Answering "why your old school" and "why your new school" Forum

[brotherdarkness]

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[Volake]

Was there a strong upward trend to your GPA during your UG education? If so, you may be able to swing it as you put things together in the latter part of your UG education, and have been going strongly since. The dedicated and driven person you've been over the past 3-4 years is representative of the person you will be for the rest of your career. Although you didn't have the opportunity at first to go to the law school you initially wanted to go to at first because of different habits/poor decisions, that you are there now speaks for itself.

[brotherdarkness]

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[2013applicant]

When asked "Why your old school?"

I answered, "They gave me a sizable scholarship and I enjoyed my visit to the school. It was a great place to do my 1L year but I'm very excited to be at School X now."

99% of the time, that was it. Received several V5 and V10 offers.

[brotherdarkness]

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[potted plant]

I wouldn't worry about seeming like a flight risk. You spent one year in the midwest and then transferred back to California where you have your strongest ties. I think it's pretty clear that you don't want to be in the midwest and I think firms will believe you.

I'm from California and want to work in California. Just like you I went to UG in California too. Now I'm at Michigan. I don't anticipate having a lot of trouble trying to convince firms that I want to be back in California as I won't be bidding in the midwest and I have no midwestern ties. But if anybody asked why I went to Michigan I would just tell the truth, that it's a good school, that it was less expensive than my other options and that I liked it when I visited.

If I were you I would just tell firms the truth, that you thought it was your best option given the price, the better job prospects compared to the CA schools you got into and the ability to fall back on family. I think that shows that you made a smart and considered choice and would probably reflect better than trying to act like you didn't really understanding how legal hiring worked when you first went to law school.

[whynat]

Why? Why nat?

[2013applicant]

When asked "Why your old school?"

I answered, "They gave me a sizable scholarship and I enjoyed my visit to the school. It was a great place to do my 1L year but I'm very excited to be at School X now."

99% of the time, that was it. Received several V5 and V10 offers.

That's a solid way to quickly dispense of the issue. Out of curiosity, did both schools feed the same market?

Negative. Drastically different markets. (Southeastern U.S. vs. National)

[Dawkins]

Answering the "why did you choose to transfer" question seems to be fairly easy: law school is an investment and, given the current economy, I wanted to take every possible measure to ensure I had the greatest return on my investment.

I wouldn't say that I wanted to take every possible measure to ensure I had the greatest return on my investment. Even if true, it doesn't sound very good. I would talk about how the new school had better resources such as clinics, courses, faculty, etc.

[stillwater]

Answering the "why did you choose to transfer" question seems to be fairly easy: law school is an investment and, given the current economy, I wanted to take every possible measure to ensure I had the greatest return on my investment.

I wouldn't say that I wanted to take every possible measure to ensure I had the greatest return on my investment. Even if true, it doesn't sound very good. I would talk about how the new school had better resources such as clinics, courses, faculty, etc.

lulz, as if biglawl cares about clinics and faculty.

[lawalum]

Talking about a return on your investment makes a lot of sense to me on the other side of the interview desk. I think 2013 applicant's response is effective - I wouldn't go into a ton of detail on this.