Top Law Schools

Hi everyone,

I transferred from a bottom 50 school to CCN a couple of years ago. I'm happy to answer any questions or discuss the process with anyone that's interested.

I am interested in CLS and NYU although as a PT student, I think I'm out at NYU. So this may determine where you go to school, so feel free not to answer, but I was wondering if you knew of any PT students who transffered into your new school?

Thanks!

txig wrote:I am interested in CLS and NYU although as a PT student, I think I'm out at NYU. So this may determine where you go to school, so feel free not to answer, but I was wondering if you knew of any PT students who transffered into your new school?

Thanks!

You should first investigate whether the school you are interested in even offers a part time program. A quick Google search shows that neither NYU nor CLS offer a part time program.

trbrny wrote:

txig wrote:I am interested in CLS and NYU although as a PT student, I think I'm out at NYU. So this may determine where you go to school, so feel free not to answer, but I was wondering if you knew of any PT students who transffered into your new school?

Thanks!

You should first investigate whether the school you are interested in even offers a part time program. A quick Google search shows that neither NYU nor CLS offer a part time program.

Sorry, I was unclear. My question is do you know anyone who transferred into FT programs from a PT program at their previous school.

txig wrote:

trbrny wrote:

txig wrote:I am interested in CLS and NYU although as a PT student, I think I'm out at NYU. So this may determine where you go to school, so feel free not to answer, but I was wondering if you knew of any PT students who transffered into your new school?

Thanks!

You should first investigate whether the school you are interested in even offers a part time program. A quick Google search shows that neither NYU nor CLS offer a part time program.

Sorry, I was unclear. My question is do you know anyone who transferred into FT programs from a PT program at their previous school.

Oh. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I don't know of anyone off the top of my head, but can't imagine it being an issue, provided that you have completed the required 1L courses and have the grades for it. But, I cannot give you an answer as to how admissions looks at PT transfer apps.

Thanks! I have some more questions:

1) Did you do OCI and go for Big Law?

2) If so did you have a target market and what were your ties to the target market?

3) If you had interviews/mass mailed out of your target market, how did you sell that region/city?

Thanks!

Thanks for this.

1) Were there many (or any) transfers from T2 schools? If so, do you know what they were ranked at their original school and how they fared at OCI?

2) How do you feel about the decision overall? Any regrets?

3) How was your original school ranked? What was your class rank?

txig wrote:Thanks! I have some more questions:

1) Did you do OCI and go for Big Law?

2) If so did you have a target market and what were your ties to the target market?

3) If you had interviews/mass mailed out of your target market, how did you sell that region/city?

Thanks!

1) I did do OCI and went for big law. However, I ended actually securing my job through someone that I networked with.

2) My two target markets were my home state and the state in which I went to school

3) all of my interviews were in my target markets and my ties to both places made it relatively easy for me to sell

transferror wrote:Thanks for this.

1) Were there many (or any) transfers from T2 schools? If so, do you know what they were ranked at their original school and how they fared at OCI?

2) How do you feel about the decision overall? Any regrets?

3) How was your original school ranked? What was your class rank?

You're welcome.

1) Out of a transfer class of 50+, most were from T2 schools, with a few from T3 or lower, and a few from the T14. I would say that pretty much everyone was ranked above the top 10%, with most closer to the top 5%. Overall, transfers really have done well at OCI. I do know of a few transfers that struggled; although that may be more indicative of the state of the legal market than it is of attitudes towards transfers.

2) Overall, I'm happy about my decision because I have a job. Many of my friends at my former school do not. Be that as it may, I spent a lot of time at the beginning doubting my decision, especially before I got an offer. In some ways it is almost like doing 1L all over again, which is not fun. I still wonder if I would have enjoyed law school more had I not transferred.

3) My original school was in the middle of the pack for T2 law schools - not particularly low, nor particularly high. My class rank was within the the range that I mentioned above...

was it easy for you to make friends when you first came? did you still maintain friendship with people from your previous school?

chizzy wrote:was it easy for you to make friends when you first came? did you still maintain friendship with people from your previous school?

It was a bit tough at first. I didn't have the built-in social scene of my 1L section to befriend, plus everyone here already had their friends. I remained close friends with a number of my 1L friends, and lost contact with others. Eventually I made some very close friends here too, but it took some time.

do you know anyone in your transfer class who came from other t14 schools? if so, do you know what they were ranked at their prior schools?

domori wrote:do you know anyone in your transfer class who came from other t14 schools? if so, do you know what they were ranked at their prior schools?

I know someone who transferred from a T14 - I believe he was top 25%. I've met a few others too, but don't know much about their rankings.

1) do you know of many T1 transfers and how well they did 1L?

2) I've been advised to apply latest by the end of may and that any later will be to my disadvantage. is it imperative that I get my application in ASAP?

3) were you able to do write-on for law review or apply to any journals as a transfer?

thanks!

atomist wrote:1) do you know of many T1 transfers and how well they did 1L?

2) I've been advised to apply latest by the end of may and that any later will be to my disadvantage. is it imperative that I get my application in ASAP?

3) were you able to do write-on for law review or apply to any journals as a transfer?

thanks!

1) See my answer above

2) I don't think that it's worth applying until you receive all of your 1L grades. I don't even know if schools will consider you without them, but, even if they do, you want to know how you did before you start sending out applications. I'm not sure how quickly your school posts grades - end of May is really quick. My best advice is for you to collect all of your other necessary documents so that you are ready to apply the moment that you do have all of your grades.

3) I did not write on to law review in my school - I would have had to participate in their writing competition before I even applied. One of the things you may want to look into before you apply is whether your target school offers a separate transfer round for law review/law journals. My school offered a separate round for secondary journals, but not law review. Incidentally, I ended up on a secondary journal and was perfectly happy.

Just finished school and have some more time on my hands. Happy to answer anymore transfer questions if anyone has any.

trbrny wrote:Just finished school and have some more time on my hands. Happy to answer anymore transfer questions if anyone has any.

Hi I have question regarding local transfer, for example from Brooklyn to NYU/Columbia and Loyola to Chicago. Are most of your transfer classmates from local schools?

riku33090 wrote:

trbrny wrote:Just finished school and have some more time on my hands. Happy to answer anymore transfer questions if anyone has any.

Hi I have question regarding local transfer, for example from Brooklyn to NYU/Columbia and Loyola to Chicago. Are most of your transfer classmates from local schools?

Many are from local schools, but not all. I've met a good number of transfers from around the country.

trbrny wrote:

riku33090 wrote:

trbrny wrote:Just finished school and have some more time on my hands. Happy to answer anymore transfer questions if anyone has any.

Hi I have question regarding local transfer, for example from Brooklyn to NYU/Columbia and Loyola to Chicago. Are most of your transfer classmates from local schools?

Many are from local schools, but not all. I've met a good number of transfers from around the country.

Thank you.
I asked because I read Arrow's legendary transfer article. He mentioned that top schools like CCN like to cherry pick the top students from lower local schools. I was just wondering if that was true or not.

riku33090 wrote:

trbrny wrote:

riku33090 wrote:

trbrny wrote:Just finished school and have some more time on my hands. Happy to answer anymore transfer questions if anyone has any.

Hi I have question regarding local transfer, for example from Brooklyn to NYU/Columbia and Loyola to Chicago. Are most of your transfer classmates from local schools?

Many are from local schools, but not all. I've met a good number of transfers from around the country.

Thank you.
I asked because I read Arrow's legendary transfer article. He mentioned that top schools like CCN like to cherry pick the top students from lower local schools. I was just wondering if that was true or not.

I've found that to be quite true. However, schools have other reasons for taking transfers, such as money (biggest reason), hireability, chance that you will replicate your good 1L year at the new school, etc. Accordingly, while they take a good number of transfers from local schools, there are many others who meet the criteria and get in from non-local schools.

I also transferred a few years ago. To Penn from a T2. Also happy to answer questions if there are any specific to Penn or warranting a second opinion/outlook.

I'll also add that I think the term "local" and the consideration thereto is unique with respect to transfer applications. I think schools on the west coast are more likely to admit transfers from western schools and similarly with respect to the east coast. I.e. I think Colombia/NYU et al are more likely to admit someone from a DC, Boston, Philly, etc. school than they are someone in SoCal. I think this is a yield issue that is unique to transfer applications. The time frame from acceptance to matriculation is so tight that I think its a gamble for schools to offer admission to a student thousands of miles away who may not matriculate and likely has in apps at the closer T14 schools. Additionally, during my own transfer cycle, I considered how employers may view a sudden long-distance move to a completely new side of the country ("so you went to law school on the east coast and then after 9 months decided you wanted to be on the west coast?") Might not play so well. Again, no evidence to the contrary, but considerations in my own decision to transfer years ago.

Hey, thanks for the thread. What were your initial LSAT uGPA when applying to law school?

milkshakeyurd wrote:Hey, thanks for the thread. What were your initial LSAT uGPA when applying to law school?

Commensurate with the T2 I attended as a 1L. And completely irrelevant for transfer purposes.

milkshakeyurd wrote:Hey, thanks for the thread. What were your initial LSAT uGPA when applying to law school?

In all fairness, there is a GPA and/or LSAT correlation to performance in law school (the exact statistics are out there on the internet somewhere), so he might have been asking if you were one of the law students who comes in numerically more qualified than his classmates.

Anecdotally, my experience 1L was that everyone I knew who was at my law school on a 80% tuition + scholarship ended up in the top 15% or so, so I think there is some truth to that. Of course there are exceptions because undergrad and/or LSAT does not equal law school performance.

Total Litigator wrote:

milkshakeyurd wrote:Hey, thanks for the thread. What were your initial LSAT uGPA when applying to law school?

In all fairness, there is a GPA and/or LSAT correlation to performance in law school (the exact statistics are out there on the internet somewhere), so he might have been asking if you were one of the law students who comes in numerically more qualified than his classmates.

Anecdotally, my experience 1L was that everyone I knew who was at my law school on a 80% tuition + scholarship ended up in the top 15% or so, so I think there is some truth to that. Of course there are exceptions because undergrad and/or LSAT does not equal law school performance.

I was below median (slightly) for GPA, and above (even slightly-er) for LSAT. Certainly middle of the pack by LSAT/GPA standards for my 1L school.