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Yes, you can transfer law schools. Most ABA-approved schools admit transfer students after the first year, and admission depends mainly on your 1L grades and class rank rather than your original LSAT and GPA. Credits usually transfer, but scholarships, class rank, and law review status reset. How many transfers each school takes varies and is reported in its ABA Standard 509 disclosure.
By Ali Unar, JD candidate at Georgetown Law and founder of Lovare Institut. Last updated August 2026. Every figure on this page was verified in August 2026 against the sources listed below.
Yes. Transferring law schools is a normal, established path, and most ABA-approved schools accept transfer students after the completion of the first year (1L). Rather than reapplying with your LSAT and undergraduate GPA, you apply on the strength of your law school performance, so your 1L grades and class rank are the deciding factors. If admitted, you complete your remaining two years at the new school and earn its degree.
Schools admit transfers for practical reasons. First-year attrition and students leaving for other schools open seats that transfers fill, which keeps class sizes and tuition revenue steady. Admitting proven 1L performers also lets a school add students with a demonstrated ability to handle law school work. That is why transfer admission rewards strong grades: the school is buying a known quantity rather than betting on test scores.
Being able to transfer does not mean it is cost-free. Several things reset or disappear when you move:
How many transfers a given school admits also varies widely, and each school's transfer-in count is reported in its ABA Standard 509 disclosure at abarequireddisclosures.org rather than in the verified data used here.
If transferring is on the table, treat your 1L year as the application. Push for the strongest grades possible, build relationships with professors who can write recommendations, and research which target schools take meaningful transfer numbers and give transfers access to journals and recruiting. Then weigh the gains, in outcomes and location, against the scholarship money and class standing you would leave behind.
Yes, after your first year is the standard time to transfer. Most schools open transfer applications in the summer once spring 1L grades are released, and admission rests on those grades and your class rank. Transferring earlier, mid-year, is possible at only a few schools, and each school's exact transfer timing is set by its own admissions office rather than published as one verified figure.
Transferring is worth it mainly when the new school clearly improves your employment prospects, location, or fit enough to justify the trade-offs. You typically give up scholarship money and your class rank, and you must rebuild relationships and re-compete for law review. Comparative employment outcomes between schools are published in each school's ABA employment report rather than in the verified data used here, so weigh those before deciding.
Usually yes. First-year credits generally transfer between ABA-approved schools, though the receiving school decides how many it accepts and how they apply to its degree. You normally finish your second and third years at the new school. Each target school's exact credit policy is set by that school rather than published as one verified rule, so confirm it before you commit.
The number varies widely by school and is published each year in the ABA Standard 509 report, which lists transfers admitted. Some schools take large transfer classes to backfill seats, while others admit only a few. Because the counts change annually, check the current figure for any school you are targeting at abarequireddisclosures.org rather than relying on a fixed number.
Verified August 2026.
August 21, 2026
August 21, 2026