Cornell 1L taking questions Forum

[mbw]

Heyo, sorry I can't search in case this has been covered.

Cornell didn't have any environmental law specialized profs, nor an enviro journal, and only one course, according to Josh Gellers last year (http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key= ... utput=html )
(2 clinics though)

Is this the case this year?
If so, do you know any students who nevertheless want to pursue enviro law? What's their take on the situation?
Know anyone working with the gov on enviro issues over any summers? (if so, class rank?)

Sorry about the clusterbomb Q. Thanks for doing this.

Rachlinski teaches environmental law, and since he's a strong admin specialist, most people I know are happy with his course. I have a couple of friends who are doing environmental law and spending their summers with non-profits/NGOs and/or regulatory agencies.

Cornell has never had a strong PI focus, but it appears to be trying to change that (rapidly) with the new legal reality. There might be more offerings in the future, especially with the legwork carried out by the environmental club

[Aggiegrad2011]

How particularly bad should I feel about not having an adequate answer for, "Who influenced your decision to apply to Cornell?"

Resisting the urge to compliment the Gothic architecture and the scenery for "Why Cornell?" as well, too bad there's not 2 points for honesty. But anyway, yeah, what to do about the influence thing?

[NeXP]

Don't worry about it. I wrote "no one.". For the why Cornell, I wrote something about the reputation of the school, wanting to return to NY and loving Ithaca. My gpa was in range and my LSAT was 75th. I'm here. Oh, and I love Ithaca. A lot.

[danidancer]

I definitely talked about the gorges in my answer as well, that and Cornell's strong ties to NYC. I think for the who influenced question I just put down my undergrad's prelaw adviser? Don't stress too much about it. My numbers were decidedly marginal (below 25th GPA, at 75th LSAT) and they still let me in despite of my lack of inspiration/originality.

[well-hello-there]

I will be applying ED to Cornell but I will be bringing along my wife and 3 kids if we decide to attend in the Fall. Can anybody tell me just how kid friendly the environment is among the students at Cornell and in Ithaca in general?

[danidancer]

Ithaca itself is extremely kid friendly, especially once you get out of the immediate Cornell/Collegetown vicinity. The law school tends to be on the slightly younger side, though - I think they said during orientation that for my class (2013) only 25% of the class is 25 years old or older. And I know A LOT of the class this year came to CLS straight from undergrad. That being said, the law school is a very close knit community, so I don't think the older, married students have much if any issues "fitting in."

If possible, I would suggest visiting and getting a feel for the school and the area.

[mbw]

The class of 2013 is younger than average, with only 3 students over the age of 30 upon entry. However, the classes of 2012 and 2011 had 13 and 11 students, which, according to Dean L., is more in line with Cornell's traditional demographics. We've just received the go-ahead to form a non-traditional students' organization, and the hope is that next year will see a return to a more diverse class (age-wise.)

In my class (2012), there are four of us with 12 kids in total at the moment, although I understand some additional classmates are expecting or make plans. The four families will often hang out together, but not exclusively, and we tend to be very inclusive of traditional students as well. I think that it's been a great environment for my family -- very supportive and caring. Three of the four parents in my class were accepted to other "higher ranked" schools, but we chose Cornell specifically for the family-friendly environment, COL, and well-regarded neighborhood schools (ok, the money helped too.)

Feel free to message me (or KMaine, as he's another of our parent cohort) if you have more specific questions.

[mini777]

I am one of the four students from Class of 2012 with kids. My situation is a bit different than the other three students. My kids did not live with me last year, but right now they are with me. I do not think I could have done the first year with the kids by myself. This year it is more doable. Also I decided against a journal. Being on a journal takes a lot of time and I wanted to spend that time with my kids.

I find Ithaca kid-friendly, but I do not hang out in Collegetown with my kids. I regularly bring my kids to law school and nobody so far complained about my kids to me. I find that finding babysitters etc is more painful than other places, I lived. However, mbw was very helpful. (Hi mbw!). She and her husband took care of my kids while I was doing callbacks etc. I do not think that you will face similar problems to mine since your wife will be here to help you.

As for fitting in with traditional students, there were no problems.

Feel free to ask specific questions.

[Other25BeforeYou]

I regularly bring my kids to law school and nobody so far complained about my kids to me.

That's because your kids are shockingly pleasant to be around.

Also, HI!!! I just realized I never e-mailed you the admin notes from Thursday, I will do that right now.

[KevinP]

I envy you Cornell people so much. What can I sacrifice to the great priests of Ithaca to let me in?

[kn6542]

I regularly bring my kids to law school and nobody so far complained about my kids to me.

That's because your kids are shockingly pleasant to be around.
.

It's because I'm not on campus this semester.

[dihydrogenmonoxide]

How does Cornell place outside of NYC/DC?

My only "ties" are to a super tough market (Seattle).

[CyLaw]

How does Cornell place outside of NYC/DC?

My only "ties" are to a super tough market (Seattle).

I'll wait for a 2L or 3L to answer this one, but just wanted to clarify what type of job you meant since placement will change if you are looking for BigLaw, PI, Business, etc.

[dihydrogenmonoxide]

As a 0L I probably have no idea what sort of job I would actually most enjoy. Basically any job that wasn't in NYC or DC (though I'd like it to be in a city) and that didn't crush me with debt would be fantastic! Whether that is a PI job using the LRAP to deal with debt, or biglaw, doesn't super concern me at this stage.

My hunch is (assuming with each of these I wouldn't be totally crushed with debt), I'd most enjoy PI, Government, or at a firm that isn't a "sweatshop" relative to other firms. I don't expect 40 hour work weeks, but neither do I want to have to work 10 hour days 7 days a week.

[Other25BeforeYou]

As a 0L I probably have no idea what sort of job I would actually most enjoy. Basically any job that wasn't in NYC or DC (though I'd like it to be in a city) and that didn't crush me with debt would be fantastic! Whether that is a PI job using the LRAP to deal with debt, or biglaw, doesn't super concern me at this stage.

My hunch is (assuming with each of these I wouldn't be totally crushed with debt), I'd most enjoy PI, Government, or at a firm that isn't a "sweatshop" relative to other firms. I don't expect 40 hour work weeks, but neither do I want to have to work 10 hour days 7 days a week.

For people who want to work firm jobs in and have ties to smaller cities, it seems to go pretty well. The people I knew with ties to Seattle ended up with job offers at firms there. However, without ties to the smaller city, at least for large firms, it's very difficult these days. I don't think that's Cornell-specific though.

[kn6542]

How does Cornell place outside of NYC/DC?

My only "ties" are to a super tough market (Seattle).

You can always build ties by interning for a summer somewhere. Or you could bold-face lie about it like some people my class have done.

[danidancer]

How does Cornell place outside of NYC/DC?

My only "ties" are to a super tough market (Seattle).

You can always build ties by interning for a summer somewhere. Or you could bold-face lie about it like some people my class have done.

How'd that work out for them?

[KMaine]

If you do well here, and/or have good ties, I think you can place well outside of NY/NYC. I know a few people with jobs in CA, one in Seattle, two in Philadelphia, and I will be working in Boston. Have not talked with many people who are not close friends, as I do not really want to ask if I am not sure they have something lined up.

[KMaine]

Forgot to mention, I do know some people who struck out in Boston (and some who I think struck out but I am not sure). They did not have strong ties, though.

[kn6542]

How does Cornell place outside of NYC/DC?

My only "ties" are to a super tough market (Seattle).

You can always build ties by interning for a summer somewhere. Or you could bold-face lie about it like some people my class have done.

How'd that work out for them?

Fine. Nobody apparently cares.

[Other25BeforeYou]

How does Cornell place outside of NYC/DC?

My only "ties" are to a super tough market (Seattle).

You can always build ties by interning for a summer somewhere. Or you could bold-face lie about it like some people my class have done.

How'd that work out for them?

Fine. Nobody apparently cares.

There's no negative impact (except death glares from me for the people making up relatives in my target market), but I don't know anyone who this actually worked for in terms of getting a job. Firms in non-primary markets this year seemed to be looking for very strong ties. Firms seemed to be unimpressed that I had spent the summer in my target market - it wasn't until I explained that I had also lived in the market for 4/5ths of my life that they would consider me. Then again, I was targeting a particularly insular market - it may not take quite as much in other places.

I think what it comes down to is that firms in smaller markets don't want to hire people who are there because they couldn't find anything in New York. They want to hire people who want to be in that smaller market, people who are still going to be around in ten years, and they figure the only way you can know you want to be somewhere in ten years is if you have very strong ties to that area.

[motiontodismiss]

Damn, my ties are to the one market where it doesn't count for shit (NYC) and another that I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole (California). Lived in TX for a year when I was 6, if that counts for anything lol

[whymeohgodno]

Dream school but after the October LSAT I've resigned myself to the fact I'll be a likely WL.

[lilliea]

First of all, you guys are amazing fountains of knowledge. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I'm not sure if you guys would know any of this, but I figure I might as well ask. If you don't, oh well, it was worth a try.

Have any of you had any experience with the Clark Program, specifically in regards to East Asia? Does it seem like an active organization that is worth the time, or is it rather something that is promoted by not necessarily as strong as it is made out to be?

Also, any idea how Cornell feels about reverse splitters and late applications? I'm retaking in December and have complete confidence I can increase my score (I made some stupid mistakes) but as it stands my LSAT is below the 25th and my GPA is well above the 75th. I've also got some interesting softs and LORs. Should I try it?

[whymeohgodno]

First of all, you guys are amazing fountains of knowledge. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I'm not sure if you guys would know any of this, but I figure I might as well ask. If you don't, oh well, it was worth a try.

Have any of you had any experience with the Clark Program, specifically in regards to East Asia? Does it seem like an active organization that is worth the time, or is it rather something that is promoted by not necessarily as strong as it is made out to be?

Also, any idea how Cornell feels about reverse splitters and late applications? I'm retaking in December and have complete confidence I can increase my score (I made some stupid mistakes) but as it stands my LSAT is below the 25th and my GPA is well above the 75th. I've also got some interesting softs and LORs. Should I try it?

GPA/LSAT?

If you have a 3.9+ with a 165< then you should apply to UVA ED.

Also Cornell had a pretty hard line at 167 LSAT last year. I don't think they are known for being splitter friendly.