How to buy school rings cheap

Originally Posted by Trilby

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This is ridiculous. As others have pointed out, the whole idea of a class ring is very silly except perhaps for a small number of undergraduate schools.

For a law school student/graduate to want one in connection with a 3 year JD degree seems like the height of bad taste. However, for someone even to consider this after doing an LLM is completely unspeakable.
I wouldn't go as far as describing a school ring in this situation as "completely unspeakable," but it's certainly a questionable allocation of resources. Most people don't identify with their graduate school, particularly a one-year program. It seems your main purpose in getting a ring is to let people know you went to Harvard -- wouldn't a tie serve the same purpose at much lower cost?

I think I'm beginning to understand the venom in this thread. It has nothing to do with style and rings, it's just that a number of you think I went to Harvard, right?

Originally Posted by josepidal

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I think I'm beginning to understand the venom in this thread. It has nothing to do with style and rings, it's just that a number of you think I went to Harvard, right?
What difference would that make? Half the people here went to an ivy league school, it seems (and for more than a year too). I thought you didn't go to Harvard anyway, you were just "kidding."

Originally Posted by josepidal

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I think I'm beginning to understand the venom in this thread. It has nothing to do with style and rings, it's just that a number of you think I went to Harvard, right?

no, just a lot of people find the idea of a class ring to be in poor taste.

you can suck it up - some of us still only wear black shoes and socks, and live with the scorn of our fellows, you can do the same.

or you can take the advice - which may be a good idea.

Originally Posted by josepidal

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I think I'm beginning to understand the venom in this thread. It has nothing to do with style and rings, it's just that a number of you think I went to Harvard, right?

Originally Posted by josepidal

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I think I'm beginning to understand the venom in this thread. It has nothing to do with style and rings, it's just that a number of you think I went to Harvard, right?

I do not sense any "venom". For the most part people have said that in certain situations class rings are appropriate, but by and large in OUR OPINIONS they are tacky.

Get one if you want regardless of where you went to school. Getting one for an LLM seems utterly absurd to me. As someone else said-- get a tie-- it's a lot cheaper and a world more fashionable.

Originally Posted by josepidal

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I think I'm beginning to understand the venom in this thread. It has nothing to do with style and rings, it's just that a number of you think I went to Harvard, right?

I wasn't intending to be venomous, although the pretension of your above comment makes me reconsider . I went to a community college and then a rather average state university (FSU) and slightly above average private graduate schools, so I am really not involved in any sort of Ivy League rivalry you may be alluding to. In fact, if you went to Harvard, I think that's great and a very notable achievement and I woud be proud of it. Instead, I was referring to your frequent posting of questions that are almost invariably resolved with "you really have to decide for yourself."

That aside, I would pass on a class ring, especially if it's only for grad school. I just don't think it's a good investment and I work in a field that emphasizes "showiness" and has a lot of Ivy League grads - lobbying. Then again, I am from...humble...origins.

Heh, sorry MountainMan, I wasn't intending to single out your post, and yours wasn't the one with the violent pseudo-outrage.

If you are going back to the Philippines, perhaps a class ring is not a stupid idea and I see no reason why you shouldn't get it cheaper if possible.

But in the U.S., a school ring for a one year LLM is really awful. I would immediately think less of anyone I saw wearing one. And I wouldn't feel I was making a superficial judgment. It is a fact that anyone wearing a school ring for a one year LLM degree has terrible taste and absolutely no sense of local cultural norms despite having the ability to read and speak English and to look around him and observe what other people do. If I knew the person did it even after asking about it on a message board and receiving responses from polite indifference (barely concealing disdain) to clear expressions of revulsion, I would be even more certain the wearer was an obtuse clod. That said, you should do what makes you comfortable.

I think most of us are saying that school rings are essentially a form of advertising where you went to school. Most of us find that tacky. Even those of us who went to Harvard, Yale, etc., etc. Personally, I think that school and club ties are also pretty tacky in most circumstances. If I were you, I'd take the money for the ring and donate it to the financial aid fund at HLS.

But you may feel differently on this subject, and it's your hand, after all.

Originally Posted by dopey

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If you are going back to the Philippines, perhaps a class ring is not a stupid idea and I see no reason why you shouldn't get it cheaper if possible.
I recognize what a number of you have said, minus the more obnoxious and over the top comments. Might I ask you to elaborate on the above opinion, however?

Sometimes you have to deal with pages upon pages of tangential postings for the answer to your OP to be crystal clear:

(1) No one here, unfortunately, knows a good way of getting the ring directly through the manufacturer. Valid question, but chances of anyone knowing was pretty slim. At the outset, you never know...but now you do.

(2) Now you also know most, if not all, suggest against a school ring for an LLM program. Do they even offer rings specifically, or is the school ring offerings for just about any program and by virtue of graduating from the school? Although an LLM degree is a great achievement, the time you spent at the school and the chances you will be wearing the ring in the future mitigate against buying one.

(3) As people have suggested, get one if you want. I think it makes sense if you got a ring from every institution of higher education you attended, so it makes a nice, complete collection. If you didn't receive one from undergrad or law school, I wouldn't even bother. If it's a memento of the time you spent in the states and you're proud of it, go for it.

Originally Posted by josepidal

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I recognize what a number of you have said, minus the more obnoxious and over the top comments. Might I ask you to elaborate on the above opinion, however?

I can't speak for dopey, but my take on this is that you may find that it fits in with your culture. I know indian men wear a lot of rings with large jewels. it works for them. I wouldn't recoment it for anybody else. if you think that this fits in your culture, get the ring.

Originally Posted by teddieriley

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(3) As people have suggested, get one if you want. I think it makes sense if you got a ring from every institution of higher education you attended, so it makes a nice, complete collection. If you didn't receive one from undergrad or law school, I wouldn't even bother. If it's a memento of the time you spent in the states and you're proud of it, go for it.
Yeah, I think this is a nice summary. I think I like the idea of a ring because my father had a law school and not an undergrad ring. Perhaps it was simply because he did not have the money to buy an undergrad ring at the time, although I know he identifies with his law school far, far more than his undergrad school. He stopped wearing the ring when he got married and got a wedding ring, but it lay on his desk at home. I would always stare at it when I was a child, vaguely knowing what it was, but I thought that I wanted one of those too. I think this is why I would want to get a traditional antique finish ring with the stone and detailing, should I get a ring.

My father also insisted on getting me an undergrad ring even though I thought it was too much of an expense. I never wore any kind of jewelry, but because of my father's sentiment about the ring that far exceeded mine at the time, I ended up wearing it regularly, even when I'm out in just a t-shirt and shorts.

I'm not trying to justify anything, but just felt like sharing that with you.

I'm intrigued by the comments on different cultural norms.

Originally Posted by josepidal

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Originally Posted by dopey

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If you are going back to the Philippines, perhaps a class ring is not a stupid idea and I see no reason why you shouldn't get it cheaper if possible.

I recognize what a number of you have said, minus the more obnoxious and over the top comments. Might I ask you to elaborate on the above opinion, however?

Originally Posted by globetrotter

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I can't speak for dopey, but my take on this is that you may find that it fits in with your culture. I know indian men wear a lot of rings with large jewels. it works for them. I wouldn't recoment it for anybody else. if you think that this fits in your culture, get the ring.

globetrotter explained what I meant by that comment. I am not competent to tell you what would be appropriate in the Philippines. It might be just fine. Maybe people keep a drawer full of class rings from each school they went to and rotate them. I have no idea and wouldn't presume to tell you what would look good or bad there.