top 5% at UT to where???

[helvidius]

Not that I'm unhappy with Texas, but what I wonder what are reasonable transfer options for top 5%?  Does anyone have experience trying to negotiate for 2L scholarships?  Thanks.

[thorc954]

they have some law schools in the Caribbean.  they arent accredited, but its warm like texas but there are beaches.

Im pretty sure you wont get 2L scholarships.  I havent heard of any decent school that does that and it just doesnt make sense on the part of the school to do that. 

I would imagine that almost anywhere is open to you with those grades.  The exception maybe being Stanford, but I dont know.

Id say throw applications to every school you would actually consider attending if you were to be accepted.  I think it is somewhat of a crap shoot just like the first year application process, so you have to throw out a bit of a net. 

good luck though and congrats on the grades.  keep them up though, cause second semester things tend to fluctuate a little bit.

[Nimmy]

You probably have a shot anywhere up through the T6, and it's probably worth putting in applications to the top 3 schools as well.  As far as I know there are only two decent schools that are virtually impossible to get into as a transfer.  UNC (they prefer residents, and only take a couple) and BU (you could probably get in, but they take very few).  Stanford has a reputation of being impossible to transfer into, but they took 12 two years ago with no one leaving, so it's not like they're Princeton Undergrad.

[Alamo79]

I don't think it would be worth it to give up a top 5% ranking at Texas for anything less than a T6.  Of course, anything can happen this semester, but if you keep up anywhere near what you're doing you'll be in great shape staying or transferring.

[thorc954]

I don't think it would be worth it to give up a top 5% ranking at Texas for anything less than a T6.  Of course, anything can happen this semester, but if you keep up anywhere near what you're doing you'll be in great shape staying or transferring.

you are from texas (I assume, or just really like the alamo), but outside texas i feel like the rep of UT is not so good (not that it has a bad rep, just that it is not as well known as say michigan or chicago or whatever)... I think graduating from the best school possible is always a good option except when you have some obligation tying you to a location.

[carcoal]

yeah but wouldn't UT + Law review be "better" than Michigan without?

[thorc954]

yeah but wouldn't UT + Law review be "better" than Michigan without?

I dont know.  I still think Michigan has a significantly better reputation.  I havent had a single professor from UT nor have I ever seen a justice on the supreme court from UT.  I dont even think there are currently any clerks from texas (I might be wrong, just didnt remember seeing any).  There are no summers in my class from UT either and they recruit all over the country.  I just think that any of the T14 have names that carry a lot further then UT.  And, please do not think that I am insulting UT or the quality of education there in anyway.  There is obviously a reason it is where it is on the rankings, I just dont think the reputation is consistent with the rankings.  Plus, I dont think OP would end up at Michigan or G-town but significantly farther up the rankings assuming consistent grades this next semester.

Transferring is such a person choice, but this is just how I feel on the subject.

Columbia > UT+ Law Review

[carcoal]

I agree with you that this is debateable...but I think the difference is a lot smaller than commonly thought.

Here's some data

Clerks:

From 2000 to 2007, UT had 4 clerks on the Supreme Court. UM had 9, Georgetown 4, UPenn 3, BYU 3, Duke 2, Cornell 1.

Last year UT had 20 students on Courts of Appeals. Columbia 22, Michigan 20, NYU 19, Boalt 13, Chicago 12.

This year UT had 20 students on Courts of Appeals. Columbia 32, Chicago 25, Michigan 20, NYU 19, UVA 15, Berkeley 10, Cornell 3.

Education:

For legal academia, UT had placement in 2006 comparable to cornell, Georgetown, Duke, UCLA, Penn, Northwestern, and Minnesota.

In a survey of legal academics, UT's faculty was comparable to Michigan's and better than UVA, Penn, Georgetown, Cornell, Duke, Cornell, and Northwestern.

UT's tuition is lower than any T14.

In a ranking of Law Reviews, Texas' law review is comparable to Michigan's and better than Northwestern, Georgetown, Duke, and Vanderbilt.

Judges:

In a 2004 list of where federal judges went to law school, Texas is third on the list with 43, behind only yale and harvard.

Currently, the only schools represented on the Supreme Court are Harvard (5), Yale (2), Columbia (1), Northwestern (1). While UT has never had any justices, i think the same could be said for NYU, Chicago, Penn, Georgetown, Michigan, Virginia, and Duke (And I think O'Connor was the only one from Stanford).

Law Firms:

Most UT students intend to stay Texas which means that they are underrepresented at higher Vault firms. One study in 2006 adjusted for this an found that Texas sends 2% of its 1L class to V7; 3% end up in the mid-altantic region. Thus, approximately 67% are at V7s. In other words, if you find a UT alumn in NYC, chances are very good that they work at a V7.     

[Alamo79]

yeah but wouldn't UT + Law review be "better" than Michigan without?

I'd take UT/Magna/law review over avg. Michigan student, although this is debatable, largely because Michigan law has major name recognition from when they used to be a top 3 school, and wouldn't apply to the rest of the lower T14 (except maybe Berkeley, which also gets major respect).  I can't think of any opportunities open to you as an average Michigan student that you wouldn't have from the top of the class at UT, particularly if you get on law review and get published.

[WilesThing]

UT doesn't get the respect it deserves, eventhough it measures up to many of the T14.  The previous poster made some excellent points.  And Texas did have a supreme court justice:  Tom C. Clark.