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I'm currently at Duke with an over half scholarship. I haven't felt very at home at Duke and have started thinking that a transfer to Chicago may be better careerwise. I'm very interested in federal clerkships and will be going into JAG right after school. (Already in the Army). My questions are twofold:
1. Is it worth the boost in prestige to go from Duke to Chicago? Unless I kill it this semester I won't be able to get into HYS.
2. I'm around median at Duke. I feel like I will do better this semester than last but that puts me in the 3.3 range. That's less than U Chicago's grade requirement for transfers on their 509c, but all of the transfers seem to have come from regional schools in the past.

Thoughts?

This would be incredibly dumb

It would also be dumb to transfer to any other school, including harvard, Columbia, ect.

Could you give a reason why it's incredibly dumb?

Financially it doesn't make a huge difference. U Chicago's LRAP is so far superior to Duke's that I would essentially come out with the same debt burden.

What is the prestige boost you are looking for? For clerkships? Can't you get a clerkship at Duke? Why UChicago and not NYU/CLS?

alex510347 wrote:Could you give a reason why it's incredibly dumb?

Financially it doesn't make a huge difference. U Chicago's LRAP is so far superior to Duke's that I would essentially come out with the same debt burden.

Your goals are as attainable from Duke as Chicago. You won't gain any meaningful clerkship boost from Chicago. In terms of finances, I don't know if you're doing GI bill to pay for law school, but if not, then there's no reason to burden yourself with extra debt for no real advantage. The flexibility of less debt is nice, regardless of your future career plans. (take it from someone tied to their school's LRAP and hoping PSLF doesn't get fucked)

alex510347 wrote:Could you give a reason why it's incredibly dumb?

Financially it doesn't make a huge difference. U Chicago's LRAP is so far superior to Duke's that I would essentially come out with the same debt burden.

Because you wont be able to transfer below median from Duke to Chicago. If you need a great second semester to get to median, you are clearly pretty under median right now. Also, Duke gives you the same clerkship chances as Columbia for example.

You're unlikely to get into Chi as a transfer absent being top 1/3 or better from Duke. NYU will bite from median though

cheaptilts wrote:You're unlikely to get into Chi as a transfer absent being top 1/3 or better from Duke. NYU will bite from median though

Why the difference between NYU and Chicago? 1/3 and 1/2 seems to be a huge difference. What about Chicago and HYS? I am also contemplating transferring.

With current grades, you won't get in. Past success (lsat) largely gets thrown out the window during transfer process. All about 1L grades. Sure, coming from Duke you may get some bump, but certainly not enough to make up for being at median.

melmelcoolj wrote: Why the difference between NYU and Chicago? 1/3 and 1/2 seems to be a huge difference. What about Chicago and HYS? I am also contemplating transferring.

Dont go to Duke if you wouldn't be fine with a degree from Duke. Also, 0Ls aren't supposed to ask questions in this sub, even by necro. But even if you ask in the appropriate sub, you'll get the same answer.