What's realistic? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I did better than expected my 1L year: I'm ranked 3rd in my class (top 2-3%) with a 3.91 GPA at a 50-60s school. In my mind, any school I transfer to is an improvement as I'm recieiving no financial aid and I have no interest in practicing in my current region.

Should I be trying for T14s? T20? This has been something of a last minute decision, but I'm pretty adamant on transferring; even a lateral transfer to another area I'm more interested in would be worth it for me (interested in Philly, Boston, NY, and to a lesser extent DC and Chicago). I know this is a bit of a vague scenario, but I'd like to tap the deep pool of wisdom on the forum just to get a general idea of what's realistic at this point.

[TTTTescapee]

Blanket the T13.

[joefresh]

you have a very good shot at everything except Stanford and Yale; apply to those anyways too

[jphiggo]

I had similar grades at a similarly ranked school as you. Here's some advice based on my experience:

If transferring makes sense for you, then good news, you'll have some T14 schools to choose from. A lot of folks transfer for one or a combination of three reasons: (1) they want to be in a geographical market that their current school doesn't place well in, (2) they want jobs that aren't as obtainable at their current school (i.e. biglaw, DOJ Honors, etc.), or (3) they are interested in public interest and the loan repayment programs of their target school(s).

Determining which schools to apply to really can be boiled down to one main question (Where do you want to practice?), and a secondary question (What type of career goals do you think you want?).

I don't think it would be a waste of application fees to apply broadly across the T14 (with the exception of Yale or Stanford) with your grades. You'll most likely have plenty of options to choose from if you apply broadly. You'll want to obtain a couple of letters of recommendation from 1L professors as soon as possible, if you haven't done so already. You'll also want to pay careful attention to application deadlines. There's a lot of annoying paperwork gathering that you have to obtain for some schools (certifications from undergrad institutions, transcripts, etc.), and so you'll want to get started on that quickly.

Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions that you don't feel comfortable sharing in public.

[lavarman84]

Apply anywhere in the t13/15 that you're interested in attending. You have a good shot at CCN. You have a long shot at H/S (if you're at a California school, that will give you a boost at S). Take your application seriously, and you should do well.(I recommend tailoring your PS to the schools you apply to and making sure it is very sound [have others proofread it for you])

[Nebby]

I did better than expected my 1L year: I'm ranked 3rd in my class (top 2-3%) with a 3.91 GPA at a 50-60s school. In my mind, any school I transfer to is an improvement as I'm recieiving no financial aid and I have no interest in practicing in my current region.

Should I be trying for T14s? T20? This has been something of a last minute decision, but I'm pretty adamant on transferring; even a lateral transfer to another area I'm more interested in would be worth it for me (interested in Philly, Boston, NY, and to a lesser extent DC and Chicago). I know this is a bit of a vague scenario, but I'd like to tap the deep pool of wisdom on the forum just to get a general idea of what's realistic at this point.

Good shot at all the schools in the T14. Definitely apply to HLS, CLS, NYU, and Penn. Also apply to GULC and Umich as safeties.

I don't really think there's much of a reason to transfer to Chicago in your situation, but apply there as well just in case.

[RaceJudicata]

I did better than expected my 1L year: I'm ranked 3rd in my class (top 2-3%) with a 3.91 GPA at a 50-60s school. In my mind, any school I transfer to is an improvement as I'm recieiving no financial aid and I have no interest in practicing in my current region.

Should I be trying for T14s? T20? This has been something of a last minute decision, but I'm pretty adamant on transferring; even a lateral transfer to another area I'm more interested in would be worth it for me (interested in Philly, Boston, NY, and to a lesser extent DC and Chicago). I know this is a bit of a vague scenario, but I'd like to tap the deep pool of wisdom on the forum just to get a general idea of what's realistic at this point.

Does your class only have 100 people in it?

But congrats - you will for sure get in T14. I'd focus on the schools w/ the larger transfer classes, as opposed to simply blanketing the T14 (the apps do get expensive).

I think you'll be in everywhere except Yale and Stanford.

[Anonymous User]

I did better than expected my 1L year: I'm ranked 3rd in my class (top 2-3%) with a 3.91 GPA at a 50-60s school. In my mind, any school I transfer to is an improvement as I'm recieiving no financial aid and I have no interest in practicing in my current region.

Should I be trying for T14s? T20? This has been something of a last minute decision, but I'm pretty adamant on transferring; even a lateral transfer to another area I'm more interested in would be worth it for me (interested in Philly, Boston, NY, and to a lesser extent DC and Chicago). I know this is a bit of a vague scenario, but I'd like to tap the deep pool of wisdom on the forum just to get a general idea of what's realistic at this point.

Does your class only have 100 people in it?

But congrats - you will for sure get in T14. I'd focus on the schools w/ the larger transfer classes, as opposed to simply blanketing the T14 (the apps do get expensive).

I think you'll be in everywhere except Yale and Stanford.

My class is 109. I appreciate all the advice and the positive outlooks from everyone so far. My only hurdle at this point is getting another LoR from another professor; not sure how to approach that now that the semester is over.

[RaceJudicata]

I did better than expected my 1L year: I'm ranked 3rd in my class (top 2-3%) with a 3.91 GPA at a 50-60s school. In my mind, any school I transfer to is an improvement as I'm recieiving no financial aid and I have no interest in practicing in my current region.

Should I be trying for T14s? T20? This has been something of a last minute decision, but I'm pretty adamant on transferring; even a lateral transfer to another area I'm more interested in would be worth it for me (interested in Philly, Boston, NY, and to a lesser extent DC and Chicago). I know this is a bit of a vague scenario, but I'd like to tap the deep pool of wisdom on the forum just to get a general idea of what's realistic at this point.

Does your class only have 100 people in it?

But congrats - you will for sure get in T14. I'd focus on the schools w/ the larger transfer classes, as opposed to simply blanketing the T14 (the apps do get expensive).

I think you'll be in everywhere except Yale and Stanford.

My class is 109. I appreciate all the advice and the positive outlooks from everyone so far. My only hurdle at this point is getting another LoR from another professor; not sure how to approach that now that the semester is over.

Wow, thats crazy small. It sounds like you did well in every class, just shoot a few professors emails. Time gets a bit tricky, so say something about that in your email to them... e.g., "I apologize for sending this request on such short notice, however, after discussing this decision with my family, I think this is the best move for me personally and professionally."

I say email more than one professor because lots of law profs check out from real life once the school year is over... and you don't want to be stuck waiting on a reference/response that isn't going to come.

[Joscellin]

I think you'll be in everywhere except Yale and Stanford.

While it's certainly worth the application to H and I'd place reasonable odds on it, this statement is a stretch. Transfer apps are weird and often fairly arbitrary.

People that were ranked top 2-3% at t25s were rejected last year at H - and I know of a couple #1s at top 50s that were rejected from multiples of CCN.

@OP - Everywhere except Y is worth an app - and good luck!!

[Anonymous User]

Thanks everyone for the advice, I feel more confident taking a few shots at some better schools now. My only concern now is getting everything processed through the LSAC (in terms of transcript and LoRs) before some of the earlier deadlines. Is it better to send those directly to schools/will schools even let me do that? I know Penn wants its LoRs through LSAC and I'm worried they won't be processed in time.

[jphiggo]

Thanks everyone for the advice, I feel more confident taking a few shots at some better schools now. My only concern now is getting everything processed through the LSAC (in terms of transcript and LoRs) before some of the earlier deadlines. Is it better to send those directly to schools/will schools even let me do that? I know Penn wants its LoRs through LSAC and I'm worried they won't be processed in time.

LSAC processing for letters of rec was surprisingly quick when I was in the transfer process. Your recommenders can submit them online (and you should encourage them to do so).