People with low stats go to low-stat schools. People with excellent stats go to excellent schools. You're not bunching everybody together, "just because". The top law student at a T4 vs the average HYS student is like comparing "the best of the worst" to "the average best that you're going to get".HarveyBirdman wrote:why though? is the quality of the education at a lower ranked school really lower than at a top school? if a student excels on a personal level, why does it matter where they went to school? i understand logistical limitations in recruiting, but you expect me to believe an average top law school student is going to be a better lawyer/employee than someone graduating from an unranked law school who was at the top of their class?ResolutePear wrote:HarveyBirdman wrote:what chance does a T4 grad have? I'll tell you: none.
i just don't like the non-individual view of the process. i feel like the rankings are flawed and illogical and the whole system just makes me want to throw shit off my desk.
what this comes down to is i think as i finish my undergrad degree in the next year and a half or so, assuming my academic success continues, i'm eventually going to have to make a choice between going to the best law school i will get into at a high price, or a possibly unranked in-state school for free (the two extremes). and i don't like the idea of thinking that if my choice reflects fiscal responsibility that my career is then going to suck and be limited to the 3 block radius around the law school, when my personal abilities would be the same either way.
The stats weren't created before some of these law schools were. They're top because an independent company evaluates these schools and finds these schools to be favorable schools to go to. They're reliable ratings, hence everybody follows them. Going back to the alumni - chances are a hiring partner that's a HYS alumni is going to by soliciting to HYS - maybe CCN.. but they're not going to stray too far from that before putting an ad.
Theres more T14 partners than T4 partners. There's no, "ah, you're a nice guy... you got the job!". Even if it does happen, it's up to an employer and chances are that he's going to take a risk which is directly correlated to your salary.
Like I said: If you're so intent on going to biglaw, study hard and bang out a 180 on the LSAT.
EDIT: Oh, and as for your argument on your skills, etc. being reflected by your LS career - that's exactly what it is. If you havn't done law review, moot court, clinics, externships, clerkships, internships, whatever-other-ships, etc. AND going to a T4.. it's pretty much saying: Yeah, I'm a lazy asshole. Top schools aren't exempt from this, but they're more *rare* - they're competing vs the best where a T4 student isn't.
For instance, in Yale Law, there are Rhodes scholars, well known PhD's, proven business people, etc. attending. Are you going to tell me you can compete with these people in academia or anything else in law school if you have T4 stats? Unlikely. This isn't a Disney afternoon special.