Would law schools look unfavorably if I had to transfer to a different college?

Question

I am a freshman at one of those "top" east coast colleges, however, I really need to transfer to a school in my state because of family issues.
I am really worried that law schools would look unfavorably if I had transfered from a top tier school, with very good grades, to a smaller, lesser known private college, where I could do just as well.
Should I worry or should I participate in more activities to compensate?

Luckily, my dream law school is in the same state and knows the college well!! Hopefully this will all turn out well!

I'm not that interested in trial law, but rather being an attorney for a firm. For some reason, crafting contracts and wielding that level of power to protect a company is fascinating!

Answer 1

Shouldn't be a problem, but if you're interested in other things besides GPA, curriculum, and LSAT to enhance your chances of admission:

1) Find a job working with lawyers--pay or volunteer--be a runner for a law firm or volunteer at a legal aid society. Get to know attorneys there, and ask them about how to get into law school. If you can get practicing attorneys to write letters of reference for you, it has impact.

2) Join the debate team. Trial lawyers are, essentially, doing debate (although at a more vernacular level than the intercollegiate forensics team) and law schools see that as good preparation.

Answer 2

During your interview process if they asked about it you have a valid reason. If you changed schools because you were flunking out it would be different. However, you are changing schools due to family obligations and responsibilities. If you juggle everything and do well it will be no problem.

Besides, if you stay at the "top" college but don't do as well because of the family issues it will not help you get into law school.

I had several withdraws on my transcript due to a series of unfortunate events (Murphy's law). I was asked about them during an interview for a scholarship, and because there was a valid reason it was a non-issue and I got the scholarship. Good luck.

Answer 3

I liked both. I did well in high school and college. I had a lot of friends at both. High School was free for me, so I miss that. I had a scholarship to college so tuition was free, but I had to pay for books. The books are usually expensive. In college you are not in class all day and can make your own schedule, so you have more time to spend on other non school things. I had good teachers in both high school and college. I had to study less in college, because I didn't have 7 classes at once like i high school. But that's because I took no more than 4 at a time. You can choose if you go full time or part time too.

Answer 4

Wow...you poor thing. You are so sadly misinterpreting life. If you did well and had to quit for financial and family obligations and reasons but continued to do well in school, do you really believe that schools would look down their noses? And if they do, what kind of person are you or the school?

My brother attended St. Mary's Law School and is a major attorney in our city. It's not the best law school in the country, but he worked hard, made good grades and continues to do so. That's what makes a good lawyer and politician.

Answer 5

I don't know if your already looking into any Law schools right now, but the best thing to do is to call the schools and ask.

Honestly, I don't think it makes a difference. If you excel in any univeristy you transfer to, Law schools should recognize the achievements you've worked so hard on.

But all I can think of is to call Law schools your interested in and find out.

Answer 6

It will be obvious from your grades that you didn't leave because you were incapable of handling the work, so it shouldn't harm you much, if at all. The only problem will be that your degree will be from a lesser-known school, but you can overcome that by supplementing your education with a lot of extra academic work like working on research with faculty, competitions, etc. Don't go overboard with things like clubs and things of that sort, but you can do things which will show that you are willing to work hard to achieve academically.

Answer 7

I'm currently taking criminal justice. If you would move to another school, they will not default you. Or in other words look down on you.

Answer 8

... won't make any difference. Keep your GPA up and score well on the LSAT.