Page 1 of 1

Northwestern ($$) vs. Cornell ($$)

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 12:17 am
by stylus_go
I spent several hours checking hundreds of posts here to avoid posting another same A vs. B poll. But I could not find any that really helped me. I ruled out Georgetown because of its large class size and sticker price.

I had been torn between NU and Cornell for a month. But after receiving $$ from NU two weeks ago, I started to lean toward NU. But yesterday I just received scholarship letter with same amount of money from Cornell. So I can't just blame Cornell for high tuition and choose NU easily. Hope you could give some comments that would help me choose which school I should attend after all!

I am an international student, and I have never been to both cities. (The weather seems to be irrelevant in this situation. Both places must be equally freezing.) I want to work for big law firms after graduation, but I don't have any definitive regional preference. When I first applied for law schools, I thought I wanted to work in NY or DC. But now I guess there must be also great job opportunities in Chicago or in the west, for sure. (But I don't want to be locked up in midwest, either.) I am interested in intellectual property law, corporate law, international law; but I won't be so sure about the specialty until I actually study the subjects at school.

I have only 9 days left before I should have my check sent to one of the schools, so I am extremely stressed out. Please help me guys!!! Your vote and comment would help a lot. Thanks in advance!

Re: Northwestern (60k) vs. Cornell (60k)

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 12:55 am
by sarahlawg
Well, do you want big city life or small town life for the next 3 years? I can help you with info on Ithaca (not Cornell Law, just the city), if you're curious. Really, QOL is just going to be completely different at these two schools.

Re: Northwestern (60k) vs. Cornell (60k)

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 1:08 am
by violinst
In similar situation before, and with similar background.

Cornell.

Re: Northwestern (60k) vs. Cornell (60k)

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 1:57 am
by stylus_go
sarahlawg wrote:Well, do you want big city life or small town life for the next 3 years? I can help you with info on Ithaca (not Cornell Law, just the city), if you're curious. Really, QOL is just going to be completely different at these two schools.
Thanks for your comment. I'll pm you later if need info. But honestly, either style of life is fine for me. But I don't know what the right answer is in terms of job prospect and an "objectively" better law school experience. (Maybe decisions like this can never be objectively assessed?)
violinist wrote:In similar situation before, and with similar background.

Cornell.
I looked into some posts of yours, and I figured that you are quite satisfied with the choice you 'd made. I hope that I can make that kind of choice, which I will not regret, say 20 years later. (Is that even possible? :? )

Re: Northwestern (60k) vs. Cornell (60k)

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 8:43 am
by Law Sauce
These schools are very different. small town vs. downtown big city being the biggest difference. Also NW does great in Chicago etc. But I would think Cornell wins in NYC and probably DC. NW probably wins for business law etc. but Cornell would win for International law (or at least they have more emphasis on it). NW is ranked a couple of spaces higher and has slightly lower tuition, but Cornell probably has a lower cost of living. Smaller class sizes (not necessarily section or classroom sizes) at cornell, but older and probably more experienced students at NW. Beautiful gorges and nature at Cornell, but also icey winters. Basically you can't go wrong, I'd pick Cornell personally because I'd rather not be in a big city for school.

Re: Northwestern (60k) vs. Cornell (60k)

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 8:52 am
by fletchcon
First thing I would do is check if the New York/Illinois bar has a reciprocity agreement with the bar in your home country. I mean maybe you plan on staying in the US permanently but it's always nice to have the option of moving back home right? The NY bar seems to have agreements with quite a few countries (mine for one!) so working there could open up way more opportunities for you further down the line.

Re: Northwestern (60k) vs. Cornell (60k)

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:01 am
by stylus_go
fletchcon wrote:First thing I would do is check if the New York/Illinois bar has a reciprocity agreement with the bar in your home country. I mean maybe you plan on staying in the US permanently but it's always nice to have the option of moving back home right? The NY bar seems to have agreements with quite a few countries (mine for one!) so working there could open up way more opportunities for you further down the line.
Unfortunately, neither of them have the agreement with the bar in my country. But thanks for your advice/input.

Re: Northwestern (60k) vs. Cornell (60k)

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:07 am
by stylus_go
Law Sauce wrote:These schools are very different. small town vs. downtown big city being the biggest difference. Also NW does great in Chicago etc. But I would think Cornell wins in NYC and probably DC. NW probably wins for business law etc. but Cornell would win for International law (or at least they have more emphasis on it). NW is ranked a couple of spaces higher and has slightly lower tuition, but Cornell probably has a lower cost of living. Smaller class sizes (not necessarily section or classroom sizes) at cornell, but older and probably more experienced students at NW. Beautiful gorges and nature at Cornell, but also icey winters. Basically you can't go wrong, I'd pick Cornell personally because I'd rather not be in a big city for school.
Thanks for your advice. You summed up the differences very well. And I like your bottom line. (It kind of relieves me...) The odd thing here is that the comments posted are more for Cornell even though NU is winning in the poll.

Re: Northwestern (60k) vs. Cornell (60k)

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:19 am
by MMags
Have you tried getting more money from either? (Letting NU know Cornell has offered X, or vice versa?)
Could make your decision a tad easier - though you would have to request an extension.

Re: Northwestern (60k) vs. Cornell (60k)

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:37 am
by stylus_go
MMags wrote:Have you tried getting more money from either? (Letting NU know Cornell has offered X, or vice versa?)
Could make your decision a tad easier - though you would have to request an extension.
No, I haven't thought about it..... yet, maybe I should try that. (It would probably make this decision even harder. Slightly more scholarship + all the differences to weigh)

Re: Northwestern (60k) vs. Cornell (60k)

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:51 am
by spacepenguin
stylus_go wrote:
Law Sauce wrote:These schools are very different. small town vs. downtown big city being the biggest difference. Also NW does great in Chicago etc. But I would think Cornell wins in NYC and probably DC. NW probably wins for business law etc. but Cornell would win for International law (or at least they have more emphasis on it). NW is ranked a couple of spaces higher and has slightly lower tuition, but Cornell probably has a lower cost of living. Smaller class sizes (not necessarily section or classroom sizes) at cornell, but older and probably more experienced students at NW. Beautiful gorges and nature at Cornell, but also icey winters. Basically you can't go wrong, I'd pick Cornell personally because I'd rather not be in a big city for school.
Thanks for your advice. You summed up the differences very well. And I like your bottom line. (It kind of relieves me...) The odd thing here is that the comments posted are more for Cornell even though NU is winning in the poll.

Unfortunately, most people tend to just read the thread title and preference their votes based on rankings. Fwiw, I would choose Cornell--but that's mainly because I'll probably be there in the fall and I know very little about NU.

Re: Northwestern (60k) vs. Cornell (60k)

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:59 pm
by stylus_go
Thanks for your comments. Before posting here, I was more into NU, but now I am really considering Cornell. After some introspection, I discovered that I want better NY placement prospect and a rural campus life. I think I will not have chances to live in that kind of environment if not for Cornell.

However, what still bothers me is that Northwestern Law appears to offer better curriculum and programs related to intellectual property or corporate law. Do you think curriculum, programs, and organizations you can get into during your top-law-schools.com affect your job prospect? I mean, does what kind of clinics you do or what kind of programs you engage in significantly affect your employment prospect? Maybe it's good to find out your interests and personally get involved in a specific area of law, but do you think it really matters in your employers' perspectives?

Re: Northwestern (60k) vs. Cornell (60k)

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:41 am
by Law Sauce
stylus_go wrote:Thanks for your comments. Before posting here, I was more into NU, but now I am really considering Cornell. After some introspection, I discovered that I want better NY placement prospect and a rural campus life. I think I will not have chances to live in that kind of environment if not for Cornell.

However, what still bothers me is that Northwestern Law appears to offer better curriculum and programs related to intellectual property or corporate law. Do you think curriculum, programs, and organizations you can get into during your top-law-schools.com affect your job prospect? I mean, does what kind of clinics you do or what kind of programs you engage in significantly affect your employment prospect? Maybe it's good to find out your interests and personally get involved in a specific area of law, but do you think it really matters in your employers' perspectives?
This is a tough question, I think that the consensus is that JD is primarily a general degree and so your background + any JD from a good school would be all that you need. That said I think that there is value to having classes that are related to your interests, meeting others would are interested in the same thing, and having clubs and orgs that relate and could possibly give you great contacts. I think that you could get this at both schools but NW would probably have a slight advantage there. I dont think that not having that though would hold you back as far as 1st job placement. I could be wrong on that as I dont know much about NW or their IP program, if it particularly strong then that could help. Aren't most big IP boutiques in California anyway, not Chicago or NYC...

Re: Northwestern (60k) vs. Cornell (60k)

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 8:48 pm
by stylus_go
Law Sauce wrote:
stylus_go wrote:Thanks for your comments. Before posting here, I was more into NU, but now I am really considering Cornell. After some introspection, I discovered that I want better NY placement prospect and a rural campus life. I think I will not have chances to live in that kind of environment if not for Cornell.

However, what still bothers me is that Northwestern Law appears to offer better curriculum and programs related to intellectual property or corporate law. Do you think curriculum, programs, and organizations you can get into during your top-law-schools.com affect your job prospect? I mean, does what kind of clinics you do or what kind of programs you engage in significantly affect your employment prospect? Maybe it's good to find out your interests and personally get involved in a specific area of law, but do you think it really matters in your employers' perspectives?
This is a tough question, I think that the consensus is that JD is primarily a general degree and so your background + any JD from a good school would be all that you need. That said I think that there is value to having classes that are related to your interests, meeting others would are interested in the same thing, and having clubs and orgs that relate and could possibly give you great contacts. I think that you could get this at both schools but NW would probably have a slight advantage there. I dont think that not having that though would hold you back as far as 1st job placement. I could be wrong on that as I dont know much about NW or their IP program, if it particularly strong then that could help. Aren't most big IP boutiques in California anyway, not Chicago or NYC...
Good point. It's good to have, but not a big deal. Re: IP employers, I was not accepted by the schools in California, so can't help it... gotta find what's best for me now. And I'm also not so sure about that area of law, yet.

Re: Northwestern ($$) vs. Cornell ($$)

Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 9:57 am
by stylus_go
Hey guys, I finally sent the first deposit into Cornell. Thank you all who have left helpful comments in this thread and also who voted! It was really a tough decision to make!

Re: Northwestern ($$) vs. Cornell ($$)

Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 10:45 am
by CanadianWolf
Northwestern offers the most beautiful & sophisticated setting in the country of any law school, in my opinion. NU also offers a more mature student body with a focus on teamwork. However, if you prefer a rural college campus setting, then Cornell is the better choice.
Between Cornell & Northwestern there is no wrong choice in your situation, but they are very different options.