Law school- Yale vs UC Berkeley

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yale grad. I get lots of job offers just because I went to Yale, even 20 years later.

I'm this PP. I'm not sure people who went to other law schools really appreciate how much this happens. I asked a few friends to look at my resume recently because I'm a government employee and we were all brushing off our resumes, and the non-Yale friends all suggested moving my academic credentials to the bottom of my resume because I graduated a long time ago. That is the common rule. The other Yale grads did not make that suggestion because they know that, as unfair as it is, we get a big bump for having gone to Yale, even if it was ages ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yale opens doors for years. I’m a Fed mid career attorney getting ready to start applying to jobs when they shut my agency down, and grateful to have YLS on the resume even though I kind of hated it when there and suffered through 4 years of Biglaw to pay off the loans.

That said if you plan to stay in CA your whole career, Boalt is quite respected. But it isn’t respected in the same way on the East Coast. (No idea about Midwest.) Whereas YLS is known everywhere. So factor that in too.

I honestly think you are wrong about Yale opening doors mid-career. Yes a T10 law school (and law review) probably counts, but your achievements and connections matter MUCH more. Massive debt even if from Yale can cripple an early career where making those connections and gaining experience is important. But for a person who is going to go to Biglaw anyway - sure choose Yale for the marginal increases benefit. Although personally I would like to be able to quit Biglaw without worrying about debt in any event.

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP. I’ve seen way too many Yale grads trying to rely on the name when they really weren’t that great attorneys. It’s kind of stereotypical. I worked with an attorney at my agency - mid level attorney in his 30s - and the first thing he said when he introduced himself to the group is that he went to Yale law school. We all still snicker about it when we talk about him. It might fly more for a junior associate looking for summer associate or entry level positions in BigLaw, but once you’re in your 30s it doesn’t matter.

[Anonymous]

Yale is the most selective in US and not to be missed!

[Anonymous]

Please stop calling it Boalt. They changed the name for a reason. (Berkeley Law alum)

[Anonymous]

Back in the day, I turned down a full tuition scholarship from NYU and full tuition plus a stipend from U Mich so that I could go to YLS. I did get some financial aid from YLS but it was still expensive. I have no regrets. People are still impressed by it, and the actual law school experience there was phenomenal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Human rights law.

You need a backup plan. There are more than a million practicing lawyers in this country and I’d estimate that less than 500 practice “human rights law.” Those that do are poorly paid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale opens doors for years. I’m a Fed mid career attorney getting ready to start applying to jobs when they shut my agency down, and grateful to have YLS on the resume even though I kind of hated it when there and suffered through 4 years of Biglaw to pay off the loans.

That said if you plan to stay in CA your whole career, Boalt is quite respected. But it isn’t respected in the same way on the East Coast. (No idea about Midwest.) Whereas YLS is known everywhere. So factor that in too.

I honestly think you are wrong about Yale opening doors mid-career. Yes a T10 law school (and law review) probably counts, but your achievements and connections matter MUCH more. Massive debt even if from Yale can cripple an early career where making those connections and gaining experience is important. But for a person who is going to go to Biglaw anyway - sure choose Yale for the marginal increases benefit. Although personally I would like to be able to quit Biglaw without worrying about debt in any event.

How could you possibly know that if you're not a Yale grad?

Although honestly, if you're a person who got into Yale, you will probably do fine in your career no matter where you go to law school.

[Anonymous]

I turned down a free ride at Georgetown to go to Yale. (I also turned down boalt, Harvard and Columbia.) I think it was the right choice. I did get financial aid at Yale so wasn’t paying full price. Plus Yale has the most generous public interest loan repayment program in the country and also provides little extras like a free interview suit stipend for students on financial aid. Yale is much smaller so there’s a lot less scraping to prove yourself and you basically know every single person in your class.
If you just want to go to a firm or work on government in California. I’d say boalt is fine and I’d do that rather than incur the debt for Yale. But if you really want to do human rights law, I think Yale is worth taking out the loans. Yale also has a couple post grad fellowships specific to yls grads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with PP. I’ve seen way too many Yale grads trying to rely on the name when they really weren’t that great attorneys. It’s kind of stereotypical. I worked with an attorney at my agency - mid level attorney in his 30s - and the first thing he said when he introduced himself to the group is that he went to Yale law school. We all still snicker about it when we talk about him. It might fly more for a junior associate looking for summer associate or entry level positions in BigLaw, but once you’re in your 30s it doesn’t matter.

Honestly, you all sound like a bunch of jealous, gossiping schoolgirls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Human rights law.

You need a backup plan. There are more than a million practicing lawyers in this country and I’d estimate that less than 500 practice “human rights law.” Those that do are poorly paid.

If you go to Yale, you’re much less likely to need a backup plan. The people I went to law school with all did pretty much exactly what they wanted post graduation. I think most of the ones that wanted to do human rights law did eventually transition to academia or government roles, but that was more because doing pure human rights law for decades is a hard life, and academia or government is usually the next step. But some of them head non profits that do human rights work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale grad. I get lots of job offers just because I went to Yale, even 20 years later.

I'm this PP. I'm not sure people who went to other law schools really appreciate how much this happens. I asked a few friends to look at my resume recently because I'm a government employee and we were all brushing off our resumes, and the non-Yale friends all suggested moving my academic credentials to the bottom of my resume because I graduated a long time ago. That is the common rule. The other Yale grads did not make that suggestion because they know that, as unfair as it is, we get a big bump for having gone to Yale, even if it was ages ago.

That's partially because you are a government attorney and you could be from the middle of your class at a Random Third Tier just as easily as Yale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale grad. I get lots of job offers just because I went to Yale, even 20 years later.

I'm this PP. I'm not sure people who went to other law schools really appreciate how much this happens. I asked a few friends to look at my resume recently because I'm a government employee and we were all brushing off our resumes, and the non-Yale friends all suggested moving my academic credentials to the bottom of my resume because I graduated a long time ago. That is the common rule. The other Yale grads did not make that suggestion because they know that, as unfair as it is, we get a big bump for having gone to Yale, even if it was ages ago.

That's partially because you are a government attorney and you could be from the middle of your class at a Random Third Tier just as easily as Yale.

Who’s snobbish now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please stop calling it Boalt. They changed the name for a reason. (Berkeley Law alum)

You may refer to it as Berkeley Law but it will always be Boalt Hall to me. Honor John’s legacy and his patriotism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale grad. I get lots of job offers just because I went to Yale, even 20 years later.

I'm this PP. I'm not sure people who went to other law schools really appreciate how much this happens. I asked a few friends to look at my resume recently because I'm a government employee and we were all brushing off our resumes, and the non-Yale friends all suggested moving my academic credentials to the bottom of my resume because I graduated a long time ago. That is the common rule. The other Yale grads did not make that suggestion because they know that, as unfair as it is, we get a big bump for having gone to Yale, even if it was ages ago.

That's partially because you are a government attorney and you could be from the middle of your class at a Random Third Tier just as easily as Yale.

Isn't that an argument *for* listing it at the top? To differentiate himself from his random third tier co-workers? Like it or not, it *is* a differentiator.