Weird questions on Cornell APP

[Romes5524]

16. Why have you chosen to apply to Cornell Law School? - Is this "Why X" essay or is a few liner ok?

17. Please disclose the names of individuals who influenced your decision to apply to Cornell Law School. - not sure how this is relevant, but can I leave this out?

[njskatchmo]

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[MURPH]

I answered the first question by saying I liked the small town feel if Ithica. The second question I think I might have written that no particular person influenced me but that I read about them on Brian Leiter's blog and through further research I learned about XXX program.

[sjsteece]

I think they're just looking for a few lines here and maybe a more lengthy "why Cornell?" answer in your essay. I just put the program I liked and one of the professors at Cornell I wanted to study with for why I wanted to apply. For the second question I got the feeling they were fishing for alumni connections you might have, but I just put my high school English teacher (who was a big Cornell fan). Definitely just one or two line answers though. As long as you have some reason it shouldn't really matter.

[Geist13]

From the Cornell dean interviews:

Could an applicant significantly improve his or her chances of admission by drafting a personal statement specifically for Cornell?

I don’t think so. A specific connection with our law school is not really what we’re after. We’re looking to get to know more about the person who’s applying so we can make an informed decision about his or her potential.