Stanford Transfers Forum

[Slobberson]

Who's applying as a transfer to Stanford this cycle? How do you think it's going to go?

[mileslibertatis]

I applied there. I think SLS is my first choice, actually. I am at a 50ish school, though, so I don't have high hopes for admission.

[CCN-S Transfer]

Good luck to everyone! If you get in, us transfers from last year will roll out the red--excuse me, cardinal--carpet for ya

[Slobberson]

Good luck to everyone! If you get in, us transfers from last year will roll out the red--excuse me, cardinal--carpet for ya

Thanks! Of course, now I have to ask you what your stats were and from approximately what ranked school you came. Would you mind sharing?

[CCN-S Transfer]

Good luck to everyone! If you get in, us transfers from last year will roll out the red--excuse me, cardinal--carpet for ya

Thanks! Of course, now I have to ask you what your stats were and from approximately what ranked school you came. Would you mind sharing?

~Top 10% from CCN. If you're not from a T14 (or UCLA/USC), it's really tough to get in if you're not #1 or #2 in your class (and then it's tough for those people too).

ETA- but with Stanford, you never really know. I do think that they tend to take the "holistic" application thing somewhat seriously, even for transfers.

[Slobberson]

I was #6 after last semester, and am hoping to scoot up a little bit.

I figure I've got about a 20% chance if my grades do go up a bit. I'm really not that exciting on paper, or maybe even in person I don't know. I'll be applying to some other T-14 schools though.

I am surprised to hear you say that even the #1 and #2 people have trouble outside of the T-14. I would have thought the top 1-2% would have a pretty good shot. Maybe most of them go to H since it takes more, who knows.

[BarcaCrossesTheAlps]

I was #6 after last semester, and am hoping to scoot up a little bit.

I figure I've got about a 20% chance if my grades do go up a bit. I'm really not that exciting on paper, or maybe even in person I don't know. I'll be applying to some other T-14 schools though.

I am surprised to hear you say that even the #1 and #2 people have trouble outside of the T-14. I would have thought the top 1-2% would have a pretty good shot. Maybe most of them go to H since it takes more, who knows.

I think Stanford has about 200 transfer apps every year and only take about 15-20. So, yeah, even the #1 and #2 at schools from USNWR #30-15 will find it tough slugging.

I think Harvard took around 50 in 2010... can't remember where I got that info...LSN?

Anyway, I'm a 0L, so I shouldn't even be in here....bye! And good luck to all you hopefuls.

[CCN-S Transfer]

I was #6 after last semester, and am hoping to scoot up a little bit.

I figure I've got about a 20% chance if my grades do go up a bit. I'm really not that exciting on paper, or maybe even in person I don't know. I'll be applying to some other T-14 schools though.

I am surprised to hear you say that even the #1 and #2 people have trouble outside of the T-14. I would have thought the top 1-2% would have a pretty good shot. Maybe most of them go to H since it takes more, who knows.

I mean, frankly, it's hard to say. I obviously haven't seen who applies. My impression, though, is that SLS is fairly choosy even among #1/#2 non-T14 types. People with that kind of profile tend to be locks for Harvard since Harvard's transfer class is many times larger than SLS's.

SLS generally aims for 10-12 transfers, I believe. My class was slightly larger. Of those, SLS seems to take a handful of T-14 people, a few combined from UCLA/USC/Hastings/Davis, and a few people from other non-T14s. I imagine that 10+ #1/#2 people from non-T14s (and non-CA schools) apply, so SLS really does get to pick among people to some extent.

Note that most of this post is minimally-informed speculation. I've heard no information on the number of applications or anything like that from credible sources. I've seen the "SLS gets 200+ transfer apps each year" thing thrown around TLS, but who knows where it came from.

[concurrent fork]

I think Harvard took around 50 in 2010... can't remember where I got that info...LSN?

That was my year and it was around 30.

[tww909]

.

[Slobberson]

Awesome information, thanks man.

So you were you in top 5% at Wisconsin-Madison and got in? First, congratulations. I'd love to be in your shoes in a few months. Second, that is good news for me. I imagine that I will probably finish between the top 1-2% at my current school in the 20s. Of course, my grades could fall down an elevator shaft in a couple weeks, we'll see.

Questions:

1. What all do you think Stanford likes to see in terms of their holistic approach? I have work experience before law school, and a 1L summer job lined up. Do these types of things help, or are they looking more for things like "saved seals in Antartica," or diversity type stuff? I have neither of those. I'm just super boring on paper, I think.

2. Since your grades were a bit lower than the other transfers, what do you think got you in?

3. Does it help to apply early, even if your 2nd semester grades haven't been released?

4. I've got a good rec letter from a current professor. The other one is from my employer from before 1L year. I also used it to apply 1L, though, so the date is going to be from a year ago. Does this matter? It feels kind of cheap to me, but at the same time I thought that it was important to get one from an employer if you've worked, so I'm unsure here.

[tww909]

.

[plebeculae]

i'm also a 2013 stanford transfer! hi you two.

i was from a top 30 school, and didn't really have a class rank (just percentage bands), although i was solidly within the top band. i also applied without spring semester grades. last year, at least, stanford took its time making decisions, so i don't think waiting hurts as long as your app is in before the deadline. i would echo my esteemed colleague that my (transfer) classmates don't seem to have ridiculous resumes on the whole, although they are all awesome and brilliant (<3). for me personally, i think it helped that i was able to articulate a strong reason for wanting to be in the bay area. i also genuinely wanted to participate in one of the clinics. i do have a good amount of work experience, but it's mostly because i was trying to figure out what to do with my high lsat and low gpa, not because i was trying to improve my resume (which i think was probably pretty obvious).

after my experience, and talking to my classmates about theirs, i do think there is definitely something to the idea that stanford does what it wants and picks the people it likes, rather than crunching numbers. also, i should say that i had one letter from a substantive class and one from lrw, which didn't appear to hurt. neither had any connection to stanford.

looking forward to meeting everyone next fall! us 2013s are an adorable group.

[Skyblaze]

Deadline is coming up. Thanks for the input from last year's group.

Does anyone know if we need anything other than transcripts sent from our current law school? Under the Instructions for the educaiton section it states "If you answered in the affirmative to the second question, your law school must submit an explanatory statement directly to the Office of Admissions." The Question it refers to is "Have you ever attended any law school?". Is this meant to refer to your current school or those folks who attended a year of law school 10 years ago and dropped out or somethign? Also they are asking for Statement of the Undergrad Dean with no request for an equivilant form to be filled out by the current law school, correct?

Lastly, I have one doctrinal and one LRW Professor letter. But I have an employer letter I used to apply origionally I would really like to use. But it would be dated a year old. Think there would be any problem with that or the fact that it was used in both apps?

[Skyblaze]

And the Statement of the Dean. Is that from our undergrad institution or from our current law school too?

[fatduck]

And the Statement of the Dean. Is that from our undergrad institution or from our current law school too?

undergrad

[Skyblaze]

Thanks.

[forumnonconveniens]

Hey all! I really appreciate your answering questions for us. Here's mine:

I asked two people for LORs. One did not get back to me, so I asked a third (who said fo sho). I just heard from person #3, who also is happy to write a letter, and was a prof in a class I cali'd...in your opinion would a third LOR to S help or hurt? They permit you to enter names for up to four...

Thanks again

[forumnonconveniens]

Oh! And I broke down and called the Admissions office yesterday bc I was worried about getting everything in on time, and they said that LORs mailed directly to them and postmarked by the 15th were OK for transfer apps. Not sure if it's a point in your favor to be late...but at least you get the app in?

(I waited for grades to be in -- last weds to make the final decision to transfer. Made this whole process ...fun... )

[ust2008]

Deadline is coming up. Thanks for the input from last year's group.

Does anyone know if we need anything other than transcripts sent from our current law school? Under the Instructions for the educaiton section it states "If you answered in the affirmative to the second question, your law school must submit an explanatory statement directly to the Office of Admissions." The Question it refers to is "Have you ever attended any law school?". Is this meant to refer to your current school or those folks who attended a year of law school 10 years ago and dropped out or somethign? Also they are asking for Statement of the Undergrad Dean with no request for an equivilant form to be filled out by the current law school, correct?

Lastly, I have one doctrinal and one LRW Professor letter. But I have an employer letter I used to apply origionally I would really like to use. But it would be dated a year old. Think there would be any problem with that or the fact that it was used in both apps?

Did you ever figure out the answer as to whether we should have transcripts sent to LSAC or to SLS? I'd initially requested that my current school send to LSAC, but now I'm wondering if I should request a separate transcript for SLS.

[Skyblaze]

I'm doing both just in case it doesn't get to LSAC on time.

[forumnonconveniens]

From the SLS page on transfer apps - http://www.law.stanford.edu/program/deg ... plication/

"Law School Transcript. An official law school transcript showing full first–year grades and class standing must be sent directly to us from your current law school."

[lisavj]

My hat is in the ring. $121 rejection letter on its way?

[plebeculae]

I asked two people for LORs. One did not get back to me, so I asked a third (who said fo sho). I just heard from person #3, who also is happy to write a letter, and was a prof in a class I cali'd...in your opinion would a third LOR to S help or hurt? They permit you to enter names for up to four...

what did you decide to do?

[in_reverie]

i think most of all they'd like to see an articulable vision of your time here, and why you want to transfer other than generic things everyone says like jobs/clerkships or the boring "here's my walk through 1L, omg i liked the law, etc."

My personal statement in a nutshell.

I'm counting on the whole "personal statements not being as important for transfers" sentiment that I hear so often. Anyway, I threw my hat into the ring last Tuesday. 3.95 GPA at Davis, probably among top 2 or 3 students ...not expecting much but fingers crossed.