Less than a full year, do I have to/can I transfer? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Please don't quote.

I'm a 1L right now at a non-HYS T-14 school. I will probably have to move before completing 1L year.

I want to continue law school. I could take a leave of absence from my current school, but I have no idea when I'd be able to come back.

Can I apply to law schools as a 1L even though I have law school credits? Or do you know of any law schools that would be willing to let me transfer with less than a year of credits if I'm otherwise an excellent candidate?

I would be a stellar transfer candidate (3.7/179 URM; approximately top 5% of my 1L class; would get good LORs from current profs) but the schools I've looked at all say I need a year's worth of credits.

I know I can ask admissions offices, but i would rather not disclose this situation to them until I am completely sure that I will have to move before finals. If I can figure out a way to transfer instead of leaving mid-year I would obviously prefer that, and I don't want this to affect my transfer chances (maybe this is paranoid.)

[Nekrowizard]

I'm baffled how you're not at a HYS with those stats, but whatever. I have never heard of anybody transferring with less than a full year of credits. If it ever happens, it's probably a student-specific decision by the school. If you don't want to contact the admissions offices beforehand, I don't know what you could do. That really seems like the only option here, since it's such a weird case.

You can definitely apply to law schools if you drop out. They specifically have a little box you check on most applications. Presumably you write an addendum or something explaining your situation. 1.5L doesn't sound very fun.

[jrass]

I'd probably communicate with professors you're taking classes with now individually. The school isn't going to say you can skip 6 weeks of class in e-mail because of ABA requirements, but most professors are reasonable, especially if it's clear you'll keep up with the readings/recordings.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I've heard of people withdrawing before finishing 1L and starting over; especially since it sounds like you have some kind of family emergency or the like, I think schools wouldn't look askance at you not finishing the first year.

I don't think you can transfer at this point because schools do require all the 1L credits be completed.

I think you would just have to inquire directly with schools you're interested in about whether there's anything they can do for you. I suspect you might be able to start over in the fall somewhere new without too much problem, but I don't know that they'd let you keep any of your completed credits.

I would NOT couch any of this as skipping six weeks of class, but if this is due to some kind of family emergency/other event outside of your control, you might possibly be able to ask for classes to be recorded and complete this year via distance, especially if you'd have the ability to fly back for exams. I know my school arranged for essentially this for a classmate of mine who got put on bed rest midway through her pregnancy (although it was 2L rather than 1L).

I think you'd be better off talking to a dean of students rather than to the profs individually, though (because what if all your profs agree but one? And also to come up with consistent requirements). So I'm kind of agreeing with jrass, but I think it's much better to be upfront from the start and go to a dean and get some kind of official approval than just go around to individual profs.

[Nebby]

You should speak to your school and tell them what's up. You can't transfer without two semesters

[Anonymous User]

Please don't quote.

Thanks, everyone.

My biggest worry with doing 1L again (besides the delay) is employment and loans.

Thoughts? Am I pretty much screwed for biglaw? Even if I end up at HYS? If I take out loans (even COL loans) I want to be able to pay them back. This is the kind of thing you have to disclose to employers, right?

My LSAT is about to age out as of June. I got a 179 the first time and should be able to do it again, but there's no guarantee. I guess I will suck it up and email some admissions offices and beg them to take my super late app and give me decent scholarships.

Thanks again. I'm going to leave this up for another day or so and then delete.

[Anonymous User]

Also, I will talk to my school, but when this situation started becoming apparent I asked about missing class and the amount of time I'd miss just isn't workable. Even coming back for finals will be a huge complicated problem. The amount of work I've put into this makes me highly motivated to finish the year, but there's only so much that I can control.

[Mullens]

I would try to do everything you can to try to finish your 1L year. Talk and work with the administration. They're all people and will understand if you have a very difficult situation, like it sounds like you do. You likely will not be able to transfer without a full year's worth of credits. Is there a school in the market you are moving to that you could attend, assuming you would transfer or start over? This might be awful for you because you might have to retake all of 1L, if you don't finish this year.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Having to leave school for (I'm presuming) a family emergency and starting over is not something employers will care about. If you flunked out the first time round that would be one thing, but assuming you do well again at a school with strong biglaw placement, no biglaw employer is going to care how you got there.

[Anonymous User]

Having to leave school for (I'm presuming) a family emergency and starting over is not something employers will care about. If you flunked out the first time round that would be one thing, but assuming you do well again at a school with strong biglaw placement, no biglaw employer is going to care how you got there.

Thank you, this is a relief.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Having to leave school for (I'm presuming) a family emergency and starting over is not something employers will care about. If you flunked out the first time round that would be one thing, but assuming you do well again at a school with strong biglaw placement, no biglaw employer is going to care how you got there.

Thank you, this is a relief.

Now I feel compelled to add that I'm not at all a biglaw guru. But I really cannot imagine any reason why any employer would hold this against you.

[hbaker712]

I left my first school halfway through my second semester due to a family issue. I've been asked about it by employers (public interest and Biglaw), but they didn't seem to care beyond getting a brief explanation. I will note, I did perform very well before withdrawing.

That said, I've been very happy with my decision. I restarted as a 1L, but did not have to retake any classes for which I had received a grade. So, I got to take plenty of upper level courses. That is the kicker, and where employers actually did care about my decision. Basically, they saw me as a step beyond the typical 1L and treated me as such. It's been fantastic in that way. On the flip side, I have had to deal with some issues with my classmates. There has been negative talk directed at me in regard to my grades negatively affecting theirs (i.e., I took A's that should have gone to them ). So, I won't claim it's all great.

I obviously did not enter with advanced standing, but I was able to transfer 12 credits over to my current school. So, I'm in a position where I can either light load my courses or graduate in December.

I hope that helps a little. Feel free to shoot me a message if you want to talk more.

[clshopeful]

You should speak to your school and tell them what's up. You can't transfer without two semesters

Neb are you doing biglaw? CLS, so I'm assuming so?

[Nebby]

You should speak to your school and tell them what's up. You can't transfer without two semesters

Neb are you doing biglaw? CLS, so I'm assuming so?

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