<p>Hekau - I think akx06’s numbers verify what I was talking about in my post. Outside of Chicago Law, I don’t think Chicago places nearly as well as its peers. A look at the Yale Law stats verifies this. In comparing Chicago (roughly 1200 students per class) to its peer schools of roughly the same size (or where Chicago is bigger), here’s how the breakdown works out:</p>
<p>Columbia (roughly 1k students per class): 30
Dartmouth (around 1k per class): 15
Brown (around 1400 per class): 17
Princeton (roughly 1200 per class): 24
Williams (roughly 1/3 the size of Chicago): 7
Amherst (roughly 1/3 the size of Chicago): 9
Chicago: 8</p>
<p>Chicago is readily outpaced by all of its immediate peers. </p>
<p>In terms of Chicago students “seeking” schools that are “more theoretical” than Harvard, perhaps this may be true, but law school is law school - outside of Yale, law schools generally have the same feel, the same approach to academic subjects, and prestige of the school matters the MOST. If more Chicago students could gain admission to Harvard, they would go their in droves. The problem is, just not many Chicago students are getting into Harvard. </p>
<p>I was serious for a while about law school while I attended Chicago, and my pre-law advisor gave me the same advice (do internships, study abroad, broaden your skills, blah blah), and that advice is garbage. It’s frankly quite disappointing that the current administration at Chicago is still feeding its undergrads this ridiculous information. Now more than ever, the reputation of the law school matters the most, and law schools care primarily about GPA and LSAT. That’s it. Maybe a great internship will serve as a tiebreaker at some schools, but GPA and LSAT MUST be high. Kids at other schools know this, at Chicago for some reason, the administration continues to pull wool over the undergrads’ eyes. </p>
<p>Again, the academic environment at Chicago is second to none. I enjoyed my time at Chicago, but it’s crazy that the administration has not at least caught on to advising students appropriately. While this may sound uncouth, when I was doing grad work at Penn, the undergrads had a lot more savvy about the entire pre-law process. They picked classes they enjoyed but also always had an eye to maximizing their GPA, and they took the LSAT very, very seriously. At chicago, my peers would be fine getting Bs in classes, and they usually wound up taking the LSAT without as much preparation. </p>
<p>For your son, I would tell him that, if he really, REALLY wants law school, be sharp during shopping week every quarter - take the classes that are interesting but are also with the profs who are more lenient in their grading. Study HARD for the LSAT. Take a prep course, get individual tutoring, whatever, to do well on it. There is NO boost given to Chicago applicants in competition with Chicago’s direct peers (Duke, Columbia, etc.). A 3.7 from Columbia beats a 3.5 from Chicago EVERY TIME. </p>
<p>Does Brown really have DOUBLE the number of qualified, capable candidates as Chicago? Does Columbia really have TRIPLE the number of capable candidates at Chicago? My answer would be a resounding NO, but the structure and feel of Chicago works against applicants looking to go to law school. It’s unfortunate, and I was sorely hoping this had changed after I left the U of C. From the numbers I can see, however, it still looks like Chicago’s numbers are, sadly, pretty pathetic. </p>
<p>(Now, most people who attend law school - even the best ones - end up hating the law and their profession. This is why I wound up not going, but this is a conversation to have with your son perhaps at another time ;-)</p>