UCLA or Stay Put? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hello everyone!

I am currently in the top 15% at a T25 school. My current school is in the lower end of the T25 but it does fairly well in Big Law placement. I plan to do Patent litigation but I am still open to other career paths (haven’t taken any IP classes yet so I might hate it).

I’m accepted to UCLA (still waiting to hear back from others). Should I stay or transfer? The seat deposit is $1000.

[cavalier1138]

Are you targeting SoCal? And if so, is your current school in California and/or do you have ties?

[Anonymous User]

Hi! Thank you for getting back to me I do plan to target SoCal. I am also open to NorCal. My current school is in the east coast. And yes, I do have ties to California.

[decimalsanddollars]

If you're on the east coast now and want to work on the west coast, I would recommend transferring to UCLA. It's not that people from east-coast T25 schools *can't* get California biglaw, it's just so rare that I think it'd be worth transferring to your region. The calculus would be different if you were at, say, UC-Irvine and considering transferring to Northwestern, but I think given your options I recommend transferring.

[Anonymous User]

If you're on the east coast now and want to work on the west coast, I would recommend transferring to UCLA. It's not that people from east-coast T25 schools *can't* get California biglaw, it's just so rare that I think it'd be worth transferring to your region. The calculus would be different if you were at, say, UC-Irvine and considering transferring to Northwestern, but I think given your options I recommend transferring.

Okay great! This is what I was thinking as well. Some friends at my current law school are saying if I finish in the top 15% I will still have strong chances for West Coast Big Law, but I feel they are just trying to convince me to stay. Any idea how high in the class someone has to finish at UCLA in order to earn reliable Big Law opportunities?

[decimalsanddollars]

Okay great! This is what I was thinking as well. Some friends at my current law school are saying if I finish in the top 15% I will still have strong chances for West Coast Big Law, but I feel they are just trying to convince me to stay. Any idea how high in the class someone has to finish at UCLA in order to earn reliable Big Law opportunities?

I don't have info on UCLA specifically, but top third has been good enough at lower or peer t20s to place at biglaw in the school's region. I'd say top third is safe and median is plausible, and because your 1L grades were good, firms will look at those as an additional indication that you are good at law school. Extra points if you were, say, invited to law review at your sender school.