Why You Should Consider Transferring

Want to land a seat at a T14 law school? You may want to consider transferring in.

“Transferring can be an attractive option for high-achieving first-year students,” Mike Stetz, of National Jurist, says. “They get an opportunity to move to a better school. And schools normally like to accept them because such students have shown they can handle the rigors of law school.”

Jordan Rothman, of Above The Law, recently discussed his own experience of transferring to Georgetown Law and why transfer law students may have more benefits when compared to other law students.

A FRESH GPA

One of the biggest benefits for transfer students, according to Rothman, is having a fresh GPA.

“This might seem like a disadvantage since transfer students likely had high GPAs at their original law schools, but this can absolutely be an advantage,” Rothman says. “Most of the time, first-year law school classes are the hardest courses that law students will take during their academic year. This is because law students are more likely to be gunners during their first year of law school and pull out all of the stops in order to get good grades. Moreover, some law schools only have strict curves for first-year courses, and then professors are given a little more leeway to provide better grades.”

BETTER ACCESS TO JOBS

Another benefit for transfer students is having better access to jobs when compared to students at their previous law school.

“This is because students often transfer to better schools that have more robust access to law firms and other potential employers than lower-ranked law schools,” Rothman says. “However, during the on-campus interviewing process that usually takes place in the summer before a student’s second year of law school, transfer students just have their usually excellent grades from their first law schools to show employers before they take classes at their new law schools.”

BIGGER NETWORK

Transfer law students not only have access to the network of their previous law school, but also the network of the law school they transfer to.

“As people progress through their careers, they tend to rely more and more on people they knew in law school,” Rothman says. “This is because law school classmates can be referral sources when people need to originate business later in their careers and may be helpful as references and contact people who may know about career opportunities. People naturally have a tendency to trust and look out for people with whom they went to law school as law school is a crucible that forges strong bonds between students with that shared experience.”

Sources: Above The Law, National Jurist