<p>Is it possible for me to start at one law school, and then transfer to another, potentially better, one after my first year? Is it easily done, or difficult?</p>
<p>Yes it can be done. It is not easily done, especially for the top-ranked law schools. It is probably harder to get into the top-ranked law schools as a transfer student than as a new student. Generally, this is a viable option for those people who for some reason (undergrad grades, LSAT, whatever) cannot present a strong application to be a 1-L student, but can show that they do very well in actual law school classes.</p>
<p>Hey blue, how's being an Anteater treating you? When are you thinking of applying to law schools?</p>
<p>I"ll throw in my two cents (for what it's worth).</p>
<p>I was waitlisted at about a half-dozen schools. Most of them said that they wanted me to apply for transfer - whether or not that's lip service or not is up to you. I have looked into transfers, and a LOT of schools say that they don't take transfers who couldn't get in their first year. Expect that a school will take roughly 10 transfers for every 100 students it has - very rough guesstimate which does not apply to Harvard and Yale (for all of you who were about to point out that H only takes a handful of transfers every year). </p>
<p>I did seriously consider transfering - and I'm one of the people that Sakky mentioned (low undergrad GPA, doing very well in law school). In some respects, once you are in law school, you are a known quantity. Admissions isn't guessing about your possible performance - they have actual l.s. grades in front of them. </p>
<p>Just a guess, but I also think it would be hard to transfer up a lot. This is part of the whole idea that you aren't going to get in transfer to a place that wouldn't consider you initially. There are some people from my school who transfer, and they tend to go to Columbia or Georgetown or the like. So it's top 25 -> top 14 (not HYS though). I imagine that it would be quite difficult to go from, for example, Pace to Columbia. Fordham to Columbia would be a different story.</p>
<p>I would recommend (just my own opinion though) that, if you don't get into the school you want to go to, you apply the next year. You can always take some courses to bring up your GPA, do a masters, or something like that - but transferring can really stink. Law school is only three years, and most schools only accept transfers for the fall of 2L year. So you spend a year at one place, get acclimated, meet people, and then you move on to another place. IMO, it's a lot tougher to get close to people in law school. There's more work and less dorm life. Most people (at least at the schools I looked at and the one I go to) live in apartments. There really isn't a dining hall. If people eat a meal together, it's lunch - not breakfast, lunch, and dinner - and maybe ordering a late-night pizza and some ice cream. It just takes longer to get to know people than in college (at least that is my experience and what I've generally heard). I guess what I'm trying to say is that it can be very tough to start over. Read Law School Confidential - Miller is right when he says that law school can be a lonely and isolating experience. I go to a happy, friendly, "let's play softball and drink beer every Friday" law school - and it's still not college. </p>
<p>Just my thoughts.</p>
<p>aries,
Care to share the name of your happy school, especially since it seems to be a rare occurrance?</p>
<p>For privacy reasons, I would prefer to not do that.</p>
<p>ok, sorry!</p>
<p>Hey yackityack, it's good so far, I guess... we're going in to 4th week, and I'm still lagging. It still feels like 1st week to me. I've gotten somewhat involved on campus over the past couple quarters, as I'm sure you have as well. I occassionally see your name on anteaterforum.com ;), so I know you're around. How's everything going with you? Zot zot!</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for your input... I was just wondering about this because I think I might be able to graduate sooner than I thought, but I won't have as much of an impressive "resume" of accomplishments as I would if I stayed longer, and got more involved and did more things academically, like maybe the honors program or various certificates. Part of me would like to finish quickly and move on, and I was thinking I could start out at a somewhat lesser law school, and then transfer after 1L. Providing I earn stellar grades as a 1L, I was just curious as to how possible it would be to transfer to a top-tier law school.</p>