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What if you know you're not that particularly bright. Would it be better to go to a slightly lower ranked school where the competition would be easier, for example Duke versus Harvard, in order to have a slightly easier time getting on law review and being more easily able to make good grades in order to get a good clerkship?
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<p>I think a better example would be to use Yale instead of Harvard. That's because of Yale's policy of not ranking its students and not assigning law review spots based on grades. You could graduate last in your class at Yale Law, and it wouldn't be that easy for a prospective employer to determine this. Even if that employer demanded to see your transcript, the employer would not have as easy of a time determining that you graduated last from Yale as they would if you graduated last from Harvard where your class rank is displayed explicitly. A highly discerning and circumspect employer would be able to determine that you didn't do all that well, but certainly it's not easy for them to know that you graduated last, whereas if you graduate last at Harvard, that fact is clearly shown by your class rank.</p>