Going to same law school as undergrad? Forum

[bdm261]

Is this frowned upon or encouraged? There's a good chance I will go to my undergrad's law school. How do people judge someone who went to the same University for UG and LS? When i browse attorney's websites and look at their education, they typically choose a different LS, even the Harvard UGs go to Yale for LS and vice-versa. A professor mentioned something to another student in class thinking about grad school, that it's good to choose a different institution because it "shows diversity in education" or something. How true is this?

[4for44]

I have plenty of people in my class that went to the same school for undergrad. Really if you are at a school with a great law school (interpret as you see fit) I see no reason to turn it down just because you went there for undergrad, assuming you don't have better options.

[hume85]

Is this frowned upon or encouraged? There's a good chance I will go to my undergrad's law school. How do people judge someone who went to the same University for UG and LS? When i browse attorney's websites and look at their education, they typically choose a different LS, even the Harvard UGs go to Yale for LS and vice-versa. A professor mentioned something to another student in class thinking about grad school, that it's good to choose a different institution because it "shows diversity in education" or something. How true is this?

The bolded is true for PhDs. Most PhD programs discourage students from the same UG from applying. For law school it doesn't matter. Go to the best school you get into adjusted for COA. The whole thing with Yale and Harvard that you mentioned probably had little to nothing to do with consideration of showing diversity in education to potential employers. Double degrees from Yale, Harvard or Stanford won't hurt you. However a double degree from ASU or George Washington might not be a great idea, only because the law schools aren't so hot.

[TooOld4This]

Doesn't matter too much, but all else being equal, its not bad to have two different alumni and career services networks to tap into.

The fact that most people wind up with different UG and law schools generally is a function of where they got in and geographic preferences. Taking your example: YLS admits far fewer students than HLS. More Yale UGs will get into HLS than YLS. And because YLS is ranked 1, most Harvard UGs that get into YLS will choose it over HLS. Similarly, someone who went to Michigan for UG may very well choose Northwestern or Duke or Penn, not because they want academic diversity, but because they want a different location, got better scholarships, etc.

[moonman157]

It may even be a good thing to go to the same school if said school is a solid regional option. It will help you establish even stronger ties to the region. A ton of people from my undergrad stay here for law school, and the biggest drawback I've heard is the temptation of living like you're still in undergrad with the bar and sports scenes. But that factor largely depends on your school.

[cinephile]

I think it's a good thing to have connection to a life outside of law school. Seeing friends and having activities outside of school will keep you sane.

[chadwick218]

For law, it's fine. For doctoral degees, such imbreeding is generally frowned upon. I'm glad that I went to another school because now I have a much larger and more diverse network.