Columbia students taking questions Forum

[sfreuden]

About 1L SAs: do you just randomly send your resume/transcript/etc. to as many firms as possible? Or are there some firms known for being more likely to hire 1L SAs than others? I've heard you can't contact OCS until Nov. 1st, and then you can't contact employers until Dec. 1st. Generally, do firms expect 1Ls to apply in Dec., or wait until first semester transcripts come back? I know that 1L SAs are not common, even for Columbia, but I just want to get an idea of the process.

[Guchster]

About 1L SAs: do you just randomly send your resume/transcript/etc. to as many firms as possible? Or are there some firms known for being more likely to hire 1L SAs than others? I've heard you can't contact OCS until Nov. 1st, and then you can't contact employers until Dec. 1st. Generally, do firms expect 1Ls to apply in Dec., or wait until first semester transcripts come back? I know that 1L SAs are not common, even for Columbia, but I just want to get an idea of the process.

You can find a lot of this information on TLS (search forum).

You'll meet with your career adviser in late October/early November to discuss summer jobs. They'll teach you about the NALP directory (search advanced -> firms that hire 1Ls) which is how you find out who does. Also, look at firms that have "TBD" in their official NALP entry.

Firms are all different. For some, the sooner the better, for others, you can wait a while until applying. Generally you apply, and then send your transcript when you receive them as an addendum. In my own experience, a few of the non-selective firms were willing to give me a job without grades (so it would've been stupid waiting to apply until I got them); this was also true of firms in my home market.

Firms in NYC wanted grades before decisions went out (and a few of the highly selective firms in my home market). Did my call back, and upon sending them my grades, got offers.

This job stuff will all come together in October/November. You'll have A SHITLOAD of panels and mandatory info sessions that are annoying. Perhaps they woudl've been less annoying if I didn't precociously ask questions on TLS that they would've answered....

Regardless, there are a billion things you need to be focusing on right now (or perhaps nothing at all) than a 1L SA. A 1L SA is not something you should worry about until mid-fall semester in the first place. Relax.

[bhan87]

About 1L SAs: do you just randomly send your resume/transcript/etc. to as many firms as possible? Or are there some firms known for being more likely to hire 1L SAs than others? I've heard you can't contact OCS until Nov. 1st, and then you can't contact employers until Dec. 1st. Generally, do firms expect 1Ls to apply in Dec., or wait until first semester transcripts come back? I know that 1L SAs are not common, even for Columbia, but I just want to get an idea of the process.

You can find a lot of this information on TLS (search forum).

You'll meet with your career adviser in late October/early November to discuss summer jobs. They'll teach you about the NALP directory (search advanced -> firms that hire 1Ls) which is how you find out who does. Also, look at firms that have "TBD" in their official NALP entry.

Firms are all different. For some, the sooner the better, for others, you can wait a while until applying. Generally you apply, and then send your transcript when you receive them as an addendum. In my own experience, a few of the non-selective firms were willing to give me a job without grades (so it would've been stupid waiting to apply until I got them); this was also true of firms in my home market.

Firms in NYC wanted grades before decisions went out (and a few of the highly selective firms in my home market). Did my call back, and upon sending them my grades, got offers.

This job stuff will all come together in October/November. You'll have A SHITLOAD of panels and mandatory info sessions that are annoying. Perhaps they woudl've been less annoying if I didn't precociously ask questions on TLS that they would've answered....

Regardless, there are a billion things you need to be focusing on right now (or perhaps nothing at all) than a 1L SA. A 1L SA is not something you should worry about until mid-fall semester in the first place. Relax.

Just wanted to add that many 1L SA positions are also posted to Columbia's Symplicity (think of it like a better-looking Craigslist that's only populated with legal jobs and maintained by Columbia's career services office). Many public sector jobs are posted here as well, but there are still plenty of interesting jobs to be had that are not listed. However, I know many students here didn't search beyond this listing for their 1L job.

Also, Columbia had a 1L Spring OCI where a few NY firms came to interview, along with some public sector employers. However, from what I heard, the firm jobs at the OCI were uber-competitive (i.e. 60+ interviewees for 1 position). Thus, I wouldn't bank on landing a job there. I still would HIGHLY recommend signing up for it for the experience and well... an interview is an interview is an interview.

[Kring345]

There seems to be a lot of information about housing out there, but it's quite spread out. Anyone care to summarize the consensus on the (university-provided) housing? All I know that I reallllllly dont want to live in the place that requires you to take the shuttle bus.

[Guchster]

There seems to be a lot of information about housing out there, but it's quite spread out. Anyone care to summarize the consensus on the (university-provided) housing? All I know that I reallllllly dont want to live in the place that requires you to take the shuttle bus.

Sure. First few pages of this thread.

[goducks01]

Have any current/former students had experience with judicial externships over the summer / clerkships after grad? I want to do PI, but I’m hoping to clerk for a year or two after 3L. From the website, it seems that CLS LRAP works nicely with clerkships if you do PI afterwards.

[enigmabk]

(but drove off since it was a parked car....)

LOL

[Ship87]

To comment on CLS snottiness from a page back:

I don't really see it to be honest, and I came from a school nobody's every heard of. Maybe I can't see all the judging, but I generally found everyone to be friendly and fun and not all snotty, save maybe one or two people on this forum.

On 1L SA's/summer job search/career office:

I applied to dozens of firms late December/early January and got dozens of rejections letters. The best ones were hand signed asking me to apply in the fall. My lack of success in that area was probably due to the timing and lack of minority status. However, I did get an in-house summer job through Spring OCI, and I've found the career office to be really helpful in preparing resumes/cover letters.

[camelcrema]

To comment on CLS snottiness from a page back:

I don't really see it to be honest, and I came from a school nobody's every heard of. Maybe I can't see all the judging, but I generally found everyone to be friendly and fun and not all snotty, save maybe one or two people on this forum.

On 1L SA's/summer job search/career office:

I applied to dozens of firms late December/early January and got dozens of rejections letters. The best ones were hand signed asking me to apply in the fall. My lack of success in that area was probably due to the timing and lack of minority status. However, I did get an in-house summer job through Spring OCI, and I've found the career office to be really helpful in preparing resumes/cover letters.

ಠ_ಠ

[NC1]

I wouldn't say that CLS students are snotty overall, but there are some people like that. I would say that people are clique-ish though. Some people act like they don't recognize you when you walk by them at this point. That I find funny, but most people are pleasant. Just not as pleasant as my undergrad.

On a side note: I've never personally heard anyone say it, but more than 1 of my friends have told me they've heard people talking about how they feel certain people should not be here or don't deserve to be here. That surprised me, so I guess that's more of a reflection of the fact that I like my class overall that I didn't expect it. I don't know how anyone would judge anything like that aside from cold-calls though and I don't even take them seriously.

But I'd say most CLS people are chill.

[Ship87]

To comment on CLS snottiness from a page back:

I don't really see it to be honest, and I came from a school nobody's every heard of. Maybe I can't see all the judging, but I generally found everyone to be friendly and fun and not all snotty, save maybe one or two people on this forum.

On 1L SA's/summer job search/career office:

I applied to dozens of firms late December/early January and got dozens of rejections letters. The best ones were hand signed asking me to apply in the fall. My lack of success in that area was probably due to the timing and lack of minority status. However, I did get an in-house summer job through Spring OCI, and I've found the career office to be really helpful in preparing resumes/cover letters.

ಠ_ಠ

I actually meant specifically and only Camel.

[redsoxfan2495]

I haven't really noticed much "snottiness" here at all. People are generally quite friendly and I've rarely if ever gotten the impression that someone here thought they were "better" than me or anyone else in the class. I've never heard anyone question whether or not a classmate deserves to be here. Also, I'm pretty sure I went to the lowest ranked undergrad of anyone in the entire class and no one has ever said anything about that.

[JamMasterJ]

Does anyone have any insight into the "hold" situation? Did your class have as large a number of holds as this year's group?

[thunderflesh]

I haven't really noticed much "snottiness" here at all. People are generally quite friendly and I've rarely if ever gotten the impression that someone here thought they were "better" than me or anyone else in the class. I've never heard anyone question whether or not a classmate deserves to be here. Also, I'm pretty sure I went to the lowest ranked undergrad of anyone in the entire class and no one has ever said anything about that.

+1

Some people act like they don't recognize you when you walk by them at this point. That I find funny, but most people are pleasant.

Eh, I think it's exaggerating/a misinterpretation to say that people "act like they don't recognize each other." I mean, I see dozens of people I know when I walk between classes (like all other CLS students), if I were to stop and say hello to every single person I know on the way, it'd take about 10x as long to get anywhere heh. I think it's analogous to when you've worked at an office for a long enough time and you see everyone every single day, so you don't really have to say howdy every time you walk by their desk. Just my $.02.

I can't really speak for other years, but the class of 2014 is generally very warm, friendly and awesome to hang out with.

[NC1]

I haven't really noticed much "snottiness" here at all. People are generally quite friendly and I've rarely if ever gotten the impression that someone here thought they were "better" than me or anyone else in the class. I've never heard anyone question whether or not a classmate deserves to be here. Also, I'm pretty sure I went to the lowest ranked undergrad of anyone in the entire class and no one has ever said anything about that.

+1

Some people act like they don't recognize you when you walk by them at this point. That I find funny, but most people are pleasant.

Eh, I think it's exaggerating/a misinterpretation to say that people "act like they don't recognize each other." I mean, I see dozens of people I know when I walk between classes (like all other CLS students), if I were to stop and say hello to every single person I know on the way, it'd take about 10x as long to get anywhere heh. I think it's analogous to when you've worked at an office for a long enough time and you see everyone every single day, so you don't really have to say howdy every time you walk by their desk. Just my $.02.

I can't really speak for other years, but the class of 2014 is generally very warm, friendly and awesome to hang out with.

Where was the hyperbole in my post? If anything, I gave CLS props. I said I like the CLS2014 class and it defeats most stereotypes, but to pretend that people aren't clique-ish is a major misrepresentation. Obviously I have specific people in mind. I'm talking about people sitting down and talking or standing in JG and acting like they don't recognize you when you walk by after looking in your direction. And trust me, I'm the master of pretending I don't see people when I'm busy and don't want to talk. I know the difference. Those people are in the minority, never said otherwise. With that said, on the flip side, there are people who I had never met until recently and got along with great. Most people are cool. But just because you haven't heard someone say something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Everyone hates when anyone says the slightest thing negative about anything that they're affiliated with. If you guys haven't heard people say what I referenced, good. I haven't either. I've been told about it and given the fact that when someone posted that "shit law students say" video up in the chat group and a lot of people confirmed/joked that they heard it all said in JG, I'm going to assume my friends aren't lying. But a few people have nothing to do with the law school overall. I've been told by 3Ls that our class is much nicer than theirs was because the economy collapsed on them. I buy it. We have a really good group.

[Guchster]

i hope you guys had fun at asd hope to see y'all in a few months

[redsoxfan2495]

I haven't really noticed much "snottiness" here at all. People are generally quite friendly and I've rarely if ever gotten the impression that someone here thought they were "better" than me or anyone else in the class. I've never heard anyone question whether or not a classmate deserves to be here. Also, I'm pretty sure I went to the lowest ranked undergrad of anyone in the entire class and no one has ever said anything about that.

Calling bullshit.

Wait, what did I say that you think is bullshit?

[Guchster]

I haven't really noticed much "snottiness" here at all. People are generally quite friendly and I've rarely if ever gotten the impression that someone here thought they were "better" than me or anyone else in the class. I've never heard anyone question whether or not a classmate deserves to be here. Also, I'm pretty sure I went to the lowest ranked undergrad of anyone in the entire class and no one has ever said anything about that.

Calling bullshit.

Wait, what did I say that you think is bullshit?

it's april fools day. It's turing + 1s and A S Ds into calling bullshit and Aspiefest 2012, lol

[redsoxfan2495]

I haven't really noticed much "snottiness" here at all. People are generally quite friendly and I've rarely if ever gotten the impression that someone here thought they were "better" than me or anyone else in the class. I've never heard anyone question whether or not a classmate deserves to be here. Also, I'm pretty sure I went to the lowest ranked undergrad of anyone in the entire class and no one has ever said anything about that.

Calling bullshit.

Wait, what did I say that you think is bullshit?

it's april fools day. It's turing + 1s and A S Ds into calling bullshit and Aspiefest 2012, lol

Oh, okay. Thanks for clearing that up. That's actually one of the better internet pranks I came across this year.

[NC1]

Speaking of your avatar. The funniest April Fools joke I saw, well maybe not funny, but a friend of mine told another (who is a Sox) fan that Crawford was out for the year in a chat and he was going insane. Only to find out that it was an April Fools joke. Had me to. His story was so believeable.

[lblelalr]

Do you think the expected expenditures posted on the CLS website are accurate? $20,550 per year seems like a really high number to me. Would it be cheaper to live on campus or to live in Harlem?

[Guchster]

Do you think the expected expenditures posted on the CLS website are accurate? $20,550 per year seems like a really high number to me. Would it be cheaper to live on campus or to live in Harlem?

I think harlem and cls housing are comparable. There is huge fluctuations in both (anywhere from 800-2000/month at either), so I guess the answer is both.

see the pros and cons of each in the first few pages of this thread.

[lameslice57]

.

[piccolittle]

Do any of you know how well Columbia places into DC? I'm from the South, so I would love to eventually end up back in DC or the South.

I know a bunch of people going to DC this summer for 1L jobs (mostly reg. agencies etc), so from what I've seen, Columbia does well against the traditional DC schools. This summer, I would say the biggest concentrations of students will be in NY, DC, and the SF bay area (yay!). In terms of firm jobs, people have seemed to have big success in their southern home markets, so I think you should have a lot of options anywhere you have ties. That said, I've heard DC is a tough nut to crack, so to be safe it might be a good option to look into working there 1L summer in order to solidify your ties for EIP.

[TheRedMamba]

Do any of you know how well Columbia places into DC? I'm from the South, so I would love to eventually end up back in DC or the South.

I know a bunch of people going to DC this summer for 1L jobs (mostly reg. agencies etc), so from what I've seen, Columbia does well against the traditional DC schools. This summer, I would say the biggest concentrations of students will be in NY, DC, and the SF bay area (yay!). In terms of firm jobs, people have seemed to have big success in their southern home markets, so I think you should have a lot of options anywhere you have ties. That said, I've heard DC is a tough nut to crack, so to be safe it might be a good option to look into working there 1L summer in order to solidify your ties for EIP.

Good to hear SF represented, I really hope SF BigLaw is a viable option for me