Cornell 1L taking questions Forum

[Arbiter213]

So we are really checking my forum posts for grammar now lol.

Don't listen to the LR douches.

*confirmed autists

[Yea All Right]

Question: Would a Cornell student at median be able to get into California biglaw?

[Lincoln]

Question: Would a Cornell student at median be able to get into California biglaw?

Yes. A Cornell student at median could also strike out completely.

[mt2165]

Can anyone speak on the PI community at cornell, like how large/active it is? Does Cornell place well for those who want more competitive PI?

[Arbiter213]

Can anyone speak on the PI community at cornell, like how large/active it is? Does Cornell place well for those who want more competitive PI?

Small, sadly.

[HanShotFirst]

Question: Would a Cornell student at median be able to get into California biglaw?

Apparently with ties it's very possible, the small percentage of grads working in CA is due in large part to self-selection to NYC

[Yea All Right]

Thank you for the replies. Strong CA ties here, just want to make sure I can get back to California if I really want to.

[Lacepiece23]

Thank you for the replies. Strong CA ties here, just want to make sure I can get back to California if I really want to.

I think it takes more like top third and working in Cali your 1L summer. Most people that were successful had at least top third anecdotally. At median your kind of clawing for a job like everyone else. That means most likely going to New York where most the big law jobs are. Median grades at Cornell make you more of a begger than a chooser as far as big law is concerned.

[riverwater]

What are some great things about Cornell that I wouldn't know about / fully appreciate just by looking through the viewbook they send out to accepted students?

[Arbiter213]

What are some great things about Cornell that I wouldn't know about / fully appreciate just by looking through the viewbook they send out to accepted students?

Ithaca has one of the better beer distributions in New York.

[runinthefront]

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[Lavitz]

How many 1Ls end up with paid SA positions? Does anyone know?

Looks like around 14%. Personally, I only know of 2 people in my class who have them, but I'm sure there are others. Mostly diversity positions.

http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/career ... -Stats.pdf

What are some great things about Cornell that I wouldn't know about / fully appreciate just by looking through the viewbook they send out to accepted students?

One thing I thought was neat was that everyone gets assigned a student mentor. It can be pretty hit or miss, but it's helpful if you get someone who'll send you all of their notes/outlines/practice tests, etc.

[Arbiter213]

How many 1Ls end up with paid SA positions? Does anyone know?

Looks like around 14%. Personally, I only know of 2 people in my class who have them, but I'm sure there are others. Mostly diversity positions.

http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/career ... -Stats.pdf

What are some great things about Cornell that I wouldn't know about / fully appreciate just by looking through the viewbook they send out to accepted students?

One thing I thought was neat was that everyone gets assigned a student mentor. It can be pretty hit or miss, but it's helpful if you get someone like Arbiter who'll send you all of their notes/outlines/practice tests, etc.

Shhhhh.

[Lavitz]

Shhhhh.

[toothbrush]

How many 1Ls end up with paid SA positions? Does anyone know?

I hear 6/195 (or whatever the 2L class size is) got 30k 1L SA's last year. The other "firm" jobs may be smaller.

The 1L SA's are mostly diversity, tho.

[riverwater]

.

[Lavitz]

What do you guys make of Cornell placing ahead of NYU, NU, Duke, Mich, and UVA in biglaw+fedclerkships for 2013?

Not much we didn't already know. We place well.

I don't understand why people say T12 when Cornell has had some pretty good years. What am I missing?

Nothing. I seldom see any reasonable person say T12.

And anyone know anything about Ndulo and if he's going to be around for the next few years? On paper he seems like someone I'd really like to take classes with.

No idea. Haven't heard anything about him leaving though. Personally, I don't think this should influence your decision that much. There's bound to be some faculty you'll like at each school.

But, based on today's performance, you should be disappointed that Alexander is retiring.

[redsoxfan1989]

Taking my border collie to the admitted students weekend. Tips on fun stuff to do with a puppy in Ithaca?

[Arbiter213]

Taking my border collie to the admitted students weekend. Tips on fun stuff to do with a puppy in Ithaca?

Bring it to play with me.

[mt2165]

Granted DC is one of the harder markets to break into, but what do you think is the speculated rank cutoff for getting it if one so desires? Assuming good interviews etc

[Arbiter213]

Granted DC is one of the harder markets to break into, but what do you think is the speculated rank cutoff for getting it if one so desires? Assuming good interviews etc

There are people in DC that are not very highly ranked in the class. I don't think there's enough data for it to be predictable.

[Princetonlaw68]

For people who want nyc big law, what should their class rank be if they want to have a 90% + chance of getting it. Would you say this is top half or more like top third? Do people around median almost always get ny big law if they want it?

[Lacepiece23]

I'd say top third makes your chances like 90%. Top half maybe 65%

[hephaestus]

I'd say top third makes your chances like 90%. Top half maybe 65%

Yeah I think this is right. Below top 1/3 bidding and interview style really become more important (you cannot underestimate the importance of good bidding). That is not to say that there is any hard cutoff, as several people well below median still end up with biglaw. However, generally the lower your grades the more important a cohesive bidding strategy and mass mailing secondary/other major markets becomes.

If you are talking about "elite" biglaw then top 1/3 is essentially the starting point.

[Princetonlaw68]

Thanks for the responses guys. That's very helpful.

One thing I'd like to note is it seems that within the lower T-14, including GULC, people conistently cite top third as being where you need to be for the 90-95% plus chance at getting big law. I just find this interesting because there's such a large disparity between the overall big law employment stats for a school like Cornell vs. a school like GULC.

Based on overall employment stats, I would've thought that if people at Cornell say you need to be top third for 90% chance, then people at GULC might say top 20% when asked the same question, but this has not been the case at all.

Based on the responses that I've received from students at the lower T14s, I am lead to believe that being top third at lower T14s puts you in roughly the same spot, but the reason it's important to look at the overall big law data is because of the likely scenario that you don't end up in the top third. In other words, as far as I can see, a top third student at Cornell, Michigan, GULC, etc. seems to be in roughly the same spot. To put this another way, it seems that a top third student at GULC will fare just as well as top third from Michigan or Cornell etc., but you would want to go to these other schools just for the better odds at big law if you're not in the top third (which is obviously more likely than being top third).

What do you guys think? Am I totally off base with this thinking? It seems counterintuitive based on the overall big law employment data, but the anecdotes that I get seem to point towards it.