Top Law Schools

For those of you who made it to the top of the top, how did gaining an admissions (or attending) to Yale, Harvard, or Stanford change your life?
I'm especially interested in those of you who didn't attend an ultra-prestigious undergrad (Ivy League + Stanford, MIT, etc) and made the big jump.

I assume that many of you worked very hard throughout college, making some small sacrifices on the way (camping out at the library over the weekends, etc).
Did they all pay-off in the end? Do you have a different conception of who you are, what you're capable of? Did your ex-gf/bf try to win you back? Did your long-term goals change? I'd appreciate any response. Thanks!

My first thought was, "well, maybe if it was a self-tar, this thread can be saved." Then I got to:

Monte.Cristo wrote: Did your ex-gf/bf try to win you back?

And all hope was lost. Getting into a top school will give you great prospects and a great education, but you're essentially same person Wednesday as your were Monday regardless of what acceptance letter arrives on Tuesday.

Edit: I was drunk, but you're still an idiot.

Hahahaha

You also wrote the personal statement that changed your life thread right? I'm curious where you're going with all of this?

I feel bad being off-topic. I haven't gotten into HYS and only applied to Harvard out of the 3 bc I don't like CA and had no shot at Yale. I've got a slim chance at getting in, I guess, but there's a 98% chance if I got in I would still go to NYU, or maybe Columbia if I get in. So, it would have a pretty negligible effect on my life, except that I would have to try harder not to douchily name drop it with people asking what schools I was considering.

Monte.Cristo wrote:For those of you who made it to the top of the top, how did gaining an admissions (or attending) to Yale, Harvard, or Stanford change your life?
I'm especially interested in those of you who didn't attend an ultra-prestigious undergrad (Ivy League + Stanford, MIT, etc) and made the big jump.

I assume that many of you worked very hard throughout college, making some small sacrifices on the way (camping out at the library over the weekends, etc).
Did they all pay-off in the end? Do you have a different conception of who you are, what you're capable of? Did your ex-gf/bf try to win you back? Did your long-term goals change? I'd appreciate any response. Thanks!

delusional wrote:

Monte.Cristo wrote:For those of you who made it to the top of the top, how did gaining an admissions (or attending) to Yale, Harvard, or Stanford change your life?
I'm especially interested in those of you who didn't attend an ultra-prestigious undergrad (Ivy League + Stanford, MIT, etc) and made the big jump.

I assume that many of you worked very hard throughout college, making some small sacrifices on the way (camping out at the library over the weekends, etc).
Did they all pay-off in the end? Do you have a different conception of who you are, what you're capable of? Did your ex-gf/bf try to win you back? Did your long-term goals change? I'd appreciate any response. Thanks!

Oh Admiral Ackbar, is there anything you can't do?

--ImageRemoved--

joeshmo39 wrote:My first thought was, "well, maybe if it was a self-tar, this thread can be saved." Then I got to:

Monte.Cristo wrote: Did your ex-gf/bf try to win you back?

And all hope was lost. Getting into a top school will give you great prospects and a great education, but you're essentially same person Wednesday as your were Monday regardless of what acceptance letter arrives on Tuesday.

This is patently untrue. It is sad, but untrue nonetheless.

r6_philly wrote:

joeshmo39 wrote:My first thought was, "well, maybe if it was a self-tar, this thread can be saved." Then I got to:

Monte.Cristo wrote: Did your ex-gf/bf try to win you back?

And all hope was lost. Getting into a top school will give you great prospects and a great education, but you're essentially same person Wednesday as your were Monday regardless of what acceptance letter arrives on Tuesday.

This is patently untrue. It is sad, but untrue nonetheless.

I am going to have to disagree. I got into one of HYS. I turned it down for $ at a different T14 but I literally don't feel any different. Nothing about being at a top school defines who I am.

You know what, on second thought, I may be wrong. People who give a shit about that kind of stuff would have chosen HYS and would have let it define them. I am glad I made the decision I did because this kind of prestige whoring bull-shit pisses me off.

shoeshine wrote:
I am going to have to disagree. I got into one of HYS. I turned it down for $ at a different T14 but I literally don't feel any different. Nothing about being at a top school defines who I am.

You know what, on second thought, I may be wrong. People who give a shit about that kind of stuff would have chosen HYS and would have let it define them. I am glad I made the decision I did because this kind of prestige whoring bull-shit pisses me off.

For starters, some firms will not even look at grads from certain schools. They will always look at a HYS student.

Don't think of it as "let it define you." I define me. But if something else is going to add to my marketing package. Why not? It's not like it's going to change who I am.

r6_philly wrote:

joeshmo39 wrote:My first thought was, "well, maybe if it was a self-tar, this thread can be saved." Then I got to:

Monte.Cristo wrote: Did your ex-gf/bf try to win you back?

And all hope was lost. Getting into a top school will give you great prospects and a great education, but you're essentially same person Wednesday as your were Monday regardless of what acceptance letter arrives on Tuesday.

This is patently untrue. It is sad, but untrue nonetheless.

No kidding. I guarantee this guy (LinkRemoved) gets tons of ass.

I guess if you're ugly/bald/short then an HYS degree doesn't really matter (i.e., I personally am not envious), but a Harvard pedigree on a good-looking bro is prestigious as fuck.

shoeshine wrote:

r6_philly wrote:

joeshmo39 wrote:My first thought was, "well, maybe if it was a self-tar, this thread can be saved." Then I got to:

Monte.Cristo wrote: Did your ex-gf/bf try to win you back?

And all hope was lost. Getting into a top school will give you great prospects and a great education, but you're essentially same person Wednesday as your were Monday regardless of what acceptance letter arrives on Tuesday.

This is patently untrue. It is sad, but untrue nonetheless.

I am going to have to disagree. I got into one of HYS. I turned it down for $ at a different T14 but I literally don't feel any different. Nothing about being at a top school defines who I am.

You know what, on second thought, I may be wrong. People who give a shit about that kind of stuff would have chosen HYS and would have let it define them. I am glad I made the decision I did because this kind of prestige whoring bull-shit pisses me off.

Wow that sounds like bottled rage. You sure you're glad you made the decision you did?

I don't know if I will ever know.

But seriously, the more prestigious of schools I get in the more I realize it is all just BS. People aren't different based on the schools they get into. People are people and if I get into Yale tomorrow it isn't really going to change who I am. Maybe just my career, which matters to me, but doesn't really define my value as a person.

flcath wrote:

r6_philly wrote:

joeshmo39 wrote:My first thought was, "well, maybe if it was a self-tar, this thread can be saved." Then I got to:

Monte.Cristo wrote: Did your ex-gf/bf try to win you back?

And all hope was lost. Getting into a top school will give you great prospects and a great education, but you're essentially same person Wednesday as your were Monday regardless of what acceptance letter arrives on Tuesday.

This is patently untrue. It is sad, but untrue nonetheless.

No kidding. I guarantee this guy (LinkRemoved) gets tons of ass.

I guess if you're ugly/bald/short then an HYS degree doesn't really matter (i.e., I personally am not envious), but a Harvard pedigree on a good-looking bro is prestigious as fuck.

wow, did you let your croakies type that?

Tom Joad wrote:I don't know if I will ever know.

But seriously, the more prestigious of schools I get in the more I realize it is all just BS. People aren't different based on the schools they get into. People are people and if I get into Yale tomorrow it isn't really going to change who I am. Maybe just my career, which matters to me, but doesn't really define my value as a person.

You are misunderstanding the point of school prestige.

Your value is perceived by other people. Perception is largely subjective. School/degree is objective. It aid people in forming subjective assessments of you. Funny thing, people don't really want to be completely subjective, so they grasp for objective things they can meaningfully use. Your school/degree/gpa are just the kind of "objective facts" that they are looking for.

A better school may or may not change you (that's discussion for another day), but it changes people's perception. Unfortunately, substantive assessment of people generally happens after screeners. So your value may not have a chance to shine. Having undisputed objective values attached to your name helps you get to the point where people can evaluate your substance.

I mean, does not wearing a suit to an interview change who I am and what I have to offer? Why do I have to wear a nice looking suit?

DoubleChecks wrote:

shoeshine wrote:

r6_philly wrote:
This is patently untrue. It is sad, but untrue nonetheless.

I am going to have to disagree. I got into one of HYS. I turned it down for $ at a different T14 but I literally don't feel any different. Nothing about being at a top school defines who I am.

You know what, on second thought, I may be wrong. People who give a shit about that kind of stuff would have chosen HYS and would have let it define them. I am glad I made the decision I did because this kind of prestige whoring bull-shit pisses me off.

Wow that sounds like bottled rage. You sure you're glad you made the decision you did?

Yeah, I actually really am. I may be in the minority but I have had no trouble finding a firm job for my 1L summer and I love the atmosphere and geographic location of my school. I don't know why someone would chose to go to a school they would like less simply because of some perceived prestige. I can understand if we were talking about the difference between HYS and a T-50 but once you get into the T-14 and T-6 hardly any firm cares.

Again, this may be all my perception but TLS overhypes ranking. I almost didn't go to my school because TLS had me believing I would not be able to find a job at anything but HYS. I am sitting on a couple 1L summer offers for big law and it isn't because of my school. Your school gets you in the door but all my interviews have been about my W/E and other BS.

Sorry for the rant but I am mad that TLS overplays ranking within the T14 so much.

r6_philly wrote:

Tom Joad wrote:I don't know if I will ever know.

But seriously, the more prestigious of schools I get in the more I realize it is all just BS. People aren't different based on the schools they get into. People are people and if I get into Yale tomorrow it isn't really going to change who I am. Maybe just my career, which matters to me, but doesn't really define my value as a person.

You are misunderstanding the point of school prestige.

Your value is perceived by other people. Perception is largely subjective. School/degree is objective. It aid people in forming subjective assessments of you. Funny thing, people don't really want to be completely subjective, so they grasp for objective things they can meaningfully use. Your school/degree/gpa are just the kind of "objective facts" that they are looking for.

A better school may or may not change you (that's discussion for another day), but it changes people's perception. Unfortunately, substantive assessment of people generally happens after screeners. So your value may not have a chance to shine. Having undisputed objective values attached to your name helps you get to the point where people can evaluate your substance.

I mean, does not wearing a suit to an interview change who I am and what I have to offer? Why do I have to wear a nice looking suit?

I am not arguing with you. I am just thinking more of personal self-worth, not worth at OCIs slash hitting on random girls at bars.

I'm sorry but thinking the only difference between YHS and the rest of T14 is "prestige" is just retarded.

Errzii wrote:I'm sorry but thinking the only difference between YHS and the rest of T14 is "prestige" is just retarded.

"Prestige" can be read broadly to cover a lot of things.

Tom Joad wrote: I am not arguing with you. I am just thinking more of personal self-worth, not worth at OCIs slash hitting on random girls at bars.

Then it depends on how you define self-worth. For many people, productivity after school is considered a part of "worth," so career is a part of the calculus. Also, you are probably going to be able to have more freedom to achieve whatever your goals (all else being equal) if you went to HYS, so I think that indirectly contribute to a higher self-worth - if you evaluate your self-worth by what you accomplish in life.

charliep wrote:

flcath wrote:

r6_philly wrote:This is patently untrue. It is sad, but untrue nonetheless.

No kidding. I guarantee this guy (LinkRemoved) gets tons of ass.

I guess if you're ugly/bald/short then an HYS degree doesn't really matter (i.e., I personally am not envious), but a Harvard pedigree on a good-looking bro is prestigious as fuck.

wow, did you let your croakies type that?

Honest opinion, dude. When you meet a 5'8" pudgy dude with a big nose who went to PUG --> HLS, are you envious in any way? Do you think "man, it must be awesome to be him"? Do you think this person carries any of the mystique that an attractive person with an HYS background has?

That's not to say that HYS isn't >>> non-HYS; I'm just saying that when I envy someone (or respect them, for that matter), I can only envy/respect the whole person, not one trait in isolation.

r6_philly wrote:

Tom Joad wrote: I am not arguing with you. I am just thinking more of personal self-worth, not worth at OCIs slash hitting on random girls at bars.

Then it depends on how you define self-worth. For many people, productivity after school is considered a part of "worth," so career is a part of the calculus. Also, you are probably going to be able to have more freedom to achieve whatever your goals (all else being equal) if you went to HYS, so I think that indirectly contribute to a higher self-worth - if you evaluate your self-worth by what you accomplish in life.

Don't get me wrong. Every day I wake up I hope I get int one of the HYS, but there are plenty of happy people who didn't graduate high school, let alone go to HYS. Maybe I think of my self-worth more in terms of happiness and personal relationships.

Tom Joad wrote: Don't get me wrong. Every day I wake up I hope I get int one of the HYS, but there are plenty of happy people who didn't graduate high school, let alone go to HYS. Maybe I think of my self-worth more in terms of happiness and personal relationships.

Just because you are happy doesn't mean you couldn't be happier. I did not get into HYS, but I have no doubt that HYS would open more doors for me to achieve what I want out of life. I am very happy now, but that doesn't in no way mean that I wouldn't achieve the same happiness with less work.

I didn't graduate high school. I am very happy. My self-worth is sky high. I still understand the value of name brand though.

flcath wrote:

charliep wrote:

flcath wrote:

r6_philly wrote:This is patently untrue. It is sad, but untrue nonetheless.

No kidding. I guarantee this guy (LinkRemoved) gets tons of ass.

I guess if you're ugly/bald/short then an HYS degree doesn't really matter (i.e., I personally am not envious), but a Harvard pedigree on a good-looking bro is prestigious as fuck.

wow, did you let your croakies type that?

Honest opinion, dude. When you meet a 5'8" pudgy dude with a big nose who went to PUG --> HLS, are you envious in any way? Do you think "man, it must be awesome to be him"? Do you think this person carries any of the mystique that an attractive person with an HYS background has?

That's not to say that HYS isn't >>> non-HYS; I'm just saying that when I envy someone (or respect them, for that matter), I can only envy/respect the whole person, not one trait in isolation.

i don't know, man. i'd trade places with Danny Devito in a second