I've been lucky enough to be admitted to Berkeley and Georgetown which were my dream schools but no fin aid and also several lower ranked schools that are in places I would be happy to live and have faculty I would like to study with and have received very generous aid from these schools (including increases as I drag my feet on a decision)- my dilemma is whether to really stretch myself financially to attend a 'name' school or be much more comfortable at a smaller school where I hope at least the smaller intake size will grant decent networking- fwiw I am not interested in 'biglaw' as I have already done that and am now interested in academia or policy work- I realise this is a personal opinion type query but I'm keen for people's views- how important is a big name vs how individualised the program is and what (if any) additional benefits may flow from being in a smaller program