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I'm thinking about transferring from a California T1, but I'm on the fence because I really do enjoy my current school. Losing my scholly is also a big factor.

Relevant factors:
- California resident, currently paying $25K/y base tuition + costs/living expenses.
- Currently not in debt, but I will have to take out loans starting next year.
- First semester GPA: 3.79.
- Career aspirations: Soft-IP, I'm open to big law but ultimately want to end up at a boutique or public interest organization (such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation).
- I want to work in California.
- If I transfer to UCLA, I can save money by living with family.

EFF (or an IP boutique) is going to be a tough gig to get without some relevant experience. Have you got prior experience from pre-law school, or are you getting relevant experience in school?

What would be the actual difference in cost of attendance if you were to transfer to UCLA?

cavalier1138 wrote:EFF (or an IP boutique) is going to be a tough gig to get without some relevant experience. Have you got prior experience from pre-law school, or are you getting relevant experience in school?

What would be the actual difference in cost of attendance if you were to transfer to UCLA?

+1. I voted "somewhere else" and I think that, given your goals, it probably makes sense to stay put at UC-Davis if you can't transfer to Stanford, which you should try to do if your grades improve at all. My advice changes slightly if total cost of attendance difference is less than $40-50k overall (for the last two years), which it might be---but note that the UC system is planning to significantly increase tuition. If the COA difference would be that low, I would seriously consider UCLA.

Thanks for your replies.

I voted "somewhere else" and I think that, given your goals, it probably makes sense to stay put at UC-Davis if you can't transfer to Stanford, which you should try to do if your grades improve at all. My advice changes slightly if total cost of attendance difference is less than $40-50k overall (for the last two years), which it might be---but note that the UC system is planning to significantly increase tuition. If the COA difference would be that low, I would seriously consider UCLA.

I might as well let the cat out of the bag given there are only so many T1 CA schools that I didn't poll: I go to UCI.

At most, the total cost differential between UCLA and UCI would be around $40K (assuming both schools increase tuition by about the same amount). And that doesn't account for what I would save on cost of living in LA (est. $10,000-$12,000).

EFF (or an IP boutique) is going to be a tough gig to get without some relevant experience. Have you got prior experience from pre-law school, or are you getting relevant experience in school?

I agree. That's why I'm open to doing big law first. Another factor is that UCI has a public interest IP clinic, which offers exposure to copyright/trademark policy work and litigation. UCLA does not. Berkeley does, and I know one of its professors sits on EFF's board.

What would be the actual difference in cost of attendance if you were to transfer to UCLA?

See above

Have you got prior experience from pre-law school, or are you getting relevant experience in school?

A little bit. I worked as a research assistant for a copyright professor in his capacity as an expert witness on two occasions (I was a paralegal before LS). As a 1L, I haven't gotten any soft-IP relevant experience at law school.

I think you should stay put. UCI is a great school and it offers the experiential learning component that really is essential to practice the field of law you are interested in, in addition to giving you the same geographic advantage that would come with transferring to the options you've listed.

Also, you really don't want to lose your scholarship and pay sticker, especially given the massive economic recession we're facing because of corona.

I know the appeal of jumping up in the rankings, but seriously, UCI has a great reputation. It sounds like you've built relationships there that will continue to grow and turn into networking opportunities. Combine that with a clinical experience doing public interest IP work in the geographic market you're interested in, and your high GPA, employers will want to pluck you fast. You really don't want to lose all that for the sake of jumping up in the rankings.