Should I go to the Admissions Office to appeal my transfer decision? Forum

[rpupkin]

Asumming OP is who I think it is, there are some unique reasons that I can't get into without outing him or the school for him to want to transfer so desperately.

Good contribution. I'm really glad you didn't just keep this to yourself; otherwise, we would have no idea that you have bravely chosen not to out the OP despite knowing who he is.

[callmekimba]

Asumming OP is who I think it is, there are some unique reasons that I can't get into without outing him or the school for him to want to transfer so desperately.

Good contribution. I'm really glad you didn't just keep this to yourself; otherwise, we would have no idea that you have bravely chosen not to out the OP despite knowing who he is.

oh hey you too, mate!

sorry you're too dumb to not realize the irony of posting something stupid that could have been kept to yourself to tell someone else they posted something stupid that could have been kept to themselves.

[jbagelboy]

why would you transfer after recruiting is complete? the school's OCI is probably done by now anyway.

also, for whatever reason the transfer market has picked up over the past two years and it's more competitive than it used to be. you can't guarantee admission even to schools that take a lot of transfers (HLS, CLS, ect) when you have the numbers that used to be practically auto-admit, since there's now more supply than demand.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Thanks for all the responses.

By fitting their numbers I meant the website states that you need to be in the top 25% to be competitive, which I was, even considering my less than perfect grades fall semester. Also according to their stats my undergraduate gpa and lsat score is far above the median (which I guess doesn't matter for transfers anyway, but just saying).

Also technically speaking my position was titled "clerkship" not internship. But really I don't get the whole semantical conversation about this. Point is 400 students applied and only 25 were hired. I personally called it an internship all summer but my offer letter refers to the position as a clerkship.

Anyway so I went in.... and I gotta say I never heard such bullshit in my life. Basically they said that they had a "competitive applicant pool" which, after a few questions, I came to find out meant students from lower ranked law schools but within the top 10% of their class were accepted and those from better law schools but within 10-25% were not. So basically I was penalized from going to a better* law school... or because I have a soul and didn't concentrate much on my torts exam after finding out what happened to my mom. Either way, I got my answer and I'm over it. The woman I talked to (assistant dean) said she was going to talk to the Committee (whatever that means) and let me know if anything changes but I'm not going to hold my breath.


*I'm qualifying the word "better" to solely mean a school with students with higher lsats scores/gpas and thus where it would be inherently harder to get top grades because of the curve. Better is subjective and I'm sure they're all good schools.

[jbagelboy]

OP here. Thanks for all the responses.

By fitting their numbers I meant the website states that you need to be in the top 25% to be competitive, which I was, even considering my less than perfect grades fall semester. Also according to their stats my undergraduate gpa and lsat score is far above the median (which I guess doesn't matter for transfers anyway, but just saying).

Also technically speaking my position was titled "clerkship" not internship. But really I don't get the whole semantical conversation about this. Point is 400 students applied and only 25 were hired. I personally called it an internship all summer but my offer letter refers to the position as a clerkship.

Anyway so I went in.... and I gotta say I never heard such bullshit in my life. Basically they said that they had a "competitive applicant pool" which, after a few questions, I came to find out meant students from lower ranked law schools but within the top 10% of their class were accepted and those from better law schools but within 10-25% were not. So basically I was penalized from going to a better* law school... or because I have a soul and didn't concentrate much on my torts exam after finding out what happened to my mom. Either way, I got my answer and I'm over it. The woman I talked to (assistant dean) said she was going to talk to the Committee (whatever that means) and let me know if anything changes but I'm not going to hold my breath.


*I'm qualifying the word "better" to solely mean a school with students with higher lsats scores/gpas and thus where it would be inherently harder to get top grades because of the curve. Better is subjective and I'm sure they're all good schools.

you need to chill out and stop being so bitter and taking personally a process that's basically just a formula

[Anonymous User]

Asumming OP is who I think it is, there are some unique reasons that I can't get into without outing him or the school for him to want to transfer so desperately.

This is really hilarious to me/awkward for you because 1. I'm a girl and 2. Only my family (and of course the administrative staff at my current law school) had the knowledge that I was even considering to transfer. I didn't tell anyone at my current law school or clerkship/internship/whatever you want to call it. So yeah.... good try but stop trying to bully people on the internet.

[chuckbass]

Asumming OP is who I think it is, there are some unique reasons that I can't get into without outing him or the school for him to want to transfer so desperately.

This is really hilarious to me/awkward for you because 1. I'm a girl and 2. Only my family (and of course the administrative staff at my current law school) had the knowledge that I was even considering to transfer. I didn't tell anyone at my current law school or clerkship/internship/whatever you want to call it. So yeah.... good try but stop trying to bully people on the internet.

Lol if anything this person was in your corner, not trying to bully you.

[chuckbass]

OP here. Thanks for all the responses.

By fitting their numbers I meant the website states that you need to be in the top 25% to be competitive, which I was, even considering my less than perfect grades fall semester. Also according to their stats my undergraduate gpa and lsat score is far above the median (which I guess doesn't matter for transfers anyway, but just saying).

Also technically speaking my position was titled "clerkship" not internship. But really I don't get the whole semantical conversation about this. Point is 400 students applied and only 25 were hired. I personally called it an internship all summer but my offer letter refers to the position as a clerkship.

Anyway so I went in.... and I gotta say I never heard such bullshit in my life. Basically they said that they had a "competitive applicant pool" which, after a few questions, I came to find out meant students from lower ranked law schools but within the top 10% of their class were accepted and those from better law schools but within 10-25% were not. So basically I was penalized from going to a better* law school... or because I have a soul and didn't concentrate much on my torts exam after finding out what happened to my mom. Either way, I got my answer and I'm over it. The woman I talked to (assistant dean) said she was going to talk to the Committee (whatever that means) and let me know if anything changes but I'm not going to hold my breath.


*I'm qualifying the word "better" to solely mean a school with students with higher lsats scores/gpas and thus where it would be inherently harder to get top grades because of the curve. Better is subjective and I'm sure they're all good schools.

you need to chill out and stop being so bitter and taking personally a process that's basically just a formula

This. Very sorry about your personal situation, but based on the numbers it looked like this played out exactly how you should have expected/been prepared for.

[vsimpso2]

OP here. Thanks for all the responses.

By fitting their numbers I meant the website states that you need to be in the top 25% to be competitive, which I was, even considering my less than perfect grades fall semester. Also according to their stats my undergraduate gpa and lsat score is far above the median (which I guess doesn't matter for transfers anyway, but just saying).

Also technically speaking my position was titled "clerkship" not internship. But really I don't get the whole semantical conversation about this. Point is 400 students applied and only 25 were hired. I personally called it an internship all summer but my offer letter refers to the position as a clerkship.

Anyway so I went in.... and I gotta say I never heard such bullshit in my life. Basically they said that they had a "competitive applicant pool" which, after a few questions, I came to find out meant students from lower ranked law schools but within the top 10% of their class were accepted and those from better law schools but within 10-25% were not. So basically I was penalized from going to a better* law school... or because I have a soul and didn't concentrate much on my torts exam after finding out what happened to my mom. Either way, I got my answer and I'm over it. The woman I talked to (assistant dean) said she was going to talk to the Committee (whatever that means) and let me know if anything changes but I'm not going to hold my breath.


*I'm qualifying the word "better" to solely mean a school with students with higher lsats scores/gpas and thus where it would be inherently harder to get top grades because of the curve. Better is subjective and I'm sure they're all good schools.

you need to chill out and stop being so bitter and taking personally a process that's basically just a formula

Honestly, I was going to make a post about this but thank you for the transition. Why do we accept this? Why is okay for law schools to do this? The formulas, the curves, the percentages.... we're human beings. With a vast amount of different experiences that cannot possibly be accounted for by numbers. The competition and the stress ... for these small unattainable numbers..... why are we subjected to this? And law students/lawyers have been dealing with high depression and suicide rates for how long? And even on TLS people just attack each other for no reason. It's just a sad set up all around.

Anyway, like I said, I'm over it. I'm just going to keep doing my thing and doing the best I can, what really matters to me is getting a good job and I think I'm still on track for that. Until next time TLS.

[chuckbass]

Why do you assume that you'd be better than the people that were accepted if things were your way?

[jbagelboy]

OP here. Thanks for all the responses.

By fitting their numbers I meant the website states that you need to be in the top 25% to be competitive, which I was, even considering my less than perfect grades fall semester. Also according to their stats my undergraduate gpa and lsat score is far above the median (which I guess doesn't matter for transfers anyway, but just saying).

Also technically speaking my position was titled "clerkship" not internship. But really I don't get the whole semantical conversation about this. Point is 400 students applied and only 25 were hired. I personally called it an internship all summer but my offer letter refers to the position as a clerkship.

Anyway so I went in.... and I gotta say I never heard such bullshit in my life. Basically they said that they had a "competitive applicant pool" which, after a few questions, I came to find out meant students from lower ranked law schools but within the top 10% of their class were accepted and those from better law schools but within 10-25% were not. So basically I was penalized from going to a better* law school... or because I have a soul and didn't concentrate much on my torts exam after finding out what happened to my mom. Either way, I got my answer and I'm over it. The woman I talked to (assistant dean) said she was going to talk to the Committee (whatever that means) and let me know if anything changes but I'm not going to hold my breath.


*I'm qualifying the word "better" to solely mean a school with students with higher lsats scores/gpas and thus where it would be inherently harder to get top grades because of the curve. Better is subjective and I'm sure they're all good schools.

you need to chill out and stop being so bitter and taking personally a process that's basically just a formula

Honestly, I was going to make a post about this but thank you for the transition. Why do we accept this? Why is okay for law schools to do this? The formulas, the curves, the percentages.... we're human beings. With a vast amount of different experiences that cannot possibly be accounted for by numbers. The competition and the stress ... for these small unattainable numbers..... why are we subjected to this? And law students/lawyers have been dealing with high depression and suicide rates for how long? And even on TLS people just attack each other for no reason. It's just a sad set up all around.

Anyway, like I said, I'm over it. I'm just going to keep doing my thing and doing the best I can, what really matters to me is getting a good job and I think I'm still on track for that. Until next time TLS.

seems like you're in the wrong profession if you are sincere about these critiques. you need to stop acting like a victim (although the underlying personal circumstances at your current school might have victimized you, but I'm not referring to that) of a system that you made a conscious decision to interact with and to which you intentionally pledged your time. on the other hand if this is just you pissed about a life event and blowing off steam on the internet then power to you, we've all been there.

[lavarman84]

OP here. Thanks for all the responses.

By fitting their numbers I meant the website states that you need to be in the top 25% to be competitive, which I was, even considering my less than perfect grades fall semester. Also according to their stats my undergraduate gpa and lsat score is far above the median (which I guess doesn't matter for transfers anyway, but just saying).

Also technically speaking my position was titled "clerkship" not internship. But really I don't get the whole semantical conversation about this. Point is 400 students applied and only 25 were hired. I personally called it an internship all summer but my offer letter refers to the position as a clerkship.

Anyway so I went in.... and I gotta say I never heard such bullshit in my life. Basically they said that they had a "competitive applicant pool" which, after a few questions, I came to find out meant students from lower ranked law schools but within the top 10% of their class were accepted and those from better law schools but within 10-25% were not. So basically I was penalized from going to a better* law school... or because I have a soul and didn't concentrate much on my torts exam after finding out what happened to my mom. Either way, I got my answer and I'm over it. The woman I talked to (assistant dean) said she was going to talk to the Committee (whatever that means) and let me know if anything changes but I'm not going to hold my breath.


*I'm qualifying the word "better" to solely mean a school with students with higher lsats scores/gpas and thus where it would be inherently harder to get top grades because of the curve. Better is subjective and I'm sure they're all good schools.

you need to chill out and stop being so bitter and taking personally a process that's basically just a formula

This. Very sorry about your personal situation, but based on the numbers it looked like this played out exactly how you should have expected/been prepared for.

I wish I knew why I under-performed my numbers. Still pretty bitter about it. I'm happy to be where I am and things are working out okay but things would have gone a lot more smoothly (and easily) for me in terms of job prospects if I transferred. I just don't get it. Everyone says it's all about the numbers and formula but with my numbers, I should have been in at CLS.

If I asked them why (in a tactful manner), any chance they'd give a straight answer?

[Longtimecoming19]

OP here. Thanks for all the responses.

By fitting their numbers I meant the website states that you need to be in the top 25% to be competitive, which I was, even considering my less than perfect grades fall semester. Also according to their stats my undergraduate gpa and lsat score is far above the median (which I guess doesn't matter for transfers anyway, but just saying).

Also technically speaking my position was titled "clerkship" not internship. But really I don't get the whole semantical conversation about this. Point is 400 students applied and only 25 were hired. I personally called it an internship all summer but my offer letter refers to the position as a clerkship.

Anyway so I went in.... and I gotta say I never heard such bullshit in my life. Basically they said that they had a "competitive applicant pool" which, after a few questions, I came to find out meant students from lower ranked law schools but within the top 10% of their class were accepted and those from better law schools but within 10-25% were not. So basically I was penalized from going to a better* law school... or because I have a soul and didn't concentrate much on my torts exam after finding out what happened to my mom. Either way, I got my answer and I'm over it. The woman I talked to (assistant dean) said she was going to talk to the Committee (whatever that means) and let me know if anything changes but I'm not going to hold my breath.


*I'm qualifying the word "better" to solely mean a school with students with higher lsats scores/gpas and thus where it would be inherently harder to get top grades because of the curve. Better is subjective and I'm sure they're all good schools.

If your serious personality problem shone through your transfer application, it is easy to see why you were rejected. You come across as entitled and unsportsmanlike. There is nothing surprising or inappropriate about students with higher grades from lower-ranked schools getting in while you strike out. You seem to think that your marginal prestige advantage over students at lower-ranked schools entitles you to an advantage over students who got higher grades. All things considered, the average student at a higher-ranked school is better than the average student at a lower-ranked school; however, at the very top of the rankings, those differences tend to shrink or vanish. There's a reason that SCOTUS doesn't hire 36 YLS clerks every year or that Wachtell doesn't only take from HYSCCN. In all likelihood, the students who were accepted probably deserved it more than you.

[Cerberaus]

I'm going to answer the original question/vent:

I sympathize with your personal story, and I too had one hell of a personal statement. I was on the edge for a few schools that I really wanted and thought that my PS would push me over: basically, I was on the verge of death (literally hospitalized for a very prologued period) during my first year and managed to place within the top 10%. Did schools care? Absolutely not. Schools where I was on the edge rejected me, schools where I fit neatly within their numbers accepted me, and one school where I thought I fit in surprised me with a rejection.

I say this partially to vent but partially to express a reality: many people here have some crazy stories. There's probably a kid whose computer blew up in his face midway through a final and he still got the cali. In the end, you don't know what you were up against. Schools may not care about you or they may have had some very exceptional candidates. Feel free to appeal, but I wouldn't play your PS too hard; there's some very traumatic events that people have overcome.

[John_Luther1989]

I wish I knew why I under-performed my numbers. Still pretty bitter about it. I'm happy to be where I am and things are working out okay but things would have gone a lot more smoothly (and easily) for me in terms of job prospects if I transferred. I just don't get it. Everyone says it's all about the numbers and formula but with my numbers, I should have been in at CLS.

If I asked them why (in a tactful manner), any chance they'd give a straight answer?

Our rising 2Ls owe admissions a huge debt of gratitude for keeping you away from them. Maybe the type of person you are behaving like right now is why you weren't admitted. The entitlement is real and it's off-putting.

[lavarman84]

I wish I knew why I under-performed my numbers. Still pretty bitter about it. I'm happy to be where I am and things are working out okay but things would have gone a lot more smoothly (and easily) for me in terms of job prospects if I transferred. I just don't get it. Everyone says it's all about the numbers and formula but with my numbers, I should have been in at CLS.

If I asked them why (in a tactful manner), any chance they'd give a straight answer?

Our rising 2Ls owe admissions a huge debt of gratitude for keeping you away from them. Maybe the type of person you are behaving like right now is why you weren't admitted. The entitlement is real and it's off-putting.

That's where you're wrong. Bitter? Yes. Entitled? No. I feel that I earned it.

To use an analogy, would you call Tom Brady "entitled" for feeling that he should be compensated like a top 3 QB?

Your rising 2Ls are missing out. I'm pretty awesome. And my mom doesn't just say that because she's my mom.

[jbagelboy]

I wish I knew why I under-performed my numbers. Still pretty bitter about it. I'm happy to be where I am and things are working out okay but things would have gone a lot more smoothly (and easily) for me in terms of job prospects if I transferred. I just don't get it. Everyone says it's all about the numbers and formula but with my numbers, I should have been in at CLS.

If I asked them why (in a tactful manner), any chance they'd give a straight answer?

Our rising 2Ls owe admissions a huge debt of gratitude for keeping you away from them. Maybe the type of person you are behaving like right now is why you weren't admitted. The entitlement is real and it's off-putting.

That's where you're wrong. Bitter? Yes. Entitled? No. I feel that I earned it.

To use an analogy, would you call Tom Brady "entitled" for feeling that he should be compensated like a top 3 QB?

Your rising 2Ls are missing out. I'm pretty awesome. And my mom doesn't just say that because she's my mom.

This is a weird post. Putting that aside, I think believing one has earned something -- moreso than others -- is certainly a form of entitlement. It's less obviously inane as claiming one deserves something they know they haven't earned, but its still an entitled perspective.

I don't see how the tom brady example is apt. If tom brady were judged to be a "top 3 QB," the market would compensate him accordingly. If he weren't but thought he was because of some excuse or convolution, that would be entitled. Regardless I'm sure tom brady is incredibly arrogant, so it's not th best example for your case.

Unlike the others getting you down, though, I'm sure CLS and HLS are missing out on something by not having you -- just as their missing out on many awesome candidates who just didnt meet the numbers game. That doesn't mean it was "deserved"

[lavarman84]

I wish I knew why I under-performed my numbers. Still pretty bitter about it. I'm happy to be where I am and things are working out okay but things would have gone a lot more smoothly (and easily) for me in terms of job prospects if I transferred. I just don't get it. Everyone says it's all about the numbers and formula but with my numbers, I should have been in at CLS.

If I asked them why (in a tactful manner), any chance they'd give a straight answer?

Our rising 2Ls owe admissions a huge debt of gratitude for keeping you away from them. Maybe the type of person you are behaving like right now is why you weren't admitted. The entitlement is real and it's off-putting.

That's where you're wrong. Bitter? Yes. Entitled? No. I feel that I earned it.

To use an analogy, would you call Tom Brady "entitled" for feeling that he should be compensated like a top 3 QB?

Your rising 2Ls are missing out. I'm pretty awesome. And my mom doesn't just say that because she's my mom.

This is a weird post. Putting that aside, I think believing one has earned something -- moreso than others -- is certainly a form of entitlement. It's less obviously inane as claiming one deserves something they know they haven't earned, but its still an entitled perspective.

I don't see how the tom brady example is apt. If tom brady were judged to be a "top 3 QB," the market would compensate him accordingly. If he weren't but thought he was because of some excuse or convolution, that would be entitled. Regardless I'm sure tom brady is incredibly arrogant, so it's not th best example for your case.

Unlike the others getting you down, though, I'm sure CLS and HLS are missing out on something by not having you -- just as their missing out on many awesome candidates who just didnt meet the numbers game. That doesn't mean it was "deserved"

Yea but I did also put it in a specific context. This is what I said:
"Everyone says it's all about the numbers and formula but with my numbers, I should have been in at CLS."

I was accused of being entitled based on the bold. But that's kind of ignoring the context of the situation. Because what I said was true. My GPA was well above their 75th percentile from their last transfer class and I had a better class ranking at a higher ranked law school than a lot of people that were accepted.(not to imply that I'm better than people that got in...just stating a fact in regards to the numbers game)

Strictly from the numbers, I should have got in. That's why it hit me so hard when I wasn't accepted. I was disappointed when Harvard rejected me but I understood. They had a ton of great candidates and while I was competitive with people that got in, it wasn't like I should have been in by the numbers. I was borderline at best. But when Columbia rejected me, it made no sense to me. Because from the numbers perspective, I should have been a near lock. Which made me believe that I messed something up or something else really hurt me. But I can't figure out what.

Either ways, I'm not trying to make excuses here. Just baffled because things came out so differently than I expected based on my numbers. It sucks.

I appreciate the kind words and I'm not the person I'm coming off as right now. I'm generally a cheerful, laid-back person but this outcome just made me really bitter about the entire process.

I should just drop it but I wish I knew what happened.

[chuckbass]

The published stats schools now give about transfers shouldn't tell you much about your chances, considering schools all have different medians.