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Thanks for the help!

Cornell will get you BL in NYC, but that level of debt will all but require BL to pay off. With your lack of ties, some secondary markets (ex: Cali) will be more difficult to break into than others.

Given that you're K-JD, having a year off to get some WE will be very beneficial; many (if not most) people going into law school have at least a year off. You don't need to go back to your rural hometown. I did a 1-year fellowship of sorts in DC, and it was frequently referenced in law school interviews and acceptance phone calls as a contributing factor to admission. Plus, your year off will give you something to talk about during OCI, and will generally help you grow as a person.

A retake would likely help your case, if you're not comfortable with the debt level at these schools.

Voting for Cornell. Is your small rural town even in the vicinity of a secondary market that has a decent legal market? You can be from the sticks in a state with a decent legal market and sell "I was born and raised upstate/down south, etc. If you're unlucky enough to be from one of the very few states with little to no discernible market, it becomes a bit trickier, but even then nearby markets will be sensitive to the legal wasteland you come from.

Those numbers should have netted you something like Michigan with a scholly, did you apply there? Cornell and Michigan place pretty evenly, but Cornell is a bit more NYC centric. More just curious why your numbers didn't reach any higher up the rungs to give some geographic flexibility. Cornell being heavily in NYC could be self-selection, and it can certainly get you elsewhere, but if still be a bit hesitant gunning for secondary markets out of Cornell (again, could be unfounded, but the numbers lean heavily toward Cornell as a NYC feeder).

Cornell at $165k is nearing my personal debt limit, but it's not a horribly indefensible option at all.

faced pretty much the same decision last cycle and went for the retake (ended up being worth it). if you are 100% sure you left points on the table, a retake could do a lot of good, especially since you don't prefer NYC big law. however, I do think it's worth adding that I got into Cornell last cycle and got WL this cycle (probably because I chose not to attend with $$ last cycle). not sure if it's a common thing for Cornell to do this.

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no exit wrote:
Mind if I PM you for some more info about your decision to retake and the position you're in now vs. where you were last cycle?

sure thing!

no exit wrote:Without fully outing myself, I'll say that my hometown is 4-7 hours from all of NYC, Boston, Philly (the latter two I'd be interested in pursuing, but I know they're much harder to land than NYC).

Boston and Philly aren't that hard from Cornell, at least compared with any other T-14 not located in those cities. Are those your most preferred secondary markets, or are there others?

Lavitz wrote:

no exit wrote:Without fully outing myself, I'll say that my hometown is 4-7 hours from all of NYC, Boston, Philly (the latter two I'd be interested in pursuing, but I know they're much harder to land than NYC).

Boston and Philly aren't that hard from Cornell, at least compared with any other T-14 not located in those cities. Are those your most preferred secondary markets, or are there others?

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no exit wrote:

Lavitz wrote:

no exit wrote:Without fully outing myself, I'll say that my hometown is 4-7 hours from all of NYC, Boston, Philly (the latter two I'd be interested in pursuing, but I know they're much harder to land than NYC).

Boston and Philly aren't that hard from Cornell, at least compared with any other T-14 not located in those cities. Are those your most preferred secondary markets, or are there others?

I certainly prefer Boston and Philly over NYC, but I'd say my preferred secondary markets are based mostly on a combination of low COL and desirable weather, so Houston/Dallas/Charlotte/CA all come to mind as places I'd be happy to land (again, I do recognize that those are all considered tough to land w/o ties). That being said, although it seems like a NYC-phobic position I've taken (considering I basically said I'd prefer almost any market other than NYC lol), it is more important to me that I land BL generally than it is that I land BL in any of those secondary markets.

Yeah, none of those would be easy from Cornell with no ties. And if you're just shooting for biglaw, I'm not sure any of your other options are ideal either. Of those markets, best option might be CA if you get into Berkeley with some $$. Otherwise, I think the best option is to go with Cornell, spend 1L summer in Boston, Philly, or CA, gun for whichever of those you spend 1L summer in, and bid NYC as backup. At the very least, I don't think I've known anyone at Cornell who gunned for Philly or Boston and didn't get it.

Alternatively, you could take off 1-2 years and retake. Maybe deposit at Cornell and look for some interesting job or fellowship now that doesn't start until the Fall, preferably in one of those secondary markets. If you get one, withdraw, then study for the LSAT June - September.

How much did you study for the LSAT before taking it and how far off were you from your PT average? That's the key question here. If you don't feel like you can improve on the LSAT, Cornell makes the most sense. If there is room to improve, retaking is a great option because you can take the LSAT twice for next cycle. Moving up 2 points would be big if you can

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no exit wrote:

Lavitz wrote: Yeah, none of those would be easy from Cornell with no ties. And if you're just shooting for biglaw, I'm not sure any of your other options are ideal either. Of those markets, best option might be CA if you get into Berkeley with some $$. Otherwise, I think the best option is to go with Cornell, spend 1L summer in Boston, Philly, or CA, gun for whichever of those you spend 1L summer in, and bid NYC as backup. At the very least, I don't think I've known anyone at Cornell who gunned for Philly or Boston and didn't get it.

Alternatively, you could take off 1-2 years and retake. Maybe deposit at Cornell and look for some interesting job or fellowship now that doesn't start until the Fall, preferably in one of those secondary markets. If you get one, withdraw, then study for the LSAT June - September.

All great advice; thanks Lavitz! Is it common/not too difficult to land a 1L internship in one of those markets from Cornell?

Excluding 1L SAs, 1L summer internships in general are easy to get, so yes, it's extremely common to get 1L internships in any of those markets from Cornell. Ties shouldn't be as much of a problem for that, either.

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