Top Law Schools

Figures are scholarship numbers, not cost of attendance.

Columbia: 90k
Chicago: 80k
Penn: 151k
Mich: 150k
Berk: 135k
S&H at sticker

Not sure about specific long term career path, would like to keep everything in the open (clerking, academia, biglaw, PI). I'm leaning towards Stanford due to location preference & class size, but I was just wondering whether you all thought it was worth the difference in $.

The poll doesn't include MPB, but please feel free to offer your opinion.

Free T10 law school is srs bzns...

Edit: I'll add that, without something like a full-ride to CCN, the only credited answers are T10 full-ride or HYS. In between is pointless.

Harvard is Harvard Stanford would be my second choice though, a close second

I had basically the same options last year (except the scholly at Berkley). I picked Stanford for the same reasons you're considering, and I would do exactly the same thing if I had to choose again. The school is wonderful, the class size makes a huge difference in the overall experience of law school, and job placement has been spectacular. I would HIGHLY suggest Stanford. (but then again, I'm biased)

If you want clerking/academia then you should definitely take H/S. Specifically I would take S for higher clerking chances and the fact that you prefer it.

If you want just biglaw/PI and are okay with forsaking clerking/academia, I'd take M/P/B. Specifically I would take the one in the region you want to work in (midwest/east/west). Slightly better chances at biglaw isn't worth the difference and if you're going PI I would definitely take a M/P/B for free rather than having to rely on the (admittedly awesome) LRAPs of H/S.

CC are definitely out in my mind since a slightly worse school with much less debt or H/S with more debt are much better choices. Since you want options open and you seem to prefer Stanford, I'd say it is easily Stanford.

Thanks fellas - it'll be S, then, unless Y throws me a bone.

People on TLS don't appreciate the kind of drastic difference in lifestyle that happens when a person has 150K less debt.

I wouldn't turn down 150K for a 10% better chance at clerking, a 2% better chance at being an academic, or a 25% better shot at getting big law. Most Stanford grads get booted out of big law before they save up ( or pay back) 150K.

Desert Fox wrote: Most Stanford grads get booted out of big law before they save up ( or pay back) 150K.

Where do you get that?

Desert Fox wrote:People on TLS don't appreciate the kind of drastic difference in lifestyle that happens when a person has 150K less debt.

I wouldn't turn down 150K for a 10% better chance at clerking, a 2% better chance at being an academic, or a 25% better shot at getting big law. Most Stanford grads get booted out of big law before they save up ( or pay back) 150K.

This. Think of that 150k as a nice down payment on a house the day you graduate.

Edit: OP did you take penn off the table?

glewz wrote:

Desert Fox wrote: Most Stanford grads get booted out of big law before they save up ( or pay back) 150K.

Where do you get that?

That big law associates only last on average of three years. Though to be a fair a lot of that is people quitting on their own. But you might also get Lathamed.

:::Goes to Stanford, ends up median goes to v20.
:::Gets styled on by the Darrow winner who goes to v50, but can afford a real apartment
:::Gets Lathamed

Desert Fox wrote::::Goes to Stanford, ends up median goes to v20.
:::Gets styled on by the Darrow winner who goes to v50, but can afford a real apartment
:::Gets Lathamed

:::???
:::Profit!

see? Stanford's the clear choice (which i voted for).

I'd go to Mich or Penn if I were you...

Full ride at T-14 v. Stanford/Yale. Harvard is much riskier than Stanford because it has a large class.

Not to be an ass, and no one seems to have noticed it. But if Stanford is making you pay sticker then that means you come from an upper middle class (or really from what I read about their need based aid program even higher) background. Meaning that the debt to go to Stanford would not weigh you down like an average person. And Stanford's reputation is such that you will be certain to get a good legal job--depending on what your definition of good is. The only reason I'm not saying Harvard is because I've heard that there need based aid isn't as generous, but the rest of what I said applies to them as well.

BruceWayne wrote:Not to be an ass, and no one seems to have noticed it. But if Stanford is making you pay sticker then that means you come from an upper middle class (or really from what I read about their need based aid program even higher) background. Meaning that the debt to go to Stanford would not weigh you down like an average person. And Stanford's reputation is such that you will be certain to get a good legal job--depending on what your definition of good is. The only reason I'm not saying Harvard is because I've heard that there need based aid isn't as generous, but the rest of what I said applies to them as well.

I don't see the logic to it "not weighing you down like the average person" if OP has been financially cut off from family.

Would take MPB if it were me. Soul-crushing debt is soul-crushing.

A. gratz on the choices.
B. I just cannot see how H or S is worth 150K more than Mich or Penn. In all likelihood you will end up with just about the same options when you graduate. the vast majority of people do not go into academia. Also, people are delaying clerking more often now and getting some work experience first. So, your school performance won't matter as much if you take that route. Mich/Penn debt free is friggin awesome. Going to H/S is awesome too, but I doubt it will increase your earning potential enough to justify the added cost.