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All 9 members of the Supreme Court went to either Harvard or Yale. I'd say that yes, signaling matters.



The UK is not much different -- a majority of senior High Court barristers[1] and UK Supreme Court justices[2] are Oxbridge[3] educated.

[1] https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/new-high-court-judges-all-...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_of_the_Supreme_Court_o...

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxbridge


8/9 went to law school at Harvard or Yale (the Notorious R.B.G. went to Columbia Law).

For undergrad, 3 went to Princeton, 1 to Columbia (not RBG, interestingly), 1 to Harvard, 1 to Yale, 1 to Cornell, 1 to Stanford, and 1 to Holy Cross.

That's evidence that signaling matters in a law degree, but the larger context of this discussion is of an undergraduate degree and I don't think the signalling is as strong there.


I agree regarding undergrad mattering less than law school, but as long as we're splitting hairs about RBG, let's split them correctly! =)

She and her husband both went to Harvard Law, though the husband started and graduated one year earlier. He then got a job at a New York law firm and RBG transferred to Columbia to stay near him. She completed her third year at Columbia and received their law degree.

Harvard Law actually has a rule (adopted later) where you can complete your third year elsewhere and still receive a Harvard degree. They offered this degree to RBG, who refused it[1]. So technically you're right that she's a Columbia Law grad, though it's not a stretch to call her a Harvard Law grad as well.

[1] http://www.wikicu.com/Ruth_Bader_Ginsburg


So 8 of them went to elite/prestigious undergraduate schools (don't know about Holy Cross). Looks like a pretty strong signal to me.




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