| Topic Name: |
Transferring and Law review |
| Message Name: |
i think my opinion is right on |
| Date Posted: |
11/25/2002 |
| In Reply To: |
Just becuase someone disagrees does not mean that person has a silly outlook. As a student at a second tier school, I have had no problem making it into big law, nor have any of my counterparts on law review. Sure, it is an elitist world, but I still submit that being at the top of the heap at a second tier can be better than being in the middle of the pack at some first tier law school, Harvard aside. Also, I don't think that it is fair or particularly helpful to suggest every first tier experience will be synonymous with Harvard. They aren't. If you are moving up marginaly, you will not help yourself. |
| Message: |
you're missing the big picture. i too happen to be at a second tier. i too am at the 'top of the heap.' i too procured a biglaw summer position w/ relatively little difficulty in this crappy market. my post and rhetoric goes beyond the petty mendacities that stream out of "top" law school admission offices each season.
i throw HLS out as the talismanic law school of every aspiring law student's dreams. i use St. John's as it is a rather unspectacular second tier law school. needless to say, not every first tier will rise to the level of HLS, but that's not the point, i use them only to serve an example...and i should have clarified that transferring up from a second tier is generally only worthwhile if you're transferring to one of the top 5 or so...
in any event, let me explain why being in the middle (or bottom) of a higher-up ivy first tier might be more desirable than sitting atop that heap at St. John's. while the top grad from St. John's will probably land that one opening at, say, Cravath, that's all he will ever be. a paper-pushing, essentially worthless dime-a-dozen second tier grad. his law school pedigree has foreclosed an entire universe of options (i.e. prestigious govt work, significant publication, professorship, etc). his law school pedigree will also probably create some kind of inferiority complex that will live with him forever. he will be eminently expendable, and replaceable at a whim.
now turn to the plight of the average top law school grad. he will always have the name of the school he graduated from. let's say he doesnt get a job through oci... but 2 years later at a cocktail party, someone will ask him what law school he attended. he'll say HLS (or YLS, SLS, NYULS, etc...). he'll be asked to come by the firm for an interview, and the rest you can figure out on your own.
this, of course, is not to mention the opportunity this person has. clerkships, professorships, publication, etc, everything the lower tier overachiever will be summarily foreclosed from pursuing will always remain an option to a top law school grad, regardless of their placement in the class.
you're right in that a marginal upgrade (say from St. John's to Fordham) isn't worth it...but if the upgrade will take you into the promised land of law schools (you know which i'm referring to), by all means do it.
you agree that this is an elitist world. what i've set forth above plainly follows from that fact. it's unfortunate, but it's the truth. your school name can be a brand or an emblem. make your decisions wisely.
note: i apologize if the above seems a bit ranty/retarded, it's difficult to type with 10 people trying to talk to you at the same time.
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