<p>One way to approach this question is to google the list of White Shoe law firms. These are considered prestigious law firms. Not an exclusive list of successful firms by any means. But a good reference nevertheless. Go through the bios of the partners of these law firms, and most of the associates. What you will see, in most cases, are educations to both Ivy undergrads and Ivy law schools. Are there exceptions? of course. Can someone go on to a top school without coming from an Ivy? of course. But down the road, the Ivy undergrad will clearly help you getting into law school, and in landing that nice position. And you know what? Ok, it may cost you an extra 20K a year. So take a loan! Because the extra money you spend to attend one of the finest, if not the finest, universities in the world, is a pittance compared to the benefits that you will receive over your lifetime.</p>
<p>Whenever I see statements such as this one, I marvel at the breadth of experience some people must have to feel comfortable making the judgment that the on-the-ground educational experience at Berkeley or UVa would be that much better than the experience at the University of Washington. I wish when such statements were made that people would provide their bona fides. (“Having spent X amount a time on all of these campuses, I feel that …” “Having received degrees from all of the schools in question, my experience suggests …” “Having reviewed the CVs of the faculty in each school and compared them, I have concluded that …” That sort of thing.) The little I know suggests that these are all fine public institutions of higher education. Someone would have to produce some pretty compelling data for me to believe that a good student could not get an equivalent educational experience at UW versus one of these other public institutions with a higher cachet. </p>
<p>As for UW vs. Harvard: Look, if the finances are manageable and the OP wants to go to Harvard, then he or she should go. By all means. The fact that the OP seems concerned about the $80K price tag (hence the thread?) makes me wonder how anyone could toss out a “What’s $80K? It’s Harvard!” type of response.</p>
<p>Hitch123’s suggestion that the OP should make the decision based on the difference in the “friends/colleagues” he or she could acquire is, IMO, the silliest one yet.</p>