Cornell vs. Georgetown Forum

[kek5250]

Had a weird cycle, and was wait listed just about everywhere in the t14 other than Harvard. 167, 3.8. took the LSAT once.

I put in a deposit at Cornell, but was then admitted to Georgetown off the wait list. Cornell gave me $60,000 and Georgetown gave me $40,000, so tuition will be equal. My apartment at Cornell is ungodly expensive (1400/mo) so I figure the cost of living might not be entirely dissimilar.

I hope to end up in Philadelphia after law school, but I'm not sure what I'd like to do just yet. I'm hoping the next year will help me decide what kind of law I'd like to practice.

My family will be financing my legal education until I get a job, at which point I will be paying them back.

I was wondering if anyone had any insight as to what these schools are like? I went to visit Cornell and had the vast majority of my questions answered there. I loved the people, the town, and the school. However, I still need to know a lot about Georgetown before I can make an informed choice!

Questions about Georgetown:
How accessible are the professors? Is it possible to form close personal relationships with them, or to reach them outside of class, even?
How large is the average class?
Do most students commute? Is there a sense of community there?
At Cornell, the university will give you a stipend for an unpaid internship. Does Georgetown do anything similar?
What is the student body like?
Is it super expensive to live there?
Where do most students live that's reasonably priced?
Georgetown's employment numbers are lower than Cornell's, any thoughts on the importance of that? They're equally ranked on USNWR, so I'm wondering what those other factors are that are overcoming the employment stats.

If you know the answers to any of these questions, or have any other insights, I'd really appreciate it!!

[TheSpanishMain]

DC will be way more expensive than your Cornell apartment, unless you live in a tiny studio or have a bunch of roommates. An average one bedroom in a decent neighborhood in DC runs about 1800-2000.

[kek5250]

DC will be way more expensive than your Cornell apartment, unless you live in a tiny studio or have a bunch of roommates. An average one bedroom in a decent neighborhood in DC runs about 1800-2000.

I'm ok with a tiny studio, it's just me! The apartment in ithaca is a tiny studio. It's just unreasonably priced.

[SteelPenguin]

If you live with a roommate or two, Cornell apartmentso should be closer to 11 per month. Unless you are 100% PI dedicated, I think Cornell is by far the better option.

[riverwater]

If your family is serious about you paying them back, you should retake and get a better lsat score.

[anyriotgirl]

.

[metroidbum]

You should retake. I had almost identical numbers to you after my first take, and retaking vastly improved my position.

That being said, of these two options, Cornell is the easy pick.

[kek5250]

If your family is serious about you paying them back, you should retake and get a better lsat score.

You should retake. I had almost identical numbers to you after my first take, and retaking vastly improved my position.

That being said, of these two options, Cornell is the easy pick.

Check your pretension, guys! So many people on this site need serious doses of reality about this "when to retake" nonsense! I will not be retaking. I'm in at two great schools, this is hardly a terrible position that I'm in! I am more than happy with my options as they stand right now, no need to take an expensive test just to get no money at a different school! Metriodbum, I appreciate the input on the final outcome though, rather than a snarky comment with no value whatsoever. Thanks for the opinion! Why do you think it's a better pick? I'm not asking to be critical, just so I know what things I might look into further.

you should be able to get a cheaper apartment next year if you sign your lease in october like everyone else on campus. the ithaca rent cycle is nuts.

That's really helpful, thank you! Where do you suggest looking? Any ideas?

Steelpenguin, I'm not set on PI by any stretch of the imagination. I'm aware of the biglaw hiring figures being significantly better at Cornell, as well as larger numbers of clerkships. Is that your reasoning, or are you basing this recommendation on something else?

[unc0mm0n1]

If your family is serious about you paying them back, you should retake and get a better lsat score.

You should retake. I had almost identical numbers to you after my first take, and retaking vastly improved my position.

That being said, of these two options, Cornell is the easy pick.

Check your pretension, guys! So many people on this site need serious doses of reality about this "when to retake" nonsense! I will not be retaking. I'm in at two great schools, this is hardly a terrible position that I'm in! I am more than happy with my options as they stand right now, no need to take an expensive test just to get no money at a different school! Metriodbum, I appreciate the input on the final outcome though, rather than a snarky comment with no value whatsoever. Thanks for the opinion! Why do you think it's a better pick? I'm not asking to be critical, just so I know what things I might look into further.

you should be able to get a cheaper apartment next year if you sign your lease in october like everyone else on campus. the ithaca rent cycle is nuts.

That's really helpful, thank you! Where do you suggest looking? Any ideas?

Steelpenguin, I'm not set on PI by any stretch of the imagination. I'm aware of the biglaw hiring figures being significantly better at Cornell, as well as larger numbers of clerkships. Is that your reasoning, or are you basing this recommendation on something else?

are you serious? Expensive test? If you went up 5 points you may be able to go Cornell for free, or get into Penn with money, guaranteeing you anything you want in Philly. You're exchanging a hundred dollar test for maybe 100 thousand in tuition. Then you say Metrio is being snarky when he is telling you that he was in your situation and what he did helped him greatly? How is that snarky? C'mon man, you're better than that.

[Lavitz]

you should be able to get a cheaper apartment next year if you sign your lease in october like everyone else on campus. the ithaca rent cycle is nuts.

That's really helpful, thank you! Where do you suggest looking? Any ideas?

Anywhere besides wherever you found a tiny $1400 studio. My studio is $400 less and right by the law school.

[BigZuck]

Definitely retake the LSAT. Cornell is retardedly expensive and you can do better than 60K

[Elston Gunn]

If your family is serious about you paying them back, you should retake and get a better lsat score.

You should retake. I had almost identical numbers to you after my first take, and retaking vastly improved my position.

That being said, of these two options, Cornell is the easy pick.

Check your pretension, guys! So many people on this site need serious doses of reality about this "when to retake" nonsense! I will not be retaking. I'm in at two great schools, this is hardly a terrible position that I'm in! I am more than happy with my options as they stand right now, no need to take an expensive test just to get no money at a different school! Metriodbum, I appreciate the input on the final outcome though, rather than a snarky comment with no value whatsoever. Thanks for the opinion! Why do you think it's a better pick? I'm not asking to be critical, just so I know what things I might look into further.

you should be able to get a cheaper apartment next year if you sign your lease in october like everyone else on campus. the ithaca rent cycle is nuts.

That's really helpful, thank you! Where do you suggest looking? Any ideas?

Steelpenguin, I'm not set on PI by any stretch of the imagination. I'm aware of the biglaw hiring figures being significantly better at Cornell, as well as larger numbers of clerkships. Is that your reasoning, or are you basing this recommendation on something else?

The bolded is a joke, right? No one's suggesting you go to a different school with no money--they're saying go the same school for $100,000 less.

Expensive test? LOL.

[metroidbum]

.

[kek5250]

The test is not expensive, re-prepping is, as is the year I would need to take off to reapply after withdrawing from most wait lists. (My English degree won set me up for a productive year) Retaking is not an option. My score will not improve at this point enough to get much out of Cornell. I have as much of a chance improving my score right now as flying myself to the moon.

Unc0mm0n, I was saying that the "if you want to repay your family you need to retake" was snarky! Because it was. Metroid was not. His was useful, and I asked for a little more rationale.

Now if the question I asked was "either of these schools or retake?"...then I'd be golden. Taking that off the table, choosing between the schools is still something I need to do. Is the general consensus Cornell? For employment reasons specifically?

I appreciate all of the cost of living advice, it'll be good to find something less expensive soon!

[kek5250]

you should be able to get a cheaper apartment next year if you sign your lease in october like everyone else on campus. the ithaca rent cycle is nuts.

That's really helpful, thank you! Where do you suggest looking? Any ideas?

Anywhere besides wherever you found a tiny $1400 studio. My studio is $400 less and right by the law school.

Hahaha yes I am being robbed for certain.

[Nebby]

You can get a 1br for $1150-1400 (utilities included) in a basement apartment in northern DC. (North of Dupont Circle up to the beltway) Nice neighborhoods and few metro stops sprinkled about.

[Otunga]

Retake! I'm a 3.9/168 and got 90k. With a 3.8/170+, you're potentially looking at 150K from Cornell. With 60k, that's 120k tuition to loan and living expenses, and that's overly expensive. I'm not suggesting your offer isn't justifiable, but you could do better. Cornell over Georgetown if you're going next year.

[Nebby]

OP is not retaking.

[BigZuck]

OP is not retaking.

You must be new here

[metroidbum]

.

[cron1834]

Retake. You have two takes left. Improving by a few points is totally common, and it's potentially worth 6 figures. Consider the quality of life with large debt vs. small.

[kek5250]

Yeah I studied for months, hired a private tutor who got perfect scores on the LSAT, MCAT, and GRE, studied for at least 4 hours a day, and took about 50 practice tests along with hundreds of pages of drills by question type. No way am I taking the June LSAT with no prep and no way am I taking a year off. Not happening. I absolutely will not perform as well the second time around.

I was really hoping to have some Georgetown questions answered, but it seem says though I will need to continue to defend my decision not to retake a test. Sigh. I'll just ask all of my questions when I visit.

The test is not expensive, re-prepping is, as is the year I would need to take off to reapply after withdrawing from most wait lists. (My English degree won set me up for a productive year) Retaking is not an option. My score will not improve at this point enough to get much out of Cornell. I have as much of a chance improving my score right now as flying myself to the moon.

Unc0mm0n, I was saying that the "if you want to repay your family you need to retake" was snarky! Because it was. Metroid was not. His was useful, and I asked for a little more rationale.

Now if the question I asked was "either of these schools or retake?"...then I'd be golden. Taking that off the table, choosing between the schools is still something I need to do. Is the general consensus Cornell? For employment reasons specifically?

I appreciate all of the cost of living advice, it'll be good to find something less expensive soon!

Reprepping shouldn't cost more than 500 dollars at most. 500 dollars, and three months or so of prep, versus tens of thousands of dollars in debt. As someone who also majored in a humanities degree, I understand that employers aren't falling over themselves to hire you. But even if all you do is carry pizzas for a year, that will still ultimately save you far more money down the road when combined with sufficient prep and a retake.

Plus, while law school adcomms don't really care if you have work experience or not, your employers for your 1L and 2L summers will.

I have been exactly where you are now. I know the thought of studying again sucks. But significant improvement CAN be done. How much did you prep the first time? How did you study? What were your methods? Perhaps you really did max your score, but most people don't the first time.

You're suggesting taking a year off to carry pizzas? Taking a year now to do something meaningless and irrelevant, when I worked during school for years doing just that, seems hardly worth putting off a decent salary I could have after school is over. It's not about the studying, I actually really like studying (don't we all?!) it's more about the time and the cost of waiting. It seems silly to put off a potential big law salary to make drops in the bucket, especially since I am very very sure I maxed out my score. I could not have studied harder than I did without having a stroke.

I appreciate everyone's input, but if your input is "retake", please don't bother! I'm really looking to compare the two schools and that is all.

[Elston Gunn]

Yeah I studied for months, hired a private tutor who got perfect scores on the LSAT, MCAT, and GRE, studied for at least 4 hours a day, and took about 50 practice tests along with hundreds of pages of drills by question type. No way am I taking the June LSAT with no prep and no way am I taking a year off. Not happening. I absolutely will not perform as well the second time around.

I was really hoping to have some Georgetown questions answered, but it seem says though I will need to continue to defend my decision not to retake a test. Sigh. I'll just ask all of my questions when I visit.

The test is not expensive, re-prepping is, as is the year I would need to take off to reapply after withdrawing from most wait lists. (My English degree won set me up for a productive year) Retaking is not an option. My score will not improve at this point enough to get much out of Cornell. I have as much of a chance improving my score right now as flying myself to the moon.

Unc0mm0n, I was saying that the "if you want to repay your family you need to retake" was snarky! Because it was. Metroid was not. His was useful, and I asked for a little more rationale.

Now if the question I asked was "either of these schools or retake?"...then I'd be golden. Taking that off the table, choosing between the schools is still something I need to do. Is the general consensus Cornell? For employment reasons specifically?

I appreciate all of the cost of living advice, it'll be good to find something less expensive soon!

Reprepping shouldn't cost more than 500 dollars at most. 500 dollars, and three months or so of prep, versus tens of thousands of dollars in debt. As someone who also majored in a humanities degree, I understand that employers aren't falling over themselves to hire you. But even if all you do is carry pizzas for a year, that will still ultimately save you far more money down the road when combined with sufficient prep and a retake.

Plus, while law school adcomms don't really care if you have work experience or not, your employers for your 1L and 2L summers will.

I have been exactly where you are now. I know the thought of studying again sucks. But significant improvement CAN be done. How much did you prep the first time? How did you study? What were your methods? Perhaps you really did max your score, but most people don't the first time.

You're suggesting taking a year off to carry pizzas? Taking a year now to do something meaningless and irrelevant, when I worked during school for years doing just that, seems hardly worth putting off a decent salary I could have after school is over. It's not about the studying, I actually really like studying (don't we all?!) it's more about the time and the cost of waiting. It seems silly to put off a potential big law salary to make drops in the bucket, especially since I am very very sure I maxed out my score. I could not have studied harder than I did without having a stroke.

I appreciate everyone's input, but if your input is "retake", please don't bother! I'm really looking to compare the two schools and that is all.

Cornell for sure.

[Otunga]

I know the year of lost biglaw salary is a consideration against the retake, but you could decrease law school debt by 100k, or almost with a good enough score. Also there is the possibility of not obtaining biglaw and the less debt the better. Statistically, it's more or less 35-40% at Cornell, although that's a non-negligible percentage.

[cron1834]

You do realize that one can improve on the LSAT by sheer chance, yes? If we take 167 as your true baseline, you could easily get a 170 just by being lucky, even without any underlying improvement.

I got a 168 on my first try, and I'm retaking.