Do first semester transfer grades matter? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Transferred to a t15 school and ended up with a 3.75 gpa after the first semester here. I am wondering whether I will be considered for the same jobs and clerkships as others with similar gpas who started law school here. Just generally inquiring into how judges and firms view transfer grades.

[sparkytrainer]

just fyi t15 isn't a thing. There is the t13 and now the t20. I'm sure that upsets your prestige at UT or GT, but just for your information.

[Anonymous User]

And t13 and t20 are also made up. Sorry for altering fictional categories. Really just want to get my question answered.

[sparkytrainer]

And t13 and t20 are also made up. Sorry for altering fictional categories. Really just want to get my question answered.

Actually not quite true. I dont have the chart on hand but others do on this site. If you look at employment outcomes, it is clear there is a big cluster of strong employment outcomes that ends at t13 (Cornell). The next group is much lower down and clustered together, which includes UT, GT, UCLA, etc. The separation between the two groups speaks to the non-arbitrariness of this separation.

[Anonymous User]

thank you for sharing such intellectually stimulating information. I now know what group I belong.... It's been a real concern of mine. Now let's see if I can get my question answered.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I think many judges will care about grades after your first year (basically, any and all grades on your transcript when you apply). Although there may be some who take the OCI-influenced TLS view that 2L and 3L grades don’t “count” because the curve is easier after 1L, 1) that’s not true for all schools and 2) I think plenty of judges still don’t want to see bad/mediocre grades for those years. I can’t say that they will treat the GPA *identically* with people who started at your school, but the GPA shows that your presumably excellent 1L grades weren’t a fluke/because your 1L school was easy. It’s certainly worth applying.

I can’t speak to firm jobs (but then you will have gone through 2L OCI already and 3L OCI is pretty difficult even without transferring).

Also sparky stop obsessing about groupings. Someone saying T15 is just using shorthand, they’re not daring to (gasp) claim to be comparable to/have the same outcome as the “truly elite” schools.

[ladybug1989]

With a 3.75 at your new school you'll be in excellent shape for biglaw and most federal district court clerkship's (assuming good interviewing skills). Almost every transfer I know who had above a 3.4-3.5 in their first semester at my lower T-14 got biglaw (as a 3L). And many more with even lower gpa's got clerkships. I'd be a bit careful though in your future course selection. If you took all generously graded seminars, I would recommend taking more substantive lecture courses next semester to leverage it.