Snobs in law school Forum

[Nebby]

For those who are attending t14 schools, how common is the snobby/elitist attitude among your fellow students? What about t25 schools? T50 schools?
Thanks!

There are not a lot of snobs. There are a lot of narcissists though, but it isn't correlated with their family income/education/lineage/wtfever.

[Smc1994]

Serious Q: What is the difference between a prep school and a private school?

If you have to ask, you can't afford it.

beat me to it

Just another skill I picked up while boarding at my hilariously overpriced can northeastern prep school!

[GreatBraffsby]

If you can't differentiate Verdi from Puccini or answer cold calls in iambic pentameter, then don't even bother talking to your classmates. Save your money and go to vocational school.

[star fox]

Being a snob isn't about how much wealth you come from, it's about your attitude.

[yost]

I'm at a T14. I actually haven't noticed much elitism in the tradition sense. As in, socioeconomic elitism. But the intellectual elitism is honestly unbearable. Everyone thinks they're so goddamned smart. They aren't.

[BasilHallward]

You're gonna have to qualify "snobs". If it's a proxy for well-heeled rich kids, okay, but then it's more of a quantitative observation. As someone who comes from parents that barely ever made 30-50% above minimum wage, it's annoying to be around so many rich kids who are going to St. Thomas over Spring Break. But, I find most generally tolerable/cool. At least that's the case at UT.

Just make rich friends and ride their coattails - that's the only way to success in the modern US of A. (I'm completely serious.) The American dream is dead for pretty much everyone except the top 1%.

I've been trying this approach for years, but I don't think I've been very successful.

Rich TLSers, please be my friends.

^^^^+180. I'm now taking applications.

[kade]

I'm finding the question kind of ironic

[Aeon]

Serious Q: What is the difference between a prep school and a private school?

All prep schools are private schools, but not all private schools are prep schools (at least in the United States; the term means different things in other countries). Generally speaking, prep schools are those private schools that have traditionally sent their graduates to elite colleges. Ergo the name: preparatory schools.

[krads153]

I've never understood why people go to prep school until someone told me it's for the rich connections - then it made a lot more sense. I know a few prep school kids who didn't end up at HYPSMC...lol. What is the point of prep if you don't go to one of those? Why bother going to prep if you just end up at UPenn State?

[star fox]

I've never understood why people go to prep school until someone told me it's for the rich connections - then it made a lot more sense. I know a few prep school kids who didn't end up at HYPSMC...lol. What is the point of prep if you don't go to one of those? Why bother going to prep if you just end up at UPenn State?

It's called being rich and dumb.

[somethingElse]

Are you even an upper east sider, BRO?

[jbagelboy]

I've never understood why people go to prep school until someone told me it's for the rich connections - then it made a lot more sense. I know a few prep school kids who didn't end up at HYPSMC...lol. What is the point of prep if you don't go to one of those? Why bother going to prep if you just end up at UPenn State?

It's called being rich and dumb.

I don't think someone who goes to amherst or pomona or swarthmore or dartmouth is necessarily less academically inclined or making an inferior choice than one of the big schools or tech schools

the quality of education at the bigger ivy's can be notably questionable at the undergraduate level.

[TLSModBot]

. . . if you just end up at UPenn State?

[lawschoolbound13]

I'm not going to pretend like I don't know what you mean by "snob" just because I've been analyzing what different words mean in law school. There are enough snobs to make me sick some days and other days my classmates are (mostly) enjoyable. I go to a T25. I think the worst is when you're talking with someone you know is pretentious and assumes they are better from you because they come from a wealthy family, their daddy is a lawyer, they have a scholarship (yes, this is something people ACTUALLY have bragged about at my school), their grades are better, or whatever they assume. All you have to do is ignore them. It's hard to do, but it can be done. I've been doing it since last year!

[King Cayuga]

T14 law students generally come from less well-off socioeconomic backgrounds than students at T20 undergrads (because why the hell would you want to do biglaw if your family was loaded and had connections?), and the level of classist elitism is definitely lower. However, as has been noted, the intellectual elitism is worse, which is probably an offshoot of the pathological insecurity which fuels the average law school gunner/striver.

[dabigchina]

I'm at a T14. I actually haven't noticed much elitism in the tradition sense. As in, socioeconomic elitism. But the intellectual elitism is honestly unbearable. Everyone thinks they're so goddamned smart. They aren't.

+1

[rpupkin]

OP,

There are snobs in law school. Most students in law school aren't humble and accepting like the members of the TLS community.

Also: retake, don't go, and LOL@your OP. Just LOL.

[Nebby]

T14 law students generally come from less well-off socioeconomic backgrounds than students at T20 undergrads (because why the hell would you want to do biglaw if your family was loaded and had connections?), and the level of classist elitism is definitely lower. However, as has been noted, the intellectual elitism is worse, which is probably an offshoot of the pathological insecurity which fuels the average law school gunner/striver.

I speculate that the rank range with the most snobs in law school is 15 to 25. I bet there are way more snobs at a WUSTL/GW compared to CLS/NYU

[Famous]

Probably not as bad as snobbishness at B-school. At top schools those guys already come from prestigious banks or consulting gigs, so coming from a rich family is furthered by the fact that they have reached certain heights in their careers. Not saying some law school students don't come from "elite" jobs, but many are KJDs or have worked a few years at low paying jobs that may not even be related to working in the law.

[sublime]

T14 law students generally come from less well-off socioeconomic backgrounds than students at T20 undergrads (because why the hell would you want to do biglaw if your family was loaded and had connections?), and the level of classist elitism is definitely lower. However, as has been noted, the intellectual elitism is worse, which is probably an offshoot of the pathological insecurity which fuels the average law school gunner/striver.

I speculate that the rank range with the most snobs in law school is 15 to 25. I bet there are way more snobs at a WUSTL/GW compared to CLS/NYU

Probably true.

[Nachoo2019]

You're gonna have to qualify "snobs". If it's a proxy for well-heeled rich kids, okay, but then it's more of a quantitative observation. As someone who comes from parents that barely ever made 30-50% above minimum wage, it's annoying to be around so many rich kids who are going to St. Thomas over Spring Break. But, I find most generally tolerable/cool. At least that's the case at UT.

Just make rich friends and ride their coattails - that's the only way to success in the modern US of A. (I'm completely serious.) The American dream is dead for pretty much everyone except the top 1%.

a decent number of your classmates will be in the top one percent 10 years out. It's only about $450k.

I go to the Thomas M. Cooley Law School (North Pole campus). Is that still true for my classmates?

Alaska has a lawl school??

Yup. And it's not Cooley.

http://law.seattleu.edu/academics/speci ... ite-campus

[krads153]

T14 law students generally come from less well-off socioeconomic backgrounds than students at T20 undergrads (because why the hell would you want to do biglaw if your family was loaded and had connections?), and the level of classist elitism is definitely lower. However, as has been noted, the intellectual elitism is worse, which is probably an offshoot of the pathological insecurity which fuels the average law school gunner/striver.

I don't think that's necessarily true - I went to a T-14 (not HYS) and a T-20 undergrad (not HYPSMC though) and something like a third of my friends in law school had no loans and some had parents with eight figure net worth.... a lot of rich kids go just to get a degree because why not (300k tuition is a joke for their parents), not to actually work in law in the long term or they go into non-profit (not biglaw). While pretty much nobody I knew in undergrad had loans, our parents aren't worth like $10 million+ unlike my law school classmates' parents.

[Redfactor]

I went to a decent school, but not T-14. (Highly suggest this. No debt is awesome.)

There were many peers who came from decent money, but few from generational wealth. 1% families for sure, but not 8 figs. I don't remember anyone flaunting wealth or family connections. That douchebaggery would have been called out quickly.

Some were hard to relate to because I came from a relatively humbling upbringing, but they were all good and talented people. And if you're worried about fitting in, don't. There should be some who have relatable backgrounds, including serious trauma or food insecurity.

[jbagelboy]

snob =/= family wealth in all cases. the two terms are not synonymous in our unique class culture.

[Nebby]

snob =/= family wealth in all cases. the two terms are not synonymous in our unique class culture.

Throw a rich kid paying sticker at Vanderbilt tho and I bet they're the worst.