Columbia Law School 2012! Forum

[jmat]

I also vote that we call ourselves "Columbians." It does make us sound like a drug cartel, which means we sound dangerous and sort of badass. If we are all being honest, we are a bunch of enormous wimps in real life, so we might as well enjoy being perceived as being badass--if only for a little while.

I'm sorry, is your screename Thrillhouse? We're going to have to talk when we get to school. So this is what it feels like, when doves cry.

[whyamidoingthis]

I also vote that we call ourselves "Columbians." It does make us sound like a drug cartel, which means we sound dangerous and sort of badass. If we are all being honest, we are a bunch of enormous wimps in real life, so we might as well enjoy being perceived as being badass--if only for a little while.

<--not a wimp

[sbalive]

I also vote that we call ourselves "Columbians." It does make us sound like a drug cartel, which means we sound dangerous and sort of badass. If we are all being honest, we are a bunch of enormous wimps in real life, so we might as well enjoy being perceived as being badass--if only for a little while.

<--not a wimp

Oh, I didn't read the rationale properly.

Okay, I'll change my vote back to Columbos then. "One more thing..."

[jmat]

I second the Columbos. A gang of Peter Falks would be way more intimidating than a cartel of drug dealers.

[MeTalkPrettyOneDay]

Hey guys, I eventually decided on a slightly less notorious school in southern Manhattan.

I was just curious why the people here chose CLS ultimately..

Please don't take my comments as confrontational, just as pure curiosity.

No hostility taken Here are my (very individual) reasons for choosing CLS:

I chose CLS over NYU. Of course, both schools are absolutely incredible and you can't really go wrong with either. However, after going to both ASWs back-to-back, I left pretty sold on CLS.

There were a bunch of factors that pushed me toward Columbia. I went into the ASW fearing, because of perhaps baseless rumors, CLS students would be uptight and unfriendly. When I talked with tons of CLS students and found them very friendly, that calmed my main fear about CLS. CLS then proceeded to win out in most other categories.

-I like Columbia's main campus a lot. It's gorgeous. NYU doesn't have a campus.
-I generally liked the facilities at CLS better. The library is a notable exception; NYU has a much nicer library.
-I prefer the slightly more laid-back atmosphere of Morningside Heights to the constant hustle & bustle of the Village.
-I sat in on two classes at each school. I hated both classes at NYU, and loved both classes at CLS. Sure, given such small sample sizes, there's a potential for sample bias. However, NYU had four classes on the Friday ASW schedule, and I went to two of those classes... NYU had every incentive to put their best classes on the ASW schedule... I visited precisely half of the classes on the Friday ASW schedule, and hated both... that does not bode well for classes in general at NYU. I know NYU is a well-respected top school, but NYU's teaching style may simply not work for me. In contrast, as I said, I was blown away by the classes I saw at CLS.

I liked NYU well enough, and would probably be very happy there. NYU certainly has some good selling points. However, CLS impressed me much more. I just think CLS is a better match for me.

[specialist73]

Hey guys, I eventually decided on a slightly less notorious school in southern Manhattan.

I was just curious why the people here chose CLS ultimately..

Please don't take my comments as confrontational, just as pure curiosity.

I'm always curious to hear what swayed people in making this decision. It's a real poser. Like sbalive and MTPOD, for me it came down to nuances of personal fit.

- I lived in the W. Village for 6 years when I was in my 20's, and at this point in my life am more drawn to the quieter pace of the UWS/Morningside. I'd also like my law school experience to feel like the beginning of something new, rather than a return to my old NYC life.
- I'm significantly older than the average law school student; Columbia seems to skew slightly older, and I felt less conspicuous/out of place there.
- My (younger) sister is an NYU law alum; I went into the back-to-back admitted students' events with a fairly significant pro-NYU bias. Much to my surprise, I had a more positive experience visiting Columbia, sitting in on classes, interacting with current students/administrators, etc.
- I felt a certain energy associated with the PI-oriented resources at Columbia that was attractive. (Presumably generated in part by a competitive drive to increase breadth and depth of offerings. Whatever it was, it obviously worked on me.)

[thrillhouse]

I'm sorry, is your screename Thrillhouse? We're going to have to talk when we get to school. So this is what it feels like, when doves cry.

What's wrong with Thrillhouse? Nuthin'! That's what. And just how will this little talk go? Don't forget, I'm a Columbian now. Have you heard of our "neckties"?

I second the Columbos. A gang of Peter Falks would be way more intimidating than a cartel of drug dealers.

I can get behind that. Peter Falk was dynamite in "Wings of Desire" and "The Princess Bride." And, yeah, he's pretty sweet as Columbo.

[06132010]

Hey guys, I eventually decided on a slightly less notorious school in southern Manhattan.

I was just curious why the people here chose CLS ultimately..

Please don't take my comments as confrontational, just as pure curiosity.

NYU never got back to me, so there was no decision.

[DavidMorales]

1. money, columbia offered more and NYU balked at sending more money at me after an appeal.
2. COA, columbia can be done for much cheapter than official and NYU can't.
3. Harlem/NY 15th makes the URM in me a bit more comfortable.
4. Living with twin brother who is grad student, and 2 other friends at Columiba v 0 at NYU.
5. Columbia's Texas alumni did good job at recriutment, no such effort from nyu.
6. History/Law program.
7. Two expensive deposits, as Jesuit Volunteer I can't afford to bleed too much cash before getting education loans.

[Lem37]

1. Location. While I love to drunkenly stumble around Greenwich Village on a Saturday night, I'd much rather be studying at one of the most gorgeous urban campuses around. I am craving some laying-in-the-quad action.

2. ASW. I just got a better impression from the faculty, students and admits at Columbia's ASW than NYU's.

3. Facilities. Columbia's student center is really nice!

4. COL. Columbia's subsidized apartments are great, and things are much cheaper in MH than in the Village.

5. Prestige. Lame, but true. I like that Columbia is #4 in the rankings - it's like, the next best thing to HYS, which I didn't really have a shot at with my GPA. Also, it's an Ivy. I went to an Ivy undergrad, and I actually do take advantage of the Ivy league network established in NYC. I know, I know, it's dumb as hell, but Columbia just has more lay prestige than NYU.

6. Job placement. Now, this comes from just MY OWN personal experience, but when I was working in a BigLaw firm in Manhattan, there were A TON of partners from Columbia (over twice that of NYU). Now, this could very well be because NYU students choose to pursue PI more, but I don't believe that going to Columbia wouldn't allow me to pursue PI if I chose to, and it's nice to know that CLS grads are so well established in BigLaw (which isn't the corporate machine that everyone thinks it is! Feel free to PM me for some great tales of my stint as a litigation paralegal, whee)

7. Interaction with Admissions. First, NYU took 5 months to get back to me. To ACCEPT me. And they accepted me at the end of March, when I had a bunch of scholarship deadlines due in mid-April. I told them this, and they were incredibly unfriendly, basically informing me that I would be notified the DAY AFTER (4/16) my deadline because that's when the second wave would go out. Second, every time I've e-mailed Columbia with a question, Jill Nussbaum or Eulas Boyd have gotten back to me ASAP. They're really friendly people who take the time out to get to know you. I spent a good 20 minutes talking to Jill during one of the Mondays at Columbia, and it just made me feel great. NYU's e-mail responses seem like automated jargin.

8. Money. As in, Columbia offered me some. NYU offered me zilch.

[HugerThanSoup]

1. Location. While I love to drunkenly stumble around Greenwich Village on a Saturday night, I'd much rather be studying at one of the most gorgeous urban campuses around. I am craving some laying-in-the-quad action.

2. ASW. I just got a better impression from the faculty, students and admits at Columbia's ASW than NYU's.

3. Facilities. Columbia's student center is really nice!

4. COL. Columbia's subsidized apartments are great, and things are much cheaper in MH than in the Village.

5. Prestige. Lame, but true. I like that Columbia is #4 in the rankings - it's like, the next best thing to HYS, which I didn't really have a shot at with my GPA. Also, it's an Ivy. I went to an Ivy undergrad, and I actually do take advantage of the Ivy league network established in NYC. I know, I know, it's dumb as hell, but Columbia just has more lay prestige than NYU.

6. Job placement. Now, this comes from just MY OWN personal experience, but when I was working in a BigLaw firm in Manhattan, there were A TON of partners from Columbia (over twice that of NYU). Now, this could very well be because NYU students choose to pursue PI more, but I don't believe that going to Columbia wouldn't allow me to pursue PI if I chose to, and it's nice to know that CLS grads are so well established in BigLaw (which isn't the corporate machine that everyone thinks it is! Feel free to PM me for some great tales of my stint as a litigation paralegal, whee)

7. Interaction with Admissions. First, NYU took 5 months to get back to me. To ACCEPT me. And they accepted me at the end of March, when I had a bunch of scholarship deadlines due in mid-April. I told them this, and they were incredibly unfriendly, basically informing me that I would be notified the DAY AFTER (4/16) my deadline because that's when the second wave would go out. Second, every time I've e-mailed Columbia with a question, Jill Nussbaum or Eulas Boyd have gotten back to me ASAP. They're really friendly people who take the time out to get to know you. I spent a good 20 minutes talking to Jill during one of the Mondays at Columbia, and it just made me feel great. NYU's e-mail responses seem like automated jargin.

8. Money. As in, Columbia offered me some. NYU offered me zilch.

+1 for all of these reasons

For me, these are exactly on point. Especially numbers 7 and 8. NYU is wildly unfriendly when it comes to admissions/financial aid/general questions. I was told by one NYU representative on the phone that they were simply too busy to take time to answer any questions that individual applicants may have, and then she proceeded to ask me if I knew how many people applied there this year. Tens of thousands was her answer. Like I care, I just wanted to know if my application was complete.

As for the money, CLS more than doubled what NYU offered me, and NYU wasn't willing to budge. Moreover, with the COL what it is in GV, I'd rather not accrue more debt than I need to.

And yes, the fact that CLS is an Ivy does make a difference. Maybe that's just a personal choice, but it is a factor nonetheless.

[saveferris2785]

1. Location. While I love to drunkenly stumble around Greenwich Village on a Saturday night, I'd much rather be studying at one of the most gorgeous urban campuses around. I am craving some laying-in-the-quad action.

2. ASW. I just got a better impression from the faculty, students and admits at Columbia's ASW than NYU's.

3. Facilities. Columbia's student center is really nice!

4. COL. Columbia's subsidized apartments are great, and things are much cheaper in MH than in the Village.

5. Prestige. Lame, but true. I like that Columbia is #4 in the rankings - it's like, the next best thing to HYS, which I didn't really have a shot at with my GPA. Also, it's an Ivy. I went to an Ivy undergrad, and I actually do take advantage of the Ivy league network established in NYC. I know, I know, it's dumb as hell, but Columbia just has more lay prestige than NYU.

6. Job placement. Now, this comes from just MY OWN personal experience, but when I was working in a BigLaw firm in Manhattan, there were A TON of partners from Columbia (over twice that of NYU). Now, this could very well be because NYU students choose to pursue PI more, but I don't believe that going to Columbia wouldn't allow me to pursue PI if I chose to, and it's nice to know that CLS grads are so well established in BigLaw (which isn't the corporate machine that everyone thinks it is! Feel free to PM me for some great tales of my stint as a litigation paralegal, whee)

7. Interaction with Admissions. First, NYU took 5 months to get back to me. To ACCEPT me. And they accepted me at the end of March, when I had a bunch of scholarship deadlines due in mid-April. I told them this, and they were incredibly unfriendly, basically informing me that I would be notified the DAY AFTER (4/16) my deadline because that's when the second wave would go out. Second, every time I've e-mailed Columbia with a question, Jill Nussbaum or Eulas Boyd have gotten back to me ASAP. They're really friendly people who take the time out to get to know you. I spent a good 20 minutes talking to Jill during one of the Mondays at Columbia, and it just made me feel great. NYU's e-mail responses seem like automated jargin.

8. Money. As in, Columbia offered me some. NYU offered me zilch.

+1..couldn't have put it better myself

except that I was rejected from NYU, so it wasn't a decision BUT if I had been accepted, I definitely would have selected Columbia for the reasons above, especially #s 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7

I lived in the Village while I was working in NYC last year and it was such a cool area to live (Halloween was amazing and unklike anything I've ever seen) but I absolutely would not want to go to law school there, it's so hectic, I would find it really hard to do work, and from what I've heard there's a lot of that in law school...I think MS Heights is a way better area for law school, and it'll make you appreciate the rare times when you're able to go downtown and really live it up...

Agreed that admissions at NYU was usually pretty rude and impatient when I called and Columbia was, well, the opposite. I also had a great experience at the ASD...and, prestige does matter, at least to me

As for #8? The jury's still out, come on financial aid, give me some good news!!!

[yqsong]

Hey guys, I eventually decided on a slightly less notorious school in southern Manhattan.

I was just curious why the people here chose CLS ultimately..

Please don't take my comments as confrontational, just as pure curiosity.

.

well, 1, money, NYU offered me a big goose egg, but CLS decided to at least throw me some money

2, i am an international student and CLS has, maybe, the most international students among all the top law schools

3, the admitted student program was great, i ran into a couple of canadian students and they really convinced me to go to CLS

4, i am interested in intellectual property and i get the impression from Dean Schizer that CLS is really investing in improving its faculty in that field, i.e. hiring of Tim Wu

5, lay prestige, yea..this one shouldn't really count, but as an international student, people don't know much about NYU where I come from, but columbia is just an outstanding institution worldwide, and i just received a call from a CLS alumnus, see the point is that, none of the other american schools i got admitted made an attempt to call me since i am in Canada, but CLS was able to find a person working in my hometown to call me, that shows CLS grads are well represented not just in the states, but in other countries as well

6, i dunno if it is just me, but columbia send me more stuff than any other schools i got admitted, which is kinda nice to know that the school is really out there promoting itself

[jmat]

I'm sorry, is your screename Thrillhouse? We're going to have to talk when we get to school. So this is what it feels like, when doves cry.

What's wrong with Thrillhouse? Nuthin'! That's what. And just how will this little talk go? Don't forget, I'm a Columbian now. Have you heard of our "neckties"?

I second the Columbos. A gang of Peter Falks would be way more intimidating than a cartel of drug dealers.

I can get behind that. Peter Falk was dynamite in "Wings of Desire" and "The Princess Bride." And, yeah, he's pretty sweet as Columbo.

I assure you that this talk is nothing but complimentary, I always bet on the House. Also Peter Falk was also in a little film called Roommates starring D.B. Sweeney. Also in the course of all of this I found out he has Alzheimer's Disease, which just makes me sad.

[Lem37]

I think I'd like to add a #9. Whenever I hear Columbia students described as unfriendly, uptight, and generally square, and NYU students described as hipster gods, I die a little inside.

[thrillhouse]

I assure you that this talk is nothing but complimentary, I always bet on the House. Also Peter Falk was also in a little film called Roommates starring D.B. Sweeney. Also in the course of all of this I found out he has Alzheimer's Disease, which just makes me sad.

Excellent! I'm always down for being complimented. I haven't seen roommates, but I'll watch it now.

Sad to hear about the Alzheimer's with Falk. Really, sad to hear about it with anyone.

I am craving some laying-in-the-quad action.

Lem, you are my kinda gal. I, too, am anxious for some laying-in-the-quad action. I am also excited to study and hang out in the quad. ---Wait---Is studying and hanging out what you meant by "laying-in-the-quad action"? Well, in that case, you're still my kinda gal.

[Lem37]

I assure you that this talk is nothing but complimentary, I always bet on the House. Also Peter Falk was also in a little film called Roommates starring D.B. Sweeney. Also in the course of all of this I found out he has Alzheimer's Disease, which just makes me sad.

Excellent! I'm always down for being complimented. I haven't seen roommates, but I'll watch it now.

Sad to hear about the Alzheimer's with Falk. Really, sad to hear about it with anyone.

I am craving some laying-in-the-quad action.

Lem, you are my kinda gal. I, too, am anxious for some laying-in-the-quad action. I am also excited to study and hang out in the quad. ---Wait---Is studying and hanging out what you meant by "laying-in-the-quad action"? Well, in that case, you're still my kinda gal.

Buahaha. +1! I like you guys.

[sbalive]

I'm sorry, is your screename Thrillhouse? We're going to have to talk when we get to school. So this is what it feels like, when doves cry.

What's wrong with Thrillhouse? Nuthin'! That's what. And just how will this little talk go? Don't forget, I'm a Columbian now. Have you heard of our "neckties"?

I second the Columbos. A gang of Peter Falks would be way more intimidating than a cartel of drug dealers.

I can get behind that. Peter Falk was dynamite in "Wings of Desire" and "The Princess Bride." And, yeah, he's pretty sweet as Columbo.

I assure you that this talk is nothing but complimentary, I always bet on the House. Also Peter Falk was also in a little film called Roommates starring D.B. Sweeney. Also in the course of all of this I found out he has Alzheimer's Disease, which just makes me sad.

Yeah, I was pretty broken up when I heard that. I loved watching him as Columbo in reruns and movies, and it was great to see him pop up randomly in movies like Princess Bride. A genuine guy who sort of became an actor along the way... You should check out his bio - it's pretty neat.

[whyamidoingthis]

I assure you that this talk is nothing but complimentary, I always bet on the House. Also Peter Falk was also in a little film called Roommates starring D.B. Sweeney. Also in the course of all of this I found out he has Alzheimer's Disease, which just makes me sad.

Excellent! I'm always down for being complimented. I haven't seen roommates, but I'll watch it now.

Sad to hear about the Alzheimer's with Falk. Really, sad to hear about it with anyone.

I am craving some laying-in-the-quad action.

Lem, you are my kinda gal. I, too, am anxious for some laying-in-the-quad action. I am also excited to study and hang out in the quad. ---Wait---Is studying and hanging out what you meant by "laying-in-the-quad action"? Well, in that case, you're still my kinda gal.

Buahaha. +1! I like you guys.

Lem, are you Grass Girl? As in girl who asked the Dean about grass at the second ASDs in March?

[sbalive]

^^^ I think I know who you are. Will PM.

[Lem37]

I assure you that this talk is nothing but complimentary, I always bet on the House. Also Peter Falk was also in a little film called Roommates starring D.B. Sweeney. Also in the course of all of this I found out he has Alzheimer's Disease, which just makes me sad.

Excellent! I'm always down for being complimented. I haven't seen roommates, but I'll watch it now.

Sad to hear about the Alzheimer's with Falk. Really, sad to hear about it with anyone.

I am craving some laying-in-the-quad action.

Lem, you are my kinda gal. I, too, am anxious for some laying-in-the-quad action. I am also excited to study and hang out in the quad. ---Wait---Is studying and hanging out what you meant by "laying-in-the-quad action"? Well, in that case, you're still my kinda gal.

Buahaha. +1! I like you guys.

Lem, are you Grass Girl? As in girl who asked the Dean about grass at the second ASDs in March?

Nope! I wish. I wasn't at that one.

[jmat]

Speaking of "lying on the quad" action, there actually a really sunny secluded segment of grass with a nice view of the river somewhat west of the campus. I used to go there to read, drink and chill all the time when on lived by Columbia. Remind me to show y'all once we get to campus.

Does anyone else wish this was starting up sooner rather than later?

[saveferris2785]

Just put down that deposit and it felt so good!! Definitely the happiest I've ever been to spend $500...all done baby!!

[yagrish]

Lem, are you Grass Girl? As in girl who asked the Dean about grass at the second ASDs in March?

lol, I remember that

[marshponds]

Hi everybody, I just put down my deposit and am excited to join you this fall!