Top Law Schools

A post in another thread got me thinking... How much of a negative impact do you think that The Office's constant mention of Cornell has had on the school's reputation among laypeople? Is the Nard Dog the first thing people will think of now when they hear the name Cornell?

I know that lay prestige isn't the best thing to base a decision on, but I don't know if I want to go to a school that most people associate with a running gag.

doomed123 wrote:A post in another thread got me thinking... How much of a negative impact do you think that The Office's constant mention of Cornell has had on the school's reputation among laypeople? Is the Nard Dog the first thing people will think of now when they hear the name Cornell?

I know that lay prestige isn't the best thing to base a decision on, but I don't know if I want to go to a school that most people associate with a running gag.

Considering everyone loves the Nard Dog, how is the association with him a negative?

keemos wrote:

doomed123 wrote:A post in another thread got me thinking... How much of a negative impact do you think that The Office's constant mention of Cornell has had on the school's reputation among laypeople? Is the Nard Dog the first thing people will think of now when they hear the name Cornell?

I know that lay prestige isn't the best thing to base a decision on, but I don't know if I want to go to a school that most people associate with a running gag.

Considering everyone loves the Nard Dog, how is the association with him a negative?

Uh no? He's Dwight lite.

Oh, come on. As if the majority of the US population even watches, or cares about, The Office. I didn't even know who that Andy...Bernard or whatever his name is guy was before it came up on the Cornell thread once application season started last year.

Honestly, I thought it was kind of quirky and endearing that they briefly used the reference on their site. Had I not removed myself from their applicaiton pool previously, they would still seriously be on my radar. Heck, what most folks I meet know about Cornell at this point is that they were in the Sweet 16; I think any thoughts about The Office were forgotten after that!

--ImageRemoved--

http://abovethelaw.com/2010/03/adventur ... ard-of-it/

Cornell apparently embraces the association.

erniesto wrote:

keemos wrote:

doomed123 wrote:A post in another thread got me thinking... How much of a negative impact do you think that The Office's constant mention of Cornell has had on the school's reputation among laypeople? Is the Nard Dog the first thing people will think of now when they hear the name Cornell?

I know that lay prestige isn't the best thing to base a decision on, but I don't know if I want to go to a school that most people associate with a running gag.

Considering everyone loves the Nard Dog, how is the association with him a negative?

Uh no? He's Dwight lite.

While Dwight and Andy have a lot of things in common (flings with Angela, their occupation, love for singing), they have extremely different personalities. Equally "lovable" characters

billyez wrote:Oh, come on. As if the majority of the US population even watches, or cares about, The Office. I didn't even know who that Andy...Bernard or whatever his name is guy was before it came up on the Cornell thread once application season started last year.

Honestly, I thought it was kind of quirky and endearing that they briefly used the reference on their site. Had I not removed myself from their applicaiton pool previously, they would still seriously be on my radar. Heck, what most folks I meet know about Cornell at this point is that they were in the Sweet 16; I think any thoughts about The Office were forgotten after that!

True - their basketball team may have saved them.

doomed123 wrote: I know that lay prestige isn't the best thing to base a decision on, but I don't know if I want to go to a school that most people associate with a running gag.

Lay prestige is basically bullshit. Lay people don't give you jobs, lawyers do. Do not let this factor in any way into your decision.

I think this has actually helped their lay reputation. When I told people that I got into Cornell, they were like, "Nice! Like Andy from The Office!" or they would say they had heard of it because of the show. I think more people know of Cornell because of it, and they know it is a great school because of the show.

Wrong kind of lay prestige to be thinking about, bud.

Cornell places extremely well in shit-paper supply firms.

rad law wrote:

doomed123 wrote: I know that lay prestige isn't the best thing to base a decision on, but I don't know if I want to go to a school that most people associate with a running gag.

Lay prestige is basically bullshit. Lay people don't give you jobs, lawyers do. Do not let this factor in any way into your decision.

it can help for politics or non-legal jobs, in case one decides to change careers

Really? Your going to factor in lay prestige derived from U.S. sitcoms in your law school decision?

Questionable reasoning.

OneSixtySix wrote:Really? Your going to factor in lay prestige derived from U.S. sitcoms in your law school decision?

Questionable reasoning.

Is that wrong?

romothesavior wrote:I think this has actually helped their lay reputation. When I told people that I got into Cornell, they were like, "Nice! Like Andy from The Office!" or they would say they had heard of it because of the show. I think more people know of Cornell because of it, and they know it is a great school because of the show.

And you don't see a potential negative in this? I think it might be better for them to not have heard of it at all, than to know it only as the alma mater of a fictional pompous buffoon.

It's not like people hearing about Georgetown from The Good Wife. This is pretty much a negative association.

doomed123 wrote:

romothesavior wrote:I think this has actually helped their lay reputation. When I told people that I got into Cornell, they were like, "Nice! Like Andy from The Office!" or they would say they had heard of it because of the show. I think more people know of Cornell because of it, and they know it is a great school because of the show.

And you don't see a potential negative in this? I think it might be better for them to not have heard of it at all, than to know it only as the alma mater of a fictional pompous buffoon.

It's not like people hearing about Georgetown from The Good Wife. This is pretty much a negative association.

Don't be a dumbass. Lay prestige has nothing to do with legal employment. Who cares if there is a negative or positive association because of some show? All you should care about is whether or not you can get a job out of Cornell.

calicocat wrote:

doomed123 wrote:

romothesavior wrote:I think this has actually helped their lay reputation. When I told people that I got into Cornell, they were like, "Nice! Like Andy from The Office!" or they would say they had heard of it because of the show. I think more people know of Cornell because of it, and they know it is a great school because of the show.

And you don't see a potential negative in this? I think it might be better for them to not have heard of it at all, than to know it only as the alma mater of a fictional pompous buffoon.

It's not like people hearing about Georgetown from The Good Wife. This is pretty much a negative association.

Don't be a dumbass. Lay prestige has nothing to do with legal employment. Who cares if there is a negative or positive association because of some show? All you should care about is whether or not you can get a job out of Cornell.

All the schools I'm looking at could get me a good job, so I don't see the harm in looking at other factors. In any case, I'm not saying this is something I'm weighing heavily. I'm just mildly concerned that my potential future school may be seen as a laughing stock by a few million people.

doomed123 wrote: All the schools I'm looking at could get me a good job, so I don't see the harm in looking at other factors. In any case, I'm not saying this is something I'm weighing heavily. I'm just mildly concerned that my potential future school may be seen as a laughing stock by a few million people.

I honestly don't understand that. If anything you should be worried about the high risk of suicide.

Young-ins are short sighted. Lay prestige has nothing to do with immediate legal hiring. Anyone wanting to go into politics, another field, or even private practice will rely heavily on lay prestige. All the talk of Harvard certainly helped our current president get elected. That might seem like a non-issue, given that their lay prestige more or less equals their real prestige, but for schools like George Washington and Georgetown (maybe something about George?) I think lay prestige generally helps them. George Washington proves to be a degree with some national portability, even if it's not immediate, and that betrays their ranking.

To be fair, my thoughts regarding George Washington are based on anecdotal. When I started looking into this, I went straight to family. Three lawyers (one married in), all George Washington Graduates, all working on the West Coast. A close friend works with FX studios and knows a couple of the lawyers around there are from George Washington, and another TLSer recently posted that a paramount attorney (in LA) was a George Washington Graduate. Granted, there are only six examples, and I'm talking about the alumni base that I'm most likely to have a run in with, but it seems to be against common thinking that you can throw a stone in LA and probably hit a George Washington grad.

Oh, and Georgetown seems to be the second most mentioned (behind Harvard) real law school on television/film.

Cornell, I think, will drop out of the t30 because of The Office (joking, joking...sorry in advance)

Duke Sucks.

erniesto wrote:Wrong kind of lay prestige to be thinking about, bud.

Cornell places extremely well in shit-paper supply firms.

Gotta taks a slight issue with DM being characterized that way.

it makes me and my fiance think negatively of cornell.

+truth.

Fark-o-vision wrote:Young-ins are short sighted. Lay prestige has nothing to do with immediate legal hiring. Anyone wanting to go into politics, another field, or even private practice will rely heavily on lay prestige. All the talk of Harvard certainly helped our current president get elected. That might seem like a non-issue, given that their lay prestige more or less equals their real prestige, but for schools like George Washington and Georgetown (maybe something about George?) I think lay prestige generally helps them. George Washington proves to be a degree with some national portability, even if it's not immediate, and that betrays their ranking.

To be fair, my thoughts regarding George Washington are based on anecdotal. When I started looking into this, I went straight to family. Three lawyers (one married in), all George Washington Graduates, all working on the West Coast. A close friend works with FX studios and knows a couple of the lawyers around there are from George Washington, and another TLSer recently posted that a paramount attorney (in LA) was a George Washington Graduate. Granted, there are only six examples, and I'm talking about the alumni base that I'm most likely to have a run in with, but it seems to be against common thinking that you can throw a stone in LA and probably hit a George Washington grad.

Oh, and Georgetown seems to be the second most mentioned (behind Harvard) real law school on television/film.

Cornell, I think, will drop out of the t30 because of The Office (joking, joking...sorry in advance)

Duke Sucks.

Are you sure that GW's name recognition isn't (at least partially) just a result of people confusing it with Georgetown? That was the impression I got. You're right about the massive alumni network though; I was surprised at how many grads they have in CA.

Were there threads like this when Legally Blonde came out?

I think you're over-obsessing about prestige if you're worried that a humorous TV show mention is going to hurt your potential school's "lay prestige."