The Practice Magazine - Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession (2024)

FAQs

Why is Harvard Law so prestigious? ›

“HLS is in a category of its own, offering a unique combination of size and interconnectedness, diversity and familiarity, access to world-renowned faculty, and research support.

Harvard University 2024 Rankings

Harvard University is ranked No. 4 (tie) out of 196 in Best Law Schools. Schools are ranked according to their performance across a set of widely accepted indicators of excellence.

It is ranked first in the world by the 2019 Academic Ranking of World Universities. HLS has graduated the largest number of U.S. Supreme Court justices and U.S. attorneys general. HLS is the best represented law school in the current U.S. Congress and among the law faculty at U.S. law schools.

Applicants need a median LSAT score of 174 out of 180 to be competitive. The acceptance rate is low, at 9.5%, meaning out of the 8,393 applications received in 2022, only 798 were accepted.

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.

Acceptance by The Numbers

Statistically speaking, you have more chances of getting into a program at Yale than Harvard. Both universities assume you belong to the top of your class when applying for a program. Harvard requires a 4.18 GPA, while Yale a 4.14 GPA.

By comparison, grads of Harvard Law School snagged median starting salaries of $201,250 in 2021, compared with a national median for law school grads of just $75,000, according to the National Association for Law Placement. In other words, Harvard Law School grads make almost three times more than the national median.

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Bill Gates attended to a bit of unfinished business on Thursday. Gates, who dropped out of Harvard and co-founded Microsoft Corp. to become the world's richest person, stopped off at his former stomping grounds to collect an honorary law degree.

Which president went to Harvard Law School? ›

Barack Obama, George Bush, and Rutherford Hayes attended Harvard Law and Business schools. Vice presidents Al Gore and Elbridge Gerry also attended Harvard University.

Attending Harvard Law School is certainly a significant commitment that comes with its own set of challenges and rewards. Attending law school in general can be incredibly stressful for many students (I know it was stressful for me at times). Luckily, there are ways to manage stress in law school.

Tuition for the 2024-2025 academic year is $77,100; in addition, health insurance and health services fees, the LL. M. activities fee, dental insurance, the costs of housing, food, books and supplies, and personal and travel expenses for a single student come to at least $39,400, for a total of at least $116,500.

Harvard University's student body and faculty are world-renowned for their exceptional academic abilities. Home to cutting-edge facilities and libraries, they offer a wealth of research opportunities and conduct groundbreaking research in a number of fields.

Part of the elite US group of Ivy League schools, Harvard and Yale are among the world's most acclaimed and competitive universities. Of the eight Ivy League members, these two are among the highest-ranked in the QS World University Rankings®. In the 2024 edition, Harvard is ranked fourth in the world and Yale 16^th.

Getting into Harvard Law School can be difficult because it is such a selective school and there is a lot of competition. On average, for every 100 applications that Harvard receives, only 7 applicants are admitted.

Yale Law School is widely regarded as the most prestigious law school in the U.S. thanks to its strong reputation, rich history, distinguished faculty, and influential alumni, even though it's currently the second-ranked law school.