TTT to T14 Transfer Forum

A forum for those current students who are or may be transferring from one school to another. Post any questions, advice, or other transfer related comments here.
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maddie99

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TTT to T14 Transfer

Post by maddie99 » Fri May 11, 2018 4:24 am

Hi,

I was recently admitted to both Santa Clara University Law and University of San Francisco Law for Fall 2018, both with half-rides. I didn't apply to top tier schools because I scored a 155 on the LSAT and didn't think I would get in. I took the LSAT once and did not want to retake it and wait another cycle to apply since I'm already in my late twenties. My plan has always been to transfer out after the first year. I already know you have to be in the top 5% of your class to transfer, but even then, is it possible to transfer to a T14 such as UC Berkeley from one of the schools I got into? I know there is an advantage to transferring locally, such as USF -> UC Hastings, but would I have a chance at out-of-state schools like NYU and Columbia?

Thank you!

aj1221

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Re: TTT to T14 Transfer

Post by aj1221 » Fri May 11, 2018 2:54 pm

1) You probably already know this, but worth repeating - it's much easier to improve your LSAT score than to finish in the top 5%. Your return on investment from putting in some months studying for the LSAT and getting into the 160s+ is going to get you more $ and better acceptances which in turn will make it easier to transfer if you're still dead set on transferring into the T14.

2) Berkeley regularly takes Santa Clara students (last year I believe about 5 transferred in). I'm not sure how well Santa Clara places into the T6, I would guess low probability, but not impossible. H takes a few transfer kids from TTT (though you have to be #1/2) every year, so it's possible but highly improbable.

Even if you're in your late 20s, it's much more beneficial to re-take. I started law school when I was almost 30, about 10% of my 1L class was probably older than 30. Also, I say all of this as someone who transferred from a school in the 50-60 range into HYS. A lot of people who attend the schools you're considering want to transfer, it's a zero sum game with a forced curve. You have to consider the possibility that you will not be able to transfer. Are you ok graduating median from Santa Clara or UCF?

maddie99

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Re: TTT to T14 Transfer

Post by maddie99 » Sat May 12, 2018 4:21 am

aj1221 wrote:1) You probably already know this, but worth repeating - it's much easier to improve your LSAT score than to finish in the top 5%. Your return on investment from putting in some months studying for the LSAT and getting into the 160s+ is going to get you more $ and better acceptances which in turn will make it easier to transfer if you're still dead set on transferring into the T14.

2) Berkeley regularly takes Santa Clara students (last year I believe about 5 transferred in). I'm not sure how well Santa Clara places into the T6, I would guess low probability, but not impossible. H takes a few transfer kids from TTT (though you have to be #1/2) every year, so it's possible but highly improbable.

Even if you're in your late 20s, it's much more beneficial to re-take. I started law school when I was almost 30, about 10% of my 1L class was probably older than 30. Also, I say all of this as someone who transferred from a school in the 50-60 range into HYS. A lot of people who attend the schools you're considering want to transfer, it's a zero sum game with a forced curve. You have to consider the possibility that you will not be able to transfer. Are you ok graduating median from Santa Clara or UCF?

Thanks for you reply. Another reason I didn't want to bother with retaking the LSAT is that my undergraduate GPA is really low (2.5) which happened for personal reasons I won't get into. I'm not dumb. I can excel academically as I did in high school and on my SATs (96% percentile). I know that's a long time ago and not the same as law school, but my point is that I am able to do well in an academic environment. Even with a 180 on the LSAT, no respectable school would let me in with that low of a GPA. Santa Clara is a TTT (#115) and USF is a TTTT (RNP). Do you think going to Santa Clara puts me at that much of an advantage over USF with regard to transferring? If I weren't able to transfer out to at least a Tier 1 school, I would not be okay with graduating from Santa Clara or USF. :/

wishywashy

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Re: TTT to T14 Transfer

Post by wishywashy » Sun May 13, 2018 1:40 am

A quick search on mylsn shows that with a 2.3 - 2.5 gpa and an lsat 170-175 people are getting into Northwestern (4 acceptances 1 denial), UCLA (1 acceptance 1 denial), Vanderbilt, WUSTL, and the acceptances go up from there (WUSTL is near 100% for this gpa/lsat range).

A high LSAT is a magical thing that cures most sins in undergrad gpa. You may not dance into Yale/Havard/Stanford but you can do much better than TTT.

Re-take with a purpose - study hard like it could change your life (because it really could). And if it helps, I am almost a decade older than you and a law student.I saw people who did much better on the LSAT than me who never touched the top 10% of the class. Please don't count on great 1L grades and a transfer because it never works out like that for 9/10 people. At a TTT you would need to be top in your class, as in #1 or #2 out of every 1L student, to transfer to a decent place so those odds get even slimmer!

aj1221

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Re: TTT to T14 Transfer

Post by aj1221 » Mon May 14, 2018 10:38 am

maddie99 wrote: Do you think going to Santa Clara puts me at that much of an advantage over USF with regard to transferring? If I weren't able to transfer out to at least a Tier 1 school, I would not be okay with graduating from Santa Clara or USF. :/
I think if these are your options and you are set on going this year, you should 100% go to Santa Clara, it actually does decently job wise for its ranking. You have an ok shot at big law in Bay Area if you’re in top 10%.

I won’t belabor the LSAT point, but I do want to share a personal anecdote, I had a similar undergrad GPA to yours and similar SAT - so I know what it feels like to know you are not stupid but underperformed.

Also there’s a not really a huge difference for example between UC Hastings and Santa Clara job outcome or bar passage rate these days even though Hastings is still considered a T1 (though I think Hastings has a stronger alum network).

But - I just want to provide a word of caution. Studying in law school is harder than studying for LSAT. So you should consider whether you are mentally ready to go back to school if you underperformed on the LSAT and are hesitant to retake. This isn’t meant as a criticism or a dig, I think it’s important for you to think hard and be sure that you’ve worked out (or at least identified and have made steps post-college to work out) the issues that caused you to not do well in undergrad.

maddie99

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Re: TTT to T14 Transfer

Post by maddie99 » Mon May 14, 2018 7:51 pm

Thank you both so much for your advice. It's very helpful. I'm going to consider postponing school until next cycle.

Thanks

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