Thoughts on Stanford over H/Y? Forum

[Casey2889]

thanks guys for all the advice, i really appreciate the wisdom from the some of the veterans of this forum. "fit" will likely be the deciding factor. im also interested, however, in the federal clerkship information that has been mentioned. these are the numbers i found online:

Yale - 35.1% clerks, 31.4% A3 clerks (~63 students/class)
Stanford - 23.0% clerks, 22.0% A3 clerks (~38 students/class)
Harvard - 19.0% clerks, 15.5% A3 clerks (~90 students/class)

i plan to talk to the schools about this. i dont think SLS's numbers are significantly "worse" than Yale's though. fwiw (and to the extent that it's accurate), i read a post (http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=146039) indicating that judges and other lawyers ranked HYS evenly.

[abl]

Performance is all relative, and because Y doesn't have a forced curve, Hs carry less weight than they do at H or S. So yes, your shot of getting half Hs at Y is better than S or H, but half Hs at Yale will not get you quite as far as half Hs at S or H.

Also, the most recent federal clerkship data that I've seen has S at around 40%. I'm not sure what Y or H were.

[vanwinkle]

Also, the most recent federal clerkship data that I've seen has S at around 40%.

I am skeptical of any number this high even for one of HYS. ITE I've heard plenty of stories about problems getting federal clerkships even at that level in the past year. They're far more competitive now, you've got experienced attorneys with strong qualifications applying for them in greater numbers as a way to get a leg up, and judges who are starting to favor experienced attorneys over fresh grads much more strongly than before.

[tgir]

Performance is all relative, and because Y doesn't have a forced curve, Hs carry less weight than they do at H or S. So yes, your shot of getting half Hs at Y is better than S or H, but half Hs at Yale will not get you quite as far as half Hs at S or H.

Also, the most recent federal clerkship data that I've seen has S at around 40%. I'm not sure what Y or H were.

Where did you see that clerkship data? It sounds off.

[BioEBear2010]

Although I agree with most of your post, I just want to point something out about the bolded. From what I understand Yale is the only law school in the nation without a forced curve. In other words "how you do" means something completely different at Yale v. any other law school (H and S included). Basically you can go into Yale with the idea that you will work as hard as you can, and you can expect to have good results. You cannot go into a school with a forced curve with that same level of certainty. Basically your grade comes down to what Joe next to you does on top of what you do. Finally, when you look at the Art III clerkship numbers you realize that Yale is simply monstrous.

While it is certainly true that YLS's grading system is nebulous, that doesn't mean there isn't a good deal of competition. It just surfaces in a different form. Rather than worry about grades, students at Yale focus on getting the best research positions with the premier faculty members.

As almost every poster here has mentioned, though, you wouldn't be making a foolish decision choosing one over the other two.

[CanadianWolf]

If you really want California politics, then start building California connections now.

[swc65]

wtf does working in and out of biglaw mean? Im not sure but I think you have to either work in biglaw or not

nope, its not uncommon for attorneys to start off at a big firm, leave pre-partner for a government job (i.e. to become an AUSA for a a few years), then leave that to take a job as a partner at another (though usually smaller) firm, then return to government work. for examples, look at the current US Attorney for the Northern Dist of CA (or any US Attny really), or fmr. Sec State Warren Christopher.

To add to this, I have heard from partners in firms that associates often leave the firm to take great govt. jobs and then return to the same firm with an added notch when trying to make partner.

[abl]

At some point a copy of Dean Kramer's "state of the school" letter was published online--the most recent class was ~40% heading to clerkships (that data doesn't include alumni). Probably that has a lot to do with deferrals and the weak job market, but nevertheless it struck me as being very impressive. I imagine that HLS and YLS also saw their clerkship percentage jump, I just haven't seen the data for them.