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Essentially I want to be in NYC for school & beyond, and am not optimistic about getting into NYU or Columbia. BU's USNWR 2009 rank was 20th, compared to Fordham at 30th. I have a 3.41 GPA after 1L fall semester. Class ranks haven't been posted, but the cutoff for the top 30% last year was 3.51.

Assuming my cumulative GPA for the entire 1L is similar, what are my chances of getting into Fordham?

???

I'm trying to make a similar lateral from Indiana to GW and was wondering what class rank would be necessary.

They're peer schools. You may be able to lateral... give it a shot, what do you have to lose? I wouldn't give up any $ to go from BU to NYC though.

Blindmelon wrote:They're peer schools. You may be able to lateral... give it a shot, what do you have to lose? I wouldn't give up any $ to go from BU to NYC though.

This. You will need to provide solid reasons for the transfer, though I'm not sure of the rank you'll need to lateral. BU is our peer, and a pretty kick ass school.

Aww. Blindmelon and Opera giving back-to-back info. One of the few things I miss about this site from last year.

That being said, they're both right and they're both trustworthy resources.

Also, I'll issue one concern about transferring from BU to Fordham. I don't know what your financial situation is like, but the overall cost of attendance at Fordham is SIGNIFICANTLY higher than BU (around $15k if I remember correctly), and they tend to be MUCH stingier with scholarships. Last year, when I was deciding between the two, I was pretty much settled on going to Fordham with a $12k/yr scholarship until I got a letter from BU offering me double that ($25k/yr), a lower cost of attendance, and a 10 point higher ranking.

Don't count yourself out from working in NY after graduating from BU. I'm pretty sure it's still the spot with the second highest number of BU grads after Boston, and last year when I was a paralegal at a V30 firm in Manhattan, we had two new BU first years, and I know for a fact that at least one BU 3L is going to work for my firm after graduation this year. And that's just one firm... There are TONS of big firms, mid firms, and some boutique firms in NYC, and there are more PI opportunities than you could possibly count.

If you decide to stay at BU, go schedule an appointment with the director of the CDO ASAP. If you're unsure who I'm talking about, PM me.

Cheers!