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Hi! I am hoping someone can advise whether transferring in my position is worth it (and, if so, to which school).

Currently ranked #1 (4.0) at at Philly-area school (think Villanova, Temple, Rutgers Camden) with full scholarship and accepted onto Law Review. I have offers to transfer to Penn and CLS, and am waiting on H.

Goals are 1) Biglaw litigation [ideally V10] or boutique litigation, in Philly or NYC and 2) Fed. Clerkship. No preference between COA and District Court.

At the moment I am leaning toward transferring to Penn because: 1) Penn places strongly in both NYC and Philly (transferring to CLS would, I imagine, hurt my chances in Philly given that firms would wonder why I gave up #1 at my current school). 2) I'll be able to do transfer write-on at Penn, which most likely won't result in a LR position but at least I'll have the chance. 3) COA over 2 years is about 30k less than CLS. 4) I wouldn't have to move to a new city on short notice.

Worries about transferring are 1) that I'm significantly damaging my chances at getting a clerkship by leaving current school, since I currently have LR, great grades, and strong relationships with professors, 2) I have read on TLS that some top firms at OCI won't consider transfers, so I am concerned that the cohort of firms who wouldn't consider me now, but who would consider me as a transfer at P or H is insignificant and does not justify taking on 130k of debt.

What would you do in my situation? Currently leaning P, but if I do get into H would probably go there for greater employment opportunities and stronger clerkship chances. Appreciate any help you can offer!

Bilb0Baggins wrote:Hi! I am hoping someone can advise whether transferring in my position is worth it (and, if so, to which school).

Currently ranked #1 (4.0) at at Philly-area school (think Villanova, Temple, Rutgers Camden) with full scholarship and accepted onto Law Review. I have offers to transfer to Penn and CLS, and am waiting on H.

Goals are 1) Biglaw litigation [ideally V10] or boutique litigation, in Philly or NYC and 2) Fed. Clerkship. No preference between COA and District Court.

At the moment I am leaning toward transferring to Penn because: 1) Penn places strongly in both NYC and Philly (transferring to CLS would, I imagine, hurt my chances in Philly given that firms would wonder why I gave up #1 at my current school). 2) I'll be able to do transfer write-on at Penn, which most likely won't result in a LR position but at least I'll have the chance. 3) COA over 2 years is about 30k less than CLS. 4) I wouldn't have to move to a new city on short notice.

Worries about transferring are 1) that I'm significantly damaging my chances at getting a clerkship by leaving current school, since I currently have LR, great grades, and strong relationships with professors, 2) I have read on TLS that some top firms at OCI won't consider transfers, so I am concerned that the cohort of firms who wouldn't consider me now, but who would consider me as a transfer at P or H is insignificant and does not justify taking on 130k of debt.

What would you do in my situation? Currently leaning P, but if I do get into H would probably go there for greater employment opportunities and stronger clerkship chances. Appreciate any help you can offer!

OP i'm in a slightly similar situation! Currently on scholarship (not full-ride tho) at a T20, got Law Review, other leadership titles, lots of firm connectiions... Goal is big law or bust. I feel like where I am at right now can easily lead me to big law in my city. But going to CLS seems to be the better option in the long run, as I would like to work internationally and my current school is very regional.

I've heard transfers do well at CLS OCI and get V5-V100 firms so you shouldn't be too worried about the transfer stigma. As for clerkships, how strongly does your current school place its students in clerkships? If the chances are slim then even with LR and professor recommendations, it might be a better idea to go Penn.

And x2 to the HLS wait haha... A letter from H would really seal the deal for us :'(

So I was #1 at a 30-35 ranked school a year ago and made the transfer to Harvard. I had similar worries - #1 in the class at most T1 schools, combined with law review and the institutional support you have, puts you in a good position for employment and (at least to some extent) clerkships. I ended up making the decision to transfer, and a year later, I am so glad that I did.

OCI was a bit tougher than I expected but I got a job at a great firm. I also got a great clerkship earlier this spring. The key for clerkships is that you'll want to see if you can find out whether your 1L professors will still recommend you. Mine did, but not everyone is that lucky. It takes awhile in a new school to build the kind of capital with professors that you need to have for clerkships so if there's any way to find people who've transferred from your school and can let you know how their 1L professors reacted, that would be very valuable.

Good luck either way!

Goldie wrote:So I was #1 at a 30-35 ranked school a year ago and made the transfer to Harvard. I had similar worries - #1 in the class at most T1 schools, combined with law review and the institutional support you have, puts you in a good position for employment and (at least to some extent) clerkships. I ended up making the decision to transfer, and a year later, I am so glad that I did.

OCI was a bit tougher than I expected but I got a job at a great firm. I also got a great clerkship earlier this spring. The key for clerkships is that you'll want to see if you can find out whether your 1L professors will still recommend you. Mine did, but not everyone is that lucky. It takes awhile in a new school to build the kind of capital with professors that you need to have for clerkships so if there's any way to find people who've transferred from your school and can let you know how their 1L professors reacted, that would be very valuable.

Good luck either way!

Thank you so much for the insight! Do you happen to know whether anyone in your transfer class (who wanted a law firm job) struck out at OCI? I have read accounts of folks at schools with strong placement numbers striking out, and that prospect discourages me from giving up a full scholarship to take on 130k debt.

Bilb0Baggins wrote:

Goldie wrote:So I was #1 at a 30-35 ranked school a year ago and made the transfer to Harvard. I had similar worries - #1 in the class at most T1 schools, combined with law review and the institutional support you have, puts you in a good position for employment and (at least to some extent) clerkships. I ended up making the decision to transfer, and a year later, I am so glad that I did.

OCI was a bit tougher than I expected but I got a job at a great firm. I also got a great clerkship earlier this spring. The key for clerkships is that you'll want to see if you can find out whether your 1L professors will still recommend you. Mine did, but not everyone is that lucky. It takes awhile in a new school to build the kind of capital with professors that you need to have for clerkships so if there's any way to find people who've transferred from your school and can let you know how their 1L professors reacted, that would be very valuable.

Good luck either way!

Thank you so much for the insight! Do you happen to know whether anyone in your transfer class (who wanted a law firm job) struck out at OCI? I have read accounts of folks at schools with strong placement numbers striking out, and that prospect discourages me from giving up a full scholarship to take on 130k debt.

As far as I know, all the transfers had multiple offers and got jobs. I know at least one non-transfer HLS student who struck out, but I don't know of any transfers that struck out.

Goldie wrote:

Bilb0Baggins wrote:

Goldie wrote:So I was #1 at a 30-35 ranked school a year ago and made the transfer to Harvard. I had similar worries - #1 in the class at most T1 schools, combined with law review and the institutional support you have, puts you in a good position for employment and (at least to some extent) clerkships. I ended up making the decision to transfer, and a year later, I am so glad that I did.

OCI was a bit tougher than I expected but I got a job at a great firm. I also got a great clerkship earlier this spring. The key for clerkships is that you'll want to see if you can find out whether your 1L professors will still recommend you. Mine did, but not everyone is that lucky. It takes awhile in a new school to build the kind of capital with professors that you need to have for clerkships so if there's any way to find people who've transferred from your school and can let you know how their 1L professors reacted, that would be very valuable.

Good luck either way!

Thank you so much for the insight! Do you happen to know whether anyone in your transfer class (who wanted a law firm job) struck out at OCI? I have read accounts of folks at schools with strong placement numbers striking out, and that prospect discourages me from giving up a full scholarship to take on 130k debt.

As far as I know, all the transfers had multiple offers and got jobs. I know at least one non-transfer HLS student who struck out, but I don't know of any transfers that struck out.

That's great, thank you!

Transfers kill it at CLS.

I think if you want to summer and work in Philly, Penn makes sense. If you think you want to work in New York, I'd go to CLS.

Transfers kill it at CLS.

I think if you want to summer and work in Philly, Penn makes sense. If you think you want to work in New York, I'd go to CLS. If you're really unsure and just want maximum flexibility, HLS is usually the right call.

Minor point, but none of the three schools you are currently enrolled are considered T1 (Top 50), but tier two. I would think TT to T6 would be worth it.

ETA: Temple is now ranked 50! Villanova and Rutgers Camden have always been tier TT schools though.