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So, I know there have been a few threads on this topic but I'm making a new one because my situation is a bit different.

But I'm in school at a TT in Texas right now, and I got accepted to UT after the OCI period already ended. This might not be as big as a deal however, because I had the opportunity to clerk at two biglaw firms this summer (and will hopefully get offers to come back).

So my question is, given the the fact that I could potentially have two biglaw offers under my belt already, would it be worth it to transfer to UT after their OCI period has already passed?

More info about me: I am top 10% at my current school and made Law Review. However, I do not want to end up living/working in the city I am in right now which is a big reason why I want to transfer. I also want to transfer because of the prestige that comes with going to a better school and because I'm pretty sure UT might offer better classes. One of my bigger concerns, also, is giving up Law Review because I think a lot of biglaw firms want you to have journal experience.

Any advice? Thanks in advance!

I don't understand why you would give up law review at UH or SMU (maybe even Tech) to be a UT transfer student, especially if you can't benefit from OCI. What is prestige and why does it matter? And how is being a UT transfer more prestigous than being a law reviewer at your current school? Also, I doubt the classes at UT are all that much better and even if they are it doesn't matter.

Sounds like you have it made already based on what little info you provided, I'm not seeing the benefit from transferring. I don't think transferring will allow you the pivot from Dallas to Houston or vice versa if you can't do OCI. I'd think you'd be much more likely to do that if you did OCI at your current school in fact.

Agreed. If I were in your position, I would try and use my UT acceptance and biglaw summer positions to try and leverage some/more scholly money. Your TT will desperately want to hang onto you for employment reporting purposes.

BigZuck wrote:I don't understand why you would give up law review at UH or SMU (maybe even Tech) to be a UT transfer student, especially if you can't benefit from OCI. What is prestige and why does it matter? And how is being a UT transfer more prestigous than being a law reviewer at your current school? Also, I doubt the classes at UT are all that much better and even if they are it doesn't matter.

Sounds like you have it made already based on what little info you provided, I'm not seeing the benefit from transferring. I don't think transferring will allow you the pivot from Dallas to Houston or vice versa if you can't do OCI. I'd think you'd be much more likely to do that if you did OCI at your current school in fact.

Yeah, this makes sense. I guess why prestige matters to me is because I want to eventually get out of Texas all together and being a UT alum will probably mean more at a national level than being an alum at my current school. Also, I don't think my current school's OCIs are going to be that beneficial to me. The biglaw firms that are interviewing are only doing so for the office that is in my current city, which I mentioned earlier I do not want to stay in.

So I'm going to have to be mass mailing anyway. I thought maybe having UT on the resume rather than my current school would get me farther when doing that. But again, maybe not if that means giving up Law Review.

SlightlyConfused01 wrote:

BigZuck wrote:I don't understand why you would give up law review at UH or SMU (maybe even Tech) to be a UT transfer student, especially if you can't benefit from OCI. What is prestige and why does it matter? And how is being a UT transfer more prestigous than being a law reviewer at your current school? Also, I doubt the classes at UT are all that much better and even if they are it doesn't matter.

Sounds like you have it made already based on what little info you provided, I'm not seeing the benefit from transferring. I don't think transferring will allow you the pivot from Dallas to Houston or vice versa if you can't do OCI. I'd think you'd be much more likely to do that if you did OCI at your current school in fact.

Yeah, this makes sense. I guess why prestige matters to me is because I want to eventually get out of Texas all together and being a UT alum will probably mean more at a national level than being an alum at my current school. Also, I don't think my current school's OCIs are going to be that beneficial to me. The biglaw firms that are interviewing are only doing so for the office that is in my current city, which I mentioned earlier I do not want to stay in.

So I'm going to have to be mass mailing anyway. I thought maybe having UT on the resume rather than my current school would get me farther when doing that. But again, maybe not if that means giving up Law Review.

If you don't want to be in TX, why did you even bothering applying to UT? Did you apply to any t14 schools? That would be the better move. UT certainly has a better national reputation than UH/SMU, but it is still not a national school. It's bread and butter is in the Texas legal markets

trebekismyhero wrote:

SlightlyConfused01 wrote:

BigZuck wrote:I don't understand why you would give up law review at UH or SMU (maybe even Tech) to be a UT transfer student, especially if you can't benefit from OCI. What is prestige and why does it matter? And how is being a UT transfer more prestigous than being a law reviewer at your current school? Also, I doubt the classes at UT are all that much better and even if they are it doesn't matter.

Sounds like you have it made already based on what little info you provided, I'm not seeing the benefit from transferring. I don't think transferring will allow you the pivot from Dallas to Houston or vice versa if you can't do OCI. I'd think you'd be much more likely to do that if you did OCI at your current school in fact.

Yeah, this makes sense. I guess why prestige matters to me is because I want to eventually get out of Texas all together and being a UT alum will probably mean more at a national level than being an alum at my current school. Also, I don't think my current school's OCIs are going to be that beneficial to me. The biglaw firms that are interviewing are only doing so for the office that is in my current city, which I mentioned earlier I do not want to stay in.

So I'm going to have to be mass mailing anyway. I thought maybe having UT on the resume rather than my current school would get me farther when doing that. But again, maybe not if that means giving up Law Review.

If you don't want to be in TX, why did you even bothering applying to UT? Did you apply to any t14 schools? That would be the better move. UT certainly has a better national reputation than UH/SMU, but it is still not a national school. It's bread and butter is in the Texas legal markets

I did apply to two - I was rejected from one and am on the waitlist on the other.