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Emory Law has a sticker price of about $51,000. They are ranked 22nd. Is it worth the tuition spike to transfer to Emory from a Tier 4 school where I had a decent scholarship? Do you think Emory has the opportunities, network, and prestige that they're claiming - or should I save my money?

Where do you want to work after graduation and how big of a debt load will you have?

Mr. Archer wrote:Where do you want to work after graduation and how big of a debt load will you have?

I am interested in mid/big sized law + complex civil litigation. I wouldn't mind scaling down to a smaller firm after a while though. Total debt load (with undergrad and 1L year) would be about $180k - $190k

probably not

You definitely need to transfer somewhere if you want big law. But what other transfer options do you have and where do you want to practice? You'd need to be towards the top of the class to really achieve what you want. If you have a cheaper option, I think that would be a better move since nothing is guaranteed.

No

/close thread

eagle2a wrote:probably not

What's your reasoning

Hutz_and_Goodman wrote:No

/close thread

reasoning?

Mr. Archer wrote:You definitely need to transfer somewhere if you want big law. But what other transfer options do you have and where do you want to practice? You'd need to be towards the top of the class to really achieve what you want. If you have a cheaper option, I think that would be a better move since nothing is guaranteed.

It's all or nothing transfer wise. Tier 4 school is a hell of a lot cheaper - but does it really all come down to price? Emory is a huge step up from my current LS, but it seems like from the forums I've read on here that if you aren't at a t-14 then your SOL anyways. What are your thoughts?

Ah. It's tough to say since you don't have other options and haven't given lots of details about yourself. Emory would be a step up and an Emory degree would definitely be better over the course of your career, but that's a lot of debt to take on. Like I said, you'll need to be towards the top of the class to get big law. It's hard for anyone to get a job right now, and Emory's bar passage has been falling. Be sure to look at the employment and bar passage statistics.

Mr. Archer wrote:Ah. It's tough to say since you don't have other options and haven't given lots of details about yourself. Emory would be a step up and an Emory degree would definitely be better over the course of your career, but that's a lot of debt to take on. Like I said, you'll need to be towards the top of the class to get big law. It's hard for anyone to get a job right now, and Emory's bar passage has been falling. Be sure to look at the employment and bar passage statistics.

As hard as it is to get jobs right now, do you think I would be more advantaged with a degree from Emory vs a tier 4?

Yes, you would be more advantaged, especially in the long term. But if you're at the bottom of the class, your job prospects starting out will be similar to good grades at a low-ranked school. Again, make sure you look at the employment statistics and bar exam passage rates from your current school and compare to Emory.

Please advise me on if this is a relevant factor: Emory has law review try outs for transfer students. Does this influence the decision at all?

Anonymous User wrote:Please advise me on if this is a relevant factor: Emory has law review try outs for transfer students. Does this influence the decision at all?

Wouldn't affect my decision.

190 or 200K is only the real debt level if you get a successful mid/biglaw job. So yeah, probably worth it over a 30 year career. That's something like $8 a day over the lifetime of a career to do what you want to do.

If you don't end up where you want to and have to go government or small firm law, PSLF and PAYE are great government subsidized repayment programs where you won't have to pay back the full $200K before getting debt forgiveness.

Anonymous User wrote:Please advise me on if this is a relevant factor: Emory has law review try outs for transfer students. Does this influence the decision at all?

Heads up, very few transfers make law review. Only one my year.

A transfer will help if you want to practice in Atlanta and your 1L school is not in the South.

There are very few spots for transfers on journals overall, with law review being the most selective. Moot court takes a couple. Mock trial takes a a few. Only a certain amount of spaces are reserved for transfers or created by Emory students transferring. Whether this should sway your decision or not is really up to you based on your ultimate goals.

There's really a lot of factors that could make transferring a good decision (debt, location you want to practice, size of firm you want to be at, any past experience that gives you an edge, URM status, whether you were at a low-ranked school for non-academic reasons, etc.). I'm not sure what all applies to you, and it might help if you talked to someone who transferred to Emory. I went to Emory but didn't transfer. Some transfers I knew did very well and others did not, so I'm not sure whether transferring was worth it for all of them. Like an earlier poster said, a good job means can make a lot of debt no big deal. But you're not guaranteed a good job even if you do fairly well. It's a risk/reward situation.

A fair number of Emory grads secure work at good high paying Atlanta firms.

lawschoolwoohoo wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Please advise me on if this is a relevant factor: Emory has law review try outs for transfer students. Does this influence the decision at all?

Heads up, very few transfers make law review. Only one my year.

Go BRAVES! Are you at Emory now?

Mr. Archer wrote:There are very few spots for transfers on journals overall, with law review being the most selective. Moot court takes a couple. Mock trial takes a a few. Only a certain amount of spaces are reserved for transfers or created by Emory students transferring. Whether this should sway your decision or not is really up to you based on your ultimate goals.

There's really a lot of factors that could make transferring a good decision (debt, location you want to practice, size of firm you want to be at, any past experience that gives you an edge, URM status, whether you were at a low-ranked school for non-academic reasons, etc.). I'm not sure what all applies to you, and it might help if you talked to someone who transferred to Emory. I went to Emory but didn't transfer. Some transfers I knew did very well and others did not, so I'm not sure whether transferring was worth it for all of them. Like an earlier poster said, a good job means can make a lot of debt no big deal. But you're not guaranteed a good job even if you do fairly well. It's a risk/reward situation.

I want to practice here in Atlanta for (at the very least) 5-10 years after law school. Regardless of the firm size, I think starting off at between 80k-100k (this may be naive) is what I would be comfortable beginning with (base salary and/or with bonuses). I have a strong interest in PI but i'm also interested in complex civil litigation. Yes, I am an URM. There are a lot of people in GA who say that if I want to practice in Atlanta, then a local cheaper law school (like gsu) is a no brainer. What are your thoughts??

Mr. Archer wrote:There are very few spots for transfers on journals overall, with law review being the most selective. Moot court takes a couple. Mock trial takes a a few. Only a certain amount of spaces are reserved for transfers or created by Emory students transferring. Whether this should sway your decision or not is really up to you based on your ultimate goals.

There's really a lot of factors that could make transferring a good decision (debt, location you want to practice, size of firm you want to be at, any past experience that gives you an edge, URM status, whether you were at a low-ranked school for non-academic reasons, etc.). I'm not sure what all applies to you, and it might help if you talked to someone who transferred to Emory. I went to Emory but didn't transfer. Some transfers I knew did very well and others did not, so I'm not sure whether transferring was worth it for all of them. Like an earlier poster said, a good job means can make a lot of debt no big deal. But you're not guaranteed a good job even if you do fairly well. It's a risk/reward situation.

Also, I ranked 9th at my tier 4 school. Not great, but not too shabby either. Do you think going to Emory would cause me to lose my rank - or is this just insecurity?

Toni V wrote:A fair number of Emory grads secure work at good high paying Atlanta firms.

That's what I've heard. I just wonder if I could get the same job prospects from a cheaper lower tier school if I keep my top 10% rank. What are your thoughts?

KMart wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Please advise me on if this is a relevant factor: Emory has law review try outs for transfer students. Does this influence the decision at all?

Wouldn't affect my decision.

Would your decision be to transfer to Emory or not?

legit wrote:A transfer will help if you want to practice in Atlanta and your 1L school is not in the South.

1L school is also here in Atlanta which makes the decision tough for me. I also want to stay and practice in Atlanta afterwards.