Transferring to a T14?

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• 1 Like

  sillllyxo Alum Member

  September 2017 708 karma

  Of course it is not fool proof. You would have to be in the top of your class which is not a given with curves. You would also have to be at 2 tier school to transfer to a tier 1 (most likely) it is MUCH MUCH easier to get a better score on the LSAT (few points/few questions) and up a tier than it is to get into the top % of your class (or so I have heard)
• 3 Likes

  Alex Alum Member ⭐

  September 2017 edited September 2017 23929 karma

  @CurlyQQQ said:
  I've spoken to a couple of law students who have started out at one law school and transferred into a T14. Is this full proof? Or will a T14 look into your current law school's ranking for your consideration? I wonder about this often. Any and all stories welcome.

  Planning on transferring is extremely imprudent. The number of transfers into the T14 are low and many of them are transfers from other top 14 schools or T20 schools. Yes, they certainly take into account your current school's ranking when accessing your application.

  Generally speaking, if you're at the top of your class at a decent school (T30), it's likely worth staying. If you're at the top of your class at a TTT, OCI and other programs to find employment can be rough since interviewers will have your 1L grades and see you've attended a lower tiered school. Some schools don't even allow transfers to attend OCI/EIP programs.

  There's a lot to consider here. But it is far from a fool proof. I'd go so far to say that it's actually closer to being a plan of fools, lol. The takeaway is to only attend a law school you would be happy to graduate from. My thoughts on the matter have always been that if you're not willing to work hard to master the LSAT, I wouldn't put a whole lot of stock in the idea you're suddenly going to put in the work to be at the top of your school's curve.
• 1 Like

  TheMikey Alum Member

  September 2017 4196 karma

  Getting good grades in law school is not entirely predictable. Yes, there are things you may be able to do to increase your likelihood of getting to the top, but don't assume others around you aren't going to try to do the same. Transferring in LS depends largely on your grades/class rank, which is unpredictable.

  It is possible to transfer, but it is not at all even close to being guaranteed.
• Paul Caint Alum Member ⭐

  September 2017 3521 karma

  Yeah I wouldn't bank on this being easy. Transfer admissions are also based on how many students also transferred/left the T-14 school, aka how many spots are open is contingent upon people leaving.

  As T-14 schools are hard to get into, you can imagine nobody is really leaving them, so the number of spots open are super small.
• sillllyxo Alum Member

  September 2017 708 karma

  Also to add .. the higher you go the harder it is to be at the top because everyone else worked their A** of just like you did on the LSAT to get there so they are all prob. hard workers.
• mcglz_64 Alum Member

  September 2017 891 karma

  An attorney I worked for YEARS ago said that people generally look down on transfers in one particular law school (will not mention by name) in DC. The original class basically never considered transfers 'real' (Fill in name here) Law School students. It was pretentious, but I took it for what it was. She was working with an attorney who transferred into her law school and she said that it kind of colored her judgement of her (the transfer). Petty but...just some insight.