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Paying nearly sticker at CCN.

I wasn't really considering transferring until grades came out, because I didn't think I'd do well enough. I'm somewhere between top 5-7%, and am considering transferring to Stanford for mostly personal reasons... any thoughts on my chances? I'm a bit worried about getting a rec, since it seems like it'll be awkward to ask a prof for a recommendation to go to another law school...

Anonymous User wrote:Paying nearly sticker at CCN.

I wasn't really considering transferring until grades came out, because I didn't think I'd do well enough. I'm somewhere between top 5-7%, and am considering transferring to Stanford for mostly personal reasons... any thoughts on my chances? I'm a bit worried about getting a rec, since it seems like it'll be awkward to ask a prof for a recommendation to go to another law school...

The profs are used to it. Everyone who transfers has to ask for recs. Don't stress about it.

As for chances at S, you've got a legit shot. But they usually take a small transfer class so it can be hit-or-miss, even if you're top 5-10% at CCN. Transferring to HLS is a safer bet.

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First, congrats on a great 1L semester!
Second, there's not much data on this but so far, I found one guy/girl that was able to transfer from the top 5% from CCN. However, because of the small sample size, it's difficult to tell how much of a shot you have, esp. since S takes in less transfers than H and Y.

Also, did you go to S for undergrad? Do you have a compelling reason to transfer?

Thanks for the replies! I won't lie, prestige and weather are both parts of it, but I also have a friend that I'm really close to in the area, who I miss quite a lot. I attended Stanford for part of undergrad, not the whole thing, and I do miss the place itself as well.

Anonymous User wrote:Thanks for the replies! I won't lie, prestige and weather are both parts of it, but I also have a friend that I'm really close to in the area, who I miss quite a lot. I attended Stanford for part of undergrad, not the whole thing, and I do miss the place itself as well.

Oh nice. I heard they also take your UG into account but I'm not sure how much.

Btw can you PM me? I think i know you and I would love to talk to someone about this since I have similar goals!

Anonymous User wrote:Thanks for the replies! I won't lie, prestige and weather are both parts of it, but I also have a friend that I'm really close to in the area, who I miss quite a lot. I attended Stanford for part of undergrad, not the whole thing, and I do miss the place itself as well.

No reason not to apply, though keep in mind the following:

1. S will want all of your 1L grades - so focus on not slipping
2. You are likely giving up being top of your class + LR position simply to get the Stanford name. Assuming you want to clerk, I don't think that's worth it. I cannot overstate the value of a professor going to bat for you. I'm at CCN, and we have had about 10 clerkship acceptances so far. All 10 were through professor connections. I think the prestige of top of the class at CCN > random YHS. I could be wrong.

WheninLaw wrote:You are likely giving up being top of your class + LR position simply to get the Stanford name. Assuming you want to clerk, I don't think that's worth it. I cannot overstate the value of a professor going to bat for you. I'm at CCN, and we have had about 10 clerkship acceptances so far. All 10 were through professor connections. I think the prestige of top of the class at CCN > random YHS. I could be wrong.

Agreed. Or, to put it more precisely, top of the class at CCN > random YHS 2L transfer. I think this wasn't as true ten years ago, when most clerks were hired during fall of 3L year. A transfer had an entire year to make connections with faculty at YHS. But now that hiring for clerkships (especially the more competitive ones) happens early in 2L year, it's harder for a transfers to put themselves in a position to land competitive clerkships. If you want to clerk right after law school, and if you're top of class at CCN, you're probably better off not transferring.