Transfer: Harvard or Yale? (Interested in elected office) Forum

[prncaspian3]

Most of them live in a small, insulated world in which they rarely speak to people who don't have advanced degrees, let alone people who never went to college.

That's not exactly honest, is it? I mean, if you're talking about me for instance, my point all along has been that "people who don't have advanced degrees, let alone people who never went to college," aren't really going to care about where OP goes to law school.

I agree with you that he should go to Harvard. But not on the basis of its "lay prestige (for voters)", in the words of OP. Bad reason. It's not that voters won't be impressed by Harvard on paper, but they just wouldn't care enough to favor it over Yale. And like I said, actually parading a Harvard JD around could end up wreaking of elitism in the eyes of voters in certain areas, and so if anything, to play it safe he should want to keep it on the down-lo (absent, like Obama's, special circumstances).

But to reiterate: successful candidates do NOT generally use the prestigiousness of where they went to law school--nor, most of the time, even that they were lawyers--as a credible selling point to voters in 2010 Mainstream America.

[grobbelski]

OP is transferring from another law school and is concerned about the relative public images of Yale and Harvard? If anyone even cares where you went to law school, the following conversation will take place, regardless of which of these you choose.

"I think I'll vote for JamesHowlett. S/He went to Yarvard Law!"

"yeah, but he had to transfer there from the University of Virgimichipennsylberkenewyorkchicagcolumbistanford. He couldn't get in to Yarvard the first time around."

Because this conversation will take place, it doesn't matter which school you choose.

Burg makes a good point, you're pretty much screwed,

[APimpNamedSlickback]

x

[mallard]

There's also some chance that your networking opportunities will be diminished as a transfer (although no, I don't think Joe the Plumber will care that you transferred rather than getting in as a 0L!). Personally, I don't expect to get much closer to anybody in school than I am with people in my 1L section and a few choice other friends. Just something to bear in mind if this is really one of your major reasons for transferring.

[APimpNamedSlickback]

x

[mallard]

There's also some chance that your networking opportunities will be diminished as a transfer (although no, I don't think Joe the Plumber will care that you transferred rather than getting in as a 0L!). Personally, I don't expect to get much closer to anybody in school than I am with people in my 1L section and a few choice other friends. Just something to bear in mind if this is really one of your major reasons for transferring.

i went to an alumni reception a few days ago and met lots of folks that i'd imagine are helpful to know. my guess is that if you're willing to be proactive about networking, there are opportunities to leverage the alumni base. but yeah, i'll defer to whatever you say since you've been there for a year.

This is possible too. Just speculating.

OP, is your MVPB by any chance in the state in which you wish to run for office?

[Burger in a can]

There's also some chance that your networking opportunities will be diminished as a transfer (although no, I don't think Joe the Plumber will care that you transferred rather than getting in as a 0L!). Personally, I don't expect to get much closer to anybody in school than I am with people in my 1L section and a few choice other friends. Just something to bear in mind if this is really one of your major reasons for transferring.

Do you think Joe the Plumber would mind if Obama had transferred to Harvard rather than getting in as a 0L? I certainly do. The man barely gets credit for being accepted at all, what with all the affirmative action hating going around...

Then again, I don't really know what I'm talking about.

[mallard]

There's also some chance that your networking opportunities will be diminished as a transfer (although no, I don't think Joe the Plumber will care that you transferred rather than getting in as a 0L!). Personally, I don't expect to get much closer to anybody in school than I am with people in my 1L section and a few choice other friends. Just something to bear in mind if this is really one of your major reasons for transferring.

Do you think Joe the Plumber would mind if Obama had transferred to Harvard rather than getting in as a 0L? I certainly do. The man barely gets credit for being accepted at all, what with all the affirmative action hating going around...

Then again, I don't really know what I'm talking about.

Obama transferred from Occidental to Columbia in undergrad. Not sure I've ever heard it mentioned, but then again nobody talked about Obama's Columbia days much at all during the campaign, either.

[iagolives]

EDIT: Changed my mind. I don't think it matters.

[arstech]

First of all, you're not going to be the President of the United States. And even if you manage to get into Congress, nobody is going to care about your law school history to the extent that they care about Obama's. Do you even know where your Senators and Representative went to college without looking it up on Wikipedia? I certainly don't.

Success rate of politicians is tied to fundraising ability. Knowing a lot of rich people helps, because you will be hitting them all up for money. But I think turning down Y for H because you think it will somehow be "better" for your political aspirations is misguided.

[Burger in a can]

First of all, you're not going to be the President of the United States.

How do you know?

[arstech]

First of all, you're not going to be the President of the United States.

How do you know?

You're right, you've defeated my logic. He should clearly go to Harvard because he has a plausible chance of becoming the president.

[Machine Spirit]

First of all, you're not going to be the President of the United States. And even if you manage to get into Congress, nobody is going to care about your law school history to the extent that they care about Obama's. Do you even know where your Senators and Representative went to college without looking it up on Wikipedia? I certainly don't.

Success rate of politicians is tied to fundraising ability. Knowing a lot of rich people helps, because you will be hitting them all up for money. But I think turning down Y for H because you think it will somehow be "better" for your political aspirations is misguided.

This. Starting a thread about which law school provides you with the better ability to become President is worse than those threads started by 0Ls that ask which school they should go to if they plan on trying to transfer from it. In any case, the odds of becoming President are 10,000,000 to 1. Maybe Wolverine becomes President; not especially wrong to doubt that though.

Edit: Choose Yale. Go with the better school, and work from there. This form of long-term planning is almost worthless.

[20121109]

First of all, you're not going to be the President of the United States.

How do you know?

You're right, you've defeated my logic. He should clearly go to Harvard because he has a plausible chance of becoming the president.

Dude, you never answered his question. How do you know?

[ToTransferOrNot]

TL;DR, TCR is Yale. Next.

[Machine Spirit]

First of all, you're not going to be the President of the United States.

How do you know?

You're right, you've defeated my logic. He should clearly go to Harvard because he has a plausible chance of becoming the president.

Dude, you never answered his question. How do you know?

Absurd odds, would likely be the answer.

But per that logic, how do we know YOU'RE not the President? Or that all of this isn't just a dream?! BA BA BUUUMMMMM.

Sorry...just saw Inception.

[dbt]

Keep in mind you can't make LR at Harvard, whereas you have a decent shot of making it at Yale. So basically if you go to Yale you're at the better school, and you have a better shot at being a "stand-out" student at that better school. I don't think whatever difference there is in "networking" opportunities (which I'm not really buying) justifies choosing Harvard.

[20121109]

Dude, you never answered his question. How do you know?

Absurd odds, would likely be the answer.

But per that logic, how do we know YOU'RE not the President? Or that all of this isn't just a dream?! BA BA BUUUMMMMM.

Sorry...just saw Inception.

I like you because you managed to include Inception in your response.

[mallard]

Keep in mind you can't make LR at Harvard, whereas you have a decent shot of making it at Yale. So basically if you go to Yale you're at the better school, and you have a better shot at being a "stand-out" student at that better school. I don't think whatever difference there is in "networking" opportunities (which I'm not really buying) justifies choosing Harvard.

Yeah, no, most of this seems wrong.

[dbt]

Keep in mind you can't make LR at Harvard, whereas you have a decent shot of making it at Yale. So basically if you go to Yale you're at the better school, and you have a better shot at being a "stand-out" student at that better school. I don't think whatever difference there is in "networking" opportunities (which I'm not really buying) justifies choosing Harvard.

Yeah, no, most of this seems wrong.

I'm not sure how it seems wrong. You can only get onto Harvard LR if you're a transfer if you participated in the competition before you'd received a decision. Yale has a separate LR competition for transfers, and last year (according to TLS posts) 6 out of 10 transfers made it. Pretty nice odds.

If you're just talking about the networking part, well I don't know.

[mallard]

Keep in mind you can't make LR at Harvard, whereas you have a decent shot of making it at Yale. So basically if you go to Yale you're at the better school, and you have a better shot at being a "stand-out" student at that better school. I don't think whatever difference there is in "networking" opportunities (which I'm not really buying) justifies choosing Harvard.

Yeah, no, most of this seems wrong.

I'm not sure how it seems wrong. You can only get onto Harvard LR if you're a transfer if you participated in the competition before you'd received a decision. Yale has a separate LR competition for transfers, and last year (according to TLS posts) 6 out of 10 transfers made it. Pretty nice odds.

If you're just talking about the networking part, well I don't know.

I don't really see the help that LR provides with politics. I guess being President helped in Obama's case, but that was partly, maybe largely, because it was HLR. There will also be a significant difference in networking opportunities.

[dbt]

Keep in mind you can't make LR at Harvard, whereas you have a decent shot of making it at Yale. So basically if you go to Yale you're at the better school, and you have a better shot at being a "stand-out" student at that better school. I don't think whatever difference there is in "networking" opportunities (which I'm not really buying) justifies choosing Harvard.

Yeah, no, most of this seems wrong.

I'm not sure how it seems wrong. You can only get onto Harvard LR if you're a transfer if you participated in the competition before you'd received a decision. Yale has a separate LR competition for transfers, and last year (according to TLS posts) 6 out of 10 transfers made it. Pretty nice odds.

If you're just talking about the networking part, well I don't know.

I don't really see the help that LR provides with politics. I guess being President helped in Obama's case, but that was partly, maybe largely, because it was HLR. There will also be a significant difference in networking opportunities.

This is a different point than what you implied in your earlier post.

I would imagine if you want to be big in politics, you should try to become as distinguished as possible at whatever school you attend. It's just easier to do that at Yale, at least if you're a transfer.

Like I said, I don't know about the significant difference in networking opportunities. Harvard is larger, but Yale is at the top in the legal world (the people you're probably going to be wanting to connect with). I think the networking opportunities point is silly to argue about though. If I were this guy, I'd be looking at the immediate future: how can you do at this school, as compared to the other.

[mallard]

This is a different point than what you implied in your earlier post.

I would imagine if you want to be big in politics, you should try to become as distinguished as possible at whatever school you attend. It's just easier to do that at Yale, at least if you're a transfer.

Like I said, I don't know about the significant difference in networking opportunities. Harvard is larger, but Yale is at the top in the legal world (the people you're probably going to be wanting to connect with). I think the networking opportunities point is silly to argue about though. If I were this guy, I'd be looking at the immediate future: how can you do at this school, as compared to the other.

First of all, the legal world is precisely not the world you want to be connecting with. Second, I don't think it's at all right that Yale is ahead of Harvard in the legal world where the relevant sort of networking is concerned. You don't need to be friends with judges or lawprofs to run for office. You need to be friends with rich motherfuckers who are Partners At Law firms, investment banks, hedge funds, etc. and can start bundling cash from their friends for your campaign.

[dbt]

This is a different point than what you implied in your earlier post.

I would imagine if you want to be big in politics, you should try to become as distinguished as possible at whatever school you attend. It's just easier to do that at Yale, at least if you're a transfer.

Like I said, I don't know about the significant difference in networking opportunities. Harvard is larger, but Yale is at the top in the legal world (the people you're probably going to be wanting to connect with). I think the networking opportunities point is silly to argue about though. If I were this guy, I'd be looking at the immediate future: how can you do at this school, as compared to the other.

First of all, the legal world is precisely not the world you want to be connecting with. Second, I don't think it's at all right that Yale is ahead of Harvard in the legal world where the relevant sort of networking is concerned. You don't need to be friends with judges or lawprofs to run for office. You need to be friends with rich motherfuckers who are partners at law firms, investment banks, hedge funds, etc. and can start bundling cash from their friends for your campaign.

I see your point, but I think this argument is silly to focus on. Better network maybe at Harvard, but by how much? Yale is a strong university all-around as well. I didn't see Bill having problems getting connections because he chose Yale over Harvard.

If I were in this position, I would just give more credit to the differences in immediate opportunities at either school, rather than focusing on something less concrete like differences in networking opportunities and how these might affect your ability to wage an effective campaign.

[mallard]

Hey, that's fair; I agree Yale is the smarter transfer for someone who's not going into politics.

As I understand it, most of Bill's connections, for the record, came from his days at Georgetown and as an up-and-coming student leader in the Democratic Party.