Duke or Cornell Forum

[beachbum]

Not this winter.

Sure, this winter's been pretty mild everywhere. But in general, Ithaca ain't exactly Key West.

No, it isn't. Honestly, weather was one of the reasons that I considered choosing Duke over Cornell. In the end, it was a minor consideration. The neighborhood I live in here in Ithaca is pretty nice, and the weather is not a big deal.

Sure, and the emphasis on weather/location will vary from person to person. I couldn't do Ithaca, and I'm sure there's a healthy contingent of people out there who couldn't do Durham. OP should visit both and, assuming cost is roughly the same, choose based on personal fit.

[woeisme]

IVY LEAGUE!

[woeisme]

Also, Duke placed 2x more students in Art. III clerkships last year than Cornell did.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandr ... s-rankings

Okay, ... and Cornell has better law firm placement. Peer schools, brah. I like Cornell better. Visit both, OP. Then pick.

[fsohn]

IVY LEAGUE!

== Better Alumni Network. Cornell >>> Duke.

/end Cornell Trolling

But really though, Cornell is a great place. I got a clerkship and a job coming out of it.

[beachbum]

Cornell is as much an ivy as I am a 6'5 NBA point guard.

[woeisme]

Cornell is as much an ivy as I am a 6'5 NBA point guard.

[fsohn]

Cornell is as much an ivy as I am a 6'5 NBA point guard.

That's linsane.

Also, Cornell Men's Baskteball >>> Harvard Men's Basketball

Also also, Cornell Men's Hockey >>> Harvard Men's Hockey

/truth

[beachbum]

Comparing ivy league sports is like watching two midgets argue about who is tallest. And comparing hockey to real sports is just silly.

[lawyerwannabe]

Choose Duke. It's warmer.

[Mal Reynolds]

One school is home to the best team in the Atlantic Coast Conference and the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball National Champions. I would go there.

[lawyerwannabe]

One school is home to the best team in the Atlantic Coast Conference and the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball National Champions. I would go there.

And this is another viable reason.

[fsohn]

One school is home to the best team in the Atlantic Coast Conference and the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball National Champions. I would go there.

One school is also in a state where everyone's grand-dad is the son or grandson of traitors to the Union. There. I said it.

[bogart]

Duke offers great placement in New York and the rest of the country. You won't be competing against a majority of the class gunning for one market. Columbia, NYU, and Penn overcome this weakness with their proximity to the city. Cornell is 4 hours away and there's no convenient way to shorten the trip. Also Ithaca is in the middle of nowhere. It's at least an hour's drive to anything. Durham is in the center of several cities with a total population approaching 3 million. Plus the weather in Ithaca has to be seen to be believed. It's 52 right now in Durham. It's 26 in Ithaca with snow tomorrow. The average low doesn't get out of the 30s until May. They get almost 6 feet of snow a year, we rarely get more than 7 or 8 inches.

this post is mostly inaccurate. Even the weather forecast is wrong. If you love duke, then i say good for you, but no need to throw a bunch of false statements out there.

OP, the schools are essentially the same (slight bump to cornell if any), and what it comes down to is where you want to spend three years and where you want to work after.

[bogart]

Op, if you want to know more about ithaca and durham I suggest you go to city-data.com that site will give you mostly unbiased information on these areas from people who actually live there or have spent time there. this will get you a lot further than listening to a bunch of 0L's who haven't been to either place and are mostly just regurgitating what they have read on tls.

[beachbum]

OP, the schools are essentially the same (slight bump to cornell if any), and what it comes down to is where you want to spend three years and where you want to work after.

Edit: On second thought, I'm not even sure "where you want to work after" is a distinguishing factor between the schools. The schools have virtually identical placement power, they place in similar markets, and one school is probably not going to give you an advantage over the other in any given market. I have serious doubts about Duke's ability to open up the south sans ties, just as I have serious doubts about any advantage Cornell enjoys in NYC. I guess maybe, if you need an absolute tie-breaker and everything else is a wash, you could choose based on which region (south/northeast) you want to practice. But it seems like "where you want to spend three years" is a much more important consideration (assuming equal COA).

[bogart]

OP, the schools are essentially the same (slight bump to cornell if any), and what it comes down to is where you want to spend three years and where you want to work after.

yes, they do get a slight bump because of 1) big law placement 2) ivy prestige/ alumni.

and if you really want to get picky, its also in ny which is superior to nc. Full disclosure: this last part is a consequence of my extreme bias towards ny.

[beachbum]

OP, the schools are essentially the same (slight bump to cornell if any), and what it comes down to is where you want to spend three years and where you want to work after.

yes, they do get a slight bump because of 1) big law placement 2) ivy prestige/ alumni.

and if you really want to get picky, its also in ny which is superior to nc. Full disclosure: this last part is a consequence of my extreme bias towards ny.

I think we've finally found a Cornell troll to rival QO's Duke trolling. May God have mercy on us.

[bogart]

OP, the schools are essentially the same (slight bump to cornell if any), and what it comes down to is where you want to spend three years and where you want to work after.

yes, they do get a slight bump because of 1) big law placement 2) ivy prestige/ alumni.

and if you really want to get picky, its also in ny which is superior to nc. Full disclosure: this last part is a consequence of my extreme bias towards ny.

I think we've finally found a Cornell troll to rival QO's Duke trolling. May God have mercy on us.

What can I say, place is awesome. Plus, theres more drugs and sexual deviance in cny than in the tri.

[barneytrouble]

yes, they do get a slight bump because of 1) big law placement 2) ivy prestige/ alumni.

and if you really want to get picky, its also in ny which is superior to nc. Full disclosure: this last part is a consequence of my extreme bias towards ny.

lol Duke places more into biglaw though... so Duke actually gets the slight bump. And wtf does ivy prestige/alumni even mean hahaha? That should account for maybe .01% of your decision when choosing a law school. Which is the point of this subforum.

[bogart]

yes, they do get a slight bump because of 1) big law placement 2) ivy prestige/ alumni.

and if you really want to get picky, its also in ny which is superior to nc. Full disclosure: this last part is a consequence of my extreme bias towards ny.

lol Duke places more into biglaw though... so Duke actually gets the slight bump. And wtf does ivy prestige/alumni even mean hahaha? That should account for maybe .01% of your decision when choosing a law school. Which is the point of this subforum.

Alumni hire you, that is why they are important. ivy prestige looks good to clients, that is why it is important. ithaca is more fun than the south, that is why it is important.

[woeisme]

lol Duke places more into biglaw though... so Duke actually gets the slight bump. And wtf does ivy prestige/alumni even mean hahaha? That should account for maybe .01% of your decision when choosing a law school. Which is the point of this subforum.

As much as I like to hate on Duke I agree that it's a peer school with Cornell in virtually every respect. So these slight differences in clerkship and biglaw placement really should not be the deciding factor here. Both schools will by and large give you similar opportunities.

But, just to be clear, Duke has not placed better than Cornell in big law. At least not in recent years. Not by any of the sources I've come across. The data I've seen suggests that Duke slightly trails Cornell. That may fairly be attributable to more Duke students going into clerkships or elite boutiques (non-NLJ 250), I dunno. But let's make sure our facts are accurate.

[KMaine]

There is no discernible difference between the two schools in terms of prestige/prospects. Here's what you do: visit both schools, see which one you like better. When you get your financial aid package, figure out the total COA of each. Ask yourself: is it worth 15K, 30K whatever the difference is for [nice weather, ACC basketball, my parents being able to brag I go the the Ivy League, seeing waterfalls on a daily basis]. These are the kinds of things you should be weighing, because they are pretty much the same school in any way that really matters.

For me, Duke was not worth $45K more. I am happy at Cornell. I would have been happy at Duke.

[beachbum]

But, just to be clear, Duke has not placed better than Cornell in big law. At least not in recent years. Not by any of the sources I've come across. The data I've seen suggests that Duke slightly trails Cornell. That may fairly be attributable to more Duke students going into clerkships or elite boutiques (non-NLJ 250), I dunno. But let's make sure our facts are accurate.

NLJ 2011: Advantage Duke
NLJ 2010: Advantage Cornell
NLJ 2009: Advantage Duke
NLJ 2008: Advantage Cornell
NLJ 2007: Advantage Cornell
NLJ 2006: Advantage Duke
NLJ 2005: Advantage Duke

FWIW, when accounting for NLJ + clerkships: Cornell is ahead in 2007, Duke is ahead in 2008, and Duke is ahead in 2009 (which I believe is the most recent year of clerkship data). Source: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=150004

So, yeah, the two are interchangeable in terms of placement power. Both schools also have small class sizes and are subject to volatility; I'm not going to hold a few students choosing clerkships over NLJ (or vice versa) against either school.

Edit: Found 2006 NLJ data.

Edit: Would also like to point out that this data sure makes (at least) the entire lower-T14 look like peer schools.

[Copacetic1]

My vote's for Cornell

[barneytrouble]

Alumni hire you, that is why they are important. ivy prestige looks good to clients, that is why it is important. ithaca is more fun than the south, that is why it is important.

lolok