<p>Oh -- that's actually a pretty good question. I'm curious myself, now that you mention it.</p>
<p>My experience is that it is better to be a staff member on the THE law review than an editor of another journal. There may be exceptions with certain journals at certain schools for certain career paths. Georgetown's American Criminal Law Review is very well respected for example.</p>
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I know that a distinction is often made in the career prospects / exit opportunities for those attending T14 schools vs. other schools, but what about within the T14?
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Yes, and that's another major advantage to attending HYS. A student in the bottom of his class at Harvard will still probably have multiple biglaw offers. The student in the bottom of his class at Georgetown probably won't. A few of the T14's also allow employers to pre-screen students for on-campus interviews, which can dramatically affect the employment prospects for students not in the top of the class.
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<p>I agree with Americanski on this one. In addition, it should be said that a degree from HLS/YLS/SLS can greatly aid you in getting a non-law job, for the same reason that getting any degree from Harvard, Yale, or Stanford can provide you with access to a wide variety of careers, i.e. management consulting, investment banking, entrepreneurship, industry management, and so forth. The recruiters for those kinds of jobs are always hanging around campus and the alumni networks at those schools provides you with excellent opportunities to find jobs. </p>
<p>As a case in point, my brother went to Stanford for grad school and he tells me that numerous Stanford engineering and science MS and PhD grads don't take jobs in science/engineering, instead opting for consulting or banking. He even knows a few guys who didn't bother even completing their master's, but instead dropped out to take jobs at (admittedly smaller boutique, yet still quite high-paying) consulting firms. </p>
<p>If those guys can do that, then surely the SLS grads can do the same. YLS and HLS grads surely have the same opportunities.</p>
<p>I think it makes a much bigger difference than some of the previous posters do. I do agree that "biglaw" isn't where it makes the biggest difference, although there are firms at which it does. (One of my kid's friends, who attended a ls in the 7-14 group and was on law review there was the FIRST person from his law school EVER hired by one top firm. It was a huge deal when he got the job--which is why I know about it. Normally, that firm doesn't hire anyone who attended a law school below the top 6. )</p>
<p>The biggest difference from what I've seen is actually in the "hot" public interest type jobs, where there are a gazillion people who want a very limited number of jobs. There, every slight edge matters.</p>
<p>The data in post #5 were few years old. Northwestern jumped to #2 and sent 73.5% of its 2007 graduates to NLJ 250 firms. Columbia was #1.</p>
<p>Law.com</a> - Top Law Schools Tighten Their Hold on NLJ 250 Firms</p>
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Yes, and that's another major advantage to attending HYS. A student in the bottom of his class at Harvard will still probably have multiple biglaw offers. The student in the bottom of his class at Georgetown probably won't.
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<p>That’s b/c both H & G are both huge schools.</p>
<p>W/ regard to this, I would separate out H from Y & S. </p>
<p>Generally, being at the bottom of H’s class isn’t seen as a positive, since being at the bottom of such a large class doesn’t exactly bring a level of “confidence”.</p>
<p>There’s a reason why the atmosphere at Y & S is significantly more laid back than at H.</p>
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That’s b/c both H & G are both huge schools.</p>
<p>W/ regard to this, I would separate out H from Y & S.</p>
<p>Generally, being at the bottom of H’s class isn’t seen as a positive, since being at the bottom of such a large class doesn’t exactly bring a level of “confidence”.</p>
<p>There’s a reason why the atmosphere at Y & S is significantly more laid back than at H.
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<p>How would the fact that both schools are huge account for the significantly higher percentage of H grads getting biglaw jobs? A student in the 35th percentile of his class at HLS has about the same employment opportunities as a student in the 60th percentile of his class at GULC. So despite having roughly similar-sized classes, Harvard has over 100 more students with a chance to work in biglaw. That's why I think this is where you see the biggest difference, because it affects more people. The fact that Harvard is also better for ultra-competitive jobs only matters to a small group at the top of the class.</p>
<p>Yale and Stanford are also more laid-back because they have so many pass/fail classes. There's really no "bottom" of the class at YLS, at least for 1Ls.</p>
<p>I agree that an advantage of HYS will be opportunities for important clerkships. The son of a friend just started clerking for Justice Scalia. He graduated first in his class a year ago from Harvard at age 22 and was the only grad of his year to graduate summa cum laude, a rarity. This is obviously an amazing young man, and not the norm, even at Harvard. In addition to this, he's a Canadian which also makes it all the more impressive that he got this clerkship. From what I've heard, the group will include a good smattering of grads from Harvard and Yale, Georgetown, GW, and one from Pepperdine.</p>
<p>Wow - alwaysamom - what an interesting opportunity. Personally, I can't think of anything that would be more "personally" challenging for me than clerking for Scalia. An acquaintance of mine clerked for Justice O'Connor and I think every job after that paled in comparison. The federal clerkships generally open so many doors. I work with firms that oten will not hire a lateral without a clerkship.</p>
<p>cartera, this young man is, as the kids say, an uber-Conservative, so he should be fine with Scalia. :) He already has a resume, at 23, which would impress many if he were 40! It will be interesting to see where his career takes him.</p>
<p>Well if he needs any help finding a job, let me know!!</p>
<p>cartera, will do! :) It's funny, although all of my kids are definitely not in political alignment with this boy, they still very much admire him. He had some real challenges at his undergrad university here in Toronto because of his ultra right wing politics. I am truly anxious to see how his life unfolds.</p>
<p>Yale
Harvard
Stanford
Columbia
NYU
Berkley
University of Chicago tied with Penn
Northwestern
Michigan tied with UVA
Cornell tied with Duke
Georgetown</p>
<p>Search</a> - Law - Best Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report</p>