Columbia Law School 2012! Forum

[sbalive]

Anyone else slightly worried about and exhilarated by the caliber of the students at CLS?

So, did you make your decision?

Sort of. It may surprise you to find that I declined Michigan. Who knows if I made the right choice. I deposited at Columbia, but I am still unsure if I will attend there or UT.

Not overly surprised - I do think it was the right decision though. I guess UT is giving you some more time though - but I'm sure if you did end up committing firmly to CLS, you'd be a great addition to the class

(I have heard good things about the students, but main hope for a nice, collaborative culture. Also, a generous fellow student who has access to an extensive source of cheap yet high-quality liquor.)

[06132010]

Anyone else slightly worried about and exhilarated by the caliber of the students at CLS?

So, did you make your decision?

Sort of. It may surprise you to find that I declined Michigan. Who knows if I made the right choice. I deposited at Columbia, but I am still unsure if I will attend there or UT.

Not overly surprised - I do think it was the right decision though. I guess UT is giving you some more time though - but I'm sure if you did end up committing firmly to CLS, you'd be a great addition to the class

(I have heard good things about the students, but main hope for a nice, collaborative culture. Also, a generous fellow student who has access to an extensive source of cheap yet high-quality liquor.)

let me know if you find that generous student with an extensive collection of cheap yet high-quality liquor so I can befriend him as well.

[Lem37]

Not overly surprised - I do think it was the right decision though. I guess UT is giving you some more time though - but I'm sure if you did end up committing firmly to CLS, you'd be a great addition to the class

(I have heard good things about the students, but main hope for a nice, collaborative culture. Also, a generous fellow student who has access to an extensive source of cheap yet high-quality liquor.)

let me know if you find that generous student with an extensive collection of cheap yet high-quality liquor so I can befriend him as well.

*waves* I'm a her, but you rang?

[UnknownElementX]

(at Lem)

[jmat]

Yeah, I've know quite a few CLS students and they were all very smart, but also totally cool and voracious drinkers. From the looks of it everyone on this thread is going to fit in. I'm pretty excited about being part of a community of intelligent people with similar interests and, hopefully, senses of humor. I am sure there will be cutthroat people who are obnoxious, but I look forward to mocking them via gchat in the middle of class.

[indecisive09]

new question- biglaw vs. pi

why do so few people choose to pursue public interest after graduation (something like less than 6% of graduating class according to the most recent data on the CLS website)?

esp. if ppl have a ton of loans, the LRAP seems like a great deal. even accounting for self-selection (preference for biglaw), it seems like a puzzle why more ppl don't take advantage of it?

are pi jobs hard to get or undesirable?

additionally, is it difficult to transition from pi first then to biglaw?

[frank_the_tank]

new question- biglaw vs. pi

why do so few people choose to pursue public interest after graduation (something like less than 6% of graduating class according to the most recent data on the CLS website)?

esp. if ppl have a ton of loans, the LRAP seems like a great deal. even accounting for self-selection (preference for biglaw), it seems like a puzzle why more ppl don't take advantage of it?

are pi jobs hard to get or undesirable?

additionally, is it difficult to transition from pi first then to biglaw?

Early retirement...haha

It takes 10 years to pay off loans via LRAP but with a Biglaw salary it is possible in 5 if you really want to.

[imchuckbass58]

new question- biglaw vs. pi

why do so few people choose to pursue public interest after graduation (something like less than 6% of graduating class according to the most recent data on the CLS website)?

esp. if ppl have a ton of loans, the LRAP seems like a great deal. even accounting for self-selection (preference for biglaw), it seems like a puzzle why more ppl don't take advantage of it?

are pi jobs hard to get or undesirable?

additionally, is it difficult to transition from pi first then to biglaw?

Well, largely because making $50,000 at a PI job for 10 years (cap for lots of LRAPs) isn't exactly enticing to most people, even if you have no loans, and especially when you could be making three times that your first year, and much more thereafter. $50,000 is not much money, especially in a big metro, and especially given law school grads' education levels.

From what I hear, it is very hard to transition from PI to biglaw (in fact, I'd say damn near impossible) unless you are doing a really prestigious gov't or national org. job (Manhattan DA, DOJ honors, ACLU, NAACP legal - not sure if all of these qualify as "PI")

[indecisive09]

5 years in PI under 50,000 cap for CLS's LRAP, right?

[saveferris2785]

conversely, would it be safe to say that it is easier to transition from BigLaw into PI later on than the other way around?

[Skadden Stairs]

5 years in PI under 50,000 cap for CLS's LRAP, right?

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 15&t=62094


And as to the "why CLS grads don't do PI," isn't it a matter of self-selection? As in, if I knew I wanted to do PI, I would have gone to NYU?

[sbalive]

conversely, would it be safe to say that it is easier to transition from BigLaw into PI later on than the other way around?

That seems to be about right. A lot of people (especially in government & lobbying groups) have BigLaw on their CV's.

[06132010]

Not overly surprised - I do think it was the right decision though. I guess UT is giving you some more time though - but I'm sure if you did end up committing firmly to CLS, you'd be a great addition to the class

(I have heard good things about the students, but main hope for a nice, collaborative culture. Also, a generous fellow student who has access to an extensive source of cheap yet high-quality liquor.)

let me know if you find that generous student with an extensive collection of cheap yet high-quality liquor so I can befriend him as well.

*waves* I'm a her, but you rang?

. and we can make other people uncomfortable by getting drunk and going off on Cornell tangents. + 1

[Lem37]

Not overly surprised - I do think it was the right decision though. I guess UT is giving you some more time though - but I'm sure if you did end up committing firmly to CLS, you'd be a great addition to the class

(I have heard good things about the students, but main hope for a nice, collaborative culture. Also, a generous fellow student who has access to an extensive source of cheap yet high-quality liquor.)

let me know if you find that generous student with an extensive collection of cheap yet high-quality liquor so I can befriend him as well.

*waves* I'm a her, but you rang?

. and we can make other people uncomfortable by getting drunk and going off on Cornell tangents. + 1

Oh God, we will be a Big Red force to be reckoned with!

[SleekFire]

When I registered for email they auto assigned me one..

How do I personalize it?

[BeastCoastHype]

When I registered for email they auto assigned me one..

How do I personalize it?

Did you figure it out? I'm trying to do the same with my Michigan one but it's not letting me. If you figure it out let me know so that I can try to see if there are similar options on mine.

[sbalive]

When I registered for email they auto assigned me one..

How do I personalize it?

Did you figure it out? I'm trying to do the same with my Michigan one but it's not letting me. If you figure it out let me know so that I can try to see if there are similar options on mine.

(Checks thread title.)

[imchuckbass58]

So new question for you guys:

Do you know what we agreed to do when we deposited? I know we had to withdraw outstanding applications or something like that...but what was the exact deal?

Does Columbia frown on riding waitlists while you have a deposit down? Did we agree to withdraw from waitlists?

Basically, I got taken off a waitlist and offered some money, and was thinking about leveraging.....is this inadvisable?

[saveferris2785]

So new question for you guys:

Do you know what we agreed to do when we deposited? I know we had to withdraw outstanding applications or something like that...but what was the exact deal?

Does Columbia frown on riding waitlists while you have a deposit down? Did we agree to withdraw from waitlists?

Basically, I got taken off a waitlist and offered some money, and was thinking about leveraging.....is this inadvisable?

For normal people I would maybe advise against this course of action, but Chuck Bass can do whatever he wants so feel free

[sbalive]

Columbia says you can't do multiple deposits. You can stay on a waitlist, but if you accept the offer and deposit at a place you're waitlisted, you'd have to withdraw from Columbia. You could always try leveraging.

[jmat]

5 years in PI under 50,000 cap for CLS's LRAP, right?

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 15&t=62094


And as to the "why CLS grads don't do PI," isn't it a matter of self-selection? As in, if I knew I wanted to do PI, I would have gone to NYU?

I don't know if this is true, based on all my research it seems like Columbia's LRAP is better, they give you excellent PI opportunities and since there's few people interested in PI it seems like they'd be extra motivated to make sure you have an excellent PI experience.

[Skadden Stairs]

5 years in PI under 50,000 cap for CLS's LRAP, right?

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 15&t=62094


And as to the "why CLS grads don't do PI," isn't it a matter of self-selection? As in, if I knew I wanted to do PI, I would have gone to NYU?

I don't know if this is true, based on all my research it seems like Columbia's LRAP is better, they give you excellent PI opportunities and since there's few people interested in PI it seems like they'd be extra motivated to make sure you have an excellent PI experience.

As much as I like CLS, NYU's LRAP is better. You only have to do it for 3 (as opposed to 5) years, and NYU offers loan raise adjustments. The only time CLS's LRAP beats NYU's is when you find a qualifying job that pays over $77,600 out of the gate.

[bermuda]

.

[Skadden Stairs]

As much as I like CLS, NYU's LRAP is better. You only have to do it for 3 (as opposed to 5) years, and NYU offers loan raise adjustments. The only time CLS's LRAP beats NYU's is when you find a qualifying job that pays over $77,600 out of the gate.

I don't think I agree:

1) Clearly, the 3 years at NYU vs. 5 at CLS is better for NYU students, but I'm guessing that most students who take advantage of these programs are pursuing PI as a career making the difference moot.

2) NYU requires that you have net assets under $20k ($40k if married). This strikes me as rather strict and complicating in terms of saving for large purchases such as a home.

3) CLS doesn't have an income cap like NYU, which might come into play in the last few years of one's 10 year repayment schedule.

1) IDK... I've thought about doing government work post-grad, but never as a lifestyle choice. I think a lot of people like the idea of doing PI work for a few years fresh out of law school (while still young enough not to care about being poor).

2) I have no idea.

3) This would be taken care of by the raise adjustments at years 4 and 7, no?

[bermuda]

.