Top Law Schools

Hey guys,

After telling my parents that I am invited to an interview for U of Chicago Law, they were very concerned because they've never heard of it (we live in Canada and they are Asian). They consider reputation to be an extremely factor in school selection, and are worried that their friends don't think U of Chicago Law is a reputable school either.

I show them the rankings, but they are still in denial. They are absolutely convinced that U of Chicago is not reputable, to the point where I am beginning to question my judgement.

Compared to Cornell, Columbia, Stanford, is there a grain of truth in asserting that Chicago is a "lesser" law school in the eyes of common folks?

Compared to Cornell, Columbia, Stanford, is there a grain of truth in asserting that Chicago is a "lesser" law school in the eyes of common folks?

No. Unless by "common folks" you mean people who have no idea about law or law schools.

Unless your parents' friends are the ones hiring you, then it shouldn't matter. In the legal profession, everyone knows U Chicago and knows its one of the very best schools in the country. The only places where they may not know the school's quality are not the kind of places you would waste your time applying to if you went there.

I faced sort of the same thing within my Jewish circle, and my parents' friends. When I was looking to transfer, they couldn't understand why I was choosing NYU over Penn or Cornell, since Penn and Cornell, are Ivy League schools, and Ivy League schools must of course be the best ones. Like I said, worry about what hiring folks will think, not about impressing your parents' friends.

who cares what your parents and their "friends" think

it's a great school

I would choose a school based on the attractiveness of the opposite sex before I let my parents and their minimal understanding of the legal world influence my decision

UChicago may not have the Ivy name attached to it, but it is surly more prestigious than a school like Cornell. Of course HYS is its own tier, so Stanford may be considered more reputable, but you should not have trouble finding employment coming from the ~4th best law school in the country.

Professional practice tip: At least in American English, it's "judgment" without the "e".

Your parents are wrong. The University of Chicago is an exceptional university and it has a fantastic law school. The undergraduate program is tied with Columbia and Stanford (two schools you mentioned). The University also has a top ranked medical and business school, and modern economics was practically developed by a swath of nobel laureates in the economics department. Everyone is law, business, and academia holds the University and the law school in high esteem (note the current president of Princeton University went to the law school). Some people might not have heard of it, but the same can honestly be said for any of the three schools you mentioned. And those people are not the people you should be interested in impressing.

Sample of rankings:

http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/c ... -officials
http://www.topuniversities.com/universi ... se+search=
http://www.thebestschools.org/features/ ... rld-today/
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-gl ... int=a27a09
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandrevie ... int=9ff208

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandrevie ... l-rankings

U Chicago is the #4 undergrad, tied with Stanford and Columbia, above MIT, Duke, Penn, Cal Tech, Brown, Cornell, Northwestern, etc.

It is the #4 business school, #4 law school, and #10 med school for research. It is thoroughly prestigious. Your parents are ignorant.

Do they know Stanford's not an Ivy?

I bet your parents have never heard of Sullivan & Cromwell; are they not prestigious enough for you to work there?

U of C is a great school and pretty obviously reputable. So much so that I have a hard time believing that this is a real q.

In terms of prestige in general, I'd say it beats out Cornell, Columbia it could go either way, loses to Stanford.

Guys, I really appreciate your help thus far.

My parents are afraid that if other people in their friend circle ask where their son goes to law school, they would lose face by saying Chicago - a school they have not unheard of/deem not reputable. This is huge in Asian culture, and as irrational as I think this is, there's nothing I could do.

Who cares what my parents think? Well, they will be the ones who will partially fund my tuition.

What op said is indeed a thing -- my parents from Asia haven't heard of Chicago either. I wouldn't say it is not reputable, but it is indeed lesser known to them than schools like Columbia (which is interesting, considering Chicago and Columbia are tied in both undergrad and law school rankings at around top 5).

But whatever, I think Chicago is a damn good school and cooler than Columbia in many aspects. And because Columbia accepts so many Chinese students in their masters program, in particular stats, finances, etc., it is not so "reputable" in our circle of graduate school-bound students lol.

h3jk5h wrote:Guys, I really appreciate your help thus far.

My parents are afraid that if other people in their friend circle ask where their son goes to law school, they would lose face by saying Chicago - a school they have not unheard of/deem not reputable. This is huge in Asian culture, and as irrational as I think this is, there's nothing I could do.

Who cares what my parents think? Well, they will be the ones who will partially fund my tuition.

Ok. So go on an educational tour and teach everyone how great Chicago is. I mean like all your relatives. That seems like your only option.
If they like Obama you might tell them he taught there before being elected to the US senate.
You should at least interview and hopefully be accepted.

h3jk5h wrote:Guys, I really appreciate your help thus far.

My parents are afraid that if other people in their friend circle ask where their son goes to law school, they would lose face by saying Chicago - a school they have not unheard of/deem not reputable. This is huge in Asian culture, and as irrational as I think this is, there's nothing I could do.

Who cares what my parents think? Well, they will be the ones who will partially fund my tuition.

Do YOU really like Chicago? Because from your posts I could not tell, as it seems you are asking this simply because you are offered an interview.

If you are unattracted by what Chicago edges out peer schools, I'd say go Columbia.

Grown adults should make their own decisions. This is weird.

This is not an Asian thing. My parents knew how great UChicago was when I was applying. It is maybe an Asian-Canadian thing.

Regardless, I can't believe your inability to convince your parents of UChicago brand's awesomeness. Milton Friedman, Chicago School of Economics, law and economics, Nobel Prizes, etc etc. Not knowing U Chicago reflects one's ignorance about sciences generally I think.

I don't go to UChi btw.

You are right, it's only an interview, I heard only a small percentage of applicants interviewed get admitted, so I'm not very confident of my chances. But it's hard to take it seriously knowing my parents won't back me, i.e. give me some financial support.

I like Chicago because I know it's reputable in legal circles (not sure if that's the case out the legal circle though), its graduates earn a hefty starting salary, and it is very sound academically. Not sure the pros and cons of relocating and working in the US, as opposed to staying in Canada and going to U of Toronto. My parents say it's a huge risk, and prefer me to stay in Toronto, unless I get accepted to a more "well-known" school like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, and Cornell. But I don't think I have a shot at the others, because I got waitlisted at Cornell.

ihenry wrote:

h3jk5h wrote:Guys, I really appreciate your help thus far.

My parents are afraid that if other people in their friend circle ask where their son goes to law school, they would lose face by saying Chicago - a school they have not unheard of/deem not reputable. This is huge in Asian culture, and as irrational as I think this is, there's nothing I could do.

Who cares what my parents think? Well, they will be the ones who will partially fund my tuition.

Do YOU really like Chicago? Because from your posts I could not tell, as it seems you are asking this simply because you are offered an interview.

If you are unattracted by what Chicago edges out peer schools, I'd say go Columbia.

hairbear7 wrote:Grown adults should make their own decisions. This is weird.

Not so crazy if its his parents that are footing the bill.

nerd1 wrote:This is not an Asian thing. My parents knew how great UChicago was when I was applying. It is maybe an Asian-Canadian thing.

Regardless, I can't believe your inability to convince your parents of UChicago brand's awesomeness. Milton Friedman, Chicago School of Economics, law and economics, Nobel Prizes, etc etc. Not knowing U Chicago reflects one's ignorance about sciences generally I think.

No.

hairbear7 wrote:Grown adults should make their own decisions. This is weird.

That's exactly what I think and what I told my parents. But at the end of the day, they are the ones who are financing most of my legal education. I need to deal with this reality.

nerd1 wrote:This is not an Asian thing. My parents knew how great UChicago was when I was applying. It is maybe an Asian-Canadian thing.

Regardless, I can't believe your inability to convince your parents of UChicago brand's awesomeness. Milton Friedman, Chicago School of Economics, law and economics, Nobel Prizes, etc etc. Not knowing U Chicago reflects one's ignorance about sciences generally I think.

I don't go to UChi btw.

Depends on what your circle is. My parents had a vague idea of U Chicago and knew it was a pretty well-regarded school, but their friends thought it was some state school. THeir friends don't know about law and economics, their nobel prize winners, Milton Friedman, etc. nor do they give a shit about that. And thats not really atypical.

nerd1 wrote:This is not an Asian thing. My parents knew how great UChicago was when I was applying. It is maybe an Asian-Canadian thing.

Regardless, I can't believe your inability to convince your parents of UChicago brand's awesomeness. Milton Friedman, Chicago School of Economics, law and economics, Nobel Prizes, etc etc. Not knowing U Chicago reflects one's ignorance about sciences generally I think.

I don't go to UChi btw.

Trust me, I tried convincing them of U of Chicago's "brand awesomeness". I showed them the rankings, but the only ranking that matter to them is the ranking they have in their mind and the rankings of their Asian friends.

They have no clue who Milton Friedman is, or Chicago school. Nor do I think they care.

h3jk5h wrote:You are right, it's only an interview, I heard only a small percentage of applicants interviewed get admitted, so I'm not very confident of my chances. But it's hard to take it seriously knowing my parents won't back me, i.e. give me some financial support.

I like Chicago because I know it's reputable in legal circles (not sure if that's the case out the legal circle though), its graduates earn a hefty starting salary, and it is very sound academically. Not sure the pros and cons of relocating and working in the US, as opposed to staying in Canada and going to U of Toronto. My parents say it's a huge risk, and prefer me to stay in Toronto, unless I get accepted to a more "well-known" school like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, and Cornell. But I don't think I have a shot at the others, because I got waitlisted at Cornell.

ihenry wrote:

h3jk5h wrote:Guys, I really appreciate your help thus far.

My parents are afraid that if other people in their friend circle ask where their son goes to law school, they would lose face by saying Chicago - a school they have not unheard of/deem not reputable. This is huge in Asian culture, and as irrational as I think this is, there's nothing I could do.

Who cares what my parents think? Well, they will be the ones who will partially fund my tuition.

Do YOU really like Chicago? Because from your posts I could not tell, as it seems you are asking this simply because you are offered an interview.

If you are unattracted by what Chicago edges out peer schools, I'd say go Columbia.

Are you serious? I think you should think about this after getting an offer. You could fail to get into any t14 school this cycle. Interview doesn't mean you will get an offer. Cornell doesn't compare in prestige to UChicago which is by far more prestigious. It is understandable for someone to consider lay prestige when deciding between Columbia and Chicago at equal cost. But Cornell? Lol

kaiser wrote:

nerd1 wrote:This is not an Asian thing. My parents knew how great UChicago was when I was applying. It is maybe an Asian-Canadian thing.

Regardless, I can't believe your inability to convince your parents of UChicago brand's awesomeness. Milton Friedman, Chicago School of Economics, law and economics, Nobel Prizes, etc etc. Not knowing U Chicago reflects one's ignorance about sciences generally I think.

I don't go to UChi btw.

Depends on what your circle is. My parents had a vague idea of U Chicago and knew it was a pretty well-regarded school, but their friends thought it was some state school. THeir friends don't know about law and economics, their nobel prize winners, Milton Friedman, etc. nor do they give a shit about that. And thats not really atypical.

Then those people should not matter at all in one's school choice.

Would you be all jazzed up about the interview knowing that at the end of the day it may not matter because your parents won't support you financially? I may as well cancel my interview, if I can't manage to convince my parents to change their thinking.

nerd1 wrote:

h3jk5h wrote:You are right, it's only an interview, I heard only a small percentage of applicants interviewed get admitted, so I'm not very confident of my chances. But it's hard to take it seriously knowing my parents won't back me, i.e. give me some financial support.

I like Chicago because I know it's reputable in legal circles (not sure if that's the case out the legal circle though), its graduates earn a hefty starting salary, and it is very sound academically. Not sure the pros and cons of relocating and working in the US, as opposed to staying in Canada and going to U of Toronto. My parents say it's a huge risk, and prefer me to stay in Toronto, unless I get accepted to a more "well-known" school like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, and Cornell. But I don't think I have a shot at the others, because I got waitlisted at Cornell.

ihenry wrote:

h3jk5h wrote:Guys, I really appreciate your help thus far.

My parents are afraid that if other people in their friend circle ask where their son goes to law school, they would lose face by saying Chicago - a school they have not unheard of/deem not reputable. This is huge in Asian culture, and as irrational as I think this is, there's nothing I could do.

Who cares what my parents think? Well, they will be the ones who will partially fund my tuition.

Do YOU really like Chicago? Because from your posts I could not tell, as it seems you are asking this simply because you are offered an interview.

If you are unattracted by what Chicago edges out peer schools, I'd say go Columbia.

Are you serious? I think you should think about this after getting an offer. You could fail to get into any t14 school this cycle. Interview doesn't mean you will get an offer. Cornell doesn't compare in prestige to UChicago which is by far more prestigious. It is understandable for someone to consider lay prestige when deciding between Columbia and Chicago at equal cost. But Cornell? Lol

But like, really, your parents won't foot the bill if you end up attending because they want to look good in front of their friends?