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Is a 3.5 considered a B+/A- average? How strong is a 3.5 when transferring from a T-20 to a T-14? Class rank is not available. Thanks.

Depends. What does your current school curve to?

ya whats your rank. no one gives a shit about 3.5 per se

Anonymous User wrote:Class rank is not available.

If by this you mean that it hasn't been released yet, then it will be hard for us to determine your chances absent at least your school's median GPA and class size, plus some other benchmark. If it means that your school doesn't rank, then it will be pretty impossible, unless there's some data from your school, maybe in the Google spreadsheet in the sticky, or LSN (do they still do transfer numbers?) or the Yahoo group.

If your school historically doesn't rank, then your target schools will likely have some kind of formula for determining the value of your GPA to them. Not sure anyone on this board would be able to even guess at what that is. You may want to ask your registrar if they have any ideas what outgoing GPAs have successfully transferred to your target range, but, they may not have that info, and/or may be reluctant to give it, even if they do.

If you can't get data from the registrar on previous years, there is likely a section in your school's student handbook that lists the grading system, course curves, mandatory grading distributions, etc.

lasersgopewpew wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Class rank is not available.

If by this you mean that it hasn't been released yet, then it will be hard for us to determine your chances absent at least your school's median GPA and class size, plus some other benchmark. If it means that your school doesn't rank, then it will be pretty impossible, unless there's some data from your school, maybe in the Google spreadsheet in the sticky, or LSN (do they still do transfer numbers?) or the Yahoo group.

If your school historically doesn't rank, then your target schools will likely have some kind of formula for determining the value of your GPA to them. Not sure anyone on this board would be able to even guess at what that is. You may want to ask your registrar if they have any ideas what outgoing GPAs have successfully transferred to your target range, but, they may not have that info, and/or may be reluctant to give it, even if they do.

So the info I've gotten from previous students is that either curved to a 3.0 or a 3.3 but no higher. Given either possibility, what does a 3.5 come out to?

Anonymous User wrote:

lasersgopewpew wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Class rank is not available.

If by this you mean that it hasn't been released yet, then it will be hard for us to determine your chances absent at least your school's median GPA and class size, plus some other benchmark. If it means that your school doesn't rank, then it will be pretty impossible, unless there's some data from your school, maybe in the Google spreadsheet in the sticky, or LSN (do they still do transfer numbers?) or the Yahoo group.

If your school historically doesn't rank, then your target schools will likely have some kind of formula for determining the value of your GPA to them. Not sure anyone on this board would be able to even guess at what that is. You may want to ask your registrar if they have any ideas what outgoing GPAs have successfully transferred to your target range, but, they may not have that info, and/or may be reluctant to give it, even if they do.

So the info I've gotten from previous students is that either curved to a 3.0 or a 3.3 but no higher. Given either possibility, what does a 3.5 come out to?

just not enough to know. saying its curved between 3.0 and 3.3 is a huge HUGe disparity.

given your anonymity, why not just say the school?

f0bolous wrote:given your anonymity, why not just say the school?

Its GW Law

You can enter the excel formulas found in this thread into a spreadsheet: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=157992

but, as we've said, you need the median and at least one other data point. It's also not perfect, but it will give you a decent idea. That said, my guess is a 3.5 at GW maybe gets you into the top 20%. Maybe 20-25%, but that is PURELY a guess.

On a 3.3 curve, you're top third. On a 3.0 curve, you're probably top 10-15% (IDK any of the math, just pointing out that the difference is pretty drastic

lasersgopewpew wrote:You can enter the excel formulas found in this thread into a spreadsheet: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=157992

but, as we've said, you need the median and at least one other data point. It's also not perfect, but it will give you a decent idea. That said, my guess is a 3.5 at GW maybe gets you into the top 20%. Maybe 20-25%, but that is PURELY a guess.

What do you think the chances of getting into Georgetown are with that?

Anonymous User wrote:

lasersgopewpew wrote:You can enter the excel formulas found in this thread into a spreadsheet: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=157992

but, as we've said, you need the median and at least one other data point. It's also not perfect, but it will give you a decent idea. That said, my guess is a 3.5 at GW maybe gets you into the top 20%. Maybe 20-25%, but that is PURELY a guess.

What do you think the chances of getting into Georgetown are with that?

useless transfer

Do you have a crazy compelling reason for wanting to transfer to Georgetown?

lasersgopewpew wrote:Do you have a crazy compelling reason for wanting to transfer to Georgetown?

Better national placement. I want to move to the west coast. GW doesn't have much of a name out there. At the same time I have to stay in DC for the next few years so I'm not applying to any other place in the T14.

Anonymous User wrote:

lasersgopewpew wrote:Do you have a crazy compelling reason for wanting to transfer to Georgetown?

Better national placement. I want to move to the west coast. GW doesn't have much of a name out there. At the same time I have to stay in DC for the next few years so I'm not applying to any other place in the T14.

Just a heads up.... GW has a grade representation policy that tells you to the thousandth what constitutes an A- average / etc.

Nammertat wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

lasersgopewpew wrote:Do you have a crazy compelling reason for wanting to transfer to Georgetown?

Better national placement. I want to move to the west coast. GW doesn't have much of a name out there. At the same time I have to stay in DC for the next few years so I'm not applying to any other place in the T14.

Just a heads up.... GW has a grade representation policy that tells you to the thousandth what constitutes an A- average / etc.

What does that mean?

Anonymous User wrote:

Nammertat wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

lasersgopewpew wrote:Do you have a crazy compelling reason for wanting to transfer to Georgetown?

Better national placement. I want to move to the west coast. GW doesn't have much of a name out there. At the same time I have to stay in DC for the next few years so I'm not applying to any other place in the T14.

Just a heads up.... GW has a grade representation policy that tells you to the thousandth what constitutes an A- average / etc.

What does that mean?

"Letter Grade Average GPA Range

A+, 4.167 or greater
A, less than 4.167 and greater than or equal to 3.833
A-, less than 3.833 and greater than or equal to 3.500
B+, less than 3.500 and greater than or equal to 3.167
B, less than 3.167 and greater than or equal to 2.833
B-, less than 2.833 and greater than or equal to 2.500
C+, less than 2.500 and greater than or equal to 2.167
C, less than 2.167 and greater than or equal to 1.833
C-, less than 1.833 and greater than or equal to 1.500
D, less than 1.500"

http://www.law.gwu.edu/Students/Records ... olicy.aspx

Curve at GW is a 3.2 for 1Ls.

Also I would not recommend transferring to Georgetown - you will not get that much of a boost at OCI especially because I think GULC is lottery (GW is preselect). With a 3.5+ you will get some interviews at OCI. But also mass mail heavily.

queenlizzie13 wrote:Curve at GW is a 3.2 for 1Ls.

Also I would not recommend transferring to Georgetown - you will not get that much of a boost at OCI especially because I think GULC is lottery (GW is preselect). With a 3.5+ you will get some interviews at OCI. But also mass mail heavily.

I want to practice on the west coast which is why I wanted to transfer to GULC because of its national reach. There are not a lot of schools in Cali ranked higher than GULC so it will help with the competition. Not sure how much OCI action GW gets compared to GULC for west coast firms. Based on my current situation in all likelihood I will be lateraling over to the west coast after a few years in DC.

queenlizzie13 wrote:Curve at GW is a 3.2 for 1Ls.

Also I would not recommend transferring to Georgetown - you will not get that much of a boost at OCI especially because I think GULC is lottery (GW is preselect). With a 3.5+ you will get some interviews at OCI. But also mass mail heavily.

This.

Meh, if you are paying sticker at GW, then transfer to Georgetown. I'm not entirely sure why the last few posters are recommending against it. I'm from the West Coast and went to WUSTL - between a non-T14 and Georgetown, Georgetown has a significantly better reputation. And if you ever wanted to move out of the legal field, the GT name will help with that too (GT has abnormally impressive lay prestige).

If you have a decent scholarship at GW that you would be leaving behind, this becomes a trickier question. ...Although I did hear a rumor that scholarships / reduced tuition for transfers might actually be a thing this year....

Total Litigator wrote:Meh, if you are paying sticker at GW, then transfer to Georgetown. I'm not entirely sure why the last few posters are recommending against it. I'm from the West Coast and went to WUSTL - between a non-T14 and Georgetown, Georgetown has a significantly better reputation. And if you ever wanted to move out of the legal field, the GT name will help with that too (GT has abnormally impressive lay prestige).

If you have a decent scholarship at GW that you would be leaving behind, this becomes a trickier question. ...Although I did hear a rumor that scholarships / reduced tuition for transfers might actually be a thing this year....

That's the impression I got as well after having talked to lawyers on the West coast. I don't have a scholly at my school so there is nothing for me to lose from transferring. I have also heard that GTown has a of lot of lay prestige that can help in certain situations, but it gets bashed pretty hard on TLS!

GULC won't be much of a help/boost at all for the West Coast. If you really want west coast transfer to a school on the west coast - like UCLA or USC. Lay prestige does not mean as much as you think it does. Also - you definitely have a shot at DC big law if you stay. In four or five years then you could lateral over to the west coast.

If GULC gives you $ and GW refuses then I might consider transferring. But otherwise, I would not - not for the reasons you are mentioning anyways.