you can't even have fun without some killjoy ruining it Forum

(Applications Advice, Letters of Recommendation . . . )
dunie

New
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2015 12:02 pm

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by dunie » Thu Apr 16, 2015 12:42 am

Mack.Hambleton wrote:I'm sure they're miles ahead of Emorys, but I can't imagine it's anyone's first choice to be working for the school instead of the ACLU/NAACP etc
From YLS' website: http://www.law.yale.edu/studentlife/cdo ... usnews.htm

User avatar
Mack.Hambleton

Platinum
Posts: 5414
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 2:09 am

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by Mack.Hambleton » Thu Apr 16, 2015 1:05 am

Just because their website says they are prestigious fellowships or whatever doesn't mean they are lol. And what we do know is that they're not actual high profile entry level PI jobs or they wouldn't be school funded jobs

User avatar
worldtraveler

Platinum
Posts: 8676
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2007 4:47 am

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by worldtraveler » Thu Apr 16, 2015 1:20 am

Mack.Hambleton wrote:Just because their website says they are prestigious fellowships or whatever doesn't mean they are lol. And what we do know is that they're not actual high profile entry level PI jobs or they wouldn't be school funded jobs
They are prestigious though. People who do those fellowships tend to end up exactly where they want to be afterward. It's like a post-doc.

03152016

Platinum
Posts: 9180
Joined: Wed Dec 21, 2011 3:14 am

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by 03152016 » Thu Apr 16, 2015 1:22 am

i hate that i'm responding to a troll thread
but re: mack's point on unemployment
the following is complete, utter speculation
but in addition to unicorn strikeouts, it wouldn't surprise me if an unusually high number of yalies have no intention of practicing, compared to other schools
no employment after 10 months looks p bad in any field, but there may be more students with unconventional pursuits, like writing, or entering fields with less rigid hiring timelines

User avatar
star fox

Diamond
Posts: 20790
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2013 4:13 pm

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by star fox » Thu Apr 16, 2015 1:39 am

I'll say yes. That doesn't mean to say it's not great or even that it's not #1 or top 3 or whatever. But I think "overrated" is a good word since people assume every person from Yale just has every job in the world knocking on their door for the prestige of hiring a Yale grad.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


User avatar
KMart

Gold
Posts: 4369
Joined: Wed Jul 02, 2014 1:25 am

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by KMart » Thu Apr 16, 2015 1:44 am

Someone should get one of the Yale unemployed students on TLS so we can dissect their life and truly analyze this answer.

But, no. They are not overrated imo.

User avatar
PeanutsNJam

Gold
Posts: 4670
Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:57 pm

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by PeanutsNJam » Thu Apr 16, 2015 2:05 am

just out of curiosity, does anybody have any specific examples of what Yale grads are doing, if not BL/FC/preftigious PI? They're not going straight from the graduation ceremony to being a law professor, right? What does "working in academia" mean?

All I'm thinking of is elite lit boutiques and high-paying consulting gigs, but that still leaves like a solid 20-30% of the class as a ?. They should at least release a NALP report or some more detailed graduating class employment profile.

Yale feels like one of those incredibly selective frats that have deep connections.

User avatar
A. Nony Mouse

Diamond
Posts: 29293
Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2012 11:51 am

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by A. Nony Mouse » Thu Apr 16, 2015 9:14 am

Working in academia probably means doing a Climenko fellowship or similar (a year of usually teaching writing and working on publications). It's a common step toward being a professor. A lot of top schools hire people into similar fellowships.

User avatar
bretby

Bronze
Posts: 452
Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2014 5:15 pm

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by bretby » Thu Apr 16, 2015 9:22 am

LSATneurotic wrote:According to the latest employment numbers, Yale's BL/FC % is just middle of the pack. Stop drinking the coolaid, people.
I have heard the same thing - that Yale is overrated - from Yale grads. Though they weren't talking about employment outcomes, they were talking about the rigor of the program. The exact quote was "Yale isn't hard and it isn't serious." An interesting perspective.

Want to continue reading?

Register for access!

Did I mention it was FREE ?


Gators23

New
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2014 5:38 pm

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by Gators23 » Thu Apr 16, 2015 9:35 am

Heard USNWR is adding 'availability of fantastic pizza' to their other ridiculous metrics. In that case, Yale may very well be underrated.

User avatar
LSATneurotic

Silver
Posts: 982
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 7:27 pm

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by LSATneurotic » Thu Apr 16, 2015 9:39 am

Gators23 wrote:Heard USNWR is adding 'availability of fantastic pizza' to their other ridiculous metrics. In that case, Yale may very well be underrated.
what're you talking about? Bar? Honestly don't get the hype with the NH pizza.

exitoptions

Bronze
Posts: 263
Joined: Wed Sep 26, 2012 8:58 am

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by exitoptions » Thu Apr 16, 2015 9:41 am

What is this even? Do you people actually think that most people at Yale want to land in biglaw? I'd bet the numbers going to biglaw are actually somewhat lower in the class.

User avatar
AreJay711

Gold
Posts: 3406
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2010 8:51 pm

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by AreJay711 » Thu Apr 16, 2015 9:45 am

Yale is probably overrated by employers.

Register now!

Resources to assist law school applicants, students & graduates.

It's still FREE!


exitoptions

Bronze
Posts: 263
Joined: Wed Sep 26, 2012 8:58 am

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by exitoptions » Thu Apr 16, 2015 9:50 am

AreJay711 wrote:Yale is probably overrated by employers.
It's the graduates of the school that would be overrated, and that's probably true of every prestigious law school since the admissions standards have been reduced to two numbers, and grades are essentially random.

ryangreenspan

New
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Feb 01, 2015 11:47 pm

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by ryangreenspan » Thu Apr 16, 2015 10:23 am

Clerkships? Go to S. Biglaw? CC with merit aid. H has a lock on lay prestige. Why would anyone with half a brain waste their money on Yale's app, let alone burn three years of their life and hundreds of thousands of dollars go to what is essentially an overrated, middle of the pack T14.

User avatar
LSATneurotic

Silver
Posts: 982
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 7:27 pm

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by LSATneurotic » Thu Apr 16, 2015 10:24 am

ryangreenspan wrote:Clerkships? Go to S. Biglaw? CC with merit aid. H has a lock on lay prestige. Why would anyone with half a brain waste their money on Yale's app, let alone burn three years of their life and hundreds of thousands of dollars go to what is essentially an overrated, middle of the pack T14.
+1000

Doin' the lords work, bro

FSK

Platinum
Posts: 8058
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 2:47 pm

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by FSK » Thu Apr 16, 2015 10:32 am

Look at the summer class thread for this year, and see where the Yale graduates are - especially as a percentage of class size. That's a better idea.

More than H at SullCrom, a ton at Paul Weiss, a ton at William & Connolly, 7/28 at Watchell - the most by 3. That speaks more than percentage IMO. If your'e going to prestige whore, you do it the best at YLS.

Get unlimited access to all forums and topics

Register now!

I'm pretty sure I told you it's FREE...


Moneytrees

Silver
Posts: 932
Joined: Tue Jan 14, 2014 11:41 pm

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by Moneytrees » Thu Apr 16, 2015 10:40 am

Yale is almost always better than Stanford in clerkship placement. One year of data doesn't change that.

User avatar
LSATneurotic

Silver
Posts: 982
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 7:27 pm

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by LSATneurotic » Thu Apr 16, 2015 3:14 pm

tides are changing homie. SLS is da' future. As one guy put it:
faced similar choice (throw in Y) and chose SLS w/ similar long-term interests in policy/politics as OP.

to me, the biggest draw with harvard was the name, history, and everything that came with it---supreme court justices hear 2L moot court arguments, senators have their names on the wall, the president shows up for alumni weekend, etc.

but then i realized that harvard, as a school, wasn't actually that awesome. it felt stale and out of touch with the future of the profession, and only nominally engaged in producing leaders and social innovators. it's rested on its laurels and has been able to stay awesome by plucking top faculty (who do their grunt work elsewhere) and taking a large enough class to guarantee that SOMEONE (maybe it's a 3rd gen legacy) every now and then would end up as an appellate judge or congressman.

stanford, by contrast, seemed to be where i'd develop into someone who's actually influential. i can already tell you that the 1L program at SLS is much harder than anywhere else in the country, but also more empowering. we have a 10 month 1L year and a full-term simulation course in federal pretrial litigation, including strategy, negotiation, oral argument, etc. the school actually has to petition the ABA each year for an exception to give 1L's 18 credit hours in the fall quarter (13 hours is the ordinary maximum i believe). whether or not you want to be a litigator, that's the nuts/bolts of lawyering, and you'll know it. all that stuff in the NYT about how law schools don't teach you anything? not true here. beginning 2L, you'll get to take courses that are interdisciplinary, collaborative, and which directly involve practice. if you are more academically inclined and interested in something like law and democracy, professors are eager to advise you in a directed research course, and you can start talking legal theory electives as early as your 1L spring. if you know or discover an area of law/policy you want to explore more thoroughly, join one of the clinics. and of course, you have the entire university's course offerings to explore as well. check them out.

obviously biased, but i think SLS is the future of legal education and the best law school in the country for leaders. it combined the best of both H and Y without the drawbacks of either. i think the people here seem more relaxed because we're more self-confident and comfortable with who we are and what we want to do. in some ways you have to be pretty confident to turn down harvard or yale, and being grounded like that keeps things in perspective---most of us know that we'll get a mix of Hs and Ps no matter what, and that we'll get one of the jobs we want. we still study HARD b/c the course load is so damn rigorous, but there's only a minority of people who gun for straight H's. they seem to be the fearful, study-all-night and ask obnoxious detail-oriented questions type who feel that grades are all they have to offer, but thats their prerogative and they'll be successful attorneys.

you have to live with your choice, not me. not everyone can say no to Harvard. you have to figure out if you're one of them.

ps a reassuring line about your decision from dean kramer last year when i asked him at admit weekend about choosing b/w S/Y/H: "oh god, at least you'll choose harvard if you don't come here right? i mean, they actually try to train lawyers there, it's a serious place. yale? you're not gonna learn how to do anything there, i'd want my money back."

dabigchina

Gold
Posts: 1845
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 2:22 am

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by dabigchina » Thu Apr 16, 2015 3:19 pm

We get it. You got into sls.

Eta: and nobody cares

User avatar
LSATneurotic

Silver
Posts: 982
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 7:27 pm

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by LSATneurotic » Thu Apr 16, 2015 3:24 pm

lol uhhh try again?

Communicate now with those who not only know what a legal education is, but can offer you worthy advice and commentary as you complete the three most educational, yet challenging years of your law related post graduate life.

Register now, it's still FREE!


User avatar
abitaman6363

Bronze
Posts: 171
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:42 pm

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by abitaman6363 » Thu Apr 16, 2015 3:40 pm

At my own biglaw job right now--but yes--a lot of my YLS classmates sought pretty outlandish and non-legal (and, from my point-of-view, amazing) ventures following law school. This includes two peers who started law-related start-up companies, several friends who went into government advisory work and community activism, three friends who took off this year to finish novels, and two friends who are working to complete a patent application and launch the relevant product. While this is somewhat anecdotal, the do-whatever-the-heck-you-want-with-your-life mentality does run strong at YLS in my view.

My point is certainly not to bolster the argument that YLS is #1--the metrics are largely subjective and I hold Chicago, SLS, HLS and several other law schools in the highest esteem. I would largely view law school ranking placements in clusters rather than individual school rank. I suggest anyone stray away from a mentality that urges you to attend one school over another simply in light of a slight numerical difference in ranking. Instead, personalize your law school search and use national rankings as just one part of your factor to attend one school over another.

Apologies in advance for spelling/grammar errors (sure there are many). And yes--I realize the potential troll-worthiness of the OP, however, hoped to add this slight bit of advice for those of you making your final law school decisions. Best of luck to everyone!

User avatar
abitaman6363

Bronze
Posts: 171
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:42 pm

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by abitaman6363 » Thu Apr 16, 2015 3:56 pm

P.S. I noted OPs previous posts, which include the following remark: "$5.00 bottle of wine and an undergrad will get you a lot farther than a HJ." I hope that any institution of higher learning would be better positioned to limit access to their premises to those who do not feel the need to "load up" young undergrads to fulfill their sexual urges. Perhaps your five dollars would be better spent towards a course in decency and grooming.

User avatar
LSATneurotic

Silver
Posts: 982
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 7:27 pm

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by LSATneurotic » Thu Apr 16, 2015 3:57 pm

abitaman6363 wrote:P.S. I noted OPs previous posts, which include the following remark: "$5.00 bottle of wine and an undergrad will get you a lot farther than a HJ." I hope that any institution of higher learning would be better positioned to limit access to their premises to those who do not feel the need to "load up" young undergrads to fulfill their sexual urges. Perhaps your five dollars would be better spent towards a course in decency and grooming.
lol that thread is titled "$5 or a hj."

ETA: tell me more about this grooming

BigZuck

Diamond
Posts: 11730
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2012 9:53 am

Re: Yale overrated?

Post by BigZuck » Thu Apr 16, 2015 4:02 pm

abitaman6363 wrote:At my own biglaw job right now--but yes--a lot of my YLS classmates sought pretty outlandish and non-legal (and, from my point-of-view, amazing) ventures following law school. This includes two peers who started law-related start-up companies, several friends who went into government advisory work and community activism, three friends who took off this year to finish novels, and two friends who are working to complete a patent application and launch the relevant product. While this is somewhat anecdotal, the do-whatever-the-heck-you-want-with-your-life mentality does run strong at YLS in my view.

My point is certainly not to bolster the argument that YLS is #1--the metrics are largely subjective and I hold Chicago, SLS, HLS and several other law schools in the highest esteem. I would largely view law school ranking placements in clusters rather than individual school rank. I suggest anyone stray away from a mentality that urges you to attend one school over another simply in light of a slight numerical difference in ranking. Instead, personalize your law school search and use national rankings as just one part of your factor to attend one school over another.

Apologies in advance for spelling/grammar errors (sure there are many). And yes--I realize the potential troll-worthiness of the OP, however, hoped to add this slight bit of advice for those of you making your final law school decisions. Best of luck to everyone!
Why do Yale people go to law school to be a novelist or inventor or business person? Seems dumb and would get in the way of what your ultimately want to do. How does a Yale JD help them if they aren't using it? I'm sure I must be missing something here.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

Now there's a charge.
Just kidding ... it's still FREE!


Locked

Return to “Law School Admissions Forum”