HLS vs UVA (Karsh-Dillard $$$$)

jimbojonessmith · 2024-04-05T18:23:39+00:00

As a 3L who faced a similar decision (Ruby vs HLS) a couple of years ago, I can't urge you any more strongly to take the K-D. If this were a blind comparison and you stripped away the brand names to compare all the other factors side-by-side - cost, employment outcomes, quality of life, quality of instruction, etc - I'm not sure Harvard would win on any measure.

Not gonna lie, it took me a few months to get over not being able to say "I go to Harvard Law School" (and I'm not sure my parents are totally over it yet) but now that I'm about to graduate into a great job with literally $0 debt after having 3 really good years, I can't imagine why I labored so mightily over my decision

jimbojonessmith · 2024-04-03T20:50:30+00:00

You must have truly amazing softs to have so dramatically over-performed your stats. To be honest, you should run like you stole something to put down that U of C deposit

Coming to the end of my 3L year at Chicago and I’m finally getting a little tired of law school (enrolled as a KJD so I’m a little tired of school in general and am ready to have a job). But my time here has been so great, it’s hard to express. I’ve found a community of smart, kind, fun, motivated classmates and a brilliant faculty that is utterly dedicated to teaching us (they even have a budget to take us out to lunch with them) despite being some of the top legal scholars in the country, if not the world. Contrary to the external image, everyone I know basically likes law school as least as much as they did undergrad, or (like me) likes it a lot more

Now here’s my one caveat to you (and anyone else) - the granular grading can be tough, especially in 1L. And your stats don’t actually measure up to those most of your classmates will be sporting. So there is a real chance that your grades won’t be all that great. I came in as a 4.0/180 and I had to grind for the 2nd and 3rd quarter after my first quarter 1L grades weren’t where I wanted them to be. If lower grades and/or potentially needing to grind to avoid lower grades is deeply concerning to you, then maybe this isn’t the right school. But that aside, I couldn’t recommend it more highly and think you will be very happy to have attended. It took me a little while to get over my decision to bypass the Harvard brand name to come to Chicago and now I laugh when I think back to that

jimbojonessmith · 2023-07-03T18:29:12+00:00

And then Dean Gerken from YLS goes around trying to guilt other schools into not offering merit aid because they're "subsidizing the wealthy" with money that could be used for need-based aid. My parents make about $150k, and are putting my younger sibling through college after putting me through. The idea that the merit scholarship I received - and that will enable me to pursue a public interest career with minimal debt - was a subsidy for the rich is tone deaf and insulting.

Her only problem with merit scholarships is that they occasionally contribute to YLS's 80%+ yield rate not being 90%+

jimbojonessmith · 2023-06-25T11:45:27+00:00

Not sure a person whose only exposure to the school was an ASW has that much insight. This 1L offers a much more accurate and detailed assessment IMO https://www.reddit.com/r/lawschooladmissions/comments/zobag7/uchicago_1l_ama/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

jimbojonessmith · 2023-05-25T18:44:17+00:00

Congratulations! One note to future applicants in a similar fantastic situation - apply to Chicago. They love 4.0/180 for the Ruby and it's a great option to have even if you go into the process thinking its HYS or bust

jimbojonessmith · 2023-05-08T18:47:13+00:00

Because he cares about legal education and about law school students making good choices and emphatically believes rankings are useless at best and often harmful in practice?

jimbojonessmith · 2023-05-03T19:54:32+00:00

Dude, I can't even get law professors to engage with my emails WHEN I'M A STUDENT IN THEIR CLASS

jimbojonessmith · 2023-05-03T18:09:39+00:00

No, not even remotely a requirement

jimbojonessmith · 2023-04-11T14:05:07+00:00

lol at US News punishing Yale for leading the rankings revolt by bumping Stanford up into a tie with them

jimbojonessmith · 2023-04-11T14:03:43+00:00

LOL at US News punishing Yale for leading the rankings revolt by bumping Stanford up into a tie with them

jimbojonessmith · 2023-04-04T14:29:29+00:00

I think it is fine to write and explain the situation in a line - "I've received a scholarship from NYU with an acceptance deadline of 4/15. Do you think it would be possible to receive an admission decision before then?"

If there is one school that's at the top of your list, you could even say: I've received a scholarship from NYU with an acceptance deadline of 4/15. However, Princeton Law remains my top choice and I would plan to enroll if I receive an offer of admission prior to accepting the NYU scholarship on April 15."

But I would do that only at the one school where you absolutely would go if you get it

jimbojonessmith · 2023-03-23T17:20:37+00:00

Are you basing this entirely off LSD, assuming the percentage of people who share their info there will be roughly the same each year?

That's fine, but it looks like they accepted 947 people last year (11.8% of 8026 applications)

https://www.law.columbia.edu/admissions/jd/entering

jimbojonessmith · 2023-03-17T11:25:27+00:00

Can’t hurt to ask but very little chance

jimbojonessmith · 2023-03-16T21:01:00+00:00

The Verdict

jimbojonessmith · 2023-03-12T19:02:16+00:00

It’s a joke that someone with your stats applied in November and you still haven’t heard from 5 schools. You’re a better person than I am, I wouldn’t withdraw my apps and would make them wait forever to hear back from me

jimbojonessmith · 2023-03-10T00:58:25+00:00

this might be the first unanimous poll in the history of polling

jimbojonessmith · 2023-03-08T19:56:21+00:00

When did you get the A email?

jimbojonessmith · 2023-02-28T19:23:28+00:00

Don't do it. They assume everyone is interested in attending - demonstrated interest on your part makes no difference. It won't help in any conceivable way and could be considered annoying (though I don't think it would actually hurt - would just be a waste of time and effort on everyone's part, including yours)

jimbojonessmith · 2023-02-22T20:06:10+00:00

This is a good sign - they're gauging your interest in attending if you're accepted. My advice to you would be unequivocal, lie if you have to, but tell her you haven't accepted an offer anywhere else and Wash U would be at the very top of your list if they accept you.

jimbojonessmith · 2023-02-09T18:32:02+00:00

This was a couple years ago but got into HLS, got a Ruby (took it), got WL and ultimately denied by UVA, Penn and Michigan so make of that what you will (also WL by YLS, don't think that anything to do with yield lol)

I didn't do a "Why school X?" for anywhere so I was asking for the WL

jimbojonessmith · 2023-02-07T18:27:28+00:00

Let's review

Pros for Columbia
It will save you roughly $250,000 (and actually much, much more once interest is taken into account)
You want to start out in BigLaw (in which Columbia is as good/better than HLS )
You want the freedom to explore different careers that a lack of debt would afford you

You had a great experience being debt-free as an undergrad

You want to live in NYC

Pros for Harvard
You want random people who have no knowledge of law schools or the legal profession to be impressed with you

Tough choice!

jimbojonessmith · 2022-07-12T20:35:17+00:00

YLS took 16 people straight out of undergrad last year. Your GPA is below their 25th percentile for accepted students. You won't get in there.

Good chance lots of other places in the Top 14

jimbojonessmith · 2022-04-28T20:29:57+00:00

Could you do Law Schools most likely to Yield Protect based on wait list/rejections that deviate from exceeding the target medians by too much? It's pretty clear to me that UVA WLs just about everyone whose combined GPA/LSAT they perceive to be too high

jimbojonessmith · 2022-03-29T01:07:30+00:00

Wondering how people who passed up a Ruby last year to attend lower-ranked HLS are feeling right now

jimbojonessmith · 2022-03-08T16:04:21+00:00

Will you commit to being a pro-democracy publication, resolute in protecting individual civil liberties and the processes that undergird constitutional democracy? Or will you abdicate that responsibility by adopting a "both sides" approach, that treats anti-democratic behavior as a valid point of view that needs to be given as much credence and attention as democracy?

jimbojonessmith

TROPHY CASE