to transfer or not to transfer

[chi2009]

I've been accepted to transfer to a school that's ranked a little higher than the one I'm currently at, and it seems to be more highly regarded in the area.  It was also my #1 school when I originally applied, but got waitlisted last year.  I'm think I'm ultimately going to go wherever gives me the most $.  But here's my dilemma: at my current school, I'm on the exec. board of the  SBA.  I realize that in itself doesn't do much, but the networking opportunities are amazing.  I get free tickets to all kinds of events, and I've already met many judges, the state Atty Gen, and a candidate for Lt Gov, who immediately invited me out for lunch and looks to be a stellar mentor (and reference).  So I'm starting to think that my position may, in fact, open doors to me that I would not have if I transfer.  Is this alone worth staying where I'm at?  Or should I just stick with my plan of going where the $ is?

[the white rabbit]

Is there any reason you would transfer aside from the slightly higher ranking?  How much of a difference are we talking about?

I personally think that there needs to be a pretty high payoff for a transfer to make sense.

[cooleylawstudent]

from what school to what school. That is what is needed to give any advice.

[chi2009]

John Marshall to Kent.  I'm in the top 10% of my class, but it's still JM.

[the white rabbit]

John Marshall to Kent.  I'm in the top 10% of my class, but it's still JM.

Is there a difference in the price tag?

[chi2009]

Is there a difference in the price tag?
[/quote]

Kent is about $100/credit hour more.  I'm waiting to find out if they'll give me any scholarships.  I have a partial scholarship to JM and I thought I'd try to get more from them based on what Kent says.  Any idea if Kent would be better even if I have to pay more?  I also need to find out what will happen to my class rank if/when I transfer.  I know I can still do law review, but I think it would be better to graduate at the top of my class from JM than lower in my class at Kent (though who's to say I wouldn't be at the top of my class at Kent by the time I graduate anyway).

[bigs5068]

I think if everything is working for you at JM why transfer. I really think rankings are irrelevant particularly from Kent to John Marshall I don't think saying you went to either school is going to drop any jaws not that they are bad schools, but it is not like saying you go to Harvard or something and I would have no idea that Kent was ranked higher than John Marshall living in California and I imagine the majority of people wouldn't know the difference.

 I really realized how irrelevant the rankings are when I started my internship yesterday.  I was working with a bunch of people from Hastings, some guy went to Pitt, one went to Florida Coastal, and just a bunch of schools some ranked why higher than the others, but at the end of they day it was all of our first days and the U.S. News ranking of anybody's school did not matter at all.

I also compare this rankings to my study group in law school. I went to Chico State a no name school and another guy went to some 7th Adventist school in Tennessee. The other 4 people in my group 2 went to Notre Dame and 2 went to Berkley, clearly excellent undergrads, but me and the guy from Tennessee were on the Dean's list and the other 4 got 2.8-2.6 all were in the middle of the curve. Moral of the story is it doesn't really matter the name of your school it is the results you get that count. If you are in the top 10% of John Marshall then why change unless location is a factor.

[the white rabbit]

I wouldn't say there's a big advantage to transferring since it doesn't seem like one school is far superior to the other, though I'm not that familiar with the market.

[chi2009]

I think if everything is working for you at JM why transfer. I really think rankings are irrelevant particularly from Kent to John Marshall I don't think saying you went to either school is going to drop any jaws not that they are bad schools, but it is not like saying you go to Harvard or something and I would have no idea that Kent was ranked higher than John Marshall living in California and I imagine the majority of people wouldn't know the difference.

 I really realized how irrelevant the rankings are when I started my internship yesterday.  I was working with a bunch of people from Hastings, some guy went to Pitt, one went to Florida Coastal, and just a bunch of schools some ranked why higher than the others, but at the end of they day it was all of our first days and the U.S. News ranking of anybody's school did not matter at all.

I also compare this rankings to my study group in law school. I went to Chico State a no name school and another guy went to some 7th Adventist school in Tennessee. The other 4 people in my group 2 went to Notre Dame and 2 went to Berkley, clearly excellent undergrads, but me and the guy from Tennessee were on the Dean's list and the other 4 got 2.8-2.6 all were in the middle of the curve. Moral of the story is it doesn't really matter the name of your school it is the results you get that count. If you are in the top 10% of John Marshall then why change unless location is a factor.

Funny – I have the same experience with my study group.  I’m from a very rural area and went to a smaller university, but I’ve still done better in law school than many of my peers who went to prestigious colleges for undergrad.  I think some of them just assumed they’d do well in law school without working very hard, and that was not the case.

That’s an interesting story about your internship.  I honestly think the program at John Marshall is good, and the profs are pretty well connected with the local market.  Sometimes it gets frustrating hearing about all the infamous rankings and being told that if you don’t go to Harvard, you’re going to die alone and penniless.  I pretty much agree with you, and several of the graduates this year from John Marshall already have jobs.  I’m going to wait and see how much $ Kent offers me.  I have undergrad and grad debt, so even though I have a pretty good job right now and am not taking out that many loans for law school, minimizing all debt that I can is a huge priority.  I believe that no debt = the most opportunities. 

[chi2009]

I wouldn't say there's a big advantage to transferring since it doesn't seem like one school is far superior to the other, though I'm not that familiar with the market.

From what I understand, John Marshall suffered under a couple less than stellar deans a couple decades back, and some people in the local market still regard the school in that context.  But it's well connected with the local bar assoc. and the local job market, and that counts for something.  I think the dean and profs that are there now are very good.  I meet practicing attorneys all the time who graduated from JM.  I think it's a toss up - it's really just a matter of ranking.  But it's not like Kent's in the T14 anyway, and I'm not expecting to get right into big law.