H/S/C ? Forum

[sarahh]

Ultimately, it is your decision. You do not have to justify yourself to us. I think there are about a million threads on Stanford vs. Harvard, so you can do a little searching if you are interested in finding out more. Basically, it boils down to:
Stanford has warmer weather. Stanford is smaller. You have a better chance of finding employment at the bottom of the class. People generally think that Stanford has a warmer atmosphere and that professors are more accessible.
You may want to visit the schools and talk to current students so that you can decide for yourself which is the best fit.

[Hattori Hanzo]

This is just about H: the OCS here has hired a new person since last year IIRC or even this year who works exclusively with academia hopefuls. They are emphasizing that a bit more than before so there are more info sessions and guest speakers. I went to several of those during the first semester and for me personally it didn't seem very promising. It looks like the landscape has changed a lot in the past decade or so. It used to be that a JD from a top school+ good grades + law review was enough to get a job in academia but now they require more, most commonly a PhD. in a different field (economics is the most popular and "trendy") or some amazing accomplishment like publications that create buzz, exceptional job performance, etc. Also in the stats that I have seen Y is the clear winner and H is the 2nd best if you want academia. HTH