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pcwcecac

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Law and Economics

Post by pcwcecac » Tue Aug 09, 2011 9:54 am

Hi All,

I have a strong interest in doing research in the field of Law and Economics. Hence the University of Chicago and Cal are probably my top two plausible choices (please correct me if I'm overlooking some schools). Perhaps, that may even be too optimistic: I completed a joint BS/MA program in math/economics at UCLA with an overall 3.65 GPA. While my LSAT score (173) is decent, it might not be enough to excuse my sub par GPA.

I'm at the stage of planning which schools to apply to, and deciding whether or not to express my intention to do research in the aforementioned field. If yes, what's the best way to express my interest in the personal statement? Or more specifically, given such strong and narrow interest, what are some of the things that I should NOT mention in the personal statement?

May I have your opinion on 1. which schools I should focus on, and 2. an overall strategy in applying, given my interest and background?

Any other comment or suggestion is welcome

Thanks very much for your time and thoughts
Last edited by pcwcecac on Tue Aug 09, 2011 4:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

snichols16

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by snichols16 » Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:15 am

pcwcecac wrote:Hi All,

I have a strong interest in doing research in the field of Law and Economics. Hence the University of Chicago and Cal are probably my top two plausible choices (please correct me if I'm overlooking some schools). Perhaps, that may even be too optimistic: I completed a joint BS/MA program in math/economics at UCLA with an overall 3.65 GPA. While my LSAT score (173) is decent, it might not be enough to excuse my sub par GPA. I've been working for a year at the Federal Reserve Board since graduation.

I'm at the stage of planning which schools to apply to, and deciding whether or not to express my intention to do research in the aforementioned field. If yes, what's the best way to express my interest in the personal statement? Or more specifically, given such strong and narrow interest, what are some of the things that I should NOT mention in the personal statement?

My I have your opinion on 1. which schools I should focus on, and 2. an overall strategy in applying, given my interest and background.

Any other comment or suggestion is welcome

Thanks very much for your time and thoughts
George Mason actually has the most specialized and respected Law and Economics program. Not highly ranked overall, though. Chicago is great, but I would say Boalt isn't as high as some other programs you could target. Penn is good and you have the opportunity to do a lot of work in Wharton if you go there; Yale is also among the best; NYU; Harvard is up there as well. Stanford also has a great law and econ program. If you want to do research in the field, I'd say at the very least contact the professors at these schools and familiarize yourself with their work. Talk to them about your interests, etc. But bear in mind that applying to law schools is nothing like applying to graduate school. Writing in your personal statement that you want to work with a certain professor or that you have similar research interests as a certain professor won't get you a bump. But if your intellectual interest is in Law and Econ, say why it is in your personal statement and how it has shaped you and what you have done. Just make it interesting.

pcwcecac

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by pcwcecac » Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:26 am

Thanks for your reply, especially the tip about the angle from which I should introduce my interest.

Do law professors welcome direct contact with prospective students?

ToTransferOrNot

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by ToTransferOrNot » Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:31 am

snichols16 wrote:
pcwcecac wrote:Hi All,

I have a strong interest in doing research in the field of Law and Economics. Hence the University of Chicago and Cal are probably my top two plausible choices (please correct me if I'm overlooking some schools). Perhaps, that may even be too optimistic: I completed a joint BS/MA program in math/economics at UCLA with an overall 3.65 GPA. While my LSAT score (173) is decent, it might not be enough to excuse my sub par GPA. I've been working for a year at the Federal Reserve Board since graduation.

I'm at the stage of planning which schools to apply to, and deciding whether or not to express my intention to do research in the aforementioned field. If yes, what's the best way to express my interest in the personal statement? Or more specifically, given such strong and narrow interest, what are some of the things that I should NOT mention in the personal statement?

My I have your opinion on 1. which schools I should focus on, and 2. an overall strategy in applying, given my interest and background.

Any other comment or suggestion is welcome

Thanks very much for your time and thoughts
George Mason actually has the most specialized and respected Law and Economics program.
Yes. George Mason is totally more respected re Law and Econ than the school Judges Posner and Easterbrook teach seminars at.

Are you effing serious? :lol:

OP: What are you trying to get out of this, academia, a big firm job? Law school isn't graduate school - you don't "specialize" or have a focus of academic study, even if you take all of the offerings in a given area. The only way you would EVER "use" law and econ is if you get a teaching job, and those are so incredibly difficult to get that you cannot pick a school (aside from Yale) based solely on a desire to go into academia.

I mean, if you were choosing between exact peer schools (say Columbia v. NYu v. Chicago) then you would go to Chicago. But if you got into Stanford, you would be well-advised to go, even if they don;t have much in the way of law and econ.
Last edited by ToTransferOrNot on Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

crazyblink653

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by crazyblink653 » Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:32 am

pcwcecac wrote:Thanks for your reply, especially the tip about the angle from which I should introduce my interest.

Do law professors welcome direct contact with prospective students?
yes they do. most welcome it, especially if you praise them for their work (law professors are notoriously vain). and if you end up getting in, they can often help you get scholarship money (in general, faculty connections won't get you into the school, but they can influence scholarship disbursements).

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pcwcecac

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by pcwcecac » Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:37 am

Thanks! This is very helpful.

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by pcwcecac » Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:49 am

re: totransferornot

thanks for your opinion. Yes, I wish to write and teach, ultimately. I see your point that if it's my ultimate goal to be in academia, then I should strive for the highest ranked school, regardless of specialization.

In the same spirit, to what extent do you think I should explicitly mention my inclination towards law and econ? Would I risk being viewed as naive for over-stressing my interest?

Thanks

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by ToTransferOrNot » Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:52 am

pcwcecac wrote:re: totransferornot

thanks for your opinion. Yes, I wish to write and teach, ultimately. I see your point that if it's my ultimate goal to be in academia, then I should strive for the highest ranked school, regardless of specialization.

In the same spirit, to what extent do you think I should explicitly mention my inclination towards law and econ? Would I risk being viewed as naive for over-stressing my interest?

Thanks
I imagine the adcomms at Chicago get tired of reading hundreds of personal statements from people expressing a desire to do law and econ, but I honestly don't know the answer to your question.

I will say that if you don't get into HYS (Chicago) (generally seen as the 'best' schools for academia, for one reason or another,) you need to go into it knowing that your chances of making it into academia are really quite low (they're really quite low from any school aside from Yale, but HSC at least are respectable).

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Emma.

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by Emma. » Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:58 am

snichols16 wrote:
pcwcecac wrote:Hi All,

I have a strong interest in doing research in the field of Law and Economics. Hence the University of Chicago and Cal are probably my top two plausible choices (please correct me if I'm overlooking some schools). Perhaps, that may even be too optimistic: I completed a joint BS/MA program in math/economics at UCLA with an overall 3.65 GPA. While my LSAT score (173) is decent, it might not be enough to excuse my sub par GPA. I've been working for a year at the Federal Reserve Board since graduation.

I'm at the stage of planning which schools to apply to, and deciding whether or not to express my intention to do research in the aforementioned field. If yes, what's the best way to express my interest in the personal statement? Or more specifically, given such strong and narrow interest, what are some of the things that I should NOT mention in the personal statement?

My I have your opinion on 1. which schools I should focus on, and 2. an overall strategy in applying, given my interest and background.

Any other comment or suggestion is welcome

Thanks very much for your time and thoughts
George Mason actually has the most specialized and respected Law and Economics program.
ToTransferOrNot wrote:
Are you effing serious? :lol:
OP, you probably have a pretty good shot at UChicago if you were to apply ED.

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Helmholtz

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by Helmholtz » Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:59 am

snichols16 wrote: George Mason actually has the most specialized and respected Law and Economics program.
An example of trying too hard to troll for GMU.

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by berkeleykel06 » Tue Aug 09, 2011 11:08 am

Don't most law & econ professors nowadays have an econ phd?

snichols16

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by snichols16 » Tue Aug 09, 2011 12:40 pm

Helmholtz wrote:
snichols16 wrote: George Mason actually has the most specialized and respected Law and Economics program.
An example of trying too hard to troll for GMU.
If you want to think that just because a school has one or two professors who are famous law and economics professors it makes the school the best all around for law and econ, that's fine. But ACADEMICS (not overzealous TLSers) acknowledge GMU as among the best (if not the best) center for law and economics). Go and ask your law and econ professor...

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by 09042014 » Tue Aug 09, 2011 12:45 pm

The one time UChicago is TCR.

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Helmholtz

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by Helmholtz » Tue Aug 09, 2011 12:49 pm

snichols16 wrote:
Helmholtz wrote:
snichols16 wrote: George Mason actually has the most specialized and respected Law and Economics program.
An example of trying too hard to troll for GMU.
If you want to think that just because a school has one or two professors who are famous law and economics professors it makes the school the best all around for law and econ, that's fine. But ACADEMICS (not overzealous TLSers) acknowledge GMU as among the best (if not the best) center for law and economics). Go and ask your law and econ professor...
I have. Every law and econ prof I know raves about the law and economics work being done at U of Chicago. One or two professors? Lets think of all the people who teach classes at UofChicago: Richard Epstein (I'm not sure about his future plans of lecturing at the school, but he taught in the Spring of 2011 and still has a very close relationship with the school), Eric Posner, Saul Levmore, Richard Posner, Frank Easterbrook, William Landes, Douglas Baird, etc., etc.

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by berkeleykel06 » Tue Aug 09, 2011 12:56 pm

snichols16 wrote:Go and ask your law and econ professor...
Who almost assuredly graduated from the T14 and not from GMU.

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by pcwcecac » Tue Aug 09, 2011 1:18 pm

re snichols16: Thanks for bringing up GMU. Indeed, they have a specialty in law and econ and have a fantastic reputation in that field. I will take your advice and apply.

re berkeleykel06: I think you're right in that many of the Law and Econ professors have a stronger background in economics. However, there are also many without a PhD in economics. That said, you bring up a very good point. Perhaps I should really do some research and consider whether an econ PhD would better suit my aspirations.

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Emma.

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by Emma. » Tue Aug 09, 2011 1:46 pm

pcwcecac wrote:re snichols16: Thanks for bringing up GMU. Indeed, they have a specialty in law and econ and have a fantastic reputation in that field. I will take your advice and apply.

re berkeleykel06: I think you're right in that many of the Law and Econ professors have a stronger background in economics. However, there are also many without a PhD in economics. That said, you bring up a very good point. Perhaps I should really do some research and consider whether an econ PhD would better suit my aspirations.
It is true that an advanced degree in economics will be a huge asset to you if you want to find work as a law and econ professor, but it isn't a requirement. Really the key to finding academic work is getting published. If you: (a) do very well at law school; (b) get a prestigious CoA clerkship; and (c) publish articles in law and econ, you'll have a decent shot at academia without a PhD.

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pcwcecac

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by pcwcecac » Tue Aug 09, 2011 2:02 pm

Thanks Emma. You've been very encouraging. Like you mentioned, I think my optimal strategy is to ED Chicago. I think HYS is a bit out of my league.

I will also contact a few professors at the Olin Center in UC, whose research I'm familiar with.
Last edited by pcwcecac on Tue Aug 09, 2011 2:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by 09042014 » Tue Aug 09, 2011 2:04 pm

pcwcecac wrote:Thanks Emma. You've been very encouraging. Like you mentioned, I think my optimal strategy is to ED Chicago. I think HYS is a bit out of my league.

I will also contact a few professors at the Olin Center in UC, who's research I'm familiar with.
I very much doubt you are getting HYS. So ED to Uchicago is probably the right choice.

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by pcwcecac » Tue Aug 09, 2011 2:07 pm

Thanks for the confirmation Desert Fox. By the way, what's TCR?

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by 09042014 » Tue Aug 09, 2011 2:08 pm

pcwcecac wrote:Thanks for the confirmation Desert Fox. By the way, what's TCR?
the correct/credited response

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by pcwcecac » Tue Aug 09, 2011 2:10 pm

Why is UChicago usually not TCR?

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by ToTransferOrNot » Tue Aug 09, 2011 2:15 pm

snichols16 wrote:
Helmholtz wrote:
snichols16 wrote: George Mason actually has the most specialized and respected Law and Economics program.
An example of trying too hard to troll for GMU.
If you want to think that just because a school has one or two professors who are famous law and economics professors it makes the school the best all around for law and econ, that's fine. But ACADEMICS (not overzealous TLSers) acknowledge GMU as among the best (if not the best) center for law and economics). Go and ask your law and econ professor...
You sound like someone who has no freaking idea what you're talking about. You should probably stop giving advice.

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by rayiner » Tue Aug 09, 2011 2:17 pm

L&E is TTT.

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Re: Law and Economics

Post by TaipeiMort » Tue Aug 09, 2011 6:20 pm

pcwcecac wrote:Why is UChicago usually not TCR?
He was joking-- or maybe he goes to Northwestern.

Chicago is awesome, and does have the best law and econ program in the world, and invented it. Also, it is pretty good for academia-- I would place it right under HY and above S (probably because of the law and econ focus of the school).

The econ experience is not just the notable faculty either, it is that most every 1L class integrates law and econ and a lot of advanced classes do as well. The students have a lot of law and econ funding they can seek out for projects (Olin and Kauffman fellowships), and you can take econ classes with the other PhD programs in the school.

The George Mason guy is not right at all and is just trolling. Also, I don't know if Berkeley will be that comparable.

I really think if you ED and somehow indicate your interest in a way that makes sense in your personal statement, you should be a shoe in. If you have any professors and or other mentors that know about your interest in economics and can write to that in your recommendations, this would mean a lot.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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