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I did well in my first semester at a T30 (4.09 GPA, don't know my class rank). I am thinking about trying to transfer to Harvard. For personal reasons, that is the only school that I'm interested in. I'm aiming for Biglaw in Boston. My biggest concern would be the extra ~$70k it would cost me over the next two years (lost scholarship amount + added cost). Wondering about my chances, and if it would even be worth it to transfer. Thoughts?

Thanks!

Were I in your shoes, I would do this in a heartbeat.

.

I would take more time to think about accepting free kick in the nuts than a transfer to Harvard.

Go and don't look back.

Chances? Will always be a toss-up at H, but definitely worth applying.

Worth it?

Depends on your job prospects at your current school and your career goals.

If you're already in Boston, I doubt there are many firms that recruit Harvard transfers that wouldn't hire a 4.09 from BU/BC.

If you're not in Boston currently then it's probably worth it for exposure to the Boston market.

If you're looking to do PI/Govt, then you'll have to take a hard look at the LRAP difference between H and your current school and see if it's worth it.

KidStuddi wrote:Chances? Will always be a toss-up at H, but definitely worth applying.

Worth it?

Depends on your job prospects at your current school and your career goals.

If you're already in Boston, I doubt there are many firms that recruit Harvard transfers that wouldn't hire a 4.09 from BU/BC.

If you're not in Boston currently then it's probably worth it for exposure to the Boston market.

If you're looking to do PI/Govt, then you'll have to take a hard look at the LRAP difference between H and your current school and see if it's worth it.

If you're really really looking at PI/Govt (which it sounds like your'e not), I'd GUARANTEE that Harvard's LRAP is better

Similar position as you last year. Stayed at the T30, got biglaw in Boston at one of the big three, and had multiple offers to chose from. It's possible this may impact my ability to lateral (either in house or to another firm), but I decided it wasn't worth the extra 1.5-2 years worth of loan repayments that Harvard would require. With a 4.00, Ropes, Wilmer, Goodwin, Choate, Foley, etc. are all pretty good chances.

Do you go to BU/BC?

Do you currently have a scholarship?

RPK34 wrote:Similar position as you last year. Stayed at the T30, got biglaw in Boston at one of the big three, and had multiple offers to chose from. It's possible this may impact my ability to lateral (either in house or to another firm), but I decided it wasn't worth the extra 1.5-2 years worth of loan repayments that Harvard would require. With a 4.00, Ropes, Wilmer, Goodwin, Choate, Foley, etc. are all pretty good chances.

OP here. Thanks for the advice--I'm glad to hear that staying put worked out for you! I am at BU/BC, so I am hoping that I'll be able to snag a biglaw job in Boston even if I don't transfer. But I only want to work in Boston and I just know that it's a really small market, so I'm considering all of my options. I've heard a few stories about people who were in the top 10% last year who got no offers at OCI, and I'd hate for that to happen to me, or to not have any good exit options a few years down the road. On the other hand, I'd also hate to borrow an extra $70k and go to a new school, if I could just as easily stay where I am. At this point, I think I'm leaning towards not applying to transfer.

Anonymous User wrote:OP here. Thanks for the advice--I'm glad to hear that staying put worked out for you! I am at BU/BC, so I am hoping that I'll be able to snag a biglaw job in Boston even if I don't transfer. But I only want to work in Boston and I just know that it's a really small market, so I'm considering all of my options. I've heard a few stories about people who were in the top 10% last year who got no offers at OCI, and I'd hate for that to happen to me, or to not have any good exit options a few years down the road. On the other hand, I'd also hate to borrow an extra $70k and go to a new school, if I could just as easily stay where I am. At this point, I think I'm leaning towards not applying to transfer.

This is perfectly sane and rational. Don't forget you're probably giving up law review and clerkship chances by transferring, both of which may also factor into lateral prospects.

Also, the anecdotal "guy with amazing grades struck out at OCI" story exists everywhere. It's more of a "high GPA might be necessary but it isn't sufficient" waring. Unemployable weirdos exist at every school.

Anonymous User wrote:

RPK34 wrote:Similar position as you last year. Stayed at the T30, got biglaw in Boston at one of the big three, and had multiple offers to chose from. It's possible this may impact my ability to lateral (either in house or to another firm), but I decided it wasn't worth the extra 1.5-2 years worth of loan repayments that Harvard would require. With a 4.00, Ropes, Wilmer, Goodwin, Choate, Foley, etc. are all pretty good chances.

OP here. Thanks for the advice--I'm glad to hear that staying put worked out for you! I am at BU/BC, so I am hoping that I'll be able to snag a biglaw job in Boston even if I don't transfer. But I only want to work in Boston and I just know that it's a really small market, so I'm considering all of my options. I've heard a few stories about people who were in the top 10% last year who got no offers at OCI, and I'd hate for that to happen to me, or to not have any good exit options a few years down the road. On the other hand, I'd also hate to borrow an extra $70k and go to a new school, if I could just as easily stay where I am. At this point, I think I'm leaning towards not applying to transfer.

Apply to New York firms to, even if they don't recruit at your school. Sometimes your ties matter.

p1arnold wrote: Apply to New York firms to, even if they don't recruit at your school. Sometimes your ties matter.

Yeah I actually have strong Boston ties (I'm from here and my resume screams Massachusetts), so I'm hoping that'll help me get a Boston offer. A bunch of NY firms recruit at BU/BC so I suppose I could bid on those as well, but working outside MA is very unappealing to me for a whole bunch of reasons.

You can definitely get to NYC if you want with a 4.00. At the NYC Job Fair there are tons of employers, and I know tons of folks who got offers out of it. I know BC/BU kids who got V5 offers, and tons of offers in other top NYC firms.

Harvard will give you a better shot at NYC, but BC/BU will give you a very good shot with those grades

I'm gonna disagree with everyone here. A 4.09 GPA means you're probably among the top 5 students. That should snag you just about any Biston bigkaw job you want, so transferring means paying $70k just for the name.

As nice as it is, the name alone isn't worth that kind of money