Top Law Schools

Congrats!!

KP429 wrote:OMFG... JUST GOT INTO YALE!!!!!!!!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?

Congrats! Numbers if you don't mind?

Objection wrote:Every post like this makes me die a little bit inside. I've had 3 straight nights of YLS related dreams/nightmares.

[sigh] Ditto! I didn't even think that I wanted to go to Yale but apparently, I really do.

Is it normal for your brain to stop functioning upon acceptance? I can't string together any coherent thoughts and I have a final exam tomorrow.. Harvard and Yale within the same week.. I think I'm officially the luckiest human alive

Make sure you distinguish between "wanting to get in" and "wanting to go"... even people who don't want to GO to YLS are dying to get in, and understandably so!

KP429 wrote:Is it normal for your brain to stop functioning upon acceptance? I can't string together any coherent thoughts and I have a final exam tomorrow.. Harvard and Yale within the same week.. I think I'm officially the luckiest human alive

Yeah, that's what lack of motivation will do. At this point it doesn't really matter so enjoy your finals and relax... it's all gravy until next year.

Seriously. I got into my top realistic choice right before finals. I'm surprised I managed to not tank everything.

Congrats kp429!


Re someone's question...
I applied 10/21 and went complete 10/31. I am not a URM, though I am LGBT.

cardinalabyss wrote:

Objection wrote:Every post like this makes me die a little bit inside. I've had 3 straight nights of YLS related dreams/nightmares.

[sigh] Ditto! I didn't even think that I wanted to go to Yale but apparently, I really do.

you and me both brother

KP429 wrote:!!!!!!!!! IN!

congratulations.

For those of you who also got in this week... do you remember anything from what Mr. Janecek said? Its all such a blur to me now and all I remember is:

- Facebook group
- "Digital" information
- Email this upcoming week
- Materials after New Year

Am I missing anything? He kept asking me if I had questions and I kept sounding like an idiot b/c I was so caught off guard I couldn't think straight. Is everyone sold on Yale? Or waiting on others?

Just got the email today. Best day of my life!!!!!

How can I access the facebook group?

Also, I would like to do a little more research before really deciding between HYS- what would be the best source besides law school websites?

maikins wrote:Just got the email today. Best day of my life!!!!!

How can I access the facebook group?

Also, I would like to do a little more research before really deciding between HYS- what would be the best source besides law school websites?

I call flame on this one.

Out of curiosity, why?

Actually, I take it back. I wasn't aware Stanford had accepted anyone yet.

My reasoning was as follows...

1. Every other acceptance has been a call.

2. Someone who gains admittance to YLS and posts on TLS wouldn't need to ask where to find more info on those schools

3. "really deciding between HYS" is either extremely presumptuous or a troll slip up, since S hasn't accepted anyone yet.

But I apologize for jumping the gun. My jealousy coming through, probably. Congratulations.

jjj

maikins wrote:Not a flame. Yale tried to call, but I'm out of the country at the moment. Actually I'm not in at H yet, but I'm hoping for the TS2 before xmas. It's a bit shameful that I know so little about law schools at this point, but I really haven't done any research.
I thought Yale would be the obvious choice, but I've read so much about Harvard's new faculty appointments that I'm starting to wonder if Yale will be eclipsed in the near future. Thoughts?

I actually think HLS has a superior faculty, but that academic advantage is somewhat balanced by Yale's smaller class sizes (giving you more contact with the faculty) and the awesome grading system.


Choosing between YLS and HLS is really like choosing between banging Megan Fox and Adriana Lima.

Hey all.. spent all day in New Haven today checking out the campus. They let me in the law quad and I walked all through the library, classrooms, student lounge, etc. Basically no students still on campus so I was the only soul walking around (with my girlfriend). Also walked through Sterling Hall -- the main library on campus. Will post thoughts later if anyone is interested, but I'm exhausted from driving through the snow all day and I have an early flight to catch tomorrow morning.. so for now, sleep beckons.

maikins wrote:Not a flame. Yale tried to call, but I'm out of the country at the moment. Actually I'm not in at H yet, but I'm hoping for the TS2 before xmas. It's a bit shameful that I know so little about law schools at this point, but I really haven't done any research.
I thought Yale would be the obvious choice, but I've read so much about Harvard's new faculty appointments that I'm starting to wonder if Yale will be eclipsed in the near future. Thoughts?

Yale will be just fine. Yale, like Harvard, is richer than God. They've had some high-profile faculty losses this year, but I don't think there's reason to worry.

Harvard will always have a deeper course catalog; Yale will always provide a more intimate experience.

None of this is to say that the recent hires are insignificant. IMH(and marginally informed)O, they have brought the two schools closer together. I think the decision really comes down to educational and career goals. Which faculty and which experience you prefer depend on those questions. I don't think the decision can be made on which is better in any general way.

Both are wonderful. Congratulations.

bgc wrote:

maikins wrote:Not a flame. Yale tried to call, but I'm out of the country at the moment. Actually I'm not in at H yet, but I'm hoping for the TS2 before xmas. It's a bit shameful that I know so little about law schools at this point, but I really haven't done any research.
I thought Yale would be the obvious choice, but I've read so much about Harvard's new faculty appointments that I'm starting to wonder if Yale will be eclipsed in the near future. Thoughts?

Yale will be just fine. Yale, like Harvard, is richer than God. They've had some high-profile faculty losses this year, but I don't think there's reason to worry.

Harvard will always have a deeper course catalog; Yale will always provide a more intimate experience.

None of this is to say that the recent hires are insignificant. IMH(and marginally informed)O, they have brought the two schools closer together. I think the decision really comes down to educational and career goals. Which faculty and which experience you prefer depend on those questions. I don't think the decision can be made on which is better in any general way.

Both are wonderful. Congratulations.

I agree

Both are, of course, great schools. Here are things that seem relevant for me:

1) I’ve read somewhere that of the cross-admits, approximately 80% choose Yale and 20% Harvard. According to LSAC data, of the 241 offered admission, 189 decided to enroll at Yale. Of the 817 offered admission at Harvard, 555 decided to enroll. While other people's decisions shouldn't be dispositive of your decision, assuming that many people who get into YH are rational, it seems like this should tell you something.

2) Is there a chance that you want to pursue academia? Yale has over twice as much success in placing their graduates for prestigious law teaching jobs. --LinkRemoved-- ... hing.shtml. I first thought this might be a little bit skewed, since it might be influenced by students' career goals, rather than placement ability. But if you look at the per capita Supreme Court clerkship placement rate, Yale consistently places around twice as much there as well - assuming that no student with a sane mind will turn down a SC clerkship, I think it's pretty safe to say Yale is superior over Harvard in securing law professorships.

3) Faculty: check profiles of faculty (articles published, citation rate, etc). I would say both are approximately equal - there are more of them are Harvard, and Yale offers an intimate setting. Faculty ratio at Harvard: 10.3:1; at Yale, it's 7.4:1.

4) Boston v. New Haven. I think many find Boston more attractive. I’m guessing this is accounts for part of the 20% that decides to go to Harvard.

5) It’s definitely much harder to get into Yale than Harvard. Interestingly, there are two transfer outs at Harvard and none at Yale.

Also, for a good source of appraisal of the two schools, ask current law students / faculty who do not have a conflict of interest at Yale or Harvard.

1) I’ve read somewhere that of the cross-admits, approximately 80% choose Yale and 20% Harvard. According to LSAC data, of the 241 offered admission, 189 decided to enroll at Yale. Of the 817 offered admission at Harvard, 555 decided to enroll. While other people's decisions shouldn't be dispositive of your decision, assuming that many people who get into YH are rational, it seems like this should tell you something.

3) Faculty: check profiles of faculty (articles published, citation rate, etc). I would say both are approximately equal - there are more of them are Harvard, and Yale offers an intimate setting. Faculty ratio at Harvard: 10.3:1; at Yale, it's 7.4:1.

5) It’s definitely much harder to get into Yale than Harvard. Interestingly, there are two transfer outs at Harvard and none at Yale.

Just to provide the other side to this...

1. Could just be the USNews effect..."OMG YALE #1 MUST GO THERE."

3. Harvard has the best faculty in the country. I really don't know how that can be legitimately disputed when the entire faculties are looked at. The intimate setting is nice, but with Harvard's reading groups and relatively small sections, I don't think the difference is enough to make up for what appears to be an overwhelming advantage for Harvard in terms of which school has the best professors.

5. Isn't it like 3% harder (doesn't Yale have a 7% acceptance rate whereas Harvard's is like 10%?) Of course, Yale has less spots in its class, so I guess technically it is harder, but if you were implying much more selective...that doesn't seem to be the case.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have been admitted to HLS but not YLS. YLS is my top choice.

KP429 wrote:Is it normal for your brain to stop functioning upon acceptance? I can't string together any coherent thoughts and I have a final exam tomorrow.. Harvard and Yale within the same week.. I think I'm officially the luckiest human alive

Wow congratulations! That's fucking awesome

Question for you (most likely) future Yallies: do any of you have concerns about the intellectual openness of Yale versus Stanford or especially Harvard? I mean, during my research, I have run into more than one person from both sides of the aisle who think that Dean Koh (and much of the Yale faculty) is much more partisan than Dean Kagan and her faculty. I'm not saying these are true, but the fact that I've read stories such about certain judges and dignitaries being actively shunned concerns me.

Granted, I consider myself pretty liberal on most issues, but I consider part of this liberalism is tolerance of other opinions and it makes me leery to hear of intellectual partisanship, even when it is by people who see things "my way."

Anyway, any thoughts?

Oh, and congrats to everyone who got in! It could only be my dream!

Thanks for all the replies! I'm still leaning towards YLS mostly because of the students they attract. The fact that 50% clerk and a huge portion go on to academia means that classrooms will be filled with kids who are genuinely interested in law. I want to be with the most intellectually curious kids during law school (who wouldn't?) and I think YLS has the clear edge there. I'll continue to research though.