Son Admitted From Harvard Waitlist. Need Help Deciding

[Anonymous]

While this may well be a troll OP, I do think the comments my the Harvard boosters says a lot about that community. If your will not mind being around people you are outright shaming people about considering these two options - then by all means attend Harvard. Having been around people from Harvard there are many , many there who use that as a tool to manipulate. There are good people at Harvard as well. I told my kid he could not apply there. With the open curriculum, I do think Brown is a good school for self starters. Kudos to your kid for having these choices.

[Anonymous]

My friend's kid got into Harvard Law from Brown. As others have said, law schools really care about grades + LSAT scores. So, your son should just pick which school he likes best and study very hard. Shocking to some...if a candidate has a perfect LSAT score, it will matter more than where they went to undergrad.

Princeton had notoriously bad grade DEFLATION for years. That meant many of their grads had issues getting into top law, MBA or Medical School Programs. My daughter's best friend from Princeton ended up at AU Law...what a waste!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son was recently admitted from the Harvard waitlist. He was all set to attend Brown. Normally, it would be an instant "yes," but the Harvard cap on A's has him hesitating. While he isn't entirely sure about his career path, he's considering law school and is worried that a lower GPA will hurt his post-grad chances. What does everyone think?

Apparently your kid is smart/connected enough to get into two ivies and requesting college advice on anonymous forum?

Feel better? Interesting how often people will go out of their way to be a jerk.

Around here, that’s not a very far trip.

[Anonymous]

My husband had a recent grad from Brown who graduated Summa and was so incompetent he had to fire her after six months.

Nice fairy tale. Brown abolished summa at least 40 years ago.

[Anonymous]

A Harvard booster is an oxymoron.

[Anonymous]

My 2 cents: we don't know the future. 4 years is a long time considering a lot has changed in the past 4 months due to AI ... Don't pick based on the end results, choose a school that is the best fit and the kid enjoys the process the most. Presence is more important than the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friend's kid got into Harvard Law from Brown. As others have said, law schools really care about grades + LSAT scores. So, your son should just pick which school he likes best and study very hard. Shocking to some...if a candidate has a perfect LSAT score, it will matter more than where they went to undergrad.

Princeton had notoriously bad grade DEFLATION for years. That meant many of their grads had issues getting into top law, MBA or Medical School Programs. My daughter's best friend from Princeton ended up at AU Law...what a waste!

How is that a waste? Your thinking is all twisted and weird

I also know people from Harvard, Stanford, etc who end up at no name law schools, med schools, etc. The Princeton grads I know personally went to Harvard, Yale, and Columbia law schools. There are several doctors in the mix too. I'm sure there are grads who went to lower ranking law schools too but that's not a reason to discount the entire school.

[Anonymous]

Go to Harvard and STFU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Law school aside, the A cap at Harvard will lead to more competition and less collaboration among students. Study groups, sharing tips, etc., will be out of the window for many students. I wouldn't go, honestly. Not now.

No one knows that. And it doesn't start until fall 2027, so OP's kid would have a normal year under the old regime.

[Anonymous]

has he considered Carleton?

[Anonymous]

Let your son decide. Both are great schools and he should be proud of his accomplishments. The issue here is the focus on grades and not on learning and picking the best fit. To get the most out of his education, he should focus on the experience and not be afraid of a challenge. He’ll be able to get into law school from either. There’s not only one acceptable law school or path to success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son was recently admitted from the Harvard waitlist. He was all set to attend Brown. Normally, it would be an instant "yes," but the Harvard cap on A's has him hesitating. While he isn't entirely sure about his career path, he's considering law school and is worried that a lower GPA will hurt his post-grad chances. What does everyone think?

If your son is considering law school, you should pick Harvard because Harvard Law takes a large cohort of Harvard undergrads in each year, about 8 to 12%. So he will have a boost - and, Princeton doesn't have a law school. Of course, he would have to have top LSAT and top grades from undergrad to be one of those selected (classmates of mine went overseas to get a master's degree while studying for the LSAT and then reapplied and got in the second time).
The new policy doesn't start until fall 2027, and probably will be modified as Harvard compares it's grade readjustment plan to Yale's. , so your son have a year in the yard (a good thing) under the regular grading system.

HLS will know, of course, about the new grade system when it is implemented and will take that into consideration when looking at applications, just as any other good law school in the U.S., because everyone knows what is taking place.

To give you an idea of how difficult it is to get into Harvard Law, here are the stats at the 75th percentile: 4.0 GPA and a 176 LSAT. Even the median student has a GPA between 3.89 and 4.00 and an LSAT of 171 to 176. Many, many Harvard College undergrads go on to very fine law schools all over the nation.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure the snarky responders here understand how much law schools care about GPA. My understanding (I'm not an expert but my kid is aiming for law school so I've been paying attention) is that law schools don't care that much about pedigree of UG school but care a ton about GPA. Obviously, law schools will also love to admit Harvard students so it may be that a low GPA at Harvard will be viewed differently than a low GPA at Penn or somewhere else. It's hard to say, really.

Everyone paying attention knows it's easier to get a high GPA at Brown than at Future-Harvard. I don't think it will matter for other professions (consulting and Wall Street just kind of want about a 3.5 and then don't compare-- at least that's my understanding). But for Law School... I'd honestly think twice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Law school aside, the A cap at Harvard will lead to more competition and less collaboration among students. Study groups, sharing tips, etc., will be out of the window for many students. I wouldn't go, honestly. Not now.

I agree that this is a likely scenario. Not at the extreme, most likely, but I bet it does change the culture on the margins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure the snarky responders here understand how much law schools care about GPA. My understanding (I'm not an expert but my kid is aiming for law school so I've been paying attention) is that law schools don't care that much about pedigree of UG school but care a ton about GPA. Obviously, law schools will also love to admit Harvard students so it may be that a low GPA at Harvard will be viewed differently than a low GPA at Penn or somewhere else. It's hard to say, really.

Everyone paying attention knows it's easier to get a high GPA at Brown than at Future-Harvard. I don't think it will matter for other professions (consulting and Wall Street just kind of want about a 3.5 and then don't compare-- at least that's my understanding). But for Law School... I'd honestly think twice.

Your understanding is incorrect. There are about 15 to 20 feeder schools where law schools will take a number of kids for each school. Harvard kids get slots at most of the top schools, but in particular, a large number at both Harvard and Yale. Harvard also had the largest contingent at UPenn law when I attended. LSAT still matters a lot, but that isn’t going to be an issue for most kids.

Outside feeder schools , it’s gpa and lsat and its fight it out among your classmates for that one slot your school might get at a T14.