Top Law Schools

Hey guys,

I've got a 3.6 from a school in the 7-10 (Berkley, Michigan, Duke, etc.) range, and I'm flirting with the idea of transferring to Harvard (which has a program I really like, amongst other reasons.) What's the consensus about my shot? My school doesn't rank (as far as I know), but judging by the curve, I think I'm somewhere in the top 30% of my class.

You can just say duke

Their 25th percentile GPA for transfers is 3.85 according to their 509 report. So your odds are probably not great with a 3.6.

Earlier this year, Nebby posted up a general guide (below). Not sure where 3.6 falls on Duke's class rank curve, but this should get you headed in the right direction:

Yale/Stanford
T14: Top 10%
T1: Top 5%
T2: Top 1%
TTT: Not happening
TTTT: Not happening

Harvard:
T14: Top 15%
T1: Top 10%
T2: Top 5%
TTT: Top of your class
TTTT: Not happening

Columbia/NYU/Chicago/Penn
T14: Top 25%
T1: Top 10%
T2: Top 5%
TTT: Top 1%
TTTT: Not happening

Michigan/Northwestern
T1: Top 15%
T2: Top 10%
TTT: Top 5%
TTTT: Top 1%

Georgetown
T1: Top 20%
T2: Top 15%
TTT: Top 10%
TTTT: Top 5%

Berkeley/UVA/Duke/Cornell:

These places either don't take many transfers and they appear to favor instate residents or home state residents (i.e., from California but currently in law school somewhere else). Generally, follow the guidelines for the CLS/NYU/Chi/Penn tier for these schools. Cornell is mostly a waste, though, so it's really not even worth including ITT but I did anyway.

ponderingmeerkat wrote:
Berkeley/UVA/Duke/Cornell:

These places either don't take many transfers and they appear to favor instate residents or home state residents (i.e., from California but currently in law school somewhere else). Generally, follow the guidelines for the CLS/NYU/Chi/Penn tier for these schools. Cornell is mostly a waste, though, so it's really not even worth including ITT but I did anyway.

Berkeley takes quite a bit of transfer students. They accepted a lot of people last cycle and even posted about having a larger transfer class on their twitter. Although anecdotal, as a person with no ties to CA, my app was accepted there.

habeas2210 wrote:

ponderingmeerkat wrote:
Berkeley/UVA/Duke/Cornell:

These places either don't take many transfers and they appear to favor instate residents or home state residents (i.e., from California but currently in law school somewhere else). Generally, follow the guidelines for the CLS/NYU/Chi/Penn tier for these schools. Cornell is mostly a waste, though, so it's really not even worth including ITT but I did anyway.

Berkeley takes quite a bit of transfer students. They accepted a lot of people last cycle and even posted about having a larger transfer class on their twitter. Although anecdotal, as a person with no ties to CA, my app was accepted there.

FWIW, I'm not claiming any of that info posted above is mine--simply quoting Nebby's poast from last year. Might be true...might not. I have no personal info to add beyond his. Great to have your input though. Cheers!