Top Law Schools

3.46 at a school around NYC, ranked 60-50. We don't have class rank but I would assume 25%ish

I would want to work for a large law firm in NYC (70 or more people), but I wouldn't mind Big Law.

The schools are pretty similar except that it seems Fordham gives me a much better chance of working at a large firm (more than double) and a better starting salary.

Would it be better to stay at my current school and try to finish in the top 20% of the class, or go to Fordham?

I'm paying close to sticker at my current school so the price difference is about $9,000

Any advice would be appreciated.

The Fordham NALP report shows that 95% of students are employed, 70% work in private practice, and the median salary is 190k. Even those on the bottom half of the curve have pretty good outcomes (e.g., the 25% percentile salary for people in private practice is still 170k). The ABA report also confirms that most of the class winds up working in medium-large NYC firms, with about a third landing in big-law.

By comparison, most of the "lower-ranked" schools in the area don't have nearly the same kind of placement power. For example, Rutgers/Touro place only a handful of people in large firms, and the median salary is substantially lower (e.g., 135k for Rutgers graduates in private practice).

The takeaway is that a random Fordham student in the middle of the pack has a good chance of winding up with the kind of job situation you are angling for. Not only that, but a median Fordham student has the same chance (or even a slightly better chance) of landing that job than a "top" student at many lower ranked schools in the NYC area.

You can run the exact numbers for your current school, but chances are that jumping ship will dramatically increase the odds of getting the kind of job you want. Maybe there would be an argument for staying put if you had a full scholarship, but if the difference is really only $9k I would go to Fordham in a heartbeat. The difference in expected salary alone probably justifies the move.

Is the Fordham transfer application closed?