What to Know About Law School Transfers

In recent years, law school transfers have declined significantly—in large part due to larger entering classes and over enrollment at law schools.

“This [drop] may partly be attributable to the larger and stronger first-year applicant pool for fall 2021, which may have enabled some law schools both to grow the size of their first-year class while simultaneously increasing their median LSAT,” Jerry Organ, a law professor at University of St. Thomas School of Law—Minneapolis, says. “With a larger group of first-year students anticipated to be joining the law school this fall, some schools may have dialed back their transfer classes a little bit.”

Still, transfers remain a viable option for many law applicants. US News recently delve into how and when law school transfers make the most sense and what law school applicants should expect from the process.

GPA IS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR

Experts caution students against enrolling in a law school with the intent of transferring to a better law school later.

“I always caution people who are flippant about that,” Brigitte Suhr, law school admissions consultant for Accepted, says. “It is harder than you think to get the grades you need to transfer.”

Additionally, it’s important to note that law schools typically admit only a limited number of transfer students. 1L law school grades are one of the most important factors that adcom considers when admitting transfer applicants. In fact, the most prestigious law schools generally only consider applicants with GPAs ranging from 3.7 to 3.9.

HOW TO PREPARE

If you’re intent on transferring law schools, you’ll want to apply with strong numbers. But it’s not just numbers that adcoms consider. Experts say conveying why you want to transfer is just as important.

“People who say I am really interested in sports law or (intellectual property) law or international law, whatever the case may be,” Joey Dormady, assistant dean of graduate programs and new education initiatives at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, says. “They may say, ‘My school has been great, I won’t take anything back but they don’t have a program to get me to the finish line.’ That is someone, if performing well, we gravitate more towards instead of someone who is sending blanket applications to many higher-ranked law schools.”

Sources: US News, National Jurist