Top Law Schools

I have been ridiculously blessed this cycle, and was accepted to Yale, Harvard, and NYU. Interviewed with Columbia and it went well, but I’m still waiting to hear back from them and Stanford. Yale is my current favorite, for reasons listed below, but as the title suggests, I’m hoping to hear your best arguments for my other options.

Logistical details: I’m planning to defer for a year, but that’s evident in my application so schools won’t be surprised. I have significant financial need; expecting full grants at schools that do need-based aid and hoping for full-tuition merit scholarships at the ones who don’t. No existing educational debt at the moment.

Career goals: I want one of those unicorn careers. Hoping to work in advocacy/policy at the intersection of emerging tech and international human rights. Human Rights Watch was hiring a “Researcher and Advocate in Human Rights & Artificial Intelligence” a few months back; that’s the dream job. I’ve already got fairly strong DC connections from a series of government internships; my resume is weaker on the NGO/advocacy side. I’m also interested in focusing my work abroad rather than domestically, narrowing in on abuses committed by repressive or authoritarian regimes. My undergrad/master’s degrees are a combo of engineering, computer science, international relations, and some foreign languages.

Legal areas of interest: International human rights, tech law, cyber law, AI governance, national security law, data privacy, freedom of speech/thought/press, regulating big tech, intermediary liability

Options:

Yale: The Yale name obviously opens a lot of doors in competitive NGOs or government agencies; I don’t want to be naive about that. Yale is strong in both human rights and tech law, but maybe not as strong in my niche field as Harvard or NYU (see below). The LRAP’s flexibility is a huuuuuge draw- I’m not limited to a legal job after graduation; could do short stints in advocacy or journalism first. Won’t lie—not having grades is a factor. Seems like there would be lots of flexibility to tailor my extracurricular involvements to things that are actually useful for my field. $150K debt

Harvard: International reputation, reeeeally strong in cyber law and human rights law, and the Berkman-Klein Center is world-leading in my field. Tons of research going on there I would love to get involved in. $150K debt.

Stanford: Silicon Valley location, strong in both human rights and tech law. Project on intermediary liability globally (WILMap). Still waiting on a decision. If admitted, would apply for Knight-Hennessy (zero debt), but that’s a long shot. Otherwise, $150K debt

Columbia: Strong international ties/reputation. Majorly investing in their PI programs right now, especially human rights. They’ve also got the Knight Center leading on first amendment rights. Big draw: one-year fellowship to Human Rights Watch after graduation, limited to Columbia students. Interview went well, still waiting to hear back on final decision. Hoping for the new Greene Public Service Scholarship. $90K debt with full-ride

NYU: Absolutely crushes the PI game, especially when it comes to International Human Rights Law. Their tech, cyber, and national security law programs are also fantastic, and there are lots of projects going on in my niche field. Big draw: also have a one-year fellowship to Human Rights Watch after graduation, limited to NYU students. Admitted, but waiting to hear back on scholarships. Hoping for RTK or Cybersecurity full-tuition scholarship. $100K debt with full-ride

Those are my options! I’ve had a pretty amazing cycle, can’t complain one bit. Looking forward to your arguments (or any options you think I should rule out). Thanks, TLS!

Sounds like Yale makes a lot of sense for you unless you get the Knight-Hennessy at Stanford. No need to try and talk yourself out of it. I'd place the LRAP and smaller class size at Yale (meaning more individualized assistance with careers) above Harvard's prowess in an extreme sub-niche that may or may not be the one you end up in after school.

Why would you want to be talked out of attending Yale?

Npret wrote:Why would you want to be talked out of attending Yale?

"HYS" isn't worth it is true for a lot of people and they might want to hear the same voice of reason (even though it doesn't apply to them in this case), or else it might just be a humblebrag.

Anyway, yeah, Yale is the right choice here.

The Lsat Airbender wrote:

Npret wrote:Why would you want to be talked out of attending Yale?

"HYS" isn't worth it is true for a lot of people and they might want to hear the same voice of reason (even though it doesn't apply to them in this case), or else it might just be a humblebrag.

Anyway, yeah, Yale is the right choice here.

I think that’s usually Harvard v other schools with scholarships. Yale admits tend to be looking for unicorn jobs, but I agree that’s not always the case.

To me the Yale LRAP which doesn’t care what you do or if you even have a job adds a great deal to the schools value.

I'm not going to try to talk OP out of choosing Yale, because IMO, given the financial facts (notably, max need-based aid at YSH) and OP's unicorn international human rights goals, Yale makes the most sense.

The second-strongest contender would be NYU, assuming OP gets the RTK or similar PI full-tuition scholarship. NYU, as I often say on these fora, is terrific at PI and second only to Yale - but it's still second to Yale, and IMO the gap widens if international work is thrown into the mix. If we were comparing Yale at sticker vs. NYU with the RTK, and OP were primarily interested in domestic human rights or other PI work, it'd be a much closer call, and maybe I'd even lean in favor of NYU, but this isn't the case here. Yale wins, hands down, at a $50k cost differential, especially considering OP will benefit greatly from Yale's best-in-class LRAP (COAP).

Harvard, Stanford, and Columbia are terrific schools, but Stanford and Columbia aren't particularly strong in PI*, and Harvard offers no demonstrable advantage over Yale - you're looking at the same COA for weaker placement.

*Of course, Stanford and Columbia are still strong in PI compared to all U.S. law schools overall (or even just the T13 overall), but they're not particularly strong compared to OP's other options.

Congrats OP on these great options. Enjoy Yale!

If you would be willing to spend a fourth year, I would think about doing HLS and during your deferral year applying as a jointee to HKS and taking advantage of all the great AI stuff going on (Schneir, Zittrain, Rosenbach, etc) in addition to the Berkman-Klein center itself, especially if you’re interested in the govt/ military/ security side of Cyber in addition to just rule and policy making. As someone who wasn’t really into cyber before school, I have been blown away by the resources here and have seen really cool opportunities. If you start at HLS you could also apply for the Zuckerman fellowship and do HKS basically for free. From that combo I’ve seen people having pretty interesting/ cool long term options for the type of work you’re talking about. I would also kill myself if I had to live in New Haven tho and didn’t look at Yale seriously at all, so this is less a don’t-go-to-Yale vs a Harvard alternative i think would be really strong considering what you want to do

eck456 wrote:If you would be willing to spend a fourth year, I would think about doing HLS and during your deferral year applying as a jointee to HKS and taking advantage of all the great AI stuff going on (Schneir, Zittrain, Rosenbach, etc) in addition to the Berkman-Klein center itself, especially if you’re interested in the govt/ military/ security side of Cyber in addition to just rule and policy making. As someone who wasn’t really into cyber before school, I have been blown away by the resources here and have seen really cool opportunities. If you start at HLS you could also apply for the Zuckerman fellowship and do HKS basically for free. From that combo I’ve seen people having pretty interesting/ cool long term options for the type of work you’re talking about. I would also kill myself if I had to live in New Haven tho and didn’t look at Yale seriously at all, so this is less a don’t-go-to-Yale vs a Harvard alternative i think would be really strong considering what you want to do

But why should OP spend an extra year, and an extra year's worth of tuition and COL, at Harvard in order to achieve the same outcome they could get in three years from YLS? Obviously OP isn't of the "kill [themselves] if [they] had to live in New Haven" mindset (which I frankly think is objectively unreasonable; New Haven's a perfectly charming college town with plenty of cultural attractions these days). Further, HLS' LIPP is much less flexible than YLS' COAP, which is particularly important given the type of work OP is interested in (i.e., including positions that may not strictly be legal jobs).

QContinuum wrote:

eck456 wrote:If you would be willing to spend a fourth year, I would think about doing HLS and during your deferral year applying as a jointee to HKS and taking advantage of all the great AI stuff going on (Schneir, Zittrain, Rosenbach, etc) in addition to the Berkman-Klein center itself, especially if you’re interested in the govt/ military/ security side of Cyber in addition to just rule and policy making. As someone who wasn’t really into cyber before school, I have been blown away by the resources here and have seen really cool opportunities. If you start at HLS you could also apply for the Zuckerman fellowship and do HKS basically for free. From that combo I’ve seen people having pretty interesting/ cool long term options for the type of work you’re talking about. I would also kill myself if I had to live in New Haven tho and didn’t look at Yale seriously at all, so this is less a don’t-go-to-Yale vs a Harvard alternative i think would be really strong considering what you want to do

But why should OP spend an extra year, and an extra year's worth of tuition and COL, at Harvard in order to achieve the same outcome they could get in three years from YLS? Obviously OP isn't of the "kill [themselves] if [they] had to live in New Haven" mindset (which I frankly think is objectively unreasonable; New Haven's a perfectly charming college town with plenty of cultural attractions these days). Further, HLS' LIPP is much less flexible than YLS' COAP, which is particularly important given the type of work OP is interested in (i.e., including positions that may not strictly be legal jobs).

New Haven is fine and Yale like any Ivy League School has endless activities. The cultural festivals in New Haven are world class. It’s an easy train ride to NYC or to the ocean.
I’ve already posted about the Yale loan repayment program being the best. No other plan will pay if you’re unemployed or not working as a lawyer. ( correct me if I’m wrong.)

Yale or Stanford. Stanford if you are more interested in the technology side of things, and Yale if you are more interested in the human rights side of things. Congrats.

Yale is the clear choice. I would put Columbia second if you secure a full ride due to the strength of its IHR program and curriculum, which seems to align most with your interests.

Yale 100%. NYU would be a good second choice with full scholarship, but only if you didn't get the aid you expect at Yale.