INsage and Francisco - thank you! I appreciate your input. The value of a J.D. from Stanford or USC is worth considering. Also, I had heard of the Hoover Institute, but I did not know it was connected with Stanford - good info to consider. I have forwarded all this info to my dtr. At this point (and this is a somewhat fluid decision stage) she is interested in Stanford as her #1 choice while at the same time she realizes that the acceptance rate at this prestigious school is not high. The west coast criteria seems to be solidifying for her at this time.
Another smaller consideration would be to have your daughter check to see if the law school she's interested in attending has an active student chapter of the Federalist Society. This is a conservative/libertarian law organization that believes in holding firm to the original intent of the constitution. This would be a great way to identify and network with like-minded law students - not to mention benefitting from any events, speakers, etc. that the Society would sponsor.
After checking, Stanford does have a chapter. Its website can be found here.
I do not know your religious convictions, but if your daughter is Christian (whether Evangelical, Catholic, or Orthodox), an excellent program to guide her through any law school with a conservative foundation and perspective on it all is the Blackstone Legal Fellowship, a legal leadership development program of the Alliance Defense Fund . Each summer this program trains 100+ Christian law students from law schools across the country who have just completed their first year. They learn constitutional law and history, the Christian worldview, and cultural apologetics, then go out for 6 weeks of hands-on clerking with various Christian ministries, lawyers and law professors, followed by a week of career envisioning by Christian leaders in the legal field. Students apply in the fall of their first year of law school at the web address I provided above. Summer interns who demonstrate excellence and good formation can apply for lifelong membership as Blackstone Fellows. Many Fellows become leaders in their Federalist Society and Christian Legal Society chapters. Fellows benefit personally, intellectually, and professionally from being part of the growing network of the Fellowship.
I wish your daughter best of luck in law school. We need more bright conservative students at the best law schools, graduating with the courage of their convictions to play a part in restoring our legal system.
