Top Law Schools

Hey everyone, after working my ass off the past year, I'm lucky enough to be in a position near the top of my class. Although my school does not release rankings until after graduation, I do know that I am in the top 1% and that (given my grades) I will likely grade-on to law review. Right now, I'm happy at my current school but I'm wondering whether I'd have substantially better career prospects if I transferred out.

A little bit more info: my current school is near the lower end of the T14 and I have a 2/3 tuition scholly. My goals are clerkship --> DC biglaw --> government. I want to maximize my chances at a feeder clerkship, which might not factor into a transfer decision since those judges are starting to hire in about another week. I'm K-JD with extensive internship experience but nothing special.

I'm planning to send apps to YHS. Given my current situation, I'm inclined to stay where I am (for financial reasons) unless, in an unlikely scenario, I get Y. Would transferring to Y given my interest in clerkships/gov't work be smart or am I fine where I'm at right now?

Do you have any professors with connections to federal judges? That's more valuable than Y depending on the strength of the connections and who they're with.

H and S completely not worth it so I wouldn't pay the application fee there.

Yes, several of my profs clerked for SCOTUS and have connections to federal judges. I imagine that there would be more connections with Y, though, yes? Also, I will be interning for a federal COA judge this summer if that has any bearing on this consideration.

Why is H out of the picture? The main reason I'm throwing that app in is so that I can use a potential acceptance as scholly leverage. Thanks for the advice on S, though.

If your school renegotiates that'd be fine. I'm sure Yale has better connections than any other school, but those professors don't know you and probably wouldn't recommend you over their favorite 1L. You have top grades in all your classes at your current school, so your professors there would be much more willing to shove you into their bff's chambers.

H also has like 560 students, and I'm sure the feeder profs there will recommend their star 1L over a transfer.

Fwiw I know someone who transferred to HYS and found it difficult to get recommendations for clerkships because none of his new profs knew who he was. He was basically forced to sit out for the year and apply for clerkships a year out from graduation. Your recommenders and grades will matter a lot more than the school you go to. I seriously doubt you'll do any better in the clerkship game by transferring.

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It's not worth it

Not worth it. You're sitting pretty right now.

Not worth it.

Unlikely to help your career prospects. More likely to hurt your clerkship chances and not worth the debt. Some people have been able to leverage HYS transfer acceptances into increased scholarships at their T14s so that might be your best bet here.

Edit: If you're shooting feeder then you're right that you need to apply this summer and your professors might not be happy if they recommend you for clerkships and then you bail.

Agreed with others. If you didn't have a significant scholly AND you had a shot at need-based aid, then I'd say to go for it. Under these circumstances, it's likely not worth it.

Thanks for the advice, guys. This confirms my gut instinct that I'd be best off staying put. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy for not trying to get Y.