What seperates top law schools? Forum

[usef007]

Hi guys,


What is unique or significant about a school like Harvard compared to other top law schools like Yale? Yeah sure, the name is prestigious, one is guaranteed a good job upon graduation and Harvard's resources are vast. But, I would argue the same for any other 10 law school, including Yale.

Is it that these top law schools have unique programs or specialties that are unique to each school? If so, give me an example.

[DoveBodyWash]

i'm not really sure what you're asking...define top schools? Do u mean T14? Or HYS? The main differences are geography and job placement. Some schools place better into different markets. And employment for top 10 schools are robust but Yale is going to give u a better chance than UVA or Northwestern.

There are certain programs that are unique to certain schools...like Yale has SCOTUS clinic and other programs in place that Stanford probably doesn't and vice versa. But i think most applicants are making decisions based on cost, location, job placement

[ikethegremlin]

Hi guys,


What is unique or significant about a school like Harvard compared to other top law schools like Yale? Yeah sure, the name is prestigious, one is guaranteed a good job upon graduation and Harvard's resources are vast. But, I would argue the same for any other 10 law school, including Yale.

Is it that these top law schools have unique programs or specialties that are unique to each school? If so, give me an example.

That's like asking what separates the best ten restaurants in the world.

"Yeah sure, the name is prestigious, one is guaranteed a good meal and Per Se's service is great. But, I would argue the same for any other top 10 restaurant, including The Fat Duck."

Well, they are in different places, serve different styles of food, the people in the dining room at each place will be different kinds of clientele, and ultimately though the meal will be great at all of them, small differences might lead them to be ranked 1-10, with a meal at Noma (Yale) ultimately being a more interesting and unique experience than one at The Ledbury (Northwestern).

You are also starting with a misconception. No one is guaranteed a good job on graduation, even from Harvard, but especially not from the lower T14. Go look at the employment stats - on a forced curve, some people are going to miss out. At HYS you can be median and still be an attractive candidate to plenty of firms. At Georgetown, Median is going to be a deeply stressful experience and possibly a total disaster.

[TheSpanishMain]

Geographic flexibility and access to clerkships, basically. At HYS, the lack of any merit aid.

All reasons I'd argue that if you have generic TLS goals ("Big Law firm in NYC for a few years, then...something else.") and have HYS numbers, you're better of going to a T10 with money.

[Young Marino]

Geographic flexibility and access to clerkships, basically. At HYS, the lack of any merit aid.

All reasons I'd argue that if you have generic TLS goals ("Big Law firm in NYC for a few years, then...something else.") and have HYS numbers, you're better of going to a T10 with money.

This. For the most part, the schools in the t14 afford you an opportunity to practice virtually anywhere in the country (assuming you have ties to a particular region). At all other schools from tier 1s to tier4s you're going to be limited to the specific region where the schools is located in most cases.

[03152016]

it's strange that you would single out h and lump y in with "other top law schools"
it's widely thought that y is more selective and preftigious than h

also, there's no such thing as a "top 10" school
no one thinks mich is better than nu bc they're ranked 10th and 12th

[TheSpanishMain]

also, there's no such thing as a "top 10" school
no one thinks mich is better than nu bc they're ranked 10th and 12th

Fair point, I was just trying to preempt arguments about going to GULC or Cornell for free over Harvard at sticker if you were gunning for Big Law.

[03152016]

ah that was in reply to op
i didn't even see your post