Which law school is better: Harvard or Yale? It’s a rivalry that stretches back 199 years, when Yale University established what has become one of the most selective academic institutions in the world. Harvard created a law department at the university in 1817, making its law school the oldest continuously operating one in the United States.
The two law schools consistently rank among the best in the world, and year after year attract thousands of applications from very smart and talented candidates. How might students choose between them?
If you ask Hollywood, Harvard Law School arguably comes out on top. Though the Harvard campus scenes in Legally Blonde were filmed at UCLA and USC, the adventures of Reese Witherspoon’s character Elle nailing the LSAT, overcoming stereotypes and memorably pointing out the perils of prematurely washing permed hair during a courtroom cross-examination reinforced the idea that HLS was the place to go.
And though Meghan Markle’s Rachel Zane in Suits gained entry to Columbia Law School, for Harvey Specter and the rest of the partners at Pearson Specter Litt, it was always about Harvard Law.
“We only hire from Harvard,” Harvey tells Mike at their first impromptu meeting. “And you not only did not go to Harvard law school you haven’t even gone to any law school.”
While Ron Howard directed the story of a Yale Law School student heading back to his Ohio hometown in Hillbilly Elegy, and Batman’s alter ego Bruce Wayne was disclosed as a graduate in Detective Comics 439, Harvard Law School can point to the scenes of Professor Kingsfield in The Paper Chase, the Oscar-winning Love Story with Ryan O’Neill as the law student falling for Ali MacGraw, and Tom Cruise as a Harvard Law School graduate in The Firm. Cruise even sat in on a Harvard lecture 16 years later, sharing his own legal experiences in an hour-long class.
When it comes to alumni, there is not much to separate them though HSL might have a slight edge. Both have produced U.S. presidents and a long list of influential legal professionals, including Supreme Court Justices, members of Congress, academics and prominent attorneys.
Yale Law School alumni include Jane Matilda Bolin, the first African-American woman to become a U.S. judge. Both Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton graduated in 1973, with Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito graduating in the two following years. Presidents of Germany, the Philippines and Malawi have studied law in New Haven, as well as poets and novelists, and the CEOs of Thomson Reuters
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Harvard can point to Barack and Michelle Obama; political leaders in India, Taiwan and Ireland; and 18 Supreme Court Justices including current Chief Justice John Roberts, Neil Gorsuch and Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. They also have artists, spies, journalists, a scriptwriter for the Simpsons (brother-in-law of the late Steve Jobs) as well as a lengthy list of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies including Lloyd Blankfein at Goldman Sachs and the CEOs of Pfizer
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In terms of career prospects, both Yale and Harvard law graduates enjoy strong employment outcomes, with high percentages securing prestigious clerkships, positions in top law firms, and government roles. However, Yale has a slightly higher percentage of graduates pursuing public interest and government careers, while Harvard has a larger number of alumni in the corporate sector.
Median earnings of Harvard Law graduates four years after graduation were estimated this year at $233,589, while for Yale Law graduates the figure is $204,668 according to data compiled by the Higher Educatoin Advisory group. Both are well behind the graduates at Columbia Law, who were on average earning $280,926, but with much higher levels of student loans still to pay off.
What about the learning environment? Both institutions boast an impressive faculty, with distinguished professors and legal scholars. Yale has a smaller student-to-faculty ratio, potentially allowing for more personalized attention. Harvard, on the other hand, has a larger faculty and offers a broader range of courses and specializations, providing students with an opportunity to explore various aspects of law. Yale, while also offering a diverse curriculum, is known for its commitment to public interest and human rights law.
Location and culture also have an impact, and HLS can argue that its home of Cambridge and its neighbor Boston across the Charles River give access to a thriving legal community and numerous opportunities for internships and clerkships. New Haven, Connecticut, is undoubtedly quieter and offers a more campus-focused environment for a close-knit and collegial atmosphere. Personal preferences make a difference on this one.
So, which school is more selective? For last year’s coming class, the media LSAT at Yale was an eye-watering 175 and at Harvard 174, while median undergraduate GPA average at Yale Law School was 3.94 and 4.0 at Harvard Law School 3.92.
Find out how candidates to the top US law schools stand out beyond GPA and LSAT, according to the former law school admissions officers at Fortuna Admissions from Northwestern, Chicago, Stanford, Penn and NYU.
But with the smaller class intake, Yale wins selectivity across the board. The law school admitted 178 of the 4,882 applicants for a yield of 4.7%. Harvard meanwhile admitted 559 of the 8,170 applicants for an acceptance rate of 6.8%.
Basically, you’ve got a 1 in 21 chance of being admitted to Yale Law, and a 1 in 15 chance of being admitted to Harvard Law. But don’t be put off by the numbers – take inspiration from Elle in Legally Blonde.
“You got into Harvard Law?” asks her ex-boyfriend, Warner.
“What? Like, it’s hard?” she replies, before showing him and the rest of her Harvard classmates that she wasn’t to be underestimated.
With such high GPA and LSAT scores at the top schools, the personal statement can make the difference in your law school application. Check out the 7 key ingredients for law school personal statement success from the former law school admissions officers at Fortuna Admissions.
And finally, what do the rankings tell us? In November 2022, both Yale and Harvard announced that they would no longer participate in the U.S. News & World Report Law School Rankings, citing flaws in the way the ratings are determined.
But since the first U.S. News ranking were published in 1991, Yale Law School has ranked No.1 every single year, though it shared the top spot with Stanford Law in its final U.S. News rankings appearance in 2022. But that means 31 years of rankings domination that is unmatched in any other graduate school and university lists.
Advantage, Yale?
Not so fast. A look at the other leading media rankings of law schools sees Harvard Law at the No.1 spot in the QS Quacquarelli Symonds subject ranking. And both schools come in behind Stanford and NYU in the Times Higher Education subject ranking.
To get a clearer picture of how law schools perform in the major rankings, Fortuna Admissions has published the first ever Ranking of US Law School Rankings 2023/24. This legal league table aggregates the results of U.S. law schools across the big four – U.S. News, THE, QS and ARWU Shanghai.
And in 2023/24, Yale Law School is the clear winner ahead of Harvard. Below you can see the results for the top 5 US law schools, with Stanford, NYU and the University of Chicago demonstrating great consistency.
The full results of the top 25 US law schools are here. From Austin and Boston to Minneapolis and Nashville, you can see how the top U.S. law schools have performed this year compared to five years ago. The Fortuna Ranking of US Law School Rankings 2023/24 compares performance with 2018, when Columbia Law School made the top 5 across the four rankings in place of NYU.
Whether it’s Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown or Penn, the Fortuna league table reinforces the rankings dominance of the Top Fourteen, or T14. This is an informal and unofficial category referring to the law schools that have historically claimed the top 14 spots in the yearly U.S. News ranking.
In fact, there is only one of the T14 that didn’t make the top 14 in the Ranking of Rankings 2023/24. This of course means that another law school did make the top 14, but which one: the University of Texas Austin, the University of Virginia or Vanderbilt University?
Selecting the right law school is a pivotal decision in the journey to becoming a successful attorney. Deciding between Yale and Harvard is not a matter of one being definitively better than the other. These two institutions along with the rest of the T14 offer a world-class legal education, outstanding faculty, and countless career opportunities.
The choice ultimately depends on your personal preferences, career goals, and learning style. It’s essential to conduct thorough research, visit the campuses if possible, and consider which school aligns most closely with your aspirations as a future attorney. In the end, your dedication and hard work will play a more significant role in your legal career success than the name on your diploma.
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