Which law school should I attend?

[Niwa]

YALE! umm.. Harvard.

[henrikrh]

To the OP: Let's end this thread:

Brixton Academy of International Jurisprudence Studies.

Do you see why?

[waxie]

I would say either Columbia or Harvard. Both are excellent schools and you'll get a taste of life in the big city.

[eviljeff]

[ QUOTE ]
I would say either Columbia or Harvard. Both are excellent schools and you'll get a taste of life in the big city.

[/ QUOTE ]

uh, Harvard is in Cambridge.

[The Bear]

You should obviously go to Harvard. I'm shocked that you would even consider anything else unless there are unknown factors.

You caught a very nice break by getting in with only a 170 and a Syracuse degree. Don't blow it.

[beenben]

Harvard is not the best practically but it's a great place to meet people and source for networking. Go look at martindale hubble or the bios for lawyers at big successful law firms - they all have oodles of people from Harvard. Wtih a Harvard J.D. you don't need to be at the top of the class to have an impressive resume. NYU and Columbia are also good.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I would say either Columbia or Harvard. Both are excellent schools and you'll get a taste of life in the big city.

[/ QUOTE ]

uh, Harvard is in Cambridge.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
People talk about Boston vs. New York, but it's actually Cambridge vs. New York. True, Boston is only a subway trip away, but I think it's unlikely you'd spend much time there. Obviously you should visit both areas and see what you like. Personally I hated Cambridge and I love NY.

[/ QUOTE ]

You can't really compare Cambridge to NYC like this. Harvard is as close to Boston (and as easy to get to) as Columbia is to the Upper West Side. it's only 3 short stops on the T.

if you're gonna say you "won't spend time in Boston" then you to be fair, you really need to say "you're not gonna leave campus at either place". anywho, Harvard Sq. is a great neighborhood. No doubt, Cambridge/Boston is much different than NYC.

[Wynton]

I would choose Harvard quickly.

A thousand years ago when I had to make the decision, I remember wanting to go to NYU over Georgetown, among other reasons because I was (and still am) a diehard New Yorker. I ended up attending Georgetown. And whatever the merits of those two schools, I am positive, looking back at this all, that the location should have been among the least important factors.

Law school goes pretty quickly. But the connections you make at the schools can last your whole career. And while the difference in the reputation of many of these schools fades in importance after you've had a couple of jobs, it will always be a distinguishing feature that you attended Harvard.

[cokehead]

most of the advice in this thread sucks. Harvard obviously has the best reputation among these schools, but the benefit you will get from it would only be very slight over schools like Columbia and NYU. Some firms may even prefer NYU/Columbia over Harvard (see places like Wachtell, arguably the most prestigous firm in the world)

But in the end, the opportunities for OP's stated goal will be enormous afrer graduating from any of these schools. If a firm was picking between 3 people with the same grades from these 3 schools, they are most likely going to make their decision on some other factor, like personality, than on the school's reputation.

But the benefit of these 3 schools over Cornell will be much larger, so if its only between Cornell and Harvard, I agree and say Harvard for sure.

[Soya]

I went to a top ten, clerked for federal judge, and am now at a strong West Coast firm. I have a bit of a different perspective. It is probably the case that one of two things will happen grade-wise for you. Either you will rock the house, in which case you should go to Harvard, or you will be in the middle of the pack, in which case you should go to Harvard. In both cases you're going to have more options if you go to Harvard.
I've done recruiting for my firm and can tell you with certainty that there is a difference between Harvard and Columbia. We draw a lower line at Harvard than Columbia. So unless you have a strong preference for NY over Cambridge and feel very confident that you can rise above the middle of the pack at Columbia then I'd go to Harvard.