Hello all!

I am facing deadlines this week and I cannot fully make up my mind, so I wanted to pose a question to you.

I narrowed down my options to two: CLS, which was always my first choice and offers me a Fellowship and an almost full tuition waiver, and Harvard, which offers a reasonable amount of financial aid, but not as good as Columbia's. I am also a Fulbright Scholar, so financial issues at this point would be fine.

I work in the field of public interest law and want to focus my studies on this and constitutional law. Columbia was my "natural" choice, as I am aware of the benefits of being a Fellow and the opportunities NYC provides. Plus, Columbia is an absolutely great University.
However, since I received Harvard's offer many people are telling me to go for it. I know "Harvard" is a very prestigious brand worldwide but, honestly how much do you think a Harvard LLM would enhance my job perspectives in the future over Columbia's Fellowship? Do you really think the name does make such a difference, in all areas of Law, even when compared to an equally good University like Columbia?
Just for the record, I do not intend to have from now on a purely academic career.
Opinions are very welcome :)

Unless your pride urges you to accept HLS's offer, in your shoes I'd rather go to CLS. On your resume I'll mention not only that you were a Columbia alumnus, but also that your received a full-tuition scholarship. That counts in the eye of future employers; it means CLS did everything in her power to have you

You said CLS was your first choice. And you got the best possible offer from them. So unless someone can offer you a good reason to go to HLS (which is not "but it is Harvard!"), I don't see why you should change your plans.

One question worth asking: do you plan on staying in the US or going back to your home country? If you intend to go back, it might be good to look into how employers will see the difference between CLS and HLS - maybe they won't.

Thank you very much to you both!
I agree with what you say