Can one transfer from Whittier to better schools?

[chrysalis]

Does anyone know whether it is possible to transfer from Whittier Law to, say, UCLA or Georgetown or Boalt Hall or Hastings?

[big - fat - box]

Theoretically, anything is possible. I transferred from a tier 2/3 school to a T14 and one of the other transfers came from one of the worst T4 schools in the country.

The problem is that if you go to Whittier, you will most likely be stuck there. Grading at schools like that is very harsh (students will flunk out b/c of the curve), and law school grades in general are very difficult to predict based on performance in prior schooling. To transfer out of Whittier to any of those schools you will have to be at the very top of the class. no guarantee that will happen.

If you don't want to stay at Whittier all 3 years don't go. Retake LSAT and reapply next year instead.

[Ninja1]

If you wouldn't be comfortable graduating from Wittier, don't go there.

[scoop333]

Coming from Whittier you will have to finish in at least the top 10%, most likely top 5% to have a shot at Gtown, UCLA, or Boalt.  Check out the book The Art of the Law School Transfer on Amazon.  The book outlines everything you need to kow about transferring law school.  http://www.amazon.com/Art-Law-School-Transfer-Transferring/dp/1888960302/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248115964&sr=8-1

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[calvinexpress]

Retake LSAT and reapply next year instead.

Whittier won't admit you with a LSAT score below 155, so I don't think the poster is going to Whittier because of their low LSAT.

[Naked Promise]

Pretty sure there's nowhere to transfer but up. Also, if you want any schools like UCLA or better, you will definitely have to be top 5%, more likely top 2-3% to have a real shot. I doubt top 10% would cut it.

[Dr. Balsenschaft]

Retake LSAT and reapply next year instead.

Whittier won't admit you with a LSAT score below 155, so I don't think the poster is going to Whittier because of their low LSAT.

http://www.law.whittier.edu/pstudents/admissions/student-profiles.html#profile 

[Naked Promise]

Retake LSAT and reapply next year instead.

Whittier won't admit you with a LSAT score below 155, so I don't think the poster is going to Whittier because of their low LSAT.

http://www.law.whittier.edu/pstudents/admissions/student-profiles.html#profile 

pwned.

[calvinexpress]

Whittier is a strange law school. They don't offer criminal law the first semester year like other law schools do. The acting director of admissions Tom McColl is very defensive and hostile in his conversations and does not like to answer questions to prospective students. He is very secretative about the law school. He just recently graduated Whittier himself and it appears that Whittier was so hard up for a director of admissions, they hired Tom McColl right fresh out of law school without any experience. He has terrible customer service skills. He is rude, mean and just a nasty horrible person. Tom McColl is a glimpse into the future of how Whittier law school will treat you if you decide to become a student there; they will treat you bad with no respect. Choose another law school.   

[big - fat - box]

Believe it or not, Criminal Law is actually an elective at some schools. Some schools have you take it first semester, some second semester of 1L. Does it really matter?

After you get in, chances of having to deal with admissions again are slim.

I wouldn't pick a school based on these factors.

That said, I still think Whittier is a bad choice, particularly since the OP didn't really want to go to Whittier and is asking about transferring before even starting school. My main gripes with the school are that it's an expensive private law school and has a poor reputation. In recent years, the ABA actually put them on accreditation probation. Can't be good for the school's rep.