Top Law Schools

Kronk wrote:I also never equated subjective with legitimate. I don't know where you got that.

I didn't suggest you said that. I asked if you implied it.

ITT Kronk is keeping it real.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI2RT1zDVLw

booboo wrote:ITT Kronk is keeping it real.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI2RT1zDVLw

OK, so let me see if I follow the argument.

(1) Subjectivity = variability.
(2) Yale's admissions decisions are more variable than decisions at other schools.
(3) Therefore, Yale's admissions decisions are more subjective than decisions at other schools.

Looks good from the standpoint of logic, but I am not sure why we're defining "subjectivity" as variability. That seems like an idiosyncratic use of "subjective" to me, but maybe I'm just being muddle-headed today (a distinct possibility!).

I also wonder if we're being a bit quick in accepting (2), but my curiosity is not sufficiently high to really quibble with it.

Maybe more to the point, though, I am having a hard time understanding the thrust of the argument. Is the idea simply supposed to be that there is more luck involved in gaining admission to YLS than other schools?

Apologies if this is coming across as cantankerous. I was just in the mood for a nice discussion, and I was genuinely perplexed.

I wish that I hadn't clicked on this thread. My brain hurts.

I think I explained it in my last post by saying that each law school was a closed system with the preferences of the adcomm being the definition of "objective." But even if we want to go with how you're looking at things, that every adcomm is subjective. Most admissions offices have one subjective opinion judging applications. Yale has dozens of subjective opinions.

All of this is just splitting hairs and defining words. Who cares? I think we both understood the point to begin with: that it's harder to tell how Yale is going to view your application based on the fact that many different people judge it. No one said it was better or worse or tried to assign any value to it. It's just what it is. Conversation = waste of time. We'll have plenty of time to think about logic in LS.

We are all forgetting what is important here:

Whether or not I get in.

Lets focus on that.

I understand everyone's anxiety, but the outcomes of the Yale admissions process aren't nearly as unpredictable as some are making it seem. The majority of Yale admits were also accepted by both Harvard and Stanford, and the overwhelming majority of Yale admits were accepted by at least one of the other two top schools.

The faculty review process at Yale is unique, and I get that law professors can be quirky. But the applications are not being evaluated based on whim and caprice. I mean, it's not like the faculty reviewers are picking their favorite color or something. For the most part, the professors are relying on the same criteria--grades, test scores, recommendations, writing quality--that adcomms around the country are using.

Even if you look at nothing but LSAT score and GPA, the Yale law school class ends up looking like what it is: a selection of the top students in the country. Yes, you see the occasional applicant who was admitted without stellar numbers. You see such cases at every school, including Harvard and Stanford. All this shows is that, like almost every other top law school, Yale is willing to look beyond the numbers in a few exceptional cases.

I have wondered if the professors at Yale write notes on the different applications. I can imagine there must be some funny notes after they are all done. We should try and create a list of things they would say about our applications.

For me: He thinks we are TTT enough to take someone from a TTTT undergrad, who is he kidding?

I like this game.

For me: He passes off a summer internship in some grad student's dinky psychology experiment as work experience? Nice try. And he gives us a bullet-point list of every country that he has visited, down to Portugal?? We're surprised that he didn't include Wales.

For me: LOL

and in small print: Ha Ha Ha OMG, I can't stop laughing.

CardinalRules wrote:I like this game.

For me: He passes off a summer internship in some grad student's dinky psychology experiment as work experience? Nice try. And he gives us a bullet-point list of every country that he has visited, down to Portugal?? We're surprised that he didn't include Wales.

Yet they stamp acceptance on your joke of an application.

For me: Did he seriously draw a picture for his LSAT writing sample? Niiiiiice.

Mine: Oh come on, he's probably not even that tall.

Anastasia Dee Dualla wrote:For me: LOL

and in small print: Ha Ha Ha OMG, I can't stop laughing.

I don't imagine Yale would use small print, think more large print with red ink. That's the way they would operate. Hopefully this will keep up, and I can point out more flaws in my application.

GeePee wrote:Mine: Oh come on, he's probably not even that tall.

Could you explain? I can tell that there's an entertaining story here.

Pausanias wrote:Not to interrupt the scintillating banter, but I just came across this excellent article on the NFL SCOTUS case, published in YLJ (natch), herehttp://online.wsj.com/public/resources/ ... needle.pdf He persuasively argues against the NFL's position.

It's written by a guy who may have the greatest job on the planet: in addition to being a law prof, he is also the legal analyst for ESPN and SI, and is a frequent talking head on TV, giving the legal side of sports. Wow.

My new goal: become McCann's designated heir, beginning a Yale prof/sports law commentary dynasty. What a combo.

CardinalRules wrote:

GeePee wrote:Mine: Oh come on, he's probably not even that tall.

Could you explain? I can tell that there's an entertaining story here.

It is the first thing I thought.

For me: wonder if he had a social life. Noooooooooooooooooooot!

Also: why does he talk about food in every second paragraph ...

So my application's not complete yet, sent it a couple weeks ago, and I just learned that I won all the departmental awards. I got the same three awards last year too, so they're already on my resume. I'd just be saying "hey, I got these again." Worth sending an update to my file?

In related news, I'm rich now.

tomhobbes wrote:So my application's not complete yet, sent it a couple weeks ago, and I just learned that I won all the departmental awards. I got the same three awards last year too, so they're already on my resume. I'd just be saying "hey, I got these again." Worth sending an update to my file?

In related news, I'm rich now.

YOU ARE SO AWESOME!

crackberry wrote:

tomhobbes wrote:So my application's not complete yet, sent it a couple weeks ago, and I just learned that I won all the departmental awards. I got the same three awards last year too, so they're already on my resume. I'd just be saying "hey, I got these again." Worth sending an update to my file?

In related news, I'm rich now.

YOU ARE SO AWESOME!

Well, I'd say I'm only pretty awesome.

It was kind of a stupid post to make, and I normally don't like to brag, but it's a serious question. It's not like I won a Rhodes Scholarship or anything, but it is something, and I dunno if I should update my application with it or not.

Dignan wrote:I understand everyone's anxiety, but the outcomes of the Yale admissions process aren't nearly as unpredictable as some are making it seem. The majority of Yale admits were also accepted by both Harvard and Stanford, and the overwhelming majority of Yale admits were accepted by at least one of the other two top schools.

The faculty review process at Yale is unique, and I get that law professors can be quirky. But the applications are not being evaluated based on whim and caprice. I mean, it's not like the faculty reviewers are picking their favorite color or something. For the most part, the professors are relying on the same criteria--grades, test scores, recommendations, writing quality--that adcomms around the country are using.

Even if you look at nothing but LSAT score and GPA, the Yale law school class ends up looking like what it is: a selection of the top students in the country. Yes, you see the occasional applicant who was admitted without stellar numbers. You see such cases at every school, including Harvard and Stanford. All this shows is that, like almost every other top law school, Yale is willing to look beyond the numbers in a few exceptional cases.

True, but I think the point may be that Yale is capricious within that pool of hyper-qualified applicants. That is, among students that got into Y/H/S, it's hard to pin-point why some got into Yale and some did not.

If you do that, I'm totally forwarding over the fact that I was valedictorian of my class of twenty one.

tomhobbes wrote:

crackberry wrote:

tomhobbes wrote:So my application's not complete yet, sent it a couple weeks ago, and I just learned that I won all the departmental awards. I got the same three awards last year too, so they're already on my resume. I'd just be saying "hey, I got these again." Worth sending an update to my file?

In related news, I'm rich now.

YOU ARE SO AWESOME!

Well, I'd say I'm only pretty awesome.

It was kind of a stupid post to make, and I normally don't like to brag, but it's a serious question. It's not like I won a Rhodes Scholarship or anything, but it is something, and I dunno if I should update my application with it or not.

I'd probably not send it, given that you won it last year as well. Also, for the record, I like semicolons as well.

I'll take that as two trustworthy votes not to do anything, in which case let's all use our edit buttons, k? Big Sister is watching.