Is SLS or HLS better for West Coast employment? Forum

[Now]

Although conventional wisdom suggests that Stanford>Harvard for West Coast employment, I've also heard that middle/bottom of the class at HLS has an easier time finding work in Cali than middle/bottom of the class at SLS. Because so many SLS students want to stay in California and most HLS grads want to stay on the East Coast, is it easier to find work as a Harvard grad (assuming average grades)?

[Tanicius]

Although conventional wisdom suggests that Stanford>Harvard for West Coast employment, I've also heard that middle/bottom of the class at HLS has an easier time finding work in Cali than middle/bottom of the class at SLS. Because so many SLS students want to stay in California and most HLS grads want to stay on the East Coast, is it easier to find work as a Harvard grad (assuming average grades)?

This is why Stanford will serve you better: More California firms interview there. The number one thing helping a person with lower grades is the number of firms they interview with.

From what I've learned talking to people, when it comes to grades there is basically top third and then there is everything else. If you have medium or lower grades, what matters is how you portray yourself in the interview. Will you have interesting stuff to talk about, and will you sound interesting and enjoyable to be around when you talk about it?

Going to Harvard isn't going to make that easier. It will make things harder in so far as you will have to do more legwork to get the interviews with California firms, however. You won't be SOL in either situation but quite frankly there just is not substitute to immediate access to firms. At Stanford you'll have a far easier time getting your foot in the door, through both the OCI process and the fact that California firms will be regularly holding talks and social events on your campus.

[bdubs]

No question that SLS is better

[sharktankdean]

I agree with all that has been said. But taking everything on this forum into account, it seems that apart from the H-bomb, Harvard has no real advantages over Stanford. At least that's what most posts allude to. But it seems Stanford has some advantages over Harvard... Maybe I'm wrong but that's what I'm getting.

[Doorkeeper]

Dude. This decision isn't hard. Go to Stanford.

Stop posting in every thread about it. Just send in the deposit check and be done with it.

[Now]

Dude. This decision isn't hard. Go to Stanford.

Stop posting in every thread about it. Just send in the deposit check and be done with it.

Thanks. Heard the "Harvard rarity" argument from a SLS grad that complained about her inability to find a firm job in CA (she ended up in Alaska!)., so wanted to get a second set of opinions.

[Tanicius]

Dude. This decision isn't hard. Go to Stanford.

Stop posting in every thread about it. Just send in the deposit check and be done with it.

Thanks. Heard the "Harvard rarity" argument from a SLS grad that complained about her inability to find a firm job in CA (she ended up in Alaska!)., so wanted to get a second set of opinions.

That... Yeah... Suffice it to say, if you literally have to go all the way to Alaska to find a firm from Stanford, your grades probably are not the issue.

[hung jury]

Given the differences in class sizes I'd bet almost as many grads from Harvard shoot for California as Stanford grads. Going by LST graphics (does it exclude clerks?), ~70 grads end up in Cali from Harvard and about ~74 from Stanford.

As for Alaska, it tends to be a spot that people head for clerkships for a variety of reasons (one of them being that Cali doesn't really hire state clerks out of school, another being that the law is young and thus somewhat more interesting).