Transfers 2012 Forum

[Mce252]

Congrats to those who have been accepted.

[thelibear]

I will be attending next year! So excited!

[Mce252]

I will be attending next year! So excited!

Awesome. I'm not 100 percent but as of right now I'm planning on attending. What part of the country are you moving from?

[thelibear]

I already live in Southern California, so it won't be much of a move for me

[Lasers]

might go...depending on my grades this semester.

[bingbang1025]

Hi all. On the USC waitlist now...how hard is it to transfer via this program from say, BC? They only look at your first semester grades, right? So you basically plan to have a professor write you a letter, do well academically that first semester and transfer? Is it that simple (not saying getting goodg raes is simple..)

How well would you have to do from a school in the 20-30 range to transfer? is it easier than regular admission? Any tips from people who transferred would be greatly appreciated.

[Mce252]

Hi all. On the USC waitlist now...how hard is it to transfer via this program from say, BC? They only look at your first semester grades, right? So you basically plan to have a professor write you a letter, do well academically that first semester and transfer? Is it that simple (not saying getting goodg raes is simple..)

How well would you have to do from a school in the 20-30 range to transfer? is it easier than regular admission? Any tips from people who transferred would be greatly appreciated.

You would not want to transfer into USC from a school in the 20-30 range. Read arrows transfer thread.

[Lasers]

Hi all. On the USC waitlist now...how hard is it to transfer via this program from say, BC? They only look at your first semester grades, right? So you basically plan to have a professor write you a letter, do well academically that first semester and transfer? Is it that simple (not saying getting goodg raes is simple..)

How well would you have to do from a school in the 20-30 range to transfer? is it easier than regular admission? Any tips from people who transferred would be greatly appreciated.

You would not want to transfer into USC from a school in the 20-30 range. Read arrows transfer thread.

actually, it might make sense because he may want socal.

[Lasers]

Hi all. On the USC waitlist now...how hard is it to transfer via this program from say, BC? They only look at your first semester grades, right? So you basically plan to have a professor write you a letter, do well academically that first semester and transfer? Is it that simple (not saying getting goodg raes is simple..)

How well would you have to do from a school in the 20-30 range to transfer? is it easier than regular admission? Any tips from people who transferred would be greatly appreciated.

my school is in the top 50 (hastings); not sure if i will be attending usc, but to get accepted my first semester grades put me around top 10% (maybe as high as 7%). i would think a transfer for early decision for you from BC would require something like top 15% to have a very strong chance. however, take this with a grain of salt considering this early decision program is new and it is hard to gauge right now.

[Mce252]

Hi all. On the USC waitlist now...how hard is it to transfer via this program from say, BC? They only look at your first semester grades, right? So you basically plan to have a professor write you a letter, do well academically that first semester and transfer? Is it that simple (not saying getting goodg raes is simple..)

How well would you have to do from a school in the 20-30 range to transfer? is it easier than regular admission? Any tips from people who transferred would be greatly appreciated.

You would not want to transfer into USC from a school in the 20-30 range. Read arrows transfer thread.

actually, it might make sense because he may want socal.

I guess so. I just figure if you can transfer into USC from that range, you can probably transfer into a higher ranked school. I'm not familiar with statistics and necessary rank for lateral transfers though.

[Lasers]

Hi all. On the USC waitlist now...how hard is it to transfer via this program from say, BC? They only look at your first semester grades, right? So you basically plan to have a professor write you a letter, do well academically that first semester and transfer? Is it that simple (not saying getting goodg raes is simple..)

How well would you have to do from a school in the 20-30 range to transfer? is it easier than regular admission? Any tips from people who transferred would be greatly appreciated.

You would not want to transfer into USC from a school in the 20-30 range. Read arrows transfer thread.

actually, it might make sense because he may want socal.

I guess so. I just figure if you can transfer into USC from that range, you can probably transfer into a higher ranked school. I'm not familiar with statistics and necessary rank for lateral transfers though.

yeah. i mean top 15-20% could probably get you a couple schools above usc, but it's not like it's unheard of.

[Lasers]

anyone know anything about financial aid?

[Mce252]

anyone know anything about financial aid?

I haven't talked to anyone yet. I added USC to my fafsa though. I'm trying to figure out the dates for OCI early interview week. I finish my internship on August 10th and orientation begins on the 20th. I'm going to need the time inbetween to move half way across the country if I attend.

[Lasers]

anyone know anything about financial aid?

I haven't talked to anyone yet. I added USC to my fafsa though. I'm trying to figure out the dates for OCI early interview week. I finish my internship on August 10th and orientation begins on the 20th. I'm going to need the time inbetween to move half way across the country if I attend.

probably gonna have to cut some summer obligations short if we do transfer...

[Mce252]

anyone know anything about financial aid?

I haven't talked to anyone yet. I added USC to my fafsa though. I'm trying to figure out the dates for OCI early interview week. I finish my internship on August 10th and orientation begins on the 20th. I'm going to need the time inbetween to move half way across the country if I attend.

probably gonna have to cut some summer obligations short if we do transfer...

Honestly, I'm probably just going to do OCI at my old school and not at USC if I do transfer. I want the market where I am and more firms interview at my old school than they do at USC. My main reasons for transferring would be for clerkship chances and long-term portability.

[Lasers]

anyone know anything about financial aid?

I haven't talked to anyone yet. I added USC to my fafsa though. I'm trying to figure out the dates for OCI early interview week. I finish my internship on August 10th and orientation begins on the 20th. I'm going to need the time inbetween to move half way across the country if I attend.

probably gonna have to cut some summer obligations short if we do transfer...

Honestly, I'm probably just going to do OCI at my old school and not at USC if I do transfer. I want the market where I am and more firms interview at my old school than they do at USC. My main reasons for transferring would be for clerkship chances and long-term portability.

srsly...? woah. long-term portability is also what appeals to me but not attending their oci would seem like a huge waste. any rules against doing both?

[wiglaf1228]

You should not do OCI at your old school if you are intending to transfer out of it, and you certainly cannot do both OCIs. That is a major ethical violation. It is not smart, in any event, since it will make your interviews with employers (many of whom are probably alums or have connections to your home law school) super awkward.

Transferring into USC to help 'clerkship chances' or 'portability' is also a bit silly, since it's not really a national school, nor does it place well at all into clerkships, even for its own students.

[JoeFish]

From Arrow's brilliant transfer post:

Doing 2 OCI’s and Double Dipping

This is definitely unfair. Since you are a transfer, you are in a unique position where it is possible for you to participate both in your old school’s OCI and your new school’s OCI. However, I did learn about this from a few long talks with a couple of very intelligent and clever individuals.

How does this work? Well, most non-top schools do OCI very early (like mid-August) in order to get an edge on the top schools. Most top schools can do OCI a bit later (like in September) because they are good schools and can do so. The problem is that sometimes, students do not get their acceptances until after they have started doing OCI at their old school. Therefore, if the new school also allows them to do OCI, they are now able to interview again (aka twice). The one rule in doing this is that you do not bid on or interview with the same firm at the same office twice.

So, to recap, this is possible and it does happen. I have met two people personally who have done it and heard of 3 people online who have done it. Only one person somewhere has admitted that they planned to transfer with the intent of doing OCI twice and planned it out so that he could do more interviews. My guess is that this happens a lot more often, but is kept on the down-low.

[Mce252]

You should not do OCI at your old school if you are intending to transfer out of it, and you certainly cannot do both OCIs. That is a major ethical violation. It is not smart, in any event, since it will make your interviews with employers (many of whom are probably alums or have connections to your home law school) super awkward.

Transferring into USC to help 'clerkship chances' or 'portability' is also a bit silly, since it's not really a national school, nor does it place well at all into clerkships, even for its own students.

I don't know if I'm transferring out. I won't be doing OCI at both schools. If I do OCI at the original school and then decide to transfer, I won't participate in OCI at USC. I think they occur at the same time anyway.

Your points about not transferring into USC are exactly why I'm not sure. It's just a tough call because I'm at a T4.

[wiglaf1228]

From Arrow's brilliant transfer post:

It's not just unfair, it's extraordinarily risky. I know someone who did that who lost his offer of admission at the transfer school. Do not do it unless you are sure both schools are OK with you doing it.

[wiglaf1228]

I don't know if I'm transferring out. I won't be doing OCI at both schools. If I do OCI at the original school and then decide to transfer, I won't participate in OCI at USC. I think they occur at the same time anyway.

Your points about not transferring into USC are exactly why I'm not sure. It's just a tough call because I'm at a T4.

In that case, just be transparent with both schools about what your OCI plans are. Too much is at stake --- you don't want to seem like you are gaming the system. Typically, you cannot do OCI at a school you are planning to transfer out of, and being caught can have extreme consequences.

To be honest, you are in a tough position, but try to hold out for a T14. USC is good if you want to practice in Socal, but not if you want portability or clerkship chances. The school places only the top 5% in clerkships, and even those are low-level.

[Mce252]

From Arrow's brilliant transfer post:

It's not just unfair, it's extraordinarily risky. I know someone who did that who lost his offer of admission at the transfer school. Do not do it unless you are sure both schools are OK with you doing it.

I guess the best thing is to just apply to firms independently unless I decide I'm for sure not transferring. I definitely won't be able to make the USC OCI. It's in early August and I have a 6 week job during the second half of the summer that doesn't end until the 10th.

[Mce252]

And for the record, these thoughts have made me lean away from attending USC. I guess it doesn't make any sense to leave for a non-t14 school when I like the market where I am.

[Lasers]

i wouldn't transfer to usc unless i want socal or at least somewhere in CA.

[Mce252]

i wouldn't transfer to usc unless i want socal or at least somewhere in CA.

Yeah, I guess I got excited about being accepted but now I'm starting to get a hold on reality. Ha...now I'm debating putting down the deposit.