T20 in top 10% - what is feasible?

[Jen4463]

I'm at a top 20 law school in a city that I def do not want to practice in... I just missed top 5% last semester (so I'm likely around top 6%) which puts me about #16 or so in the class...

I'm considering transferring even though I actually like the school... What are my chances of transferring up? 

I'm from the East coast originally and had 3 years of great work experience before law school... My stats were 167, 3.56

Also, I have a full scholarship at my current school - do any of the schools offer money to transfers?  Given the economy, and that (assuming I do similarly well) I'll make law review here and I've made good friends and established decent relationships with a few professors - should I just not bother??

[santropez]

Just apply to all the T10 schools and see what you get.  You've got a good shot at most of them, with less of a shot at HYS.  For someone in your position, I wouldn't say it's worth it unless you get into a top 5-6 school or so.

WUSTL I'm guessing? 

[TheDudeMan]

You probably even have a decent shot at Harvard.  I'm at GW and someone in our top 15% (GW doesn't rank any more than that) transferred to Harvard.  Additionally, I'm pretty sure you would be a shoe-in for UVA, etc....

Good luck!

[CTL]

Yea, I think you would have a great chance at HYS.  There was a poster on TLS from UCLA or USC (I can't remember now) who managed to pull off a 1L gpa of ~3.8 (top 5%) and he got into all of HYS.  His starting numbers were similar to yours. 

I'm not sure about the money issue, but if you can transfer into HYS, money will become much less of an issue, especially considering the fact that you got a free year of law school.

[upgrade]

Is xeoh the person you are referring to?  He/she was number 1 in the class and got straight A's with several A+'s, I thought.

Yea, I think you would have a great chance at HYS.  There was a poster on TLS from UCLA or USC (I can't remember now) who managed to pull off a 1L gpa of ~3.8 (top 5%) and he got into all of HYS.  His starting numbers were similar to yours. 

I'm not sure about the money issue, but if you can transfer into HYS, money will become much less of an issue, especially considering the fact that you got a free year of law school.

[CTL]

Yea, that's the poster.  I didn't realize that.  Still, there is a good chance of getting into one of HYS for the OP.

[LawSchoolAuthority]

I'm at a top 20 law school in a city that I def do not want to practice in... I just missed top 5% last semester (so I'm likely around top 6%) which puts me about #16 or so in the class...

I'm considering transferring even though I actually like the school... What are my chances of transferring up? 

I'm from the East coast originally and had 3 years of great work experience before law school... My stats were 167, 3.56

Also, I have a full scholarship at my current school - do any of the schools offer money to transfers?  Given the economy, and that (assuming I do similarly well) I'll make law review here and I've made good friends and established decent relationships with a few professors - should I just not bother??

Based on your first semester grades, you have a good shot of transferring to a T10.  Your lsat/ugpa likely do not carry much weight; schools will look for the most part to your first two semesters grades when making a decision. 

Most, if not all schools, do not offer money to transfer students.  Also, it is not commonplace for transfer students to negotiate scholarships with the school to which a student wishes to transfer.  You may however be able to negotiate with your current school.  Since you're on full scholarship, maybe you could negotiate an additional cost of living scholarship. 

You should check with the schools to which you plan on applying to see if you could write on to the flagship or secondary journals.  Many schools have write on competitions for transfers in the fall.  As far as your personal reasons (friends, contacts, etc...) that's all up to you.  But you'll have two years to establish a network at your new school, and with the potential of being at a T10 or T5, depending on how you do this semester, it may be well worth it.