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I know it may be a little early since only one semester of grades are in but I received my first semester's grades a few days ago from a T20 and I'm now considering the possibility of transferring. What I'm torn over is whether or not it would be worth it to transfer for long-term possibilities/"prestige". Assuming I maintain next semester, I anticipate being relatively "biglaw secure". My short term goal is definitely biglaw or possibly clerking then biglaw but I'm a bit unsure about what I'd like to do further down the road. I think, if possible, boutique litigation would be ideal (but who knows what I'll think as time goes on).

Would it be worth it to transfer with these vague goals when I'm probably safe where I'm at in the short term? I have about a 1/3 scholarship that I'd be giving up. I'd probably only consider YHS/Chi and would just stay if those didn't pan out. GPA is >3.9 so I think I'd have a shot.

1/3 scholarship? You'd only be looking at an additional 60k in debt to transfer, correct? There's not a huge incentive to stay. I voted yes but consider other (more) schools. I think you should apply to YHS/Chi because why not, but you should also apply to Columbia and NYU at least.

LJL at applying to Chicago but not NYU & CLS.

OP, what are your grades? What is your rank?

Nebby wrote:LJL at applying to Chicago but not NYU & CLS.

OP, what are your grades? What is your rank?

Some people hate NY, nebs. And/or they want the midwest.

..

Nebby wrote:LJL at applying to Chicago but not NYU & CLS.

OP, what are your grades? What is your rank?

That is entirely to do with where I'd like to live, not thinking one is better than the others.

GPA > 3.9, top 5%.

You'd easily get H or Chi

YS is impossible to say because they take so few, but S is probably on the table (Y seems to take mostly from within T14)

Also, it's ok to want those schools for whatever reason but it'd be silly to not at least apply to more.

The biggest reason weighing against transferring is that with the money I will probably make over the next two summers, I could take my loans down to COL only for the next two years. I'm worried that if I transfer, my chance at making that money the second semester might actually be lower and I'll tack on the other $60k, meaning a potential $90k swing into more debt. Would the long term career benefits outweigh that?

Definitely apply, and to echo other posters I'd widen your scope as well. You may change your mind with the prospect of being able to go to Columbia/NYU on the table, but more importantly, you may be able to negotiate a major increase in scholarship from your current school. You're likely one of the (relatively) few biglaw-bound students they have, and in the all important US News rankings, you are therefore precious to T20s.

It's definitely worth an app or two. Good luck!

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Biglaw1990 wrote:

TetrisBlock wrote:1/3 scholarship? You'd only be looking at an additional 60k in debt to transfer, correct? There's not a huge incentive to stay. I voted yes but consider other (more) schools. I think you should apply to YHS/Chi because why not, but you should also apply to Columbia and NYU at least.

You don't want to have to have to tell people you went to NYU for the rest of your life. Apply only to the prestigious institutions: HYS, Chicago, Columbia, Penn, Duke and Berkeley.

Hey! NYU was my reach school for law school applications! But I note your Penn avatar, and I think apps should probably be expanded down to Penn and that TLS should start saying T7 based on how well Penn has done with BL+FC percentage (I also think Cornell should jump up a lot in the rankings). But Duke and Berkeley?? NYU is better at biglaw and NYU is the powerhouse at public service that Berkeley wishes it was.

Edit: But you're right. Duke and Berkeley both accept transfers and Berkeley is much better if you want West Coast than NYU and Duke is much better if you want the Southeast. The op should apply to them as well.