Top Law Schools

What schools offer the best quality of life? To me, that means, chill and happy classmates, warm weather, fun and exciting things to do.

Top of my list would have to be Stanford, Berkeley, Hawaii, Boulder (due to weather and fun), but what about some other schools??

This is going to be very personal. For some who prefer a less hectic life, an isolated college town like Ann Arbor, Bloomington, Charlottesville, or State College (Michigan, Indiana, Virginia, and Penn State respectively) would be ideal. Others need constant stimulation and to feel that they are somewhere important to have a high quality of life, so a school like NYU or UCLA would provide a better quality of life for them. I'm pretty adaptable and could go either way. My undergrad was in an isolated college town and I currently live in New York City.

Personally I would consider my quality of life to be high at either extreme. I would consider my quality of life to be lower going to a school like Villanova, but that's because I'm originally from the suburbs around Philadelphia, and settling there seems like absolute torture to me.

New Haven would rank at the bottom of that list but would you really turn down Yale over that?

I live pretty close to New Haven....it's not so bad....lots of good food options. Hartford's not far either which is good for going out on the weekends. New York and Boston are both only like 2 hours away.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Duke for good quality of life....It's at the top of the PR Rankings, is in a location with awesome warm weather, and is in a fun town.

instantwonton wrote:I live pretty close to New Haven....it's not so bad....lots of good food options. Hartford's not far either which is good for going out on the weekends. New York and Boston are both only like 2 hours away.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Duke for good quality of life....It's at the top of the PR Rankings, is in a location with awesome warm weather, and is in a fun town.

Pepe's or Sally's?

Despite its post-graduation employment numbers, U Denver offers the same great quality of life that Boulder does.

BeerMaker wrote:What schools offer the best quality of life? To me, that means, chill and happy classmates, warm weather, fun and exciting things to do.

Top of my list would have to be Stanford, Berkeley, Hawaii, Boulder (due to weather and fun), but what about some other schools??

Unfortunately this is not a metric that you can reliably base your school choice on. The nature of law school drives everyone to work really hard. I know that Stanford and Berkeley are just like all of the other top law schools in this regard.

bdubs wrote:

BeerMaker wrote:What schools offer the best quality of life? To me, that means, chill and happy classmates, warm weather, fun and exciting things to do.

Top of my list would have to be Stanford, Berkeley, Hawaii, Boulder (due to weather and fun), but what about some other schools??

Unfortunately this is not a metric that you can reliably base your school choice on. The nature of law school drives everyone to work really hard. I know that Stanford and Berkeley are just like all of the other top law schools in this regard.

I was thinking the same thing. You want chill and happy classmates, try to graduate in 2006.

Curious1 wrote:New Haven would rank at the bottom of that list but would you really turn down Yale over that?

Bad logic. If you're one of the many people who don't get into Yale, or even a T14, and you get into a few with similar ranking and you are having a tough time choosing, QoL could make a huge difference.

Even with Yale, I know I would choose a Harvard over Yale if I got equal money to both. This is only because I love the Boston/Cambridge area, especially Harvard Square.

Do you seriously want to make one of the most important decisions of the rest of your life based solely on where you can get the best weather for the next three years? Everything else you mentioned is pretty much fungible--law students are law students, and any purported differences will be overblown. And as far as fun things to do, drop the notion that you're going to have a great social life at any law school. I've done law school in a small college town and in NYC (transfer); I don't have enough spare time to discern between the two.

Well, quality of life is huge from my standpoint because I'm taking a family along with me.

This is impossible to answer this for a stranger.

I don't mind cold and rain, and loathe humidity and temperatures over 75. I'd die if I had to go to school in SoCal or basically the entire south or southeast. But lots of people are exactly the opposite. And "fun and exciting things to do" can vary wildy depending on your definition.

I understand wanting to be happy where you'll be going to school, but there are things that should override "fun". I'm a snowboarder and I'm moving to the freaking midwest for law school! There is no mountain within driving distance of Chicago worth dragging my gear out with me, and that's heartbreaking, but I'm making the choice to give it up for three years.

instantwonton wrote:I live pretty close to New Haven....it's not so bad....lots of good food options. Hartford's not far either which is good for going out on the weekends. New York and Boston are both only like 2 hours away.

Wait...really?

Stanford has got to be at or near the top. Beautiful campus, great weather, great area, great job prospects, etc.

Virginia. Anyone who has been to FebClub knows this.

rinkrat19 wrote:This is impossible to answer this for a stranger.

I don't mind cold and rain, and loathe humidity and temperatures over 75. I'd die if I had to go to school in SoCal or basically the entire south or southeast. But lots of people are exactly the opposite. And "fun and exciting things to do" can vary wildy depending on your definition.

I understand wanting to be happy where you'll be going to school, but there are things that should override "fun". I'm a snowboarder and I'm moving to the freaking midwest for law school! There is no mountain within driving distance of Chicago worth dragging my gear out with me, and that's heartbreaking, but I'm making the choice to give it up for three years.

Have you been to SoCal? The weather is rarely hot unless you get too far from the coast. I think you'd love Orange County or San Diego.

Sauer Grapes wrote:

rinkrat19 wrote:This is impossible to answer this for a stranger.

I don't mind cold and rain, and loathe humidity and temperatures over 75. I'd die if I had to go to school in SoCal or basically the entire south or southeast. But lots of people are exactly the opposite. And "fun and exciting things to do" can vary wildy depending on your definition.

I understand wanting to be happy where you'll be going to school, but there are things that should override "fun". I'm a snowboarder and I'm moving to the freaking midwest for law school! There is no mountain within driving distance of Chicago worth dragging my gear out with me, and that's heartbreaking, but I'm making the choice to give it up for three years.

Have you been to SoCal? The weather is rarely hot unless you get too far from the coast. I think you'd love Orange County or San Diego.

Yes, I've been to SoCal, LA and San Diego. Hate it. Hate the weather, hate the fake green lawns in the middle of a desert, hate the overdone tans, hate the smog, hate the traffic. I could do northern California, just barely, but definitely not southern.

Which is why I'm going to school in Chicago. (and hopefully working somewhere else during the summer!)

BeerMaker wrote:What schools offer the best quality of life? To me, that means, chill and happy classmates, warm weather, fun and exciting things to do.

Top of my list would have to be Stanford, Berkeley, Hawaii, Boulder (due to weather and fun), but what about some other schools??

Add UT to the mix then.

desertlaw wrote:Virginia. Anyone who has been to FebClub knows this.

I haven't even been to FebClub yet, and I still can't imagine anyplace else topping the quality of life here.

desertlaw wrote:Virginia. Anyone who has been to FebClub knows this.

This.

zdamico wrote:

Curious1 wrote:New Haven would rank at the bottom of that list but would you really turn down Yale over that?

Bad logic. If you're one of the many people who don't get into Yale, or even a T14, and you get into a few with similar ranking and you are having a tough time choosing, QoL could make a huge difference.

Even with Yale, I know I would choose a Harvard over Yale if I got equal money to both. This is only because I love the Boston/Cambridge area, especially Harvard Square.

I think people overestimate location when it comes to "quality of life." Yes, being in a place that's perpetually sunny would be great. But the fact that Yale has no grades for the first semester and that you're going to get multiple job offers makes the quality of life high. People here still work hard, but have low stress, enjoy school, and are very happy. A snowy Halloween and a less vibrant city doesn't outweigh that. To pick Harvard because of the fact that Boston/Cambridge is better than New Haven--which it undoubtedly is--misses some of what's included in "quality of life."

I think people overestimate location when it comes to "quality of life." Yes, being in a place that's perpetually sunny would be great. But the fact that Yale has no grades for the first semester and that you're going to get multiple job offers makes the quality of life high. People here still work hard, but have low stress, enjoy school, and are very happy. A snowy Halloween and a less vibrant city doesn't outweigh that. To pick Harvard because of the fact that Boston/Cambridge is better than New Haven--which it undoubtedly is--misses some of what's included in "quality of life."

This.

But I think this applies more for elite schools. If you're looking at T6-14 or T15-30, QOL starts to matter a lot more. For example, I wouldn't turn down Yale for Paradise Law School, but I might turn down Duke for Georgetown because I really like Georgetown and DC.

AttaBoy wrote:

zdamico wrote:

Curious1 wrote:New Haven would rank at the bottom of that list but would you really turn down Yale over that?

Bad logic. If you're one of the many people who don't get into Yale, or even a T14, and you get into a few with similar ranking and you are having a tough time choosing, QoL could make a huge difference.

Even with Yale, I know I would choose a Harvard over Yale if I got equal money to both. This is only because I love the Boston/Cambridge area, especially Harvard Square.

I think people overestimate location when it comes to "quality of life." Yes, being in a place that's perpetually sunny would be great. But the fact that Yale has no grades for the first semester and that you're going to get multiple job offers makes the quality of life high. People here still work hard, but have low stress, enjoy school, and are very happy. A snowy Halloween and a less vibrant city doesn't outweigh that. To pick Harvard because of the fact that Boston/Cambridge is better than New Haven--which it undoubtedly is--misses some of what's included in "quality of life."

I heard that people at Yale still stress over getting the "best" opportunities, even though they all have good opportunities. Do you really think it's a lot better than other law schools in that regard? The people I know at HYS are generally more intense personality wise than people I've met at other T14s.

bdubs wrote:

AttaBoy wrote:

zdamico wrote:

Curious1 wrote:New Haven would rank at the bottom of that list but would you really turn down Yale over that?

Bad logic. If you're one of the many people who don't get into Yale, or even a T14, and you get into a few with similar ranking and you are having a tough time choosing, QoL could make a huge difference.

Even with Yale, I know I would choose a Harvard over Yale if I got equal money to both. This is only because I love the Boston/Cambridge area, especially Harvard Square.

I think people overestimate location when it comes to "quality of life." Yes, being in a place that's perpetually sunny would be great. But the fact that Yale has no grades for the first semester and that you're going to get multiple job offers makes the quality of life high. People here still work hard, but have low stress, enjoy school, and are very happy. A snowy Halloween and a less vibrant city doesn't outweigh that. To pick Harvard because of the fact that Boston/Cambridge is better than New Haven--which it undoubtedly is--misses some of what's included in "quality of life."

I heard that people at Yale still stress over getting the "best" opportunities, even though they all have good opportunities. Do you really think it's a lot better than other law schools in that regard? The people I know at HYS are generally more intense personality wise than people I've met at other T14s.

Yeah, some people do stress over getting the "best" opportunities. But those people would be stressed anywhere, and will always be stressed no matter what they're doing. There are definitely intense people here too. But I'm just saying that most people are, at the end of the day, comfortable, and that adds to the quality of life.

Any school that doesn't have real grades. Essentially Stanford or Yale. (Harvard basically ends up having grades, and you can't coast by with straight P's at Berkeley). Stanford probably wins because weather, although the campus and Palo Alto are a bit isolated and country clubby. New Haven at least occasionally has stuff to do/decent restaurants and stuff On the other hand, I think San Francisco is closer to Palo Alto than New York is to New Haven (New York is a good 2 hours each way from New Haven, not as close as some might have you think) so its probably a wash and thus Stanford still wins because no winter.