URGENT Decision Crunch Time! UCLA($) vs. Cornell Forum

[nchuang88]

Sorry for the late and urgent forum post, but I am currently deciding between UCLA and Cornell.

I've already dropped the first deposit at Cornell since it was due 2 weeks ago, but UCLA's deadline is coming up in 2 days!

UCLA is offering me 20k a year, which is a significant amount of money. There are also personal reasons why I would want to stay in California for law school and my career (read: steady girlfriend ). However, if my opportunities are greatly limited by going to UCLA, then my job prospects would take precedence over these reasons.

If I am looking for a decent sized law firm job in California, would I be screwing myself over by going to UCLA over Cornell? Or will finding a job at a decent sized law firm in California coming out of UCLA equivalent to finding the same job from Cornell? What about comparing finding a job in NY from Cornell to a CA job from UCLA?

It may also help to know that I am interested in studying and practicing Business Law (particularly Transactional and Securities), which UCLA has great specialization programs for! What are your opinions on this matter? Please help!

Also, as an aside, would anyone know whether it is much harder for Canadian students on visa to find a BigLaw job and should this factor into my UCLA vs. Cornell decision?

Thanks!

N

[cr073137]

Sorry for the late and urgent forum post, but I am currently deciding between UCLA and Cornell.

I've already dropped the first deposit at Cornell since it was due 2 weeks ago, but UCLA's deadline is coming up in 2 days!

UCLA is offering me 20k a year, which is a significant amount of money. There are also personal reasons why I would want to stay in California for law school and my career (read: steady girlfriend ). However, if my opportunities are greatly limited by going to UCLA, then my job prospects would take precedence over these reasons.

If I am looking for a decent sized law firm job in California, would I be screwing myself over by going to UCLA over Cornell? Or will finding a job at a decent sized law firm in California coming out of UCLA equivalent to finding the same job from Cornell? What about comparing finding a job in NY from Cornell to a CA job from UCLA?

It may also help to know that I am interested in studying and practicing Business Law (particularly Transactional and Securities), which UCLA has great specialization programs for! What are your opinions on this matter? Please help!

Also, as an aside, would anyone know whether it is much harder for Canadian students on visa to find a BigLaw job and should this factor into my UCLA vs. Cornell decision?

Thanks!

N

Go to UCLA, Cornell is more well known, etc, but for Cali market, a UCLA degree weights more, if you are not dead sure on Cali, then go to Cornell. Also, Im international too, is fairly easy to get a job as an international student.

[de5igual]

.

[jks289]

If you want CA or west in general, UCLA is an easy choice.

[OneKnight]

Follow the $$ --> I would be surprised if Cornell were to place better than UCLA in its own area

[CanadianWolf]

UCLA is the better choice based on the information shared in your post since it is cheaper & offers better job opportunities in California.
Somewhat ironically, I don't have a clue about your Canadian student visa question.

[nchuang88]

Thanks for the replies! They're pretty helpful, as I was leaning more towards UCLA already and its good to have some assurance

cr073137: Have you had experience looking for one or just speculation? I'm just curious cause this is pretty important to me. Would it give me a disadvantage compared to other applicants with similar statistics coming out of law school?

From the answers, it seems like UCLA is a better choice for Big Law in Business or Financial Law in LA. What if I was to compare looking for something like that in NY with a Cornell JD vs CA with a UCLA JD? Could someone please shed some light on this? (Just to convince my parents who seem to be deathly against UCLA... )

Once again, you guys are awesome! Thanks!

N

[de5igual]

Thanks for the replies! They're pretty helpful, as I was leaning more towards UCLA already and its good to have some assurance

cr073137: Have you had experience looking for one or just speculation? I'm just curious cause this is pretty important to me. Would it give me a disadvantage compared to other applicants with similar statistics coming out of law school?

From the answers, it seems like UCLA is a better choice for Big Law in Business or Financial Law in LA. What if I was to compare looking for something like that in NY with a Cornell JD vs CA with a UCLA JD? Could someone please shed some light on this? (Just to convince my parents who seem to be deathly against UCLA... )

Once again, you guys are awesome! Thanks!

N

NYC is a much larger legal market, so a Cornell JD in NYC would probably open more doors than a UCLA JD in LA

your parents are probably adamantly against UCLA because Cornell is an Ivy and UCLA is a state school. ask them this: UVA or Michigan (two prestigious state schools that most Asians know nothing about) vs Cornell, and if they say Cornell, you'll know to ignore them and to not trust their skewed judgment.

[nchuang88]

NYC is a much larger legal market, so a Cornell JD in NYC would probably open more doors than a UCLA JD in LA

your parents are probably adamantly against UCLA because Cornell is an Ivy and UCLA is a state school. ask them this: UVA or Michigan (two prestigious state schools that most Asians know nothing about) vs Cornell, and if they say Cornell, you'll know to ignore them and to not trust their skewed judgment.

You're absolutely right! Haha it's funny how you picked up that I'm Asian. They're also worried that I won't be able to find employment due to my Canadian status and Cornell would give me a leg up even if I have to return to either Hong Kong or Canada to look for employment.

I know that NYC is a much larger legal market, however there are also a lot more law schools on the East coast, the Midwest, and the South (I'm thinking of all the schools like Harvard, Northwestern, and Duke) with a large portion of grads who want to go to New York. Therefore, I've heard that it may actually be a lot easier to find a similar job in LA from UCLA than it is to find one in NY from Cornell; however this information came from a UCLA 2L, so it may of course be a little biased. I was mainly wondering if that's true. The problem with this is that smaller CA offices or CA-based firms may not hire international graduates, although this is still debatable according to cr073137.

[hoopsguy6]

Given the scholarship, I think going to UCLA would be a no-brainer.

[JCougar]

Neither are T12 schools , so pick the one that places better in your region, which is UCLA. The fact that they're giving you money is an added bonus.

[dspit]

That guy isn't very excited about UCLA but you on the other hand should be.

[cr073137]

Thanks for the replies! They're pretty helpful, as I was leaning more towards UCLA already and its good to have some assurance

cr073137: Have you had experience looking for one or just speculation? I'm just curious cause this is pretty important to me. Would it give me a disadvantage compared to other applicants with similar statistics coming out of law school?

From the answers, it seems like UCLA is a better choice for Big Law in Business or Financial Law in LA. What if I was to compare looking for something like that in NY with a Cornell JD vs CA with a UCLA JD? Could someone please shed some light on this? (Just to convince my parents who seem to be deathly against UCLA... )

Once again, you guys are awesome! Thanks!

N

Im just speaking from what I have heard. I spoke a lot to career services at several schools and they said that int'l student have no problem on getting the visa. And places like silicon valley are so used to hiring international people that is not a big deal for them. I mean, the whole process is fairly simple. I'm working out, and I undergrad in the US, and I had NO TROUBLE finding a job that will hire me, even thought I have a generic major and didnt go to HYP.

I know for a fact that small companies do not like to hire foreigners because its a hassle, but large firms already hire foreign JDs with LLMs, so they are used to the process. Depending on the market and the area of law, being international can even help you, especially if you have some language skills (FRENCH) is in high demand by what I've heard.

[tallboone]

This would be a pretty easy decision for me. UCLA dominates Cornell in California, has a good LRAP, is giving you a scholarship and is in close proximity to your partner. Do you really want to spend 3 years in Ithica for slightly better national job prospects, but inferior CA job prospects? Join the Bruin family.

[nchuang88]

Thanks for the quick replies everyone! Looks like UCLA it is, unless someone else offers a much more compelling argument

[sfdreaming09]

UCLA beats Cornell in California. Add to that that you have a GF in the area and they’re offering you money AND the weather is second to none….

[im_blue]

NYC is a much larger legal market, so a Cornell JD in NYC would probably open more doors than a UCLA JD in LA

your parents are probably adamantly against UCLA because Cornell is an Ivy and UCLA is a state school. ask them this: UVA or Michigan (two prestigious state schools that most Asians know nothing about) vs Cornell, and if they say Cornell, you'll know to ignore them and to not trust their skewed judgment.

You're absolutely right! Haha it's funny how you picked up that I'm Asian. They're also worried that I won't be able to find employment due to my Canadian status and Cornell would give me a leg up even if I have to return to either Hong Kong or Canada to look for employment.

I know that NYC is a much larger legal market, however there are also a lot more law schools on the East coast, the Midwest, and the South (I'm thinking of all the schools like Harvard, Northwestern, and Duke) with a large portion of grads who want to go to New York. Therefore, I've heard that it may actually be a lot easier to find a similar job in LA from UCLA than it is to find one in NY from Cornell; however this information came from a UCLA 2L, so it may of course be a little biased. I was mainly wondering if that's true. The problem with this is that smaller CA offices or CA-based firms may not hire international graduates, although this is still debatable according to cr073137.

Cornell places better in NYC and the rest of the East Coast than UCLA does in CA. This isn't really debatable from an unbiased perspective. If there's any chance you'll be looking for work outside of CA (East Coast, overseas, etc), then Cornell is the better choice. UCLA is better only for the West Coast.

[splinter23x]

I'd say UCLA because of the scholarship. Ironically, if the gf thing were actually super important, I'd suggest Cornell, because the hottest girls to ever roam the earth go to UCLA and you will instantly lose all interest in your gf.

[holybartender]

I'd say UCLA because of the scholarship. Ironically, if the gf thing were actually super important, I'd suggest Cornell, because the hottest girls to ever roam the earth go to UCLA and you will instantly lose all interest in your gf.

This is patently false.

[sfdreaming09]

I'd say UCLA because of the scholarship. Ironically, if the gf thing were actually super important, I'd suggest Cornell, because the hottest girls to ever roam the earth go to UCLA and you will instantly lose all interest in your gf.

This is patently false.

+1. USC, ASU, SDSU???

[holybartender]

I'd say UCLA because of the scholarship. Ironically, if the gf thing were actually super important, I'd suggest Cornell, because the hottest girls to ever roam the earth go to UCLA and you will instantly lose all interest in your gf.

This is patently false.

+1. USC, ASU, SDSU???

Those, and Santa Barbara.

[keg411]

Cali- UCLA
Anywhere else (ie. NY)- Cornell

[JWicker10]

UCLA, no question about it.

[fortissimo]

I'd say UCLA because of the scholarship. Ironically, if the gf thing were actually super important, I'd suggest Cornell, because the hottest girls to ever roam the earth go to UCLA and you will instantly lose all interest in your gf.

This is patently false.

hahahaha Yeah...it's obvious splinter has never been to UCLA.

[martin55]

though i'd usually cast doubt upon any "specialization" touted by law schools, ucla's business program really is top notch (bainbridge, klee, lopucki, stout), and the tax professors are really good too (stark, zolt, bank).