Top Law Schools

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yes. unless you've got money coming from Cornell.

extempore88 wrote:[strike]I'm in at Cornell and under faculty review at Berkeley. I want clerkship/big law after graduation and I'm not overly particular as to region (i.e. San Francisco = LA = NY). Cornell and Berkeley have roughly equal NLJ250 placing and Cornell has a slight edge in clerkships. I'm worried about Berkeley's future reputation and rising tuition. Cornell seems like the stalwart bastion of academic excellence and wins (FWIW IMO, anyway) on lay prestige. Berkeley, however, boasts a higher USNews ranking.[/strike]

Would I be an idiot to go to Ithaca?

Yes. It is colder than a motherfucker.

extempore88 wrote:I'm in at Cornell and under faculty review at Berkeley. I want clerkship/big law after graduation and I'm not overly particular as to region (i.e. San Francisco = LA = NY). Cornell and Berkeley have roughly equal NLJ250 placing and Cornell has a slight edge in clerkships. I'm worried about Berkeley's future reputation and rising tuition. Cornell seems like the stalwart bastion of academic excellence and wins (FWIW IMO, anyway) on lay prestige. Berkeley, however, boasts a higher USNews ranking.

Would I be an idiot to go to Ithaca?

Seriously? I'm no big fan of Berkeley (Stanford UG) and Cornell is where both my parents went, but with the exception of it's undergrad program, there is probably not a single thing that Cornell is better than Berkeley at.

Berkeley and Cornell aren't even on the same level if you exclude undergrad programs. Berkeley is one of the three best schools in the US (along with Harvard and Stanford). No comparison.

mike7174 wrote:

extempore88 wrote:I'm in at Cornell and under faculty review at Berkeley. I want clerkship/big law after graduation and I'm not overly particular as to region (i.e. San Francisco = LA = NY). Cornell and Berkeley have roughly equal NLJ250 placing and Cornell has a slight edge in clerkships. I'm worried about Berkeley's future reputation and rising tuition. Cornell seems like the stalwart bastion of academic excellence and wins (FWIW IMO, anyway) on lay prestige. Berkeley, however, boasts a higher USNews ranking.

Would I be an idiot to go to Ithaca?

Seriously? I'm no big fan of Berkeley (Stanford UG) and Cornell is where both my parents went, but with the exception of it's undergrad program, there is probably not a single thing that Cornell is better than Berkeley at.

Berkeley and Cornell aren't even on the same level if you exclude undergrad programs. Berkeley is one of the three best schools in the US (along with Harvard and Stanford). No comparison.

Isn't Cornell considered the worst ivy? Imo B>C for UG.

No, you would not be an idiot to go to Ithaca, but Berkeley is better by most metrics. What would be crazy would be to choose Berkeley over Cornell based solely on the USNR ranking. You've observed that both are good schools whose graduates enjoy good job placement success. If you love Ithaca and hate Berkeley, then sure, go to Cornell. They are quite different environments and that matters a lot to some people. I wouldn't choose Cornell over Berkeley based on academics, though. UC Berkeley is a "stalwart bastion of academic excellence" if ever there was one.

Another factor is the grading systems. Berkeley uses High Honors, Honors, and Pass, where Pass is the median. This reduces some of the risks involved in potentially ending up in the bottom half of the class. It also contributes to a less competitive environment, as I understand it.

jawsthegreat wrote:Imo B>C for UG.

Let's not go crazy now.

voice of reason wrote:No, you would not be an idiot to go to Ithaca, but Berkeley is better by most metrics. What would be crazy would be to choose Berkeley over Cornell based solely on the USNR ranking. You've observed that both are good schools whose graduates enjoy good job placement success. If you love Ithaca and hate Berkeley, then sure, go to Cornell. They are quite different environments and that matters a lot to some people. I wouldn't choose Cornell over Berkeley based on academics, though. UC Berkeley is a "stalwart bastion of academic excellence" if ever there was one.

Another factor is the grading systems. Berkeley uses High Honors, Honors, and Pass, where Pass is the median. This reduces some of the risks involved in potentially ending up in the bottom half of the class. It also contributes to a less competitive environment, as I understand it.

Also, makes it harder to distinguish yourself.

jawsthegreat wrote:

mike7174 wrote:

extempore88 wrote:I'm in at Cornell and under faculty review at Berkeley. I want clerkship/big law after graduation and I'm not overly particular as to region (i.e. San Francisco = LA = NY). Cornell and Berkeley have roughly equal NLJ250 placing and Cornell has a slight edge in clerkships. I'm worried about Berkeley's future reputation and rising tuition. Cornell seems like the stalwart bastion of academic excellence and wins (FWIW IMO, anyway) on lay prestige. Berkeley, however, boasts a higher USNews ranking.

Would I be an idiot to go to Ithaca?

Seriously? I'm no big fan of Berkeley (Stanford UG) and Cornell is where both my parents went, but with the exception of it's undergrad program, there is probably not a single thing that Cornell is better than Berkeley at.

Berkeley and Cornell aren't even on the same level if you exclude undergrad programs. Berkeley is one of the three best schools in the US (along with Harvard and Stanford). No comparison.

Isn't Cornell considered the worst ivy? Imo B>C for UG.

Yeah, Cornell and Brown are considered the "worst," but I would still say that they're both quite a bit better than Berkeley UG. Other than that, Berkeley trumps Cornell at everything.

It depends on what type of law you want to pursue and where you want to work (East Coast biglaw).

I think it depends on what coast you want to work on.. If you're truly neutral about it, I'd say go for Berkeley because I think it might be easier to crack other parts of the country with a B degree than cracking the west coast or other parts of the country with a C degree, this is just my inkling so take it FWIW

If you want NYC go to Cornell. If you want California go to Berkeley. If you want DC go to Virginia or Georgetown. If you want Chicago go to Northwestern. This is of course assuming you didn't get into a T6.

I'd rather go to Boalt because of the location, the supposed laid back atmosphere, and the number of 164 and under LSAT scores they let in. However you are right, their placement is pretty similar.

It wouldn't be a huge mistake to take Cornell. But at the very least visit these schools.

uh... lets not forget how crappy cornell's basketball team and football team are... always choose schools based on three factors: 1. sports teams 2. USWNRs 3. general awesomality

No, you wouldn't be an idiot. Only choosing your school based on a ranking difference of effectively 4 spots would make you stupid. Choose the school with the right match for personality, career placement (East coast/west coast), academic program, weather (if it's important), cost or any other factors you have.

But don't jump ahead of yourself, you haven't gotten into Berkeley yet.

Avoid the worst hippies and libtards; go to Cornell.

Desert Fox wrote:I'd rather go to Boalt because of . . . the number of 164 and under LSAT scores they let in. However you are right, their placement is pretty similar.

jtxcounitah wrote:uh... lets not forget how crappy cornell's basketball team and football team are... always choose schools based on three factors: 1. sports teams 2. USWNRs 3. general awesomality

Thank you for bringing sanity to this otherwise insane thread.

LawandOrder wrote:Avoid the worst hippies and libtards; go to Cornell.

Berkeley may be hippy central but Ithaca has their share of hippies.

I would say to wait until you actually get a final decision from Berkeley. If you get in, visit. I voted Berkeley, though.

Good luck!