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Or will class rank be more determinative? My school has a median GPA of around 2.74, tier 4 school. I found this list of 1L median GPAs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_l ... GPA_curves

The possible motives for a low median GPA are discussed in this article: https://abovethelaw.com/2015/05/the-cru ... w-schools/

Apology if this has been discussed before!

Any particular reason you aren't going to a school you want to graduate from?

Edit: Assuming you've already started and aren't a 0L, no it doesn't matter as much, it's mostly class rank, your 1L GPA won't carry if you transfer.

Good to know, thanks. Would like to be closer to my home home.

I actually disagree with what might be the prevailing view on this forum about what matters in transfer admissions. I think it is the raw GPA that's more important--not class rank. Class rank would be more fair as a metric across law schools, but the school you transfer to doesn't have to report your class rank on their annual disclosure. They have to report the mid-50 percentile band and median 1L GPAs, and they have to report your law school name (the latter assuming they take more than 5 transfers). I believe GPA is more reliable for this reason. Furthermore, some schools don't calculate or disclose rank at all. T4 schools know a lot of their students are going to transfer so, yes, I do think they set their median low to prevent the bulk of their students from having a viable transfer hope.

I agree with NoDay. I think the raw GPA is at least equally as important as class rank (if not more). Hell, I think the schools have to make at least some of their decisions before they even know the class rank of people applying.

NoDayButToday wrote:T4 schools know a lot of their students are going to transfer so, yes, I do think they set their median low to prevent the bulk of their students from having a viable transfer hope.

Eh, I think this is more to allow them to fail out students who likely won't pass the bar.

I can only speak for my transfer cycle but I think your raw GPA matters more than some people think. The ABA 509s were very helpful in giving me an accurate idea of where I would be accepted. I didn't get into any of the schools where my GPA fell below the 50th percentile even though my class rank was equivalent or better than other transferees which came from similar schools (at least from my research).

lavarman84 wrote:I agree with NoDay. I think the raw GPA is at least equally as important as class rank (if not more). Hell, I think the schools have to make at least some of their decisions before they even know the class rank of people applying.

NoDayButToday wrote:T4 schools know a lot of their students are going to transfer so, yes, I do think they set their median low to prevent the bulk of their students from having a viable transfer hope.

Eh, I think this is more to allow them to fail out students who likely won't pass the bar.

As a transfer I agree. They have to report median GPAs on their 509s( I think that is the form number) and obviously they want that number high. They do not report class ranks FWIW.

Also FWIW many of the students at the school I transferred to from TTT/TTTT schools (vs me from a T1) seemed like they were exceptionally smart compared to me and the other T1 transfers.

lavarman84 wrote:

NoDayButToday wrote:T4 schools know a lot of their students are going to transfer so, yes, I do think they set their median low to prevent the bulk of their students from having a viable transfer hope.

Eh, I think this is more to allow them to fail out students who likely won't pass the bar.

Also so they can revoke a large percentage of merit-based scholarships.