Columbia Law School/NYU: Chinese Legal Studies/Patent Law
Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 10:01 am
Hello everyone, new here. I didn't really know about this website or most other LSAT prep stuff until after I had taken the LSAT (first timer on June 2010).
Long story short, I fell into Law while discussing my econ thesis proposal with a law professor. My thesis dealt with quantifying the strength of de facto patent law enforcement on industrial growth in select industries with high patent propensity in China. As a result, I came to the conclusion that even if it got published in QJE, AER or Econometrica, I would simply spend the rest of my career arguing with other academics over statistical methodology, looking for better data, and hoping someone read and cited my work.
While researching the legal side of the paper, it became obvious (cue Homer Simpson: D'oh!) that law was in fact the central variable, and changes in that variable made a key difference. Ergo, if I actually wanted to be able to make a difference without waiting 50 years to become a tenured professor, law was the way to go.
Thus, for one such as me with three central interests in law: international law (specifically Chinese legal studies), patent law, and public service/policy, which of the two would be a better fit? Having asked my professors and letter writers, the opinions broke down as follows:
Econ profs: "Don't go to law school, go for an Econ PhD"
Law profs: “Columbia, since NYU has stronger European law, and also a good focus on public service, but Columbia has both, and a stronger international/Asia-Pacific law focus".
Based on my own research, Columbia seems like a better choice for me, even if only for the Chinese legal studies vs European community law(my Chinese is far superior to my Spanish and German!). Plus, having been to both campuses, I love Columbia, and it seems like the people and environment are a great fit, basically my dream school, as it were. Nevertheless, enough people are screaming "NYU!!" at me that I thought I should get a second opinion (SO doesn't enter into it, as long as we're both in NY, we'll be fine ^^) What have you guys heard about both schools, especially as they relate to the above three topics?
Long story short, I fell into Law while discussing my econ thesis proposal with a law professor. My thesis dealt with quantifying the strength of de facto patent law enforcement on industrial growth in select industries with high patent propensity in China. As a result, I came to the conclusion that even if it got published in QJE, AER or Econometrica, I would simply spend the rest of my career arguing with other academics over statistical methodology, looking for better data, and hoping someone read and cited my work.
While researching the legal side of the paper, it became obvious (cue Homer Simpson: D'oh!) that law was in fact the central variable, and changes in that variable made a key difference. Ergo, if I actually wanted to be able to make a difference without waiting 50 years to become a tenured professor, law was the way to go.
Thus, for one such as me with three central interests in law: international law (specifically Chinese legal studies), patent law, and public service/policy, which of the two would be a better fit? Having asked my professors and letter writers, the opinions broke down as follows:
Econ profs: "Don't go to law school, go for an Econ PhD"
Law profs: “Columbia, since NYU has stronger European law, and also a good focus on public service, but Columbia has both, and a stronger international/Asia-Pacific law focus".
Based on my own research, Columbia seems like a better choice for me, even if only for the Chinese legal studies vs European community law(my Chinese is far superior to my Spanish and German!). Plus, having been to both campuses, I love Columbia, and it seems like the people and environment are a great fit, basically my dream school, as it were. Nevertheless, enough people are screaming "NYU!!" at me that I thought I should get a second opinion (SO doesn't enter into it, as long as we're both in NY, we'll be fine ^^) What have you guys heard about both schools, especially as they relate to the above three topics?