Top Law Schools

.

If you want to be in FL and can get into a school in FL that is both better and has a lower/the same COA, there is truly zero reason to stay where you are.

You probably shouldn't transfer too far out though, You could really turn it around next semester and completely blow your classes away, but without a serious grade improvement, you won't be competitive at most schools worth transferring to.

What is your school's curve if a 3.5 is near the top of your class? Well above median for sure, but I'm skeptical that a 3.5 is top 10% anywhere.

I'm basing the 3.5 off of a B+ being a 3.3 and legal research only counting as half a doctrinal course.

.

arklaw13 wrote:What is your school's curve if a 3.5 is near the top of your class? Well above median for sure, but I'm skeptical that a 3.5 is top 10% anywhere.

I'm basing the 3.5 off of a B+ being a 3.3 and legal research only counting as half a doctrinal course.

The 1L curve at my school is 2.5-2.7 GPA

The 3 doctrinal classes are 4 credits each, and the LW class is 3 credits.

I don't know my % or rank because it hasn't been uploaded to our school website yet, but typically there are 2 A's per class 4 B's, the rest C's and the bottom 2 or 3 students fail out. Hope this background info helps.

Yikes. I hope your class sizes are really, really small.

If you're top 5%, you should shoot to improve those grades next semester and go to a great school. Otherwise, I still see no reason to stay there if you can get into a better, equally priced/cheaper school.

Anonymous User wrote:

arklaw13 wrote:What is your school's curve if a 3.5 is near the top of your class? Well above median for sure, but I'm skeptical that a 3.5 is top 10% anywhere.

I'm basing the 3.5 off of a B+ being a 3.3 and legal research only counting as half a doctrinal course.

The 1L curve at my school is 2.5-2.7 GPA

The 3 doctrinal classes are 4 credits each, and the LW class is 3 credits.

I don't know my % or rank because it hasn't been uploaded to our school website yet, but typically there are 2 A's per class 4 B's, the rest C's and the bottom 2 or 3 students fail out. Hope this background info helps.

Wow. Well then. Just get the best grades you can next semester. Top 10% will definitely get you out of there. Top 5% or better will get you into somewhere decent.

Where is he going to go though? Median at UF is in bad shape, so where would a transfer figure? A straight A second semester could maybe get Duke/UVA, and I think the Florida firms would understand why you left to go to Duke/UVA.

justadude55 wrote:Where is he going to go though? Median at UF is in bad shape, so where would a transfer figure? A straight A second semester could maybe get Duke/UVA, and I think the Florida firms would understand why you left to go to Duke/UVA.

I'm not sure Duke/UVA take transfers from Florida Coastal, which is where I'm guessing this guy goes. I could be wrong, but breaking the T14 would be really tough from there, since it's basically Cooley.

What about demanding a full ride from the current school?

Best option might be drop out and retake if gainful employment is the goal. I would say try and transfer to Vandy but sticker there sounds awful.

Even if he did transfer, are employers going to treat him any differently than a top student from Coastal? I doubt it.

arklaw13 wrote:Even if he did transfer, are employers going to treat him any differently than a top student from Coastal? I doubt it.

OP has to get out of Florida Coastal. Employers may not treat you differently for 2L OCI, but for the rest of career you will not be straddled with that crappy degree.

I know paralegals who have their JDs from Florida Costal, but no lawyers.

BigZuck wrote:What about demanding a full ride from the current school?

Best option might be drop out and retake if gainful employment is the goal. I would say try and transfer to Vandy but sticker there sounds awful.

Idk what the better move is - 1.) Stay at my current school = Top 10%, Law Review, Research Assistant + Teaching Assistant, and $18,000 scholarship, or 2.) Go to a new school just as a regular student with a diploma from a real school.


Any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Well you made a horrible mistake but at least you were lucky enough to have the chance to get out of it.

Transfer to whichever of UF/FSU you like more. Get the hell out of coastal unless working retail was your dream before law school.

arklaw13 wrote:Even if he did transfer, are employers going to treat him any differently than a top student from Coastal? I doubt it.

I transferred from Barry to UF and employers do treat you differently - the difference is now you'll be graduating with a degree that is marketable and one which employers don't mind listing on their websites under attorney profiles. Case in point, I could not get an even a return phone call or email from certain firms in Orlando when I was at Barry, regardless of my academic standing. Some of those same firms pre-selected me, with Barry still on my resume, fresh out of the transfer for OCI at UF.

arklaw13 wrote:What is your school's curve if a 3.5 is near the top of your class? Well above median for sure, but I'm skeptical that a 3.5 is top 10% anywhere.

Many of the TTTT schools have 2.0 or 2.2 curves with scholarship requirements of 2.8 or 3.0 (which is nearly impossible).

My year at Barry, 3.54 was top 5% (15 out of 300)

Anonymous User wrote:

BigZuck wrote:What about demanding a full ride from the current school?

Best option might be drop out and retake if gainful employment is the goal. I would say try and transfer to Vandy but sticker there sounds awful.

Idk what the better move is - 1.) Stay at my current school = Top 10%, Law Review, Research Assistant + Teaching Assistant, and $18,000 scholarship, or 2.) Go to a new school just as a regular student with a diploma from a real school.


Any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

1.) Stay at my current school = Top 10%, Law Review, Research Assistant + Teaching Assistant, and $18,000 scholarship,

You have to understand that no one cares if you are top 10% at a tier 2 let alone a TTTT. Transfer! Transfer! Transfer!.

Saying that you are on law review...no one cares your school is not good enough

Research Assistant + teaching assistant...who cares you do bitch work for a professor?

Not to be harsh, but dude it is really harsh out there.

2.) Go to a new school just as a regular student with a diploma from a real school.

Do this. Try to get towards the top of your class. Apply to the top 20 schools in the country and a couple of schools in the top 20-30 range. You will be shocked that you may get into some really good schools like Boston College/University, WUSTL, etc...

You need to also jump on the EA cycles for transfer students. I was into a top 20 b/f I went into finals 1L Spring. Felt good to know I was out of a TT into a top 20.

Good luck. PM me if you have any questions.

Dood....transfer ! Do well next semester and you should be able to get into T14 schools for sure.

j

Sounds like you may go to Nova. I went there last year and had about the same GPA after 1st semester. I have since transferred to FSU and am loving it up here. A 3.55 there after one semester put me in the top 4% to help give an idea of there you may rank. You can PM me if you have any questions, but keep killing it!