Is it worth it to transfer?

Transfer Students
1

<p>I'm currently a freshman at UCSD. I recently decided on pre-law, and I was wondering two things. 1) Is it worth paying two years of private school tuition? Will it help my chances at law school all that much? 2) How do I rate as a transfer student?</p>

<p>Stats:
SAT: 2150
GPA: No GPA yet, but it should be in the high 3's. None of my grades have been or will be lower than a B.
Extracurriculars: Equestrian team, campaign involvement, graphic design, and I work in a student co-op.
Major: Psychology and Political Science (Amer Politics) with a minor in Spanish Literature</p>

<p>Granted that I would be accepted into any of the top 20 schools, is it worth transferring?</p>

<p>Thank you :)</p>

2

<p>1) Are you financially able to cover the tuition for that period of time?
Where do you want to attend law school?</p>

<p>2) It really depends on where you are looking to attend.</p>

3

<p>I would be taking out loans, but my parents would cover roughly 20k/yr and FAFSA should be able to help a little bit. I was thinking of transferring to Northwestern, Columbia, Brown, UChicago, UPenn, Duke, Dartmouth, Georgetown. Any of those. I’m aware that there’s ostensibly nothing to a name, especially when weighing financial costs, but I can’t help but think that I would be missing out on a serious opportunity. And as far as looking at law schools, NYU, Columbia, UC Berkelely, UCLA, Georgetown, Northwestern, UChicago, USC, Loyola… Maybe UPenn.</p>

4

<p>I personally would remain at UCSD, it is a fine institution. For me I wouldn’t want a list of to many different institutions on a resume or transcript.</p>

5

<p>It wouldn’t look bad to transfer from a UC to an Ivy though. I know it’s a fine school, but it’s far stronger in the maths and sciences than it is in liberal arts… so I guess the question is, should I pay for great/do I have a shot at that? And is it easier to apply to top law schools from top undergrads, or from an upper-middle?</p>

6

<p>Law school admissions is heavily numbers based. You need an excellent GPA (your major doesn’t matter at all), and an excellent score on the LSAT. People get into “top” law schools every year from places that you have never heard of. It is not necessary to spend the money for a “top” undergrad degree.</p>

<p>Please don’t forget that law school is obscenely expensive, and there are very few scholarships. You should expect to pay for your law degree with loans. This means that if you can get your undergrad on the cheap, and save some of your college fund for law school, that is the way to go. Sit down with your parents, and find out how much help they would be able to give you for law school if you graduate from UCSD.</p>

7

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<p>Agree with this. I have a kid applying to Med school and the situation is similar, also very numbers based and there is very little merit aid available. So the goal is the same, don’t go into debt for your UG if at all possible. However, the major difference between medicine and law is the prospect of a job after professional school, even more of a reason to incur the least debt possible when going into law.</p>

8

<p>This time you should listen to the two board moms. They are absolutely correct.</p>