GWU EA/RD Transfer Waiting Thread 2013 Forum

[Anonymous User]

Well, apps in... time to wait. I recommend taking a screenshot of the status checker so you can compare it to changes later on...

Time to focus on crushing this semester. Good luck y'all!

Edit: I called admissions today, still a 3/1 deadline even though the non-xfer deadline for 1Ls was bumped to 3/15...

[Nick18]

Well, apps in... time to wait. I recommend taking a screenshot of the status checker so you can compare it to changes later on...

Time to focus on crushing this semester. Good luck y'all!

Edit: I called admissions today, still a 3/1 deadline even though the non-xfer deadline for 1Ls was bumped to 3/15...

Who told you this? On the website it says the deadline for EA transfer is 3/15 and I called someone in admissions to confirm this.

[Anonymous User]

Well, apps in... time to wait. I recommend taking a screenshot of the status checker so you can compare it to changes later on...

Time to focus on crushing this semester. Good luck y'all!

Edit: I called admissions today, still a 3/1 deadline even though the non-xfer deadline for 1Ls was bumped to 3/15...

Who told you this? On the website it says the deadline for EA transfer is 3/15 and I called someone in admissions to confirm this.

i just called the admissions office again (3/1/13 @ 3pm) and the transfer EA deadline is still today, 3/1/13.

[Nick18]

Are you really sure about this? Because no where on their website does it say anything about a March 1st deadline for anything.. in fact, it even says March 15 deadline for EA transfer on two separate pages. Also, what do you mean that the non-transfer deadline for 1Ls was bumped to 3/15? Non-transfer deadline for 1Ls? What other business, other than applying as a visiting student, would 1Ls have applying to Georgetown if they weren't transferring? In any case, if the deadline was really 3/1 then I'm screwed because I missed it.

[markeconrad]

GWU = George Washington

Are you really sure about this? Because no where on their website does it say anything about a March 1st deadline for anything.. in fact, it even says March 15 deadline for EA transfer on two separate pages. Also, what do you mean that the non-transfer deadline for 1Ls was bumped to 3/15? Non-transfer deadline for 1Ls? What other business, other than applying as a visiting student, would 1Ls have applying to Georgetown if they weren't transferring? In any case, if the deadline was really 3/1 then I'm screwed because I missed it.

[paintbynumbers]

The website does not specifically say if you need to include a letter of recommendation or not. Do you need to include one in your application? Can you use the ones you had to initially apply to law school? or do they have to be from law professors?

[Anonymous User]

The website does not specifically say if you need to include a letter of recommendation or not. Do you need to include one in your application? Can you use the ones you had to initially apply to law school? or do they have to be from law professors?

I used one of my original LOR's plus two more from professors... Not sure if they are required though, everyone's letters basically say the same things...

[auds1008]

former gw transfer here.. good luck to all!!

[crossarmant]

former gw transfer here.. good luck to all!!

Same, best of luck to all of you. If you have any questions as to transferring to GW, just shoot me a PM.

[Jimbo_Jones]

Anybody know if transferring to the part time program is more competitive than the full time program?

[paintbynumbers]

former gw transfer here.. good luck to all!!

former gw transfer here.. good luck to all!!

Same, best of luck to all of you. If you have any questions as to transferring to GW, just shoot me a PM.

Would either of you transfer again to GW, now knowing what you know now about your experience there?
How are the job prospects looking for transfers?

[crossarmant]

former gw transfer here.. good luck to all!!

former gw transfer here.. good luck to all!!

Same, best of luck to all of you. If you have any questions as to transferring to GW, just shoot me a PM.

Would either of you transfer again to GW, now knowing what you know now about your experience there?
How are the job prospects looking for transfers?

Absolutely I would. Sure, I wish I had gotten into Harvard or the like, but GW has been great to me. I went from hoping I could find some kind of position with a 2-10 attorney shop to having a paid position with a pretty important federal agency. That said, GW is what you make of it. There are plenty of people who do solely school related work and have trouble with finding jobs, but if you get involved in the DC legal field, intern, and really hit the ground hard, you will come out far far ahead of what would happen if you went elsewhere.

In my case, I got dinged at GULC (didn't really apply elsewhere in the T14) but I got into Vandy. When you weigh schools, GW offered me a chance to get involved in some great academic year intern positions that really boost your resume that you just can't get elsewhere. So, if you strike out at OCI somewhere like Vanderbilt, then you're kind of SOL. However, striking out at GW's OCI is really not a death knell. So, overall, if I were in the same boat as I was this time last year; yes, I would transfer to GW again.

[TTRansfer]

Good luck, guys. They will move pretty quickly on their top choices.

[DeltPreLaw]

Did the application have to be complete by the 1st? My LOR did't get there until last friday. Am I still okay for EA decision, submitted App like 2/24?

[Anonymous User]

Did the application have to be complete by the 1st? My LOR did't get there until last friday. Am I still okay for EA decision, submitted App like 2/24?

IIRC, I think it's just app submitted by 3/1... If someone is certain, please chime in.

[TTRansfer]

By the way, just like my friend crossarmant, I will take questions from anyone who has any.

[paintbynumbers]

By the way, just like my friend crossarmant, I will take questions from anyone who has any.

I'll pose the same question for you then, would you still transfer to GW knowing what you know now? How have things been on the job front for transfers? and how do you feel about the the high tuition and high COA that transfers have to pay?

I am very debt adverse and will only pay about 40K for my last two years if I stay at my current school, and am not sure if i would even get in, if i would go bc the cost

[TTRansfer]

By the way, just like my friend crossarmant, I will take questions from anyone who has any.

I'll pose the same question for you then, would you still transfer to GW knowing what you know now? How have things been on the job front for transfers? and how do you feel about the the high tuition and high COA that transfers have to pay?

I am very debt adverse and will only pay about 40K for my last two years if I stay at my current school, and am not sure if i would even get in, if i would go bc the cost

1. Sure. I got more interviews at better firms than I ever would have received at my old school. I also got interviews at firms I would have received at my old school. So it was the best of both worlds.

Am I completely happy to not get something in the area I wanted? Not at all. But that's now a moot point. I still maintain that I will have a better chance at lateraling somewhere in the future with this degree as long as my work product is up to par. I looked at the transfer to GW as something more than just a short term thing. It's a long term thing, for sure.

I have a 2L SA lined up with a NLJ 250 firm. It doesn't pay as well as a big city job (tertiary market), but it's for a solid firm with a good name.

2. I can't speak for every transfer since I really only talk to a smaller group of people. The group I know has had spotty luck, but most seem to be able to get something in the government from what I can tell if they strike out for Biglaw. I am sure that there are transfers with better grades that did quite well, but my sample group is too small.

3. High tuition and high COL is a straight up epidemic for college students everywhere. I am debt averse as fuck and I am a bit scared about all of it. I mean, I will be able to pay it off as long as I stay employed. 10 year repayment plan could be cut down to 7 or 8 with proper budgeting. It's always going to be a gamble. Your debt level where you become too freaked may be a bit less than mine (though I do consider myself to be quite debt averse), but I do think it has been a good bet so far.

I honestly don't know if I would be at the job I will be at this summer without GW. I can speculate that I may have been, but that is just straight up pure speculation.

I like the school a lot. I like the variety of classes a lot. I hate the debt. I liked the fact that I got a lot of interviews (even if I didn't cash in on most of them).

[auds1008]

former gw transfer here.. good luck to all!!

former gw transfer here.. good luck to all!!

Same, best of luck to all of you. If you have any questions as to transferring to GW, just shoot me a PM.

Would either of you transfer again to GW, now knowing what you know now about your experience there?
How are the job prospects looking for transfers?

Absolutely I would. Sure, I wish I had gotten into Harvard or the like, but GW has been great to me. I went from hoping I could find some kind of position with a 2-10 attorney shop to having a paid position with a pretty important federal agency. That said, GW is what you make of it. There are plenty of people who do solely school related work and have trouble with finding jobs, but if you get involved in the DC legal field, intern, and really hit the ground hard, you will come out far far ahead of what would happen if you went elsewhere.

In my case, I got dinged at GULC (didn't really apply elsewhere in the T14) but I got into Vandy. When you weigh schools, GW offered me a chance to get involved in some great academic year intern positions that really boost your resume that you just can't get elsewhere. So, if you strike out at OCI somewhere like Vanderbilt, then you're kind of SOL. However, striking out at GW's OCI is really not a death knell. So, overall, if I were in the same boat as I was this time last year; yes, I would transfer to GW again.

my opinion is a little biased because i knew i wanted to do patent law and the combination of gw and dc for this area of law is pretty golden. though i wanted to go to new york city (dinged) for personal reasons and prestige, i'm glad i didn't get in. i'm happy with the decision. i can't speak for other areas of law but for myself, i am an evening student and i've secured a full time position at a V100 law firm doing real litigation work about one month after transferring. if you're going for patent law, you should definitely transfer. i know many people going into patent law have secured positions at V20 and other prestigious boutiques.

[Anonymous User]

Is there any indication that decisions will be sent by the end of next week? Or are we looking at 1st week of April? According to past threads, it looks like email and not status checker is the way GW notifies acceptances.

Anyone else waiting?

[crossarmant]

Is there any indication that decisions will be sent by the end of next week? Or are we looking at 1st week of April? According to past threads, it looks like email and not status checker is the way GW notifies acceptances.

Anyone else waiting?

I didn't receive my admission email until April 3rd; so you may have a bit.

[Anonymous User]

Is there any indication that decisions will be sent by the end of next week? Or are we looking at 1st week of April? According to past threads, it looks like email and not status checker is the way GW notifies acceptances.

Anyone else waiting?

I didn't receive my admission email until April 3rd; so you may have a bit.

niiiiice! looks like we are in the T-minus 2 weeks range. how have you seen other transfers fare @ GW.... classwise, OCI, internship opportunities

what was OCI like as a transfer? did firms have a negative perception on transfers ?

[crossarmant]

niiiiice! looks like we are in the T-minus 2 weeks range. how have you seen other transfers fare @ GW.... classwise, OCI, internship opportunities

what was OCI like as a transfer? did firms have a negative perception on transfers ?

Classwise: I got median pwned. I did particularly bad on a Skills class due to disconnect in how the class was teaching us to act, and how the grading rewarded those actions. That and focus on OCI and getting a spring internship took up a lot of my time and effort that would've been devoted to school. That said, there were other transfers who did better this year than last. Though, from what I'm seeing with my lowered grades it doesn't seem to have really impacted my ability to get a paying summer gig and a slew of interviews.

OCI: I got a lot, like 30, of interviews from GW's OCI, mass mailing, and outside fairs, I came from a TT with a relatively strong name with a solid summer experience, so that may have helped and I'm from the VA/DC area. However, I spent all of my bids on places that either: 1) were far out of my league, 2) Not in the DC area [I don't particularly care for living and working in the belly of the beast] so they were wary of my ties, 3) There may have been a certain je ne sais quoi about me that big firm recruiters didn't like [because every other non-bigfirm interview I did, I got an offer; including congress, fed agencies, non-profits, USAOs, etc]. However, I struck out at every single biglaw screener and callback, so take that as you will; though I do not believe firms had a negative feeling on transfers. Someone the interviewers commended the initiative to move to a better school.

Internship Opportunities: If you come to GW, academic year internships are the absolute best way to boost your resume and get you relevant work experience employers want to see. It also gets you some pretty great connections as well. The beauty with GW is that there is barely any competition for these positions during the academic year, a little from American and GMU (haven't seen a lot of GULC folks, maybe they think they don't need them?) but GW really owns federal government internships. The only downfall with the interning, is that coming in as a transfer you only get 8 ungraded credits; if you're on a journal, you use up 4 right there, leaving only 4 for interning, moot court, clinics, etc. And alongside the outside placement internship program, GW requires you to take a co-req addressing the type of law you're doing (gov't lawyering, PI, Environmental, etc); these classes are a complete waste of time and just pile on more busy work on top of an already crowded schedule. However, you only have to take them once.

All in all, despite my personal problems with the DC Wastelands as a place to live, there's a lot in terms of professional possibilities coming out of GW and it should put you in a much better position than a lot of other places should you strike out at OCI as long as you hit the ground running and intern around the city, especially if you find a particularly marketable niche like patent, tax, or energy law.

[Anonymous User]

Classwise: I got median pwned. I did particularly bad on a Skills class due to disconnect in how the class was teaching us to act, and how the grading rewarded those actions. That and focus on OCI and getting a spring internship took up a lot of my time and effort that would've been devoted to school. That said, there were other transfers who did better this year than last. Though, from what I'm seeing with my lowered grades it doesn't seem to have really impacted my ability to get a paying summer gig and a slew of interviews.

OCI: I got a lot, like 30, of interviews from GW's OCI, mass mailing, and outside fairs, I came from a TT with a relatively strong name with a solid summer experience, so that may have helped and I'm from the VA/DC area. However, I spent all of my bids on places that either: 1) were far out of my league, 2) Not in the DC area [I don't particularly care for living and working in the belly of the beast] so they were wary of my ties, 3) There may have been a certain je ne sais quoi about me that big firm recruiters didn't like [because every other non-bigfirm interview I did, I got an offer; including congress, fed agencies, non-profits, USAOs, etc]. However, I struck out at every single biglaw screener and callback, so take that as you will; though I do not believe firms had a negative feeling on transfers. Someone the interviewers commended the initiative to move to a better school.

Internship Opportunities: If you come to GW, academic year internships are the absolute best way to boost your resume and get you relevant work experience employers want to see. It also gets you some pretty great connections as well. The beauty with GW is that there is barely any competition for these positions during the academic year, a little from American and GMU (haven't seen a lot of GULC folks, maybe they think they don't need them?) but GW really owns federal government internships. The only downfall with the interning, is that coming in as a transfer you only get 8 ungraded credits; if you're on a journal, you use up 4 right there, leaving only 4 for interning, moot court, clinics, etc. And alongside the outside placement internship program, GW requires you to take a co-req addressing the type of law you're doing (gov't lawyering, PI, Environmental, etc); these classes are a complete waste of time and just pile on more busy work on top of an already crowded schedule. However, you only have to take them once.

All in all, despite my personal problems with the DC Wastelands as a place to live, there's a lot in terms of professional possibilities coming out of GW and it should put you in a much better position than a lot of other places should you strike out at OCI as long as you hit the ground running and intern around the city, especially if you find a particularly marketable niche like patent, tax, or energy law.

Thanks for your input! How are the students? And faculty? Was it easy transitioning to a new school....did your profs know you transferred in? What do you wish you knew now going into GW, OCI, etc...that could have made the process easier or less stressful?

[Anonymous User]

former gw transfer here.. good luck to all!!

can you go into detail about going from 1L to GW? what are the classes like, students, profs, OCI, employability...
also, what were your 1L stats and did you apply EA?

edit: actually, it would also be much appreciated if anyone else out there who transferred into GW that could also answer the above questions? ty ty.