Top Law Schools

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Can't really go wrong here. I personally would choose Stanford but only because I'd rather be in California than Cambridge. You might consider which one would be cheaper but I don't know if that would really make much difference. Congrats on your acceptances, maybe you should've applied to Yale...

joemoviebuff wrote:Congrats on your acceptances, maybe you should've applied to Yale...

This. Also, I would personally choose Harvard because I am a lay preftige whore.

Flip a coin? The career prospects from SLS and HLS or more or less identical. It's not like a SLS degree can't get you back to the NE if you want to go there.

Not so sure a HLS will be more useful. If anything, because S's class is much smaller, your degree may mean a lot more to firms. A degree from SLS, like HLS, is useful everywhere. It's true that H's alumni base is bigger, but that could be a double edged sword - it could be (and is) so big that it wouldn't do much good, or as much good as a connection from a fellow alumn at Stanford.

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but if OP wants to enter politics at some point, wouldn't Harvard be a better choice?

you said your parents want HLS; they paying anything?

abacus wrote:I have been extremely fortunate to get into both Harvard and Stanford (didn't apply to Yale). I would obviously be thrilled to attend either one, but am having some trouble deciding.

Thanks!

I wish I had your problems.

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i have to admit id probably take hls just for the name drop, although clerkships and academia will be more available out of sls.

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Stanford is good for a quality legal education led by a non-diluted, heavily-vetted, pedagogically skilled faculty, better job placement due to small class size, great location, and more social, laid back reputation. You will also have better access to law firms that are actually fun to work for, like VC firms such as Gunderson and Cooley, as well as a lot of emerging venture, IP, biotech, and capital market firms with laid-back culture and nice exit options. You also will have top pick in locals like San Diego and Orange County, which actually make life worth living.

Harvard is great if you feel that you will be at the top of your class, as exit options at the top of Harvard trump anywhere. However, the bottom options are worse than the bottom options at all other T5s besides Columbia due to the dilution of your degree because of the big class size. Harvard is also great if you value lay prestige over quality of life, higher likelihood of great career prospects given by Stanford, and high educational quality (due to H's uber-diluted faculty).

You have a tough choice.

TaipeiMort wrote:Stanford is good for a quality legal education led by a non-diluted, heavily-vetted, pedagogically skilled faculty, better job placement due to small class size, great location, and more social, laid back reputation. You will also have better access to law firms that are actually fun to work for, like VC firms such as Gunderson and Cooley, as well as a lot of emerging venture, IP, biotech, and capital market firms with laid-back culture and nice exit options. You also will have top pick in locals like San Diego and Orange County, which actually make life worth living.

Harvard is great if you feel that you will be at the top of your class, as exit options at the top of Harvard trump anywhere. However, the bottom options are worse than the bottom options at all other T5s besides Columbia due to the dilution of your degree because of the big class size. Harvard is also great if you value lay prestige over quality of life, higher likelihood of great career prospects given by Stanford, and high educational quality (due to H's uber-diluted faculty).

You have a tough choice.

Lol

I had to make this decision. You've sketched out the major factors. I'd add a few:

Quarters vs. Semesters - You can take many more classes (12) at Stanford. Stanford clinics are also full-time because of the quarters. You also get four electives your 1L year.

Law Review - There are more slots per capita at Stanford.

Politics - I think the whole 'X school will make working in politics easier' is a bit overrated. But if you're conservative, my sense is that there are more conservative students and professors at Harvard. You've also got the Institute of Politics at HKS.

University - I don't know how easy it is (or how worthwhile it is) to cross-register at either school, but Harvard seems to have a greater variety of classes.

LRAP - You should compare Stanford's LRAP with Harvard's LIPP.

TaipeiMort wrote:Stanford is good for a quality legal education led by a non-diluted, heavily-vetted, pedagogically skilled faculty, better job placement due to small class size, great location, and more social, laid back reputation. You will also have better access to law firms that are actually fun to work for, like VC firms such as Gunderson and Cooley, as well as a lot of emerging venture, IP, biotech, and capital market firms with laid-back culture and nice exit options. You also will have top pick in locals like San Diego and Orange County, which actually make life worth living.

Harvard is great if you feel that you will be at the top of your class, as exit options at the top of Harvard trump anywhere. However, the bottom options are worse than the bottom options at all other T5s besides Columbia due to the dilution of your degree because of the big class size. Harvard is also great if you value lay prestige over quality of life, higher likelihood of great career prospects given by Stanford, and high educational quality (due to H's uber-diluted faculty).

You have a tough choice.

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On-topic: i feel like you're good no matter what you pick. If you think you'll be happier at Stanford, go there.

Alright, alright, let's get down to business.

Generally, if you're in a bar, and you mention you go to Harvard, you'll get marginally more/better panty than if you say you go to Stanford. In Cali, you'll get better panty with a Stanford namedrop.

Otherwise, flip a coin.

Mort has now proven that he can troll for Chicago in the most subtle of ways and also proven that he can drop this "Harvard has a diluted faculty" thing in response to any question. Mad skills.

TLS: Hey Mort, what time is Jeopardy on tonight?

Mort: Umm, let me think, well Harvard has a diluted faculty, so 7pm.

Congrats on the acceptances OP and I really think you can't go wrong with your choice here. Addressing some previous statements, the bottom of the class at HLS (however "bottom" is defined using the H/P grading system) is definitely fine in terms of OCI in comparison to the rest of the T3 going off of the past years results. Furthermore, I've really enjoyed the people/ time here at HLS and its been pretty easy to avoid getting caught up in any "hyper-competitiveness" as long as you avoid the usual one gunner section that seems to emerge each year out of the seven.

All that being said, Stanford does sound amazing given the weather and I don't think the name of Harvard gives a real benefit over Stanford. My advice would be to weigh it on two main points:

1) Your preference for size of school... I really prefer Harvard's larger size for the variety of people/ diversity of students that offers. Others do find it too large.

2) Financial Aid... Given that you're in at both, submit all the forms and figure out what each school is offering you in terms of financial aid. Both schools give only need based, but both can be pretty generous, so figure out what the cost comparison would be for the two.

I'd prob'ly go w/ Stanford due to smaller class size. Otherwise it's a wash. Can you tell us about your numbers/softs??

WTF is a diluted faculty?

Go where you get more aid.

Also:

Tom Joad wrote:

ahduth wrote:WTF is a diluted faculty?

When Arthur Miller trims his eyebrows

TaipeiMort wrote:Stanford is good for a quality legal education led by a non-diluted, heavily-vetted, pedagogically skilled faculty, better job placement due to small class size, great location, and more social, laid back reputation. You will also have better access to law firms that are actually fun to work for, like VC firms such as Gunderson and Cooley, as well as a lot of emerging venture, IP, biotech, and capital market firms with laid-back culture and nice exit options. You also will have top pick in locals like San Diego and Orange County, which actually make life worth living.

Harvard is great if you feel that you will be at the top of your class, as exit options at the top of Harvard trump anywhere. However, the bottom options are worse than the bottom options at all other T5s besides Columbia due to the dilution of your degree because of the big class size. Harvard is also great if you value lay prestige over quality of life, higher likelihood of great career prospects given by Stanford, and high educational quality (due to H's uber-diluted faculty).

You have a tough choice.

Also, LOL at the bottom options at Chicago being better than the bottom options at Harvard...

TaipeiMort wrote:However, the bottom options are worse than the bottom options at all other T5s besides Columbia due to the dilution of your degree because of the big class size.

lol wut