Yale Law School

Student Rating^? A Alumni Rating^? A ATL Top 50 Rank #6	Tuition $58,200 Total Investment ^? $282,077	Enrollment 614	Student/Faculty Ratio 7.8
LSAT (25/75) 170/176 GPA (25/75) 3.84/3.98	Region N State C	Dean Robert C. Post
Applicants who are accepted 6.9 / 100 Admitted students who enroll 8.0 / 10	Top Biglaw Employers ^?	Talking Points Allows first-year students to represent clients in legal clinics. Notable Alumni include: Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Gerald Ford, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Clarence Thomas, and most impressive David Lat

Ratings & Rankings

Colored bars represent the range of average school ratings. Black line is this school's rating.

Academics

Students
vs. all schools

Minimum: 2.25
Mean: 3.38
Maximum: 4

Alumni
vs. all schools

Minimum: 2.4
Mean: 3.45
Maximum: 4

Practical/Clinical Training

Students
vs. all schools

Minimum: 2.14
Mean: 3.43
Maximum: 3.83

Alumni
vs. all schools

Minimum: 1.86
Mean: 3.06
Maximum: 3.8

Career Counseling

Students
vs. all schools

Minimum: 1.29
Mean: 3.10
Maximum: 3.56

Alumni
vs. all schools

Minimum: 1.17
Mean: 2.92
Maximum: 3.25

Financial Aid Advising

Students
vs. all schools

Minimum: 1.5
Mean: 3.29
Maximum: 3.29

Alumni
vs. all schools

Minimum: 1.25
Mean: 3.07
Maximum: 3.5

Social Life

Students
vs. all schools

Minimum: 1.8
Mean: 3.14
Maximum: 3.67

Alumni
vs. all schools

Minimum: 2.4
Mean: 3.47
Maximum: 3.86

More Ratings*

	Student	Alumni
	B	B
	A	B-
	A-	A
	A+	A+
	B+	A

US News Rank

What do these ratings mean?

from Brian Dalton, Breaking Media Director of Research

The ATL School and Firm Insiders Survey asks self-identified current students, alumni, and practicing lawyers to rate major aspects of life at their law school (academics, social life, clinical training, career services, financial aid advising) and/or law firm (compensation, hours, morale, culture, training). We then translate these ratings into letter grades, where the mean score for each particular ratings category is the equivalent of a “B.”

We require a minimum threshold of responses for each institution before we publish any survey-based ratings content. Using a standard formula for statistical validity, we adhere to a threshold that gives us an 85% confidence level and a 10% margin of error. The precise threshold number will of course vary depending on the size of the individual institution. For example, for a law firm of 1,000 attorneys, we would require 50 responses in order to publish ratings for the firm.

Sector	Anticipated	Actual
Source: ATL Insider Survey and the American Bar Association
Work for a firm	72%	35%
Work for government	8%	6%
Work in non-profit/public interest	8%	12%
Go solo	0%	0%

Insider Reviews

from students and alumni of Yale Law School

Alumni

If you go to Yale, you’re going to have great opportunities after graduation. The problem is not getting a job, but deciding what you want to do.
Alumni

The community of student and brand recognition make Yale worth attending, regardless of the uneven faculty.
Alumni

If you get in, accept. Not having class ranking is invaluable.
Alumni

If you can get in, it is a no-brainer. The number of people from Yale who go on to bigger and better things is simply amazing. The diverstiy of experience, background and ideologies is always fascinating to me, both as an alumnus and as a recruiter.
Alumni

Everyone likes to joke about Yale Law grads not knowing “real law” (including Yale grads themselves, perhaps to lower expectations or avoid seeming arrogant). But Yale has more blackletter courses than any student can take, and a majority of students also get practical experience from clinics, often for a number of semesters. And most of the professors seriously care about the students. But the best thing about Yale was my classmates. I was worried that they would all be stuck up or hypercompetitive, but even though most people had amazing backgrounds, no one bragged about them — it often took weeks before I realized that a new friend had been a Rhodes Scholar or had a Ph.D. or had spent several years in Cambodia or had won an Emmy (seriously). And if I missed a class, I would have multiple people send me their notes without even asking.
Alumni

Don’t get lulled into a false sense of security by the first semester P/F regime. once second semester starts, everyone’s previously hidden gunner tendencies rear their ugly heads with a vengeance.
Alumni

Yale allows students a great deal of flexibilty and the chance to pursue individual interests. Although Yale’s priority is producing law professors, students have excellent Big Law possibilities.
Alumni

Students

It’s worth applying even if you think you have no shot. I was hugely surprised to be admitted.
3L

What makes Yale special isn’t the faculty members, the classes, the grading system, or any of that other stuff that people think about when choosing a law school. Yale is such a special experience because one’s classmates are brilliant and have done such interesting, amazing things. I love it here and I’m sad that law school will be over so soon.
3L

YLS is amazing. Best (and least painful) place to attend law school. Any issues I have with YLS is more about the legal field and the elite law school model than about the school itself.
3L

There’s guidance available if you seek it out. But they expect you to be very self-directed when it comes to seeking out research assistantships, letters of recommendation, and even summer employment. On the other hand, OCI is great here and at times the professors are wonderful both in the classroom and for career advice.
2L

No one here knows anything about being social or fun. Everyone acts like they’re at a permanent job interview.
3L

You probably won’t love it, but you should come if you get in.
3L

Recent Headlines from Above the Law

Government
J.D. Vance's Bold Statecraft Strategy Of Not Being An 'Assh*le'

An unexpected strategy for the freshman senator.
By Kathryn Rubino
Courts
Antitrust Suit Sets Stage To See If Yale, Columbia, And Others Are Institutes Of Higher Learning Or Higher Income

The first red flag was the frequent mentioning of their parent's deep pockets in their diversity statement.
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Biglaw
Biglaw Isn't A Cancel Culture, It's A Business That Cares More About Money Than Your Feelings

If love means never having to say you're sorry, then surely 'cancel culture' means never having to take responsibility.
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Yale Law School Had So Much Fun The First Time, They've Brought Recognized Hate Group Back To Campus!

What could possibly go wrong?
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Law Schools
With Law Schools Dropping Like Flies From Its Ranking, U.S. News Revamps Its Formula

Backed into a corner, U.S. News is making some changes.
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Has Yale Changed The Law School Rankings Game?

How will most of the T14 schools spurning U.S. News change the legal profession?
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Law Schools
Federal Judges All But Admit Yale Law School Boycott Was A Ruse And The School Fell For It Hard

Free speech means the freedom to listen quietly to people with power.
By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 12.1.22

* While transparency laws are a step in the right direction, the journey is far from over. [Forbes]

* Did you wake up wondering what federal judges thought about diversity in the field? Here’s your primer. [Wa Po]

* Judge’s scare tactic toward Yale is already crumbling. Learn to commit, people! [Bloomberg Law]

* California’s DOJ made an oopsie. [KTVU]

* Prepare for layoffs. Maybe prepare less if you’re in Employment law or Bankruptcy — they’re kind of always in business. [Law.com]

By Chris Williams
Law Schools
Are Top Tier Law Schools Pulling Away From US News Because Of Concerned Action Or Concerted Action?

Sure would be cool if we all just independently did the same thing as each other within a very short period of time such that it would be as if we all decided to do the same thing together...
By Chris Williams
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 11.21.22

* And then there were 6: More big names are opting out of U.S. News. [Inside Higher Ed]

* Stop Woke keeps getting stopped. Funny outcome, that. [The Guardian]

* A law adopted decades ago is still impacting Black adoptions. [Slate]

* AirBnB keeps getting the wind taken from its wings. [Axios]

By Chris Williams
Law Schools
Law Schools Dropping Out Of US News Rankings Like It's A Crypto Exchange

Everyone wants out these days.
By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 11.18.22

* Here’s a snippet of what Yale Law thinks about race conscious admissions. [Yale Daily News]

* Will Cornell opt out a la Yale and Harvard? Your guess is as good as mine. [Cornell Sun]

* No need to be curious about UC Berkeley though. [WSJ]

* Brittney Griner has been transferred out of Moscow to begin her sentence. [NYT]

* Been looking for a way to study contracts without being bored to sleep? Consider this…religious angle. [Tampa Bay]

By Chris Williams
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 11.17.22

* Looking for direction outside of US News? Here’s what Yale thinks. [Yahoo!]

* Cops don’t want a law that prevents them from being in terrorist groups. Interesting. [Minnesota Reformer]

* Now this is an interesting overlap of Federal law and adoption policy. [Inquirer]

* Massachusetts’ new license law is worth familiarizing yourself with. [Axios]

* Where do we go from here? Penn (Carey) Law has some ideas. [The DP]

By Chris Williams
Law Schools
Yale Law School Pulls Out Of U.S. News Rankings Like Michael Jordan Skipping Slam Dunk Contest

Yale is finally letting Harvard have its moment in the sun... WAIT, NOT SO FAST!
By Joe Patrice
Law Schools
Are Yale Students' Pre-Law Worries Pressing?

It really do be like that sometimes.
By Chris Williams
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 11.10.22

* You know you have to be doing something wrong as a state when a law school sues you. [NYU News]

* Things appear to be looking up for the Indian Child Welfare Act. [West Hawaii Today]

* Success doesn’t always make you safe in layoff season. [Law.com]

* The infighting among judges soft banning aspiring Yale clerks continues. [Daily Princetonian]

By Chris Williams
Law Schools
Another FedSoc Chapter Invites Recognized Hate Group To Speak... So This Is Going To Be A Trend

We know exactly what to expect now.
By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 11.08.22

* I wonder if Elon factored in International Law when he bought his “free speech” platform? He definitely didn’t factor in parody. [QZ]

* Yale Law keeps its enemies closer. [Yale Daily News]

* Need a legal bird’s eye view? Got you covered. [Law.com]

* Few things are worse than a power tripping judge and strict textualism. [Reddit]

By Chris Williams
Government
J.D. Vance Uses His Fancy Yale Law Degree To Play 'Mad Libs For Bigots'

Is this guy about to be a senator?
By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 11.03.22

* What?! Ginni Thomas’ husband may be involved in the whole undermining democracy thing? Who’d have thunk it?! [MSNBC]

* Looks like models that require profit aren’t the only thing preventing recycling from catching on. [Cal Matters]

* Here’s what you should know for NYC’s pay transparency law. [Fortune]

* Yale Law just covered tuition for some students. Woop Woop! [Yale Daily News]

By Chris Williams