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/Just/ short of top third after first semester. (A, A, B+, B, and B- on a B+ curve.) School is Tier 1 but not T30, and I'm considering transferring to a T2 in the same area so that (A) the competition is a bit weaker and (B) the school strengths are more in line with what I want to do (Corporate or Criminal). Would this be a good decision? Any have an estimate as to my chances?

Thanks for any input, and apologies if this question flies in the face of conventional wisdom about trying to transfer up.

Anonymous User wrote:/Just/ short of top third after first semester. (A, A, B+, B, and B- on a B+ curve.) School is Tier 1 but not T30, and I'm considering transferring to a T2 in the same area so that (A) the competition is a bit weaker and (B) the school strengths are more in line with what I want to do (Corporate or Criminal). Would this be a good decision? Any have an estimate as to my chances?

Thanks for any input, and apologies if this question flies in the face of conventional wisdom about trying to transfer up.

Don't assume the competition will be weaker nor that you will perform that much better. I have zero experience with this but I think transferring down to a school in the same region would be a mistake since you will be competing for jobs with people from your original school and your 1L GPA would still be considered as coming from that school. Not to mention you are above median and if you can get the grades up this semester you should be in a decent position.

Icculus wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:/Just/ short of top third after first semester. (A, A, B+, B, and B- on a B+ curve.) School is Tier 1 but not T30, and I'm considering transferring to a T2 in the same area so that (A) the competition is a bit weaker and (B) the school strengths are more in line with what I want to do (Corporate or Criminal). Would this be a good decision? Any have an estimate as to my chances?

Thanks for any input, and apologies if this question flies in the face of conventional wisdom about trying to transfer up.

Don't assume the competition will be weaker nor that you will perform that much better. I have zero experience with this but I think transferring down to a school in the same region would be a mistake since you will be competing for jobs with people from your original school and your 1L GPA would still be considered as coming from that school. Not to mention you are above median and if you can get the grades up this semester you should be in a decent position.

I would agree. I would also say that transferring down is not always a terrible thing to do, but I think it would not be the best thing to do in your circumstances. All that said, your chances of transferring down are probably good if you do go that route.

I think this is a hugely bad idea. The main reason for transferring up is to take advantage of the other school's employment reputation and resources. With few exceptions, worse-ranked schools are worse regarded by employers and have worse employment rates. Plus, who is going to believe that you transferred down? Your grades are essentially erased at your new school, so you will simply be a regular student there. You might as well have started there.

Also, specialty rankings are useless. Again, with few exceptions, it's the quality of the school overall that matters, both for the education and employment.

Don't do it. First of all, you can't rely on competition being "weaker." If we're talking lower T1 v T2, it's only, what, 5 LSAT points different? When you throw in the arbitrariness of law school grading, you can't rely on performing better at the T2. Second, schools' specializations in various fields of law are basically irrelevant. You can go to Bar events and CLEs and Inns of Court events relevant to your fields f interest and meet practitioners in them regardless of your schools' specializations. You can get relevant school-year internships and summer jobs in those fields. (BTW, what school doesn't specialize in criminal law? It seems like every school has a decent # of crim law classes at the least and probably a relevant clinic.) If the schools are in the same area, you could also cross-enroll at the other school for some courses. Thirdly, you won't get any scholarship money if you transfer, so you will be paying sticker at a T2. I don't think there is a single T2 worth paying sticker for, which should end the argument (should've put this point first, haha). Lastly, this isn't helpful anymore, but why dafuq didn't you take the presumably bigger scholarship to the T2 in the first place?? Oh, and your grades show that you have the potential to do well given that you got 2 As. Try to figure out what you did right in those classes and wrong in the others to pull all As this semester. I think someone with your grades is better off than someone with straight B+s because you know you have the capacity to get an A and have something to emulate. The person with all B+s is more lost in trying to figure out what to do.