Daughter is staying on HLS wait list for now but the cost of attendance difference between Duke and HLS is so big she may or may not accept an offer at HLS if she gets the call. As her parents we’d like to be able to say that she goes to Harvard but I’m not sure being able to say that is worth the $160K delta between Duke with a scholarship and HLS at list price. She did send in a letter of continued interest
Hank C, a very high percentage of undergraduates preparing for law school feel that they can score 175 on the LSAT or easily break 170. A 175 is at the 99.5 percentile or the top 1 score out of 200 folks taking the LSAT. About 100,000 applicants take the LSAT each year and many applicants take the LSAT more than once. There are between 200 and 300 applicants in total each year testing at this level. It is certainly possible that you might score this highly but it is not a slam dunk
^^if your D is interested in a unicorn job (law professor, feeder clerkship, ACLU, international human rights…), HLS might be worth the financial hit. Otherwise, only if the 'rents are wealthy. (It’s amazing how many full pay students attend the T6 bcos they can easily afford to.)
I chose HLS over other top-10 schools with merit aid. I’m glad that I did. The alumni network is huge since HLS is so much larger than many other law schools, and the Harvard-wide alumni network is massive and has helped even when I worked abroad. Plus coming from HLS there is no stress about getting a job of the type and in the location that you want.
A student coming from Duke or Columbia may well end up having the same career as someone from HLS but HLS placement rates are somewhat better than Duke so there is that small chance that going to Duke will result in different prospects. Duke and Columbia are both amazing schools though so none of them are bad choices though.
If you’re jealous of me, you shouldn’t be.
You’ll do well. Just focus on doing your best and don’t focus on what anyone else has or hasn’t done.