Its 4:00 am I literally just got back from visiting the NYU campus in Shanghai for Admitted Students Weekend. The whole thing was amazing but I was feeling annoyed most of the time because I was, apparently, rejected from NYU NY (my first choice) and accepted to NYU SH (my second). I have two days to put deposits down on one of these schools- Brandeis in MA or NYU in China. When comparing NYU to Brandeis the two seem similar (but these comparable stats are for NYU NY as NYU SH is not developed enough to have its own stats). Contrary to everyone on here’s hating on the prestige of NYU SH it seemed to me like a very put together school; the newest (and only) graduating class seems to be doing very well with many attending graduate school at places like Columbia and Harvard (keep in mind this is coming from a group of 180 non-Chinese, foreign students- the small pool of students getting into such great programs is more remarkable than the same number coming from a massive state school or even NYU NY). Also, many of my peers at ASW were comparing NYU SH to places like Brown, Columbia, and Dartmouth (more concentrated, smart pool of kids than what I have experienced at NYU NY- bc of the bigger size it will obviously have a wider range).
Ultimately, my absolute dream is Harvard Law School. My dad went there, the acceptance rate is 15% (doable) and I love the area. While I am sure a good student from any walk of life is capable of getting in if they put the right spin on their application, I want to know if choosing one of my options over the other could hurt my chances. I know that one student from the senior class of this year (in Shanghai) got into Harvard Law and I am aware that Brandeis students from the 2017-2018 round at Harvard also got in. I want to be fluent in Chinese because, as a native Norwegian, I feel like it could give me a unique and useful edge. But, I could do the same thing at Brandeis if I took summer immersion courses at more prestigious programs like Princeton’s in Beijing. So- is it NYU SH for the unique appeal of a Norwegian in China with the name brand of NYU attached to it OR the nicely-ranked and the (in my opinion) lesser known Brandeis University (it would take more effort but I could STILL manage to have the Chinese fluency edge at courses like that of Princeton which is MORE prestigious and notable than even NYU). I am thinking NYU SH might be a more high-risk, high-reward situation but from what I have heard (on here alone) it doesn’t have the greatest rep.
Question: Between my options which, in your humble opinions, has the better reputation and the prestige to get me into the law school of my dreams(assume I achieve the same GPA in the same major in each)?
Sorry for the length of this I am too tired to cut it down but if you skimmed to this point, Thank You. I value any and all opinions- would really like some sort of justifications for your opinions, though (if possible) just to give me a better picture.