What gpa worth it to apply (transfer) to YLS Forum

[Anonymous User]

Was waitlisted at YLS and ended up choosing HLS. First semester I got a 3.67 (2 P, 2 H, 1 DS (LRW)). What grades would I need for a shot to transfer? Journal isn't a concern as I didn't do write on at HLS. Thanks!

[The Lsat Airbender]

If your GPA is good enough to transfer, then it's good enough to create better opportunities than median at YLS would. It almost never makes sense to transfer between roughly-equally-ranked schools absent a strong personal reason (e.g., RBG transferred from Harvard to Columbia to be with her spouse).

[Anonymous User]

OP here. I personally find the clerkship boost worth it, and YLS would actually be lower COA for me so there's no reason not to transfer besides loss of first year grades and social connections. I've heard median at YLS gives a good shot at CoA clerkships which is good enough of a reason for me.

[miskellyjohnson]

I think LSAT airbenders point is that if your GPA is good enough at H to transfer to YLS, then there is no clerkship boost. Median to median, sure theres a boost, but you will be going from above median student at HLS (if you have the GPA/recs to transfer to Y) to essentially median or below at Y (since you wont have any connections or gpa). No idea what GPA is actually required though.

[The Lsat Airbender]

Yeah. Even if median at Yale fares a bit better than top 25% at Harvard (or top 1/3, or magna, or wherever one has to be to transfer), which I doubt in the first place, it's likely a smaller effect than the downside of having much weaker connections with professors, which are often decisive in getting interviews.

If Yale is substantially cheaper (or, relatedly, if you have very specific career goals where YLS's loan assistance would apply but HLS's wouldn't) then it might be worth looking at, of course. I just doubt that you're going to improve your outcomes by transferring—probably the opposite.

[QContinuum]

Yeah. Even if median at Yale fares a bit better than top 25% at Harvard (or top 1/3, or magna, or wherever one has to be to transfer), which I doubt in the first place, it's likely a smaller effect than the downside of having much weaker connections with professors, which are often decisive in getting interviews.

If Yale is substantially cheaper (or, relatedly, if you have very specific career goals where YLS's loan assistance would apply but HLS's wouldn't) then it might be worth looking at, of course. I just doubt that you're going to improve your outcomes by transferring—probably the opposite.

Agreed 100%. There are no opportunities available to Yale students that aren't also available to top HLS students. Yale is a stronger law school because (many) more opportunities are available at median at Y than at H, but top H students absolutely can get anything YLS students can get, be it clerkships or competitive PI or whatnot. (Top H students may arguably/possibly have more opportunities, in fact, because of H's sheer size - more professors to network with in various legal niches!)