Transfer disadvantage during OCIs?

[Diskbaby997]

If you manage to transfer from a bottom tier law school to a higher tier law school are you excluded/disadvantaged during the 2L OCIs?

[Ramesses]

I would think they would be more impressed actually. Anyone who is top of their class or good enough to transfer probably has decent grades. The only issue is if you are at say Calgary and you want to work in Calgary but you transferred to a different province.

[NowOrNever]

52 minutes ago, Diskbaby997 said:

If you manage to transfer from a bottom tier law school to a higher tier law school are you excluded/disadvantaged during the 2L OCIs?

Should be better if you transfer to an Ontario school and want to work in Toronto.

[gingerbeer]

What is a bottom-tier school and a higher-tier school?

Like Windsor Dual to UofT? Obviously this transfer will help you, not to say you couldn't get a job at Windsor Dual if you had the grades to transfer to UofT (~A average). Also if you're out of province and want to transfer into the province you'd like to work, I would assume this would help.

Transferring schools doesn't matter much during OCIs if you have good grades (~B+ or higher). From whoever I know that transferred schools, they had good grades and got a good amount of OCIs. How much is it a factor later on in the process when you are being compared to a smaller number of candidates - I can't say. But if you want to transfer to another school that you think is more "top-tier" or for whatever other reason, I wouldn't let my anxiety of how firms will percieve the transfer stop me. People transfer schools and get jobs through the OCI process every year (to my knowledge). 

Good grades + a good application/experiences = *usually* at least a couple OCIs. After that your ability to connect with people at the firm and interview well become major factors.

Edited March 31, 2022 by gingerbeer

[Diplock]

If you've transferred at the end of a year and you apply to OCIs before you even start at the new school, the most meaningful part of your application is how well you did in first year. The fact that you're going to continue your education at a new school, where you haven't even started yet at the time of interviews, is not terribly relevant of itself. In other words, a good student at a lower tier school who's done well and has transferred, as compared to an identical student who has done well and hasn't transferred, should realistically be in basically the same position.

That's always been my take, anyway.

Edited March 31, 2022 by Diplock

[burnedout]

I transferred and ultimately ended up getting an OCI job, however many of my peers from my 1L school also did since their grades were similar. The fact that I transferred to a "better school" ultimately had no bearing. I actually think it was a disadvantage, since many firms questioned my reasons for transferring/considered me a flight risk. If you choose to transfer, and end up with OCI interviews I would be prepared to answer questions about why. 

[WhoKnows]

Sigh, I really do need to just make a giant "thoughts on transfer" post and get all of this in one place some day. 

Yes, it's a disadvantage, and no, you will not be in the same spot as comparable people at your new school. The reality is that transfer is rare enough that recruiters really don't know how to compare an A- student from Lakehead to an A- student from Western. Like it or not, there are preconceived notions about the quality of students at different schools, so you lose the comparison they do make. You will have one set of grades, from your old school, and you will be competing against people from your new school for a finite number of spots. If a recruiter can't put you in a ranking easily among your peers - your new peers - it's going to make it harder for them to bring you in for an OCI. It was no surprise that after I had a semester of grades at my new school, and shocker, I was still a high B+ low A- student, I started getting more interviews. 

That's not to say it can't be overcome, and if you're a straight A student who would have been gunning for medals at your current school you'll get interviews. But it's going to be an uphill battle. Get used to it though, almost everything about transfer is. 

Edited March 31, 2022 by WhoKnows

[Diskbaby997]

50 minutes ago, WhoKnows said:

Sigh, I really do need to just make a giant "thoughts on transfer" post and get all of this in one place some day. 

Yes, it's a disadvantage, and no, you will not be in the same spot as comparable people at your new school. The reality is that transfer is rare enough that recruiters really don't know how to compare an A- student from Lakehead to an A- student from Western. Like it or not, there are preconceived notions about the quality of students at different schools, so you lose the comparison they do make. You will have one set of grades, from your old school, and you will be competing against people from your new school for a finite number of spots. If a recruiter can't put you in a ranking easily among your peers - your new peers - it's going to make it harder for them to bring you in for an OCI. It was no surprise that after I had a semester of grades at my new school, and shocker, I was still a high B+ low A- student, I started getting more interviews. 

That's not to say it can't be overcome, and if you're a straight A student who would have been gunning for medals at your current school you'll get interviews. But it's going to be an uphill battle. Get used to it though, almost everything about transfer is. 

Yeah this is what I was afraid of... I've been trying to make sure I stand out as a candidate if I'm able to successfully transfer to a school back home (Ontario).

So far, I've secured a 1L corporate job at one of the biggest law firms in the atlantic provinces in Halifax, I'm projected to finish with an B+/A- and won the 2022 Chief Justice Richard Wagner Award. I don't know how else I could make myself stand out, but I guess time will tell.

[Fruitdealer]

1 minute ago, Diskbaby997 said:

Yeah this is what I was afraid of... I've been trying to make sure I stand out as a candidate if I'm able to successfully transfer to a school back home (Ontario).

So far, I've secured a 1L corporate job at one of the biggest law firms in the atlantic provinces in Halifax, I'm projected to finish with an B+/A- and won the 2022 Chief Justice Richard Wagner Award. I don't know how else I could make myself stand out, but I guess time will tell.

Honestly that seems pretty good.

[NowOrNever]

21 minutes ago, Diskbaby997 said:

Yeah this is what I was afraid of... I've been trying to make sure I stand out as a candidate if I'm able to successfully transfer to a school back home (Ontario).

So far, I've secured a 1L corporate job at one of the biggest law firms in the atlantic provinces in Halifax, I'm projected to finish with an B+/A- and won the 2022 Chief Justice Richard Wagner Award. I don't know how else I could make myself stand out, but I guess time will tell.

You should be good no matter where you are (not too hard to get a job in Toronto even from DAL).

[frenchie]

11 hours ago, WhoKnows said:

Sigh, I really do need to just make a giant "thoughts on transfer" post and get all of this in one place some day. 

Yes, it's a disadvantage, and no, you will not be in the same spot as comparable people at your new school. The reality is that transfer is rare enough that recruiters really don't know how to compare an A- student from Lakehead to an A- student from Western. Like it or not, there are preconceived notions about the quality of students at different schools, so you lose the comparison they do make. You will have one set of grades, from your old school, and you will be competing against people from your new school for a finite number of spots. If a recruiter can't put you in a ranking easily among your peers - your new peers - it's going to make it harder for them to bring you in for an OCI. It was no surprise that after I had a semester of grades at my new school, and shocker, I was still a high B+ low A- student, I started getting more interviews. 

That's not to say it can't be overcome, and if you're a straight A student who would have been gunning for medals at your current school you'll get interviews. But it's going to be an uphill battle. Get used to it though, almost everything about transfer is. 

I think it would be really beneficial to have a giant "thoughts on transfer" especially with transfer deadlines right around the corner. It would be much appreciated!

[heinzketchem]

On 3/31/2022 at 11:09 AM, Diskbaby997 said:

Yeah this is what I was afraid of... I've been trying to make sure I stand out as a candidate if I'm able to successfully transfer to a school back home (Ontario).

So far, I've secured a 1L corporate job at one of the biggest law firms in the atlantic provinces in Halifax, I'm projected to finish with an B+/A- and won the 2022 Chief Justice Richard Wagner Award. I don't know how else I could make myself stand out, but I guess time will tell.

Hey! That’s amazing and honestly I think you’ll do well in OCIs no matter which school you end up at. If you really want to come to Ontario, go for it!

I also wanted to comment to advise you against posting any personal identifiers on this forum. I remember you from your law firm job post, and I think that by specifying the award you won it’s pretty easy to identify you! You just never know who’s reading so just be safe :).

Edited April 6, 2022 by heinzketchem