Stanford, but I'm trying to decide which other schools to apply to (and I'm really open to some others though I haven't decided). One of the main reasons for Stanford is that I'm already getting my Ph.D here.
maybe it is because on OLSAS they break up the 4,000 word essay into two 2,000 word essays? And then leave a 2,500 word optional essay? I don't really get the logic as writing one 4,000 word essay is different than writing two 2,000 word essays
The shorter the better since law schools will have a number of statements that they must go through. Remember, people are always more likely to read a short story that gets the point across strategically than read a long essay.
It is hard to see that if HLS, Columbia, Northwestern take GRE that the Penns, UVAs, NYUs will be able to resist. Perhaps YLS and Stanford will hold out, but I bet everyone from Columbia on down goes GRE.