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Did anyone turn down Harvard's offer ?

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Sting83

Joined: 26 May 2006
Posts: 23
Did anyone turn down Harvard's offer ?
Thu Feb 22, 2007 05:46 PM
does this mean that Harvard is already sending out rejections?
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cporret

Joined: 28 Jan 2007
Posts: 23
Did anyone turn down Harvard's offer ?
Thu Feb 22, 2007 06:24 PM
No ... those entries are from last year, with the exception of the last two.
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Aurelius


Joined: 17 Sep 2006
Posts: 128
Did anyone turn down Harvard's offer ?
Thu Feb 22, 2007 09:51 PM
Jw... Is it a joke or you really did it ?



Yes, JW told me he went to the Ave Maria School of Law instead (the international reputation is also important you know)
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cherrie

Joined: 04 Dec 2006
Posts: 10
Did anyone turn down Harvard's offer ?
Fri Feb 23, 2007 07:42 PM
Hey i was wondering if anyone could give me their opinion as im not sure what to do. ive not heard back from Harvard yet as to the outcome of my application but ive got a place on the LLM at UPenn on a full scholarship including stipend. if i got into harvard (BIG if) obviously id have to pay the full $70K. any views on what i should do IF i got into Harvard would be really appreciated. thanks.
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josepidal

Joined: 18 Oct 2005
Posts: 237
Did anyone turn down Harvard's offer ?
Fri Feb 23, 2007 09:23 PM
I'm biased because I'm from HLS, but I would seriously consider HLS and the many general and specific advantages of going there. Especially if you get a job in this amazing job market, the money won't be as relevant after one year, while you'll be an HLS alumnus and part of the global network for life.

I believe this is a general opinion that's been voiced in this forum whenever someone is choosing between a lower-ranked school and a scholarship, and a higher-ranked school.

Also, 55K should be liveable, and they have generous support for loans available if you don't have that kind of support from your home country.

[Edited by josepidal on 23 Feb 2007]
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ivan2006


Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Posts: 312
Did anyone turn down Harvard's offer ?
Sat Feb 24, 2007 12:59 AM
I agree with josepidal when he says about that between a higher-ranked school and a lower-ranked school, you should pick the highest-ranked one (although I would add the rankings to be taken into account are the ones related to your specific field of specialization). Although I think UPenn is a fine school, my advice would be different if you said that you want to specialize in corporate law and you had a scholarship from Columbia (for instance).
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josepidal

Joined: 18 Oct 2005
Posts: 237
Did anyone turn down Harvard's offer ?
Sat Feb 24, 2007 05:13 AM
To add, I might not even be inclined to look that closely at the specialization anyway. You only have two terms and can only take two to three subjects per term, and may well find that a unique subject like Law and Literature is the most memorable for you.

My context is that I've seen a number of corporate law partners take questions from 1Ls along the lines of what subjects should they take. They usually answer that they should have some basic courses such as Corporations and Securities Regulation, but what's really important is to take the courses that one enjoys and are passionate about, since there are some subjects you just won't encounter in pratice. The grain of salt is that LLMs can be expected to be more focused, but even then, career counselors say that devoting 50% of courses to your specialization is usually good enough for employers, who understand the above context.

Or, in addition to reputation in a particular specialization, you may want to meet a superstar professor in that field. For example, you may be attracted to Columbia for the additional reason that the author of one of the widely-used Securities texts (John Coffee) teaches there.
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ivan2006


Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Posts: 312
Did anyone turn down Harvard's offer ?
Sat Feb 24, 2007 11:39 PM
Hmmm... Here are my 2 cents to the discussion: I think diversification is good as long as there is a certain level of coherence. For instance: if you are a corporate lawyer and, in addition to courses on Securities and Corporate Law you take some courses on finance or law and economics or even some seminar on hot topics, like a course like "Settling international business disputes with China", it can be regarded as something good. However, if you take a course on Counter-terrorism law or a course on the Trial of Jesus (I am not joking: this is a seminar offered by NYU this semester - and I have heard it is pretty interesting), you should be able to explain why you are taking these courses. On the other hand, you should be aware that if a peer of yours is taking more "marketable" courses, he could be in a more advantageous position. I can tell that in every single interview I made during the last 5 weeks, the interviewers asked me about the courses I took in the Fall term and the courses I am taking now.
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josepidal

Joined: 18 Oct 2005
Posts: 237
Did anyone turn down Harvard's offer ?
Sun Feb 25, 2007 01:48 AM
I've honestly had the opposite experience, and I even had a debate with a friendly Capital Markets partner on whether Laurence Tribe from HLS was better than his Constitutional Law professor, Erwin Chemerinsky.

If you're not taking any marketable courses, then you have some explanation to do. However, if you're clearly taking them, you don't have to explain the odd course since I think they understand everyone needs a little variety. For example, if you're interviewed by an M&A partner and he sees that you took Tribe's class in HLS (Constitutional Law, with a waiting list of well over one hundred each year), I can't imagine that he'd ask why you didn't take another corporate class.

Unique classes, by the way, are wonderful foundations to show a lighter side of yourself during an interview. You should welcome the chance to explain what those are all about.

I'm just expressing what I've seen from HLS, though, including my classmates' experiences.
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cherrie

Joined: 04 Dec 2006
Posts: 10
Did anyone turn down Harvard's offer ?
Sun Feb 25, 2007 05:43 PM
thanks for ur posts guys
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jl

Joined: 14 Feb 2007
Posts: 8
Did anyone turn down Harvard's offer ?
Sun Feb 25, 2007 08:08 PM
Cherrie,

When did you receive notification from UPenn about the full scholarship?

Thanks!
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jw

Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 192
Did anyone turn down Harvard's offer ?
Mon Dec 17, 2007 09:28 PM
Hey folks, wow. It's been almost a year.

I see that Etzmolch basically ripped off my idea for a "Letter of Rejection", which I posted to this thread at the beginning.

But hey, I'm more about spreading my influence and ideas, so go dude!

[Edited by jw on 17 Dec 2007]
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mnementh

Joined: 27 May 2007
Posts: 157
Did anyone turn down Harvard's offer ?
Tue Dec 18, 2007 12:00 AM
jw, that was a great post indeed.... sure made me smile. What's up with you today, do tell.
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jw

Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 192
Did anyone turn down Harvard's offer ?
Thu Dec 20, 2007 04:05 AM

mnementh: thanks for the note. I'm actually presently in law practice. I did graduate studies at Oxford this past year, and now am figuring out what to do next, possibly more graduate work, but this time in the U.S.
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number 1

Joined: 23 Dec 2007
Posts: 3
Did anyone turn down Harvard's offer ?
Tue Dec 25, 2007 04:49 PM
jw , i think it was an amazing rejection letter.... but i want to ask u guys here , what are the minimum requirements a student needs to have to get into oxbridge, yale or harvard? what are the marks u got that these univerisities accepted u... i would be applying for LLM next year, so it would be helpful if i get an answer to this.
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sammy_03

Joined: 06 Mar 2008
Posts: 5
Did anyone turn down Harvard's offer ?
Fri Mar 07, 2008 09:10 AM
Hi guys,

would you turn down Harvard for Michigan?

Michigan is said to have an excellent small program and seems to give a lot of attention to LLM students.

"Harvard" has probably a better sound, but I am not sure about the actual quality of its LLM program/its attitude to LLM students.
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consultt

Joined: 30 Jan 2008
Posts: 22
Did anyone turn down Harvard's offer ?
Fri Mar 07, 2008 05:03 PM
Maybe the sound of H is better for the individual in the long run.. Does it really matter what is being taught in this one year is better or worse at some place or other.. If someone that matters (lawfirms, employers, the general polity at large who might influence your fortunes) thinks H has a better sound, so be it! And for that small perceived difference in the teaching during one year - forget it!! there is the whole life in front.. and all the opportunity to learn (assuming learning is important.. I think many people will tell u there are mor important things).. Three cheers to the sound of H!!
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