Transfer out of Duquesne University

[cpfoley2]

Hey,
I'm a 1L evening student at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. I am considering a transfer after my first year to a couple of schools. I am having trouble finding any valueable info about this process, and whether it is worth it. I will most likely finish in the top 20% of my class after this year. I have a full-time job in Pittsburgh working for a company that procure's records for law firms. Pittsburgh is a great city, but I've been here for too long, and need a change of pace.

The schools I am seriously considering are North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC, and Stetson in Tampa, FL. I was also considering Florida Coastal and NOVA Southeastern, but I would have to really have a good reason to transfer there. Can anyone give me some insight into this process, my chances, pro/cons of the schools, etc.

I have an uncle that offered me a job at his small firm in PA after I get out of school, but I'm not sure if that is the path I want to take yet. Please any comments would help!

[bigs5068]

I did not end up transferring out of my school, but I did get accepted into other schools through a transfer application. Once I got these acceptances I asked my school for more scholarship money and they gave it to me. It sounds like you want to be in PA so you should probably stay there, but you can use your ability to transfer to save some tuition money. Or you can transfer, but you should not transfer to a school if you have no desire to live in the location. If you want to live in Florida then maybe Stetson is a good choice. If you want to live in NC then going ot school there makes sense etc.

[cpfoley2]

Thanks for your insight. Using the transfer ploy sounds like a great way to squeeze some more money out of Duquesne lol. I'm not worried about going to a different state then where I will end up. I see this as a chance to get away for atleast 3 years, and maybe more while I'm young and don't have many commitments, but I don't want to screw myself by going to a terrible school either.
What is the perception of Duquesne's law school? I always thought it was good, but I've been in Pittsburgh since 2005.
Anyone else?

[bigs5068]

I'm in California and honestly I have never heard of it. I might have it on box scores on ESPN, but I don't anything about Pittsburgh or Duquessene. I go to a school called Golden Gate, which is a tier 4 in San Francisco that I imagine you also have never heard of. I think it is generally dumb to get caught up in the U.S> News rankings, because they are based on nothing. There are elite schools and if you finish in the top 5% it might be worth transferring to Penn or some ELITE school. However, no matter where you go law school basically teaches you the same thing. I sat in on a few classes at a school called Hastings, which is tier 1 and they accepted me as a transfer. One of the classes I sat in had a professor from my school who I currently have. Honestly, everything seemed at Hastings seemed roughly the same. Had I gone there instead of continuing at GGU I  could have paid 40k more to learn the same things from the same professors. However, I would have the honor of saying that a private unregulated magazine says I attended the 48th best school.

 Honestly, I was shocked when I learned how U.S. News does their ranking system. Judges lawyers from across the country mark a box that says excellent, very good, good, or marginal. This is 60% of a school's ranking. Some judge in San Francisco that has never met anyone from Duquesene checks a box. Some guy in Pittsburgh checks a box for Golden Gate and it is unlikely they have ever met someone from either school. Unimportant things like bar passage make up a whopping 2% of a school's U.S. News rank. 20% is based on employment, which would make sense if non-paying internships did not count as employment for U.S. News and ABA standards. It is all pretty ridiculous, but there are elite schools and if you can get into a GREAT school maybe UPenn for example it might be worth a transfer. Otherwise you should just get out as cheaply as least in my opinion.

A good site to look at to really determine the reputation of certain schools is lawschooltransparency.com. Instead of U.S. News & the ABA, which counts non-paying jobs as employment this site reports actually salary info. Duquesne seems to decently on this site.

[cpfoley2]

Thanks for your insight as well! I have heard all law schools teach the same thing, each with a different price tag. Thats the benefit of doing well in undergrad and on your LSATs I guess.
I guess my decision will come down to where I want to spend my next three years (not cold Pittsburgh hopefully), and what is the least expensive. My situation is unique because I have this fall back job in PA with my uncle, so I don't care as much about school rankings. I'm basically just sick of Pittsburgh, Duquesne, and my boring job.
Anyone know the chances I will have getting into Stetson or NCCU? 154 LSAT, 3.0 gpa undergrad, and most like top 15-20% of my 1L class. I would like to stay in evening school, but would go to day if the transfer was available.
Thanks!

[louiebstef]

I ran your numbers in a couple of "admission predictor" programs, and it looks like you'd be a strong candidate for transfer
to Stetson's PT program, and a "possible" transfer to their FT program.  Standing in the top-20% of your 1L class should
certainly help.

I wouldn't be shy.  Why not call Stetson's Dean directly?  Her name is Darby Dickenson.   I am a 0L that will be applying in
next year's cycle that actually lives about 15 miles from the campus.  I have studied and researched in Stetson's library many times.  The
campus is beautiful, in a decent area of town (Pasadena/Gulfport), and the "vibe" is positive.

Cost-wise I think it is a bit more expensive than Duquesne.  I hope this helps!

[Hamilton]

Yea, well, THAT'S the real problem... the price tags are NOT all that different unless comparing a state school to a private school. 

Thanks for your insight as well! I have heard all law schools teach the same thing, each with a different price tag.