Saturday, April 03, 2004

Why Stanford
Today is admit day at Stanford Law School, so I thought I'd write a bit on "the trinity" aka "the troika" aka HYS aka the three top law schools - Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. If you are one of the so called lucky (and I do say so called because law school has a tendency to kill your self esteemed once there) you now have instant job security if you want it. Everybody who wants a firm job at these schools gets it, which means a six figure salary along with bonus. The question then is, which school to go to.

My thoughts on the matter - if you KNOW you want to teach law - go to Yale. There isn't anybody better. If you want a diverse political experience - go to Harvard. Their federalist chapter is simply the best, and that has quite effect on the campus debate.

If, on the other hand, you want to enjoy yourself, come to Stanford. I've gotten to know people from all three schools, and with apologies to my good friend Mujon Baghai, there is a difference in the people at the three school - the people here just are more relaxed. Don't get me wrong, the place still will make you work hard. But having Tahoe and the beaches of Santa Cruz at your fingertips will give you quite a few excuses to study in an exotic location (this year I went to Tahoe five separate weekends - last year four). Oh yeah - while Harvard does have Harvard Square, and Yale has, well, nothing, for the nature lovers Stanford has the most beautiful location of any school save Northwestern. It is constant sunshine over half the year here, and you can always hike in the foothills as most do at least once a week (after all they are on campus).

Did I mention wine country? San Francisco?

Seriously - all three of the top schools will give you excellent career opportunities. Only one will let you enjoy yourself in mountains, oceans, and sunshine. So if you are one of the few admits who get the chance to choose - come to Stanford.

No comments: