T10 transfer, taking questions...

[jeff112]

Low end T100 to T10 transfer here.  Taking all questions -- admissions, quality of life, grades, student attitude towards transfers, journal participation (on ed. board now, so can talk about that too), etc.  This is much more fun than working on journal stuff.

[upgrade]

Thanks for taking questions

What was your gpa/rank at the end of the first and second semesters?
How many/which schools did you apply to and how many accepted you?
Did you make it into HYSCCN?
Is there anything about your application that you think was particularly helpful?

What were your experiences during OCI? 
Was OCI blind? 
How many interviews, callbacks, offers?

[ls2012]

besides the obvious pros, are there any cons to transferring (minus the idea of giving up your high gpa and prospect for law review, etc.)?

[TTom]

Low end T100 to T10 transfer here.  Taking all questions -- admissions, quality of life, grades, student attitude towards transfers, journal participation (on ed. board now, so can talk about that too), etc.  This is much more fun than working on journal stuff.

How do your grades compare at your new school?

[jeff112]

Thanks for taking questions

What was your gpa/rank at the end of the first and second semesters?
How many/which schools did you apply to and how many accepted you?
Did you make it into HYSCCN?
Is there anything about your application that you think was particularly helpful?

What were your experiences during OCI? 
Was OCI blind? 
How many interviews, callbacks, offers?

I was told I was number 2-3 in a class of 300+ after first semester.  My second semester grades were almost as good, but I ended up with a B- in one class that pulled me down to number 5.  My GPA is kind of useless outside of context, as schools' curves are all over the place.

I applied to Illinois, WUSTL, Duke, GT, NW, Michigan, Virginia, Columbia, Chicago and Harvard.  I got into five of those.  I dodged the regular and second round rejections at Harvard despite having turned in my app. early, but eventually got torpedoed.  That was my big holdout.

My application didn't stand out much.  I'm not a URM, my personal statement was standard.  I have some work experience that stood out.  It was commented on in a few of the acceptance letters, but I really think it came down to grades and school.  I think if I would of been similarly situated at a bit higher ranked T2, I might of squeezed in at HLS.  But that's speculative and very optimistic.  Needless to say, academically, it worked out well (see responses below).

OCI went well.  Ours was blind and we ended up with 15+ interviews to pick from.  I picked some reaches, some targets and some safeties.  I got offers from all over the place.  I was targeting the Chicago market, but transfer friends who targeted others didn't seem to have any other problems.  Specifically, I had 9 callbacks (a few of which I cancelled after accepting an offer) and 3 offers.  There were a few interviewers who just went through the motions, considering I didn't have grades, but most accepted my grades at my old school as a reasonable proxy.  They ended up being one, thus far.

[jeff112]

besides the obvious pros, are there any cons to transferring (minus the idea of giving up your high gpa and prospect for law review, etc.)?

This is a very good question, in my opinion, as people regularly discount the cons.  Yes, you are giving up your high GPA and prospect for law review.  I'm not on law review at my new school, but I am on a secondary journal which is higher ranked (by a large margin) than my old school's flagship journal.  While the journal rankings are problematic, professors still rely on them, to a degree, in deciding what journal to accept an offer of publication from.  I'm pretty sure I ended up with a better editorial board spot on my current school's journal than I would of received on my old school's journal.  The GPA and journal issues are a non-starter, in my opinion, especially if you are going way up the ranks.

The real cons can be giving up a place where you are comfortable, giving up substantial professor connections, giving up a number of friends, etc.  I love where I'm at academically and I've met some good professors that are serving as mentors, but my connections, both to professors and to friends, were stronger at my old school.  There's something to be said for 1L year -- you arrive and everyone is looking to make friends.  There's a degree of bonding that comes from being in the same clueless position as everyone else.  While I've found new friends at my new school, there's a noticable difference.  It kind of feels like you showed up to the "party" (misleading, I'm not a big partier) a year late.

I went to a respected T100 in a secondary market.  The best advice I received, from a professor who is now a close mentor, is to transfer up only if you can't see yourself staying in that market, if you want to clerk and/or if you have distant academic aspirations.  I'm glad I transferred, given my goals, but it wouldn't of been the best choice for everyone.  The opportunities are starkly different, but some people, based on their needs, don't require them.  This advice still holds, especially for secondary markets, but is weakend somewhat ITE.

[jeff112]

Low end T100 to T10 transfer here.  Taking all questions -- admissions, quality of life, grades, student attitude towards transfers, journal participation (on ed. board now, so can talk about that too), etc.  This is much more fun than working on journal stuff.

How do your grades compare at your new school?

Without tooting my own horn too loudly, they actually went up.  At the end of my first year, I was in the top 2 percent or so.  While my school has yet to rank, based on prior composities, I'm likely in the top 1 percent at the new T10.  There was a lot of luck involved in that...and I am not convinced it will continue. 

What is more useful for transfers in general is the assurances that I've received, from professors and administration alike, that transfer students generally stay in the top 30 percent or so.  There's some structural reasons for this, as transfers don't have to deal with the harsher curve of 1L at most schools, but there's also the notion that transfers, generally, are used to working very hard.  That level of work, coupled with an average to above average legal ability and the structural issue already mentioned, usually equates to top 30 percent or so.

[Droz]

are transfers eligible to graduate with honors??

[jeff112]

are transfers eligible to graduate with honors??

At the school I transferred to, yes.  I think there are a few T10's that have some conditions on that.  Transfer admissions offices know whether or not their are limitations for each specific school.  It's something you want to consider when you have acceptances in hand.  I think most schools will provide you with the option.

I've heard, anecdotally, there are a few that will let you have latin honors (cum laude, magna, summa), but will not provide transfers with Coif (or similar honor) eligibility.

[A. Douchowitz]

Since you seem to just be killing it, I was hoping you'd share your study habits/routine and any tips/advice you have for others trying to do well.