Old article - look at the stats I posted upstream - perhaps schools have changed the profile.
Don’t OP can ask Yale - who lists 170 colleges represented from 2020 - 24 and has just over 200 kids in a class. They are 57% students of color - I don’t know OPs ethnicity or that it matters. But as I showed many are getting in from what for this discussion would be less pedigree.
As for Harvard, in this current first year class - 561 kids represented by 147 institutions.
One could argue that elite kids have a better chance - and I would not suggest otherwise. It’s just those elite kid chose schools like WVU, Georgia State, Kansas State, UCF, Mizzou and so many more I put upthread when they went to undergrad.
And I personally think everyone needs to stop and realize - we are not talking about UVA vs. Yale. We are talking about a Jefferson Scholar - which is such a cut above UVA - or maybe 5 cuts!!
Anyway, let’s hope OP and their family is able to come to the conclusion that best benefits them.
Actually the quote is “Although many recruiters actually believed that graduates of non-elite law schools were more prepared for the practical aspects of being a lawyer”. Being better prepared for practical aspects of being a lawyer is not the same as being better prepared to practice. Top tier law schools teach law from a philosophical and policy point of view, with more of an emphasis on how the law has evolved and why vs what the law currently is. Lower tier law schools are more focused on black letter law and a lot of the nuts and bolts of practice.
The OP is NOT wedded to law school! They also mentioned politics or finance as a possible career. So can we stop parsing law school admissions?
Yale will always, and in virtually all contexts, be shorthand for “smart, hardworking, elite, impressive” which will follow the OP around for the rest of their lives.
I am not advocating for one school or the other, just bringing up a point not already discussed (at least, I think).
At this point it seems pretty clear that both schools are financially possible and that there isn’t a wrong choice. That’s what the OP needs to hear. And the decision is entirely personal and specific to the OP’S reasons and their feelings, not ours.
An LSAT score in the 99th percentile was a 175 or above in 2023. This will get the attention of all Top 14 law schools.
I do agree that an SAT score of 1600 is less of a ticket, but it almost always will lead to generous scholarship awards from many state flagship universities assuming that the student’s GPA is also high.
I agree that finances are important and one should not go into significant debt chasing prestige.
I am in agreement with your advice to the OP.
However, I do feel the value of prestige might be underappreciated for certain professions.
See pages 116-118. The stats are roughly similar to Yale Daily News from 2011. BTW, this is the last year Yale published a headcount of “Institutions Represented.”
Here are current lists from each website that I was referencing.
On the pdf you provided, I see a W Georgia grad at Yale. indirectly report to a W Georgia grad (dotted line) - never had heard of the school before I met him. They’re not on the link I provided so I think your list is older.
Seems to suggest those undergraduate institutions are dramatically over represented and consequently should be considered by a student seeking to possibly attend Yale law.
It’s impossible to know with certainty because comparing applicants from different schools is an apples to oranges exercise. Certainly, a UVA Jefferson Scholar is probably not the same as an average UVA student.
So you are just suggesting we ignore available data. Ok but then let’s not use the one off aberration of a student from Western Kentucky as proof that you can get into Yale from anywhere. Can’t have it both ways.
I agree with your edit that this student seems to be exceptional.
I have my suspicions, but I acknowledge the data are not conclusive.
If money was no object and my dream was to attend Yale Law School after college, I would rather take my chances among the Yale contingent who sent 90 students to Yale Law School than among the UVa contingent who only sent 7 students. Although I have no proof, I have a suspicion that many of the other peer law schools (especially Ivy schools) probably exhibit similar admission tendencies. Maybe, this information (except for the diversity part) isn’t divulged (including Yale now) for a reason?
The difference in the 2 Yale lists are 164 vs 170. No one is arguing that you can’t get into a top tier law school out of old state U. The point is the concentration of attending students from a very narrow group of schools as @BUMD’s post indicates.
UVA over this period only had 7 of it graduates at YLS. Compare that with Yale at 90 and Harvard at 59. Undergrad enrollment is about 17,500 at UVA vs 6,500 at Yale and 7,200 at Harvard. So sure, students from UVA get into Yale and maybe a Jefferson Scholar type has a good chance at being one of the few, but the fact is UVA at 2.5X the size of Yale and Harvard only gets in a tiny fraction of what those schools produce.
My guess is that is exactly what is happening. Studs go everywhere - and studs stay studs. More studs go to Harvard/Yale than do W Georgia - but there are studs at both.
PS - in the link I showed, I don’t see data by school - so what am I missing? I’m using the current data provided.
While we all have points, it’s a bit blinding for someone to discount the quantity of schools represented.
Maybe one of the @moderators can step in and get the conversation back on track.
Law school is one of several possibilities the OP is considering, but the analysis paralysis discussion of Yale Law composition is both off-topic and debate.
I don’t disagree - but they noted law school - but no matter what graduate school is attended (and the odds are good), there will be costs that need to be saved for.
It sounds like the OP has varied interests - often times attorney do end up in roles in a wide variety of areas.
Nonetheless, in general, I believe people should ensure they are planning for the future - and I don’t think anyone is saying otherwise.
Only the OP and the family can no how that future schooling might look financially after four years of undergrad.
@skieurope - I think you answered the initial question in the 2nd message - so you are correct - need is need and Yale isn’t going to match.
Of course, that’s the $300K question though if they choose a 3 year grad program at an elite school - that has to be factored in - and whatever the family decides is good for them.
Or a $200K question if they don’t - does that money have usage for the family today or the future?
