Safado, theotherken, anyone else - how was it?

Overall, it was a pretty great experience. I can't imagine walking out of there planning to attend any other school, as they do a really good job of making you think you'll be making the mistake of your life if you choose not to attend.

A couple of things that stood out:

1) Dean Koh was incredibly friendly and approachable. He made a point of insisting that he's always available to talk via phone, e-mail, or in person, and I believe him. In fact, I sent him an e-mail last night asking a very specific question, and he got back to me at 6am this morning.

2) Even at the ASW, the level of faculty interaction was higher than it has been at any other school. They were everywhere, always trying to talk to you, always letting you know that they'd be there to talk after you decide to attend. Very impressive.


Aside from those two points, the campus and law building are both beautiful and New Haven REALLY isn't that bad. Even coming from New York, I was anything but dismayed by the area surrounding campus. Lots of nice commercial establishments, and I felt plenty safe.

It really couldn't have been a much better experience, and I will definitely be attending YLS in the fall.

Remember my poll about $$$ at Chicago vs. Yale or Harvard? Once I got here, there was no way I ever believed that I had ever questioned my choice.

Seeing the city firsthand was the first thing. It's not NYC, so if you're into the big city thing it may not be the place for you, but the "downtown" was very close to the university and in walking distance from a lot of useful places.

When I got to campus I was blown away. It was like a town within a town. Simply amazing.

I arrived during the middle of Dean Koh's welcome, and just listening to him talk about the school and the accomplishments of those who have come through convinced me that this is the place to be.

What really amazed me was the level of closeness that everyone has. Dean Koh isn't Dean Koh; he's Harold. It was crazy that, as safado said on another thread, he invited all the admitted students to his house for pizza.

Today there was a minority admitted students program and we went to Judge Guido Calabresi's farm; it really struck me that he was on a first name basis with the students. In the evening, another professor opened his house up for dinner, and Judge Calabresi, Dean Koh, Akhil Amar, and others came to visit and talk with students.

In short, when I got to New Haven, they had me at hello.

I feel bad for the girl that I met at Harvard's ASW who decided to go there without even visiting here. To each his (her) own...

Don't feel bad for her--YLS is not everyone's ideal ls.

Congrats on your decision though!

To be fair, I failed to think of any way you could possibly turn down Yale well in advance of the weekend.

mcb,

Perhaps I should clarify. I completely understand that Yale isn't for everyone, just as I can understand why someone might take the Hamilton over Harvard or decide to go to any number of schools over other, allegedly higher-ranked schools. In fact, I was put in contact with a student in HLS's BLSA who chose Harvard over Yale, and I completely understood her reasoning.

However, the student previously in question said that she had decided to go to HLS before going to its ASW and without going to YLS at all. I What I was saying was that I felt bad that she completely dismissed New Haven/Yale (to which she applied!) without even coming to the city/school and giving it a real chance. Much like it would be sad if you had made your choice in favor of CLS without having visited Chicago first (congrats on your decision, BTW).

stjobs,

Yeah, you were right. At the time, I was wondering how I would mesh with the school/city and whether it would be worth it to turn down certain $$$ at a very reputable school (especially within academia) to be miserable for three at Yale/New Haven. When I got here, it was no longer was a question.

For those of you who went to Yale and also were admitted to Harvard, what were the things that you'd say helped you to decide against Harvard and for Yale?

Also, for all of the pros you write about Yale, were there any cons?

How is the loan repayment for public interest? Did they advocate public interest?

caribelita,

I think that the things that I mentioned were what won me over. HLS was great, and I think that the closeness there is underrated due to its size (it's larger, but that also means more professors), but at the end of the day while I felt like you could be close to your professors at Harvard, at Yale it's like they are your friends; there's nothing like a federal judge/founder of Law and Economics saying that students can come to his farm and enjoy the view whenever they want or the law school dean inviting all of the admitted students to his house.

My biggest concern was that I wouldn't get sufficient practical training; although my interest is academic, I still want to be able to go out and competently do pro bono work like a lot of teachers do. Dean Koh's list of prominent attorneys fairly quickly dispelled that concern. Another issue was that course listing is smaller. That is, however, one of the general drawbacks of smaller schools in general.

character,

A lot of schools, I believe, are pushing for more public interest, so I don't think that one can sing Yale's praises in that regard. What's interesting about Yale's LRAP program however is that it isn't limited to any sector; as long as you're in a low-paying field (presumably using your JD in some way), they will work with you to some degree. So if you're making little money as a small-town lawyer, you'll be able to get assistance having your loans paid off.