Calling Cornell, Georgetown kids

[perfunctory]

I am curious: what are some things you guys didn't know before enrolling but found interesting after enrolling? Mainly want to know things insiders can see like popular faculty, interesting programs, other things you didn't see from browsing school websites as a 0L. Thanks!

[TLSModBot]

For GULC - there is no specific insider knowledge; none that should affect the decision on whether or not to attend, in any case. GULC has interesting professors and boring/useless ones. It has clinics and various volunteering opportunities but those precious job stats are all that matters; in the long run school is just a thing you go through to get where you're going.

If you're choosing between the two and scholly money is equal, go to Cornell if you want to work in NY, consider maybe GULC for DC but Cornell probably is usually the better call in general.

[Glasseyes]

Echoing the above, no secret knowledge will make this decision easier. It boils down to job stats and costs. Unless you have weirdly specific geographic considerations most law students don't have (like a spouse with a career), the only things that matter are how likely the school is to get you where you want to be in terms of (1) job type and (2) location, and (3) how much it will cost.

Some thoughts:

-Do not attend either school at anything close to sticker price.

-Costs aside, if you want generic biglaw and don't care where you land, go to Cornell and recognize that you'll probably land in NY.

-If you're deadset on PI, consider GULC over Cornell but recognize that GULC's employment stats are still worse, so you're taking an additional risk to attend a perceivably more PI-oriented school, which may not actually produce tangible gains in PI hiring.

-Same goes if you're deadset on DC. GULC's networking opportunities in DC might give you an edge over Cornell, provided you fully exploit them, which still requires legwork on your end.

-If you want some specific type of regulatory work (e.g., fedgov or biglaw regulatory practices), also consider GULC over Cornell for the same reasons (because most of those jobs are in DC). Just recognize that most employers see these schools as exact equals, and the main perk to GULC is the ability to work at agencies during the semester.

-Regardless of everything I just said: assuming roughly equivalent costs, generally speaking, CORNELL > GULC, because you're less likely to end up jobless or homeless with six figures of debt. Also, Ithaca is cheaper than DC, so an equivalent scholarship goes slightly further at Cornell.

[BmoreOrLess]

Georgetown may also be worth it if you are really interested in Tax. GULC has every tax class imaginable and some incredible professors. I don't think this implicitly helps you get into Biglaw Tax, all else equal (you'll still need to get a SA before you ever even take a tax class, and won't be able to do the upper level tax classes like International and Partnership until after your SA), but if you're a CPA going to law school specifically for Tax, it's something to consider. I know a bunch of other law schools don't offer JDs anything past corporate tax.

[cavalier1138]

OP, aren't you looking to transfer? I feel like you'd get better answers in that forum, because the calculations that go into transferring are a lot different (scholarships aren't a consideration, OCI results for transfers may be different, etc.).