Quote:
Originally Posted by GoodGuyAmes
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Professors who teach at top schools are from top schools. 70% of the lawyers who practice don't go to a top ten school. My uncle is a patent lawyer and he went to Albany Law School (state college) and makes more money then you or I could even fathom. Not everyone goes to Yale Or Harvard my friend and if you pass the BAR exam in New York state, California or Texas then you are an intelligent person no matter which school you went to. My civil procedures professor went to CUNY College then CUNY School of Law and was able to retire when she was 50 years old. She was a managing partner at a law firm and teaches part time just to keep her mind busy but owns a house in the hamptons and a really nice pad in the upper east or west side (cant remember).
Yea sure its nice to have that Harvard School Of Law on your resume but just because the person had the money to go to that school does not make them a more competent lawyer then the guy who went to a state school. In some places in the midwest they even prefer a local kid then someone who went off to a hoity toity university. If you are a hard worker and have a go getter attitude then you will do absolutely fine in your field.
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I don't disagree that anyone can succeed. That's quite clear in many cases. For example, the former Dean of Houston went to a 4th tier school, but he's widely considered to have been very successful. Many lower tier schools have success stories, and I've never denied that. In face, I quite agree with you that success can be found in any situation.
However, the question is about playing the numbers. It's about intelligent decision making in light of the probabilities. Unless you have a specific plan that you've carefully weighed, it,
generally speaking, is a less-than-good idea to go to a lower ranked school.
It's like saying that a lot of billionaires are dropouts. This is true, but they succeeded in spite of that. At best, a lower tier school won't hurt, but a higher tier school CAN make a world of difference. Without a specific circumstance to tell you otherwise (like a very well thought out career plan), it doesn't make much financial sense to go to a poorly ranked school.
I agree that the
individual will get out of something equivalent to what they put in. However, the question is about the wisdom of attending a lower ranked school as a general matter. From a decision theory standpoint, its not unless you have a mitigating factor (scholarship, regionally dominant school, etc.)