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I'm in this boat with you OP.

3.8 GPA, Top 10% (literally one spot outside of Top 5%) at a T30 school. Dead set on transferring to the T14. Kinda figure I'll be in at GULC ED and then, depending on Spring grades, will take my shot at CCN. Anyone think HLS is conceivable? It's such a wild thought to me I don't even know how to process it.

Moderator note: I split the above post off into a new thread because the previous topic was made by a 0L asking about whether s/he should retake the LSAT or plan on transferring "up" after 1L. The above post is entirely different, having been made by a 1L who is considering a potential transfer.

QContinuum wrote:Moderator note: I split the above post off into a new thread because the previous topic was made by a 0L asking about whether s/he should retake the LSAT or plan on transferring "up" after 1L. The above post is entirely different, having been made by a 1L who is considering a potential transfer.

It appears as if I was not in the same boat with OP after all...

I've been looking at the posted transfer stats and there isn't enough data on your situation (10% at T30-ish school) to make any reliable predictions, but out of the two in that situation who applied, one was accepted. So, it's doable. Beyond that, it's hard to say.

Some more info from the transfer stats:

The numbers for being at Top 5% = 27% accepted, above top 5% = 44% accepted. This would suggest that with more data points, the top 10% number would be fairly low. However, since you are close to top 5%, maybe you can use that acceptance rate as a guide.

Am I the only one to whom it seems a little silly that somebody on the verge of top 5% at a t30 would then want to go to GULC? CCN maybe, HYS sure. But lower than that? Why?

objctnyrhnr wrote:Am I the only one to whom it seems a little silly that somebody on the verge of top 5% at a t30 would then want to go to GULC? CCN maybe, HYS sure. But lower than that? Why?

Sounded like the OP wanted to have GULC as a back up and doesn't really like it. After all, OP could have it in his back pocket and if his spring grades prevent a transfer to a better one, why not just stay or reconsider?

KunAgnis wrote:

objctnyrhnr wrote:Am I the only one to whom it seems a little silly that somebody on the verge of top 5% at a t30 would then want to go to GULC? CCN maybe, HYS sure. But lower than that? Why?

Sounded like the OP wanted to have GULC as a back up and doesn't really like it. After all, OP could have it in his back pocket and if his spring grades prevent a transfer to a better one, why not just stay or reconsider?

This is more or less where I am. My plan is to submit my ED to GULC, hopefully have that in my back pocket, see how Spring goes, and then see what happens.

I should say: my goal is a fed clerkship and bigfed. If my interests were biglaw I would agree that transferring--at least, to GULC--would not make a whole lot of sense. However, given those ambitions, it seems like GULC may very well make more sense than my current school. Also, for the sake of honesty, prestige is a consideration. I recognize that making big career/financial decisions on the basis of ego may be an error, but what can I say? I'm a human.

I should also add that my current scholarship is pretty minimal. I was not a good student when I was an undergrad. A lot has changed since then.

KunAgnis wrote:

objctnyrhnr wrote:Am I the only one to whom it seems a little silly that somebody on the verge of top 5% at a t30 would then want to go to GULC? CCN maybe, HYS sure. But lower than that? Why?

Sounded like the OP wanted to have GULC as a back up and doesn't really like it. After all, OP could have it in his back pocket and if his spring grades prevent a transfer to a better one, why not just stay or reconsider?

As a former top student at a T30, I agree. I got accepted to an MVP school first and decided that wasn't worth a transfer. I then got accepted to a CCN, and was on the offense. Then I got accepted to an HYS, and transferred there. Looking back, I think those reactions were right.

MSUN5 wrote:

KunAgnis wrote:

objctnyrhnr wrote:Am I the only one to whom it seems a little silly that somebody on the verge of top 5% at a t30 would then want to go to GULC? CCN maybe, HYS sure. But lower than that? Why?

Sounded like the OP wanted to have GULC as a back up and doesn't really like it. After all, OP could have it in his back pocket and if his spring grades prevent a transfer to a better one, why not just stay or reconsider?

This is more or less where I am. My plan is to submit my ED to GULC, hopefully have that in my back pocket, see how Spring goes, and then see what happens.

I should say: my goal is a fed clerkship and bigfed. If my interests were biglaw I would agree that transferring--at least, to GULC--would not make a whole lot of sense. However, given those ambitions, it seems like GULC may very well make more sense than my current school. Also, for the sake of honesty, prestige is a consideration. I recognize that making big career/financial decisions on the basis of ego may be an error, but what can I say? I'm a human.

I should also add that my current scholarship is pretty minimal. I was not a good student when I was an undergrad. A lot has changed since then.

Anecdotal (I know), but I landed fedclerk out of a t30 and my grades were not quite as good as yours. GULC is a mill. I don’t think it carries the level of prestige you seem to think it does, relative to a top student at a t30.

My two cents.

Have you considered negotiating your scholarship? Friend of mine at my t30 with better grades got accepted as xfer to Columbia and then used it to negotiate a sick scholly to stay.

Sort of reviving an old thread here to provide a couple updates and pose a few general Qs for the denizens of this forum.

A few quick bullet points:
1.) I did in fact get into GULC.
2.) I did well again spring semester, and my cumulative is now a 3.86--which is good for somewhere in the Top 5%. Unfortunately, my school doesn't release individual rankings so I have no real idea where in the Top 5%, but I know the lowest bound of the Top 5% at my uni is 3.79--take from that what you will.
3.) My school's ranking dropped from the mid-20's to mid-30's.
4.) I'm also applying to CLS, P, HLS, and NYU. From what I can gather, it seems like I've got a decent shot at all of them--maybe a bit of a reach at HLS. Curious if you guys share this read of my situation.

My question is, basically: is there any point whatsoever applying to Yale? Their median transfer applicant through the years is a 4.0 student and 95% of them seem to come from the T14. Additionally, I have no compelling softs, my undergrad GPA was in the low-2's, and my LSAT was good but not spectacular.

Also, one final thing: does anyone here know how admissions boards deal with the difference between schools which use 4.0 v. 4.3 grading scales? Strangely, I really can't find anything--either here or on the larger interwebz--which can give me an answer. I've also wondered about this in the context of different schools having different curves...

MSUN5 wrote:Sort of reviving an old thread here to provide a couple updates and pose a few general Qs for the denizens of this forum.

A few quick bullet points:
1.) I did in fact get into GULC.
2.) I did well again spring semester, and my cumulative is now a 3.86--which is good for somewhere in the Top 5%. Unfortunately, my school doesn't release individual rankings so I have no real idea where in the Top 5%, but I know the lowest bound of the Top 5% at my uni is 3.79--take from that what you will.
3.) My school's ranking dropped from the mid-20's to mid-30's.
4.) I'm also applying to CLS, P, HLS, and NYU. From what I can gather, it seems like I've got a decent shot at all of them--maybe a bit of a reach at HLS. Curious if you guys share this read of my situation.

My question is, basically: is there any point whatsoever applying to Yale? Their median transfer applicant through the years is a 4.0 student and 95% of them seem to come from the T14. Additionally, I have no compelling softs, my undergrad GPA was in the low-2's, and my LSAT was good but not spectacular.

Also, one final thing: does anyone here know how admissions boards deal with the difference between schools which use 4.0 v. 4.3 grading scales? Strangely, I really can't find anything--either here or on the larger interwebz--which can give me an answer. I've also wondered about this in the context of different schools having different curves...

I was #1 in my class at my T30 school and didn't get Yale. I think being only top-5% makes YLS very very unlikely, but if the application fee doesn't mean much to you, might as well apply. (If you do, put some work into the 250-word essay. I didn't, and I'm sure that hurt me.)

MSUN5 wrote:A few quick bullet points:
1.) I did in fact get into GULC.
2.) I did well again spring semester, and my cumulative is now a 3.86--which is good for somewhere in the Top 5%. Unfortunately, my school doesn't release individual rankings so I have no real idea where in the Top 5%, but I know the lowest bound of the Top 5% at my uni is 3.79--take from that what you will.
3.) My school's ranking dropped from the mid-20's to mid-30's.
4.) I'm also applying to CLS, P, HLS, and NYU. From what I can gather, it seems like I've got a decent shot at all of them--maybe a bit of a reach at HLS. Curious if you guys share this read of my situation.

My question is, basically: is there any point whatsoever applying to Yale? Their median transfer applicant through the years is a 4.0 student and 95% of them seem to come from the T14. Additionally, I have no compelling softs, my undergrad GPA was in the low-2's, and my LSAT was good but not spectacular.

Also, one final thing: does anyone here know how admissions boards deal with the difference between schools which use 4.0 v. 4.3 grading scales? Strangely, I really can't find anything--either here or on the larger interwebz--which can give me an answer. I've also wondered about this in the context of different schools having different curves...

I don't think you have a shot at Yale, I don't know about your chances at HLS (they're nonzero, but I'm not sure about "a decent shot"—anecdotally the folks I know who have done that have been at or very near the top of a T30 (think top 5 students)), and I think you're about right re CCN, or at least Columbia, which accepts tons of transfers. GULC is not worth the transfer absent a personal reason to be in DC. And #3 does not matter.

I will say, the one guy I knew who transferred out of a T30 to Columbia got a decent but not particularly impressive NYC biglaw job. He could've easily gotten an equivalent job staying at the T30. If NYC biglaw is what you want, you can get it from where you are, Columbia will just give you a wider selection of firms (and I don't know how much of a shot it gives you at the tippy top NYC firms as a transfer). My general thoughts on transferring are that it can make sense if you get into one of YSH, especially if you're interested in academia, but for generic biglaw and federal clerkships it isn't going to open a lot of doors that top 5% at a T30 wouldn't already.

I think you should also let your school know you're thinking about transferring and wring a scholarship out of them. If you don't get into Harvard or (maybe) CCN, then you've at least decreased your COA going forward. To my mind, unless a T14 offers you a lower COA in comparison, the tangible benefits of transferring are dubious. Only YSH are distinct enough in terms of the doors they open to maybe change that calculus.

Both of these responses more or less confirm my priors.

Thanks guys!