<p>Okay so I'm currently attending Bucknell University, and have a 3.92. I'm pretty sure I can pull off a 4.0 for this semester, which would give me a 3.96. My mom just told me that apparently one of her excellent friends who graduated from harvard is excellent friends with a person who just donated 10 million to them, and his friend would be willing to write me letter to both help me get in, and help with my financial aid system. The financial aid system is why my mom wants me to try to transfer there because they won't look at my step dad's income (which is $200k+/year, of which he will give me $0). I only had a 3.4 from HS (a top notch one, but still only a 3.4) and so Bucknell was the best school I could get into. Now that I've proven I can be sucessful at college, I believe I could transfer into harvard (could meaning it's a viable possability, i'm not saying I'm guarenteed it). But I honeslty do not know how well I could do there. I think I could hold my own, but I think a 3.3-6 would be as high as I can reasonably expect from a place like Harvard.</p>
<p>Now, it would be a lot of hassel to try to transfer, so I guess what I'm wondering is, I want to go to Stanford Law, that's my ultimate goal. I know it' a weighty one, but it is what it is. Is it better to have a 3.9<gpa<4.0 from Bucknell University (which is still a good school) or a substantially lower one from Harvard, with roughly the same LSAT (I don't think where I go will change my LSAT)? Is it worth it to transfer?</p>
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Now, it would be a lot of hassel to try to transfer, so I guess what I'm wondering is, I want to go to Stanford Law, that's my ultimate goal. I know it' a weighty one, but it is what it is. Is it better to have a 3.9<gpa<4.0 from Bucknell University (which is still a good school) or a substantially lower one from Harvard, with roughly the same LSAT (I don't think where I go will change my LSAT)? Is it worth it to transfer?
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<p>Note that the transfer deadline at most top schools for Fall 2006 is March 1st, and Harvard's was on February 15th (for Fall 2006 and Spring 2007).</p>
<p>oh I know, I'm thinking about this for next year. I just wanted some thoughts on the whole situation. I'm only a freshman so I've got a while to think about transfering.</p>
<p>I'm posting this now because I just got done with an hour long conversation with my mom where she's trying to convince me to transfer. I just wanted some other opinions on the situation and how it would affect my law school chances.</p>
<p>Your high school performance becomes largely irrelevant after your first year of college. If you changed it'll show. You also need a good reason. I'd go for it if I were you, the ivies are actually not difficult, they're hard to get in, but easy to get out.</p>
<p>Everything else aside, will it help me that much to be at Harvard vs. Bucknell?? I honestly hate Boston, and would only switch if it will help me. Any other thoughts?</p>
<p>Uh, yes, especially if you do well, which isn't that hard if you do all your work and carefully take classes. The harvard brand name will allow you to do lots of things in case the law school thing doesn't work out. Berkeley's law school accidentally released its "modifier" score for various schools and harvard students got one of the biggest boosts despite the fact that harvard has gpa inflation; people know that harvard students are generally among the best and brightest and you can take advantage of that.</p>
<p>im just thinking, wouldnt it kind of suck to uproot yourself from a school that you'd become used to and suddenly switch-wouldn't you enjoyment of university suffer? i don't know about you, but to me, university is more than just a brand name, its a really important experience. then again, maybe you aren't really worried about that-i just think it's a fairly important aspect to think about.</p>
<p>No, I completely agree, which is part fo the reason I'm hesitant to just go for it. The biggest reason I would do it is for finances, because harvard is more generous to people in weird situations. I"m starting to think I should apply, see if I get in, see what my financial aid package would be, then go to the financial aid office here and tell them I want to stay here, but I can't afford to say no to harvard, and see if they can up it at all.... this is just what I'm thinking of doing..... because bucknell is good enough that it won't be seen a a negative in LSA I dunno, this is why I'm here asking for opinions</p>
<p>Do you have any statistics on bucknell's placement to law schools? </p>
<p>I'd bet your being at Bucknell and being one of the best students might stand out more than your being a good student at Harvard. If you're happy at Bucknell, you might consider staying there. Have you visited Harvard? You should see what it's like. If you're extremely unhappy there, you might perform at a very low level. What is most important to you?</p>
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Your high school performance becomes largely irrelevant after your first year of college.
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<p>That is inaccurate. High school performance is an enormous factor for sophomore transfers, but plays a minor role for junior transfers.</p>
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I'd bet your being at Bucknell and being one of the best students might stand out more than your being a good student at Harvard.
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<p>Not really.</p>
<p>equine,</p>
<p>I hope you understand that your discussion presupposes an acceptance at Harvard. Instead of worrying about what you will do if you get accepted, try to first get accepted. Until that happens, given Harvard's acceptance rate, this discussion is superfluous.</p>
<p>nspeds, as I'm sure you read in my first post, I awknowledged the fact that acceptance to harvard is not guaranteed. Most conversations on CC are not to the effect of, "this happened, what should I do now," but more of "What do you think will happen if." I am merely trying to weigh out whether or not I should even apply (thinking of this in economics terms, what kind of benefit could I potentially get from spending my time, other people's time, and my money on the transfer process). All I asked was if it's worth it to go through the trouble of applying to transfer in relation to getting into Law School. </p>
<p>I am lucky enough to have several connections that would improve my chances of getting in to the point where I feel I have reason to question what the ultimate effect would be without simply wasting my time. </p>
<p>This would be a junior year tranfer.</p>
<p>Could you please further explain the one part of your post that answered my question, "Not Really," in response to someone else saying that being a stand out student here would help me more than being average there? Why would it be better to be average coming from Harvard than the top coming from Bucknell? </p>
<p>I feel I should also note that there are Bucknell graduates curently at Stanford Law, so it's not imposible to get in from here.</p>
<p>Wow, kudos to you and all, but the admissions process sucks. Connections seem to mean more than anything else.</p>
<p>Anyway, at Harvard some professors only give Bs and As. Hence, grade inflation and crap. It shouldn't be too hard to graduate with a high GPA from Harvard.</p>
<p>honestly man, this whole situation is sketch and there are way too many assumptions for you to even begin thinking about this as a legitimate topic. First, in "economic" terms, the opportunity cost of applying to Harvard is little...ure not going to lose anything so you might as well. I have to tell you though, that a school with a 23 billion dollar endowment isnt going to let you in because of a letter from a donor. To get special treatment you have to be a development candidate which means the school, by letting you in, is immediately ensuring further donations (either from you or someone else). All Im saying is that dont take this too seriously at this point. Submit your application to Harvard with your mother's friends' recommendation and see what happens. If you get in, dont waste a second...submit a deposit and enroll.</p>
<p>I agree. You're talking about a friend of a friend of your mom who doesn't know (or I imagine care) who you are, so how much is that letter really going to be worth? What is he going to say in the letter if he doesn't know you? And don't you imagine Harvard admissions people would be able to tell that? I'm sure they get letters from influential people all the time...it is Harvard after all.</p>
<p>Also I checked on usnews and last year 955 applied to H for transfer, 55 were accepted, that's just under 6%. I'm sure each had a very convincing and compelling reason for transfer, like Harvard has the top program in what they now want to major in, whereas their current school doesn't have the major, reasons like that.</p>
<p>Plus you've only been there a semester...congratulations on the great grades but it's just a semester, a lot of kids do well first semester because it's review of hs AP classes, etc. And you're assuming a 4.0 second semester which hasn't happened yet. But I do think if you're able to maintain great grades in the long run at Bucknell you should have a shot at a good law school. </p>
<p>Finally you don't seem to mention you even dislike Bucknell, and that you don't like Boston.</p>
<p>Just saying the odds are against you probably more than you might think, when you are talking the likes of Harvard and Stanford Law School...but if you are curious by all means apply since you really don't have much to lose. Good luck...</p>