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At a T1 school in Texas (think A&M, Baylor, SMU) with over a half-tuition scholarship.
If final grades come back good, would it be smart to transfer to UT Austin?
The dream is a lit boutique like Susman, Kellogg, or Keker. If not, goals are lit boutiques/big-law in Texas.
Obviously, making the above happen requires a clerkship and my schools clerkship numbers are not stellar.
Will it be hard to make the connections necessary (between professors and what not) to secure a clerkship down the line if I transfer?
Losing the scholly doesn't bother me. UT has a super cheap tuition.
I just want to be in a position to make my dreams come true and have all my hard work pay off.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 03, 2022 12:12 am

At a T1 school in Texas (think A&M, Baylor, SMU) with over a half-tuition scholarship.
If final grades come back good, would it be smart to transfer to UT Austin?
The dream is a lit boutique like Susman, Kellogg, or Keker. If not, goals are lit boutiques/big-law in Texas.
Obviously, making the above happen requires a clerkship and my schools clerkship numbers are not stellar.
Will it be hard to make the connections necessary (between professors and what not) to secure a clerkship down the line if I transfer?
Losing the scholly doesn't bother me. UT has a super cheap tuition.
I just want to be in a position to make my dreams come true and have all my hard work pay off.

If you want Susman, Kellogg, or Keker, then you should transfer to the best school that will accept you and get the best grades you possibly can at that school. However, chasing prestige for prestige's sake is not a recipe for ultimate happiness, so perhaps you should do some existential soul-searching.

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However, chasing prestige for prestige's sake is not a recipe for ultimate happiness, so perhaps you should do some existential soul-searching.
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Hilarious that you just had to squeeze that in there at the end. Perhaps some people out there just have bigger goals than you do? Perhaps they just might achieve them? Shocking isn't it?

Depending on your grades, I'd shoot your shot at UT, but also maybe UVA, Duke, or a couple other T14s.
I will say, from what I hear, SMU has pretty good connections and I think if you were top 10% of the class there you'd be able to secure a pretty good clerkship. I assume the same would be true of Baylor in Waco area. I'm not sure how strong A&M is actually yet, but perhaps folks who went there for UG and are judges now may give it some good weight.

I'm not in the elite boutique world, but I'd guess top 5% at SMU with a dist ct clerkship would have the same shot as a top 10-20% person from UT with one, but I could be wrong.

I think places like Susman are hard to get, regardless, and I'd consider staying if it were SMU. If at A&M, I'd probs try and xfer though, personally.

However, chasing prestige for prestige's sake is not a recipe for ultimate happiness, so perhaps you should do some existential soul-searching.

Hilarious that you just had to squeeze that in there at the end. Perhaps some people out there just have bigger goals than you do? Perhaps they just might achieve them? Shocking isn't it?

You're inferring animosity where there was none. Go, live your dreams, clerk on the Supreme Court, rule the world! I support you!