<p>I think Harvard is wayyyyyy overrated, and that Columbia, NYU, and Chicago would make sense as an alternative for many people. I could justify Harvard only for the clerkship and academia boost it gives. Other than that, sign me up for something else.</p>
<p>Hm. Say a student was juggling offers from those four programs. What would the disadvantage to Harvard be?</p>
<p>I don’t think it would be disadvantageous, insomuch as the perceived prestige often tends to cause one to ignore one’s subjective preferences.</p>
<p>I think the main advantages of other law schools over HLS comes in terms of class size and particular expertise. While HLS is no doubt a good school, it’s not good in everything. NYU is particularly strong in tax and jurisprudence. If you’re interested in either of those fields, NYU would seem like the logical choice. </p>
<p>Those are the only “disadvantages” I can think of. Perhaps also the disadvantage of living in Cambridge/Boston?</p>
<p>I don’t know. I used to be obsessed with the place. But I eventually realized my obsession was just based on a name, and that I actually liked other schools… and that those schools didn’t necessarily hurt my career prospects for what I wanted to do. Granted, HLS rejected me, so I can’t say the it wouldn’t have been tempting, or even that I wouldn’t have taken it… I’m rambling.</p>
<p>Main Point: For what you want to do, other schools might be just as good as getting there. Chasing after prestige will just lead to disappointment (especially if you “just” get into NYU; not exactly the most jaw-dropping name of a law school, from what I understand).</p>
<p>i think flower is saying that if you fall in love with Chicago Law and happen to love the city of Chicago, it is not a terrible decision to go there over Harvard. if all else is literally equal, i think most would say go Harvard. </p>
<p>the more relevant comparison that comes up quite a bit is say NYU full ride vs Harvard. In that type of situation, many would say go NYU.</p>
<p>While NYU is very good in tax, reality in my world–YMMV–is that you’ll still need a LLM in tax if you want to be a tax partner at a top BIGLAW firm. So, it makes more sense to go to Harvard and get a LLM in tax at NYU. I don’t think going to NYU over Harvard for jurisprudence makes any sense at all, at least if the cost is the same. </p>
<p>Oh, and as far as I know, every year, some folks who get 11s in the file review are admitted to Yale. It’s not necessary to get a 12, though the majority of those admitted do. As far as I know–I may be out of date–there’s never been a year in which there were enough 12s to fill the class. </p>
<p>From what I have seen, Yale is more likely to admit “stories” than Harvard is–folks who have good but not outstanding (in this context ) numbers but have interesting life stories–the guy who went to prison and then to Brown, for example. He got the laws of the state of Rhode Island changed so that ex-cons can vote there and represented himself and successfully avoided being deported after his release from prison. (I haven’t a clue what his LSAT was. Nor do I know whether he was admitted to Harvard Law. I just mean that he’s the kind of “story” that Yale is more likely to admit.) Someone who spent a number of years in a federal pen definitely brings a different perspective!</p>
<p>But for the plain old “vanilla” law school applicant, it’s highly probable that if you get into Yale you’ll get into Harvard.</p>
<p>Again this is all just my opinion. If you want academia+clerkships, I think HLS is the clear choice above CCN. For biglaw, I’m not so sure the distinction really matters.</p>
<p>And let’s face it, most people intend to (or by accident) go into big law.</p>
<p>Well, don’t forget that clerkships can be an important part of Biglaw.</p>
<p>In this economy? I don’t know. I’m skeptical.</p>
<p>Many firms are refusing to take back their associates who went to clerk, and others are either not giving them bonuses or not rating them with class. Also, biglaw clerk hiring is not exactly going well these days.</p>
<p>So I don’t know. Clerking seems like a risky proposition these days.</p>
<p>Has anyone gotten into both, decided and why?</p>
<p>to a layman: harvard as a better ring than yale even though yale is #1 plus harvard is not in the middle of nowhere lol</p>