Chicago+($$-$$$) vs Harvard

[smushon]

Obviously, this is entirely hypothetical, but I have yet to find a thread on this site that deals with this situation.  My inclination would be to go to Chicago.  What do people think?

[heartbreaker]

Depends on what you wanna do, where you wanna live, what professors you're interested in studying with, etc. At that point, there's not really a "wrong" decision, IMO, and it comes down to personal preference.

I would choose Harvard, but others might not.

[williams]

Harvard , not even close.

[botbot]

Harvard > Free Chicago

[smushon]

No trust fund.
Really like Chicago and Boston
Didn't do UG at either school
Have friends in both cities
Want to work in Private Sector, possibly big law
After graduation I would like to live in the West, preferably Pacific NW

I appreciate all the advice

[CTL]

Harvard has a lot more goodwill, despite Chicago's relative academic parity.  I would go to Harvard because the name buys you a lot - everywhere.

[Migrate]

If you want to be an academic, I would take Chicago over harvard, with basically a penny more at Chicago. Chicago actually has better clerkship opportunities than Harvard. If you want to do private, probably Harvard. But a half-ride at Chicago sounds sweet.

[botbot]

If you want to be an academic, I would take Chicago over harvard, with basically a penny more at Chicago. Chicago actually has better clerkship opportunities than Harvard. If you want to do private, probably Harvard. But a half-ride at Chicago sounds sweet.

This post is entirely incorrect.  On all levels.

[clairel]

i would go to harvard, unless chicago offered me a full ride. even then, i would do some serious thinking.

[eruffin]

At least one or two people on LSN turned down the Hamilton at Columbia in favor of Harvard last year without indicating they got any money from Harvard.  Not Chicago, but an analogous situation.