Harvard vs Y and S Forum

[AllTheLawz]

Again, I don't get why people speak with so much authority when they have no clue what they are talking about. When I was choosing between law schools I didn't have a HLS resume, a YLS resume and a SLS resume. I had one resume that would be the exact same at each school. If what you say about resumes at the bottom of the class being worse in general, why the hell does that matter to me if I have a resume that passed the test at all three. Essentially, by your measure I'm safe no matter where I go. Since resume is so important, for the individual student choosing between the schools class size would be an irrelevant factor.

And how on earth would I choose between HYS based on knowing I would be at the very top of HLS.

lol... I don't think you are understanding what sinfiery is saying. He isn't talking about the same person making a different resume to send to each of HYS; he is saying that even the "bottom dwellers" at SLS and YLS will likely have more impressive resumes than the bottom of the class at HYS simply because Y&S are more selective - they have smaller classes and admit fewer students, so they can be picky with those they admit, whereas Harvard has a huge-ass class to fill, so they'll get a lot of people with dull resumes but great numbers (LSAT/GPA).

No, I'm not misunderstanding.. I'm just saying that everything he said was irrelevant. If I have a "bottom dweller" resume/interviewing skills and somehow slip into Y/S and end up in the bottom of my 1L class I am in the same situation I would be in if I was at H. I still have nothing that is going to get an interviewer to hire me over others. Conversely, if I have an decent resume/interviewing skills then I will still stand out against more vanilla candidates rather I'm at H or Y/S.

What people fail to account for is that grades are not decisive at any of these schools. Provided you aren't an absolute disaster gradeswise, resume and interview skills get you a wide range of firms even with all Pass grades. As a result, someone who strikes out at any of the three is likely to be in a similar position no matter which they choose.

Key takeaway is that for an individual worried about striking out the idea that any of these schools is going to insulate noticeably more than the others is misplaced barring some strange situation.

[southwick]

For the love. The reason H doesn't quite get enough love on TLS (relative to its outcomes) is because it gets too much love among laypeople. As long as every non-lawyer in the United States thinks that H is the best law school by at least an order of magnitude, you're going to have people on TLS yelling about how Y & S are both every bit as good as H, and Y at least a step better, and how CCN are Harvard's equals in some respects.

It's an overcorrection, maybe, but when the lay bias is so pro-Harvard, TLS tries hard to fix the misconception that H is the best by far. Combine TLS opinions with lay opinions and you're probably within spitting distance of reality.

[PRgradBYU]

For the love. The reason H doesn't quite get enough love on TLS (relative to its outcomes) is because it gets too much love among laypeople. As long as every non-lawyer in the United States thinks that H is the best law school by at least an order of magnitude, you're going to have people on TLS yelling about how Y & S are both every bit as good as H, and Y at least a step better, and how CCN are Harvard's equals in some respects.

It's an overcorrection, maybe, but when the lay bias is so pro-Harvard, TLS tries hard to fix the misconception that H is the best by far. Combine TLS opinions with lay opinions and you're probably within spitting distance of reality.

Such a good post. I personally blame the media for perpetuating the misguided layman's view that HLS is the number one law school in the country. See, e.g., The Paper Chase, Legally Blonde, Soul Man, Suits, etc.

Not that I care, but there's barely even a hint at YLS or SLS prestige in these movies / TV show (sans a brief mention of Stanford in Suits a few weeks ago).

[Stinson]

I can't believe we've actually given OP three pages of the arguing that he wanted. Oh well, since we are already so deep in I will add that the novel upon which the movie Legally Blond is based was actually written about Stanford (the novelist went there). It was changed for the film because no one cares about Stanford.

[BalanceCare]

... the novel upon which the movie Legally Blond is based was actually written about Stanford (the novelist went there). It was changed for the film because no one cares about Stanford.

According to Wikipedia, it was changed to Harvard because the Stanford administration disapproved of the script. (Sourced to the S alumni magazine.) Dunno the truth tho.

[Toby Ziegler]

This thread is like a car accident; I want to look away but I can't.

[ManoftheHour]

You have made one of the worst threads on TLS.

[Ex Cearulo]

For the love. The reason H doesn't quite get enough love on TLS (relative to its outcomes) is because it gets too much love among laypeople. As long as every non-lawyer in the United States thinks that H is the best law school by at least an order of magnitude, you're going to have people on TLS yelling about how Y & S are both every bit as good as H, and Y at least a step better, and how CCN are Harvard's equals in some respects.

It's an overcorrection, maybe, but when the lay bias is so pro-Harvard, TLS tries hard to fix the misconception that H is the best by far. Combine TLS opinions with lay opinions and you're probably within spitting distance of reality.

Such a good post. I personally blame the media for perpetuating the misguided layman's view that HLS is the number one law school in the country. See, e.g., The Paper Chase, Legally Blonde, Soul Man, Suits, etc.

Not that I care, but there's barely even a hint at YLS or SLS prestige in these movies / TV show (sans a brief mention of Stanford in Suits a few weeks ago).

Suits also gave a shout out to Yale in season two with the lawyer who came in from Boston to go toe-to-toe with Harvey on two different occasions and was a YLS grad. And it looks like Rachel is going to CLS. Rachel esta muy, muy caliente.

Oh, and OP:

You have made one of the worst threads on TLS.

[20141023]

.

[Ex Cearulo]

Speaking of representation, there is an annual quiz show in Japan called the "Brain World Cup" where representatives from all of the world's top universities come to compete. This year, there were schools like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Oxford, Singapore, etc., and then several domestic Japanese universities. In the end, Tokyo University ended up kicking everyone's asses, but interestingly enough Yale was the only "foreign" school to make it to the last round. Harvard made it to the semi-finals, and Stanford absolutely got demolished in the early rounds. Of course, it was only 3 people from each school so it was by no means representative whatsoever, but at least a lot of Japanese got to learn about Yale while simultaneously being impressed by them.

Japan: Where Harvard and Stanford are festering TTTs.

[xxlawyerxxlaw]

bump

[ArtistOfManliness]

bump

For what purpose?

[lawschool22]

I had almost forgotten about this thread