Cornell vs. Michigan vs. Georgetown? Forum

[Lawstudent3000]

I've posted previously, and have yet to make a decision. I was accepted to Michigan and Georgetown, and had been leaning towards Georgetown, but got a call this morning accepting me to Cornell.

Michigan is ranked the highest, but is in Ann Arbor, where I'll be much further away from my family, and freezing cold. While I get that TLS advice favors Michigan, from a living perspective Georgetown offers more (family in Baltimore, NY, etc.) Also, I'll go ahead and throw in that I'm Jewish, and having that (religious) support in the community near NY/Baltimore is important to me.

Then Cornell called. They don't allow transfers into main OCI/EIW, but allow for some smaller job fairs later. They claim most/all transfer students got "good" jobs through other channels (mass emails, events, etc.) but I'm not sure. I got good bidding results for Georgetown and decent for Michigan.

Cornell appeals to me due to its proximity to NY plus the "name." It has great employment numbers, etc. Can people make a case for it?

Finally, I struggle a bit with TLS because while statistics are no doubt important, my family has reached out to a ton of big-law lawyers, all who interview candidates themselves, and they said they don't see any real different between Michigan, Georgetown, and Cornell. While I get they are different, it messes with me a little bit when 5 successful lawyers, who all went to T10 schools, claim they don't see any real difference.

Bonus - Are there any ex-Cornell transfers that can weigh in/PM me?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for any who can provide insight/advice...


P.S Also, at the moment I'm deposited at Georgetown and Michigan. Is that a problem? I hope to make a final decision this weekend...

[Lincoln]

Former Cornell student here (now several years into practice) with friends who went to M and G. (None of us were transfers, though.) A few observations:

(1) You will find a sizable Jewish community at both U of M and Cornell.
(2) You would be about as cold in Ithaca as you would be in Ann Arbor.
(3) Missing out on AJF at Cornell is a huge negative. It's where the vast majority of firm jobs are doled out.
(4) Georgetown has markedly worse firm job statistics than Cornell or Michigan. Many people argue there are various reasons for that that have nothing to do with career prospects, such as self-selection into government, but it's something to keep in mind.
(5) The vibe at a HUGE law school in a big city will be markedly different than at a small law school located on a campus in a small college town. Whether one is better than the other largely depends on your personality.

[nyu2019maybeplease]

Happy to connect you with people who can speak about the robust Jewish life at Michigan, PM me.

I'd say most important is your comfort, not any particular difference in rankings.

[EncyclopediaOrange]

(3) Missing out on AJF at Cornell is a huge negative. It's where the vast majority of firm jobs are doled out.
(4) Georgetown has markedly worse firm job statistics than Cornell or Michigan. Many people argue there are various reasons for that that have nothing to do with career prospects, such as self-selection into government, but it's something to keep in mind.

I vote Michigan.