T-14 --> HYS? Forum

JudgeLearnedPaw · Post by **JudgeLearnedPaw** » Fri Jan 24, 2014 4:02 pm

Lower-tier T-14 1L here, fall grades are in and I'm unexpectedly sitting on a 4.0. I'd thought about the possibility of transferring up before but didn't want to look into it until I had grades -- considering throwing an app to HLS, Y, Columbia, possibly NYU. It would be great to get back to the NYC/Boston area for family/other personal reasons.

I'm on a partial scholarship here, and my current school places well into NYC and Boston so I'm not too worried about that. Would really love to get on the academia career path though, so I thought transferring (particularly to HLS or Y) would be a good move in that respect.

Thoughts? Chances? Advice? Thanks!

nimrod4u · Post by **nimrod4u** » Sat Jan 25, 2014 9:16 pm

Although my current school is a top 20 school, I also unexpectedly ended up with a 4.0. Needless to say, the same question popped into my mind. I would certainly appreciate listening to advice from someone who has made a similar jump, and can provide some perspective.

I have two more specific questions:
(1) Is it feasible to not do anything related to my transfer applications until the Spring semester is over, and then fill out the totality of my transfer applications in May?

(2) If I'm seriously considering transferring up, it might make sense to skip my 4 day journal competition this semester and just focus on studying for my classes in attempt to duplicate another 4.0 semester. Thoughts?

UnfrozenCaveman · Post by **UnfrozenCaveman** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 3:16 pm

Earliest deadlines last year were like jun 1. And there isn't much movement before that. Others jun 15, and then most were jun 31. I would think you can wait.

Skipping the journal competition might be OK, but what if something Weird happens and you don't get into a high enough ranked school to make transferring worth it?

nimrod4u · Post by **nimrod4u** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 3:36 pm

UnfrozenCaveman wrote:Earliest deadlines last year were like jun 1. And there isn't much movement before that. Others jun 15, and then most were jun 31. I would think you can wait.

Skipping the journal competition might be OK, but what if something Weird happens and you don't get into a high enough ranked school to make transferring worth it?

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, that's a good point. I guess I need to do some more research about what being on a journal entails at my school, and if I can live without it should I end up staying at the same school. I just feel like I could really get ahead of everyone else if I spend those 4 days outlining for my other classes when everyone else is competing for journal. Decisions, decisions.

Tiago Splitter · Post by **Tiago Splitter** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 7:59 pm

It sounds like you just want to skip out on the journal competition because it's a bunch of pointless work. Can't say I blame you, but at least be honest with yourself. You can still get great grades even while putting in a legit effort on the writing comp. The ideal situation would be to make law review at your current school, but then transfer to a much higher ranked school and not actually participate on the law review. That way, you can have it on your resume without putting in any of the work (other than the little writing competition). Shoot for that.

nimrod4u · Post by **nimrod4u** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 9:03 pm

Tiago Splitter wrote:It sounds like you just want to skip out on the journal competition because it's a bunch of pointless work. Can't say I blame you, but at least be honest with yourself. You can still get great grades even while putting in a legit effort on the writing comp. The ideal situation would be to make law review at your current school, but then transfer to a much higher ranked school and not actually participate on the law review. That way, you can have it on your resume without putting in any of the work (other than the little writing competition). Shoot for that.

Thanks for the input. You make a good point about the ideal situation--making journal at my current school, transferring up, and then not having to actually participate in law review while keeping it on my resume. The only other thing that I'm slightly concerned about is if I make law review and end up staying at my current school, I sure as hell do not want to spend my 2L year cite-checking and Bluebooking the footnotes of an article written by a 3L. I already did that BS for 2 years as a paralegal.

I am leaning towards sacking up and just doing the competition to cover all of my bases. Since most of the journals heavily factor GPA in making their selections, I could probably make it with just a good faith effort and not have to kill myself for 96 straight hours.

A. Nony Mouse · Post by **A. Nony Mouse** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 9:06 pm

Tiago Splitter wrote:It sounds like you just want to skip out on the journal competition because it's a bunch of pointless work. Can't say I blame you, but at least be honest with yourself. You can still get great grades even while putting in a legit effort on the writing comp. The ideal situation would be to make law review at your current school, but then transfer to a much higher ranked school and not actually participate on the law review. That way, you can have it on your resume without putting in any of the work (other than the little writing competition). Shoot for that.

I will note that if you're considering clerkships, I'm not sure the invitation to LR from your old school will look the same to judges as actually being on LR at your new school. I have no idea about other employers, though.

UnfrozenCaveman · Post by **UnfrozenCaveman** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 10:31 pm

Plenty of schools allow transfers to do journals including main journal.

brotherdarkness · Post by **brotherdarkness** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 10:44 pm

BFrankBYangC · Post by **BFrankBYangC** » Mon Jan 27, 2014 2:16 am

Enjoy HYS. You're almost certain to get in to H in particular if you maintain your GPA.

HYS all give need based aid, so depending on your age/income of parents/siblings in college you'll probably qualify for some aid. I ended up qualifying for way more aid than I thought I would given my family (comfortably middle class). If you're old (27+), poor, or have a ton of siblings in college transferring could actually probably save you some money. I think some schools will also up your aid if you threaten to transfer, so it might be worth the application just to leverage a better scholarship out of your current school.

The application process itself is quite easy, most of the necessary materials are saved on the LSAC website already. You'll have to talk to a few professors to get letters of recommendation (they're used to it, don't be shy) and write up a personal statement explaining why you want to change schools (hint: try to explain your motives for transferring without using the word "prestige").

Good luck, kill it again next semester and you will be at HYS this time next year.

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