Cornell 1L taking questions Forum

[Other25BeforeYou]

I've been having an ongoing conversation with 2Ls at Vandy and UT. One is unsure of employment at UT, and the other thinks Vandy is the best thing in the universe. What is your take on employment at Cornell? I've seen the stats, but I was wondering what the feel was towards jobs around campus.

Depends who you ask. The 3Ls were hit hard by the market downturn, but the 2Ls seemed to have done much better. Coupled with the increased curve range, and I'd say that the general feeling is a cautious optimism.

Is Cornell that much better than GULC in terms of NLJ 250 placement?

We have no idea what our NLJ250 placement looks like for this past OCI, which would be the most relevant numbers for incoming students. I've heard good things about our NLJ250 SA numbers, but they're nothing more than rumors, as far as I know. People seem pretty optimistic about how our class (current 2Ls) did, though, overall.

[Ikki]

I've been having an ongoing conversation with 2Ls at Vandy and UT. One is unsure of employment at UT, and the other thinks Vandy is the best thing in the universe. What is your take on employment at Cornell? I've seen the stats, but I was wondering what the feel was towards jobs around campus.

Depends who you ask. The 3Ls were hit hard by the market downturn, but the 2Ls seemed to have done much better. Coupled with the increased curve range, and I'd say that the general feeling is a cautious optimism.

Is Cornell that much better than GULC in terms of NLJ 250 placement?

We have no idea what our NLJ250 placement looks like for this past OCI, which would be the most relevant numbers for incoming students. I've heard good things about our NLJ250 SA numbers, but they're nothing more than rumors, as far as I know. People seem pretty optimistic about how our class (current 2Ls) did, though, overall.

For my sake, I hope you're right.

[Other25BeforeYou]

Depends who you ask. The 3Ls were hit hard by the market downturn, but the 2Ls seemed to have done much better. Coupled with the increased curve range, and I'd say that the general feeling is a cautious optimism.

Is Cornell that much better than GULC in terms of NLJ 250 placement?

We have no idea what our NLJ250 placement looks like for this past OCI, which would be the most relevant numbers for incoming students. I've heard good things about our NLJ250 SA numbers, but they're nothing more than rumors, as far as I know. People seem pretty optimistic about how our class (current 2Ls) did, though, overall.

For my sake, I hope you're right.

For all current and incoming students' sake, I hope I'm right too. However, the NLJ data for my class (at least that go-to law schools chart from the NLJ) won't be out for another two years, and by then it will hopefully be much more obvious that hiring is back up.

The only numbers I've heard thrown around suggest my class was very close to pre-recession hiring numbers, but that seems too good to be true to me, so I just kind of assume someone pulled those numbers out of his or her ass.

[Trequartista]

I think class size should matter ITE. Cornell's small class size should give it an edge compared to larger schools. I wouldn't be that surprised if Cornell rebounded more quickly than peer schools, given the faster recovery of NYC and its small class size.

[koalatriste]

a very reputable source here at the law school has indicated to me that the placement for the current 2Ls was about 70% (of those individuals who wanted "biglaw"). definitely not pre-recession, but that's certainly outperforming our peer schools and quite possibly "higher ranked" schools.

it also follows logically that cornell would outperform our peer schools. georgetown, for example, is gigantic and third or fourth fiddle in their primary market (which happens to be the toughest legal market in the nation, even pre-recession). northwestern and duke simply don't have the NYC placement that Cornell has - if for nothing else than a function of geography. and the hiring recovery hasn't yet made significant progress (at least comparatively) in the non-NYC markets.

[Trequartista]

How does Cornell compare with Michigan and UVA for NYC placement?

[spacepenguin]

If one hypothetically wanted to practice in Texas, would it be impossible, or are the stats delegating most Cornell students to NY strictly through self-selection? To rephrase my question, do any of you have anecdotal evidence of students returning/practicing in Texas? I'd appreciate any response, thanks!

[alexyoshi]

If one hypothetically wanted to practice in Texas, would it be impossible, or are the stats delegating most Cornell students to NY strictly through self-selection? To rephrase my question, do any of you have anecdotal evidence of students returning/practicing in Texas? I'd appreciate any response, thanks!

i heard of a 1L getting a SA in texas this year. it's mostly self selection IMO. ask career services.

[Trequartista]

Do soft factors matter in admissions to Cornell?

[Juff]

Do soft factors matter in admissions to Cornell?

I havent heard of Cornell acting any differently than other schools when it comes to softs (read: they can help, but you still need the numbers.)

[PinkCow]

Yoyo so I'm currently on page 22 of 70, so forgive me if this has been asked, but how/what are the less "collegey" options for housing? I really don't want to deal with apartments for 2 reasons:

1. I hate other people's noise.
2. I make a lot of my own noise (think loud electric guitar)

I've been searching for a few weeks and the housing options seem awfully limited. I keep seeing the same 6 or so giant houses converted to apartments for rent and that's it.

Basically, I'm looking for a small house or townhouse or side/side duplex under 20 minute drive away for under $1300/mo. The farther away from neighbors the better.

Wow, I totally sound like Clint Eastwood in Grand Torino.

[nphominoid]

Yoyo so I'm currently on page 22 of 70, so forgive me if this has been asked, but how/what are the less "collegey" options for housing? I really don't want to deal with apartments for 2 reasons:

1. I hate other people's noise.
2. I make a lot of my own noise (think loud electric guitar)

I've been searching for a few weeks and the housing options seem awfully limited. I keep seeing the same 6 or so giant houses converted to apartments for rent and that's it.

Basically, I'm looking for a small house or townhouse or side/side duplex under 20 minute drive away for under $1300/mo. The farther away from neighbors the better.

Wow, I totally sound like Clint Eastwood in Grand Torino.

here you go:

--LinkRemoved--

[damage-inc]

anyone have any experience with purchasing monthly parking passes at Seneca Garage, Cayuga Garage, Green Garage??
thoughts?

Is parking generally available on the streets of collegetown or would that be too risky? just go with a monthly garage pass?

[danidancer]

anyone have any experience with purchasing monthly parking passes at Seneca Garage, Cayuga Garage, Green Garage??
thoughts?

Is parking generally available on the streets of collegetown or would that be too risky? just go with a monthly garage pass?

http://ithaca.craigslist.org/prk/ Street parking is doable, but not great with all the snow. Ithaca loves to ticket, and there are alternate side restrictions in winter/24 hour restrictions always. Do you have a place to live yet? A lot of apartments come with some sort of parking arrangement. I found my parking spot on Craigslist because the municipal garages also require you to move your car every 24 hours, just like with street parking.

[danidancer]

Yoyo so I'm currently on page 22 of 70, so forgive me if this has been asked, but how/what are the less "collegey" options for housing? I really don't want to deal with apartments for 2 reasons:

1. I hate other people's noise.
2. I make a lot of my own noise (think loud electric guitar)

I've been searching for a few weeks and the housing options seem awfully limited. I keep seeing the same 6 or so giant houses converted to apartments for rent and that's it.

Basically, I'm looking for a small house or townhouse or side/side duplex under 20 minute drive away for under $1300/mo. The farther away from neighbors the better.

Wow, I totally sound like Clint Eastwood in Grand Torino.

Ithaca really is an apartment renting/house buying town - unfortunately very few houses of the sort you're looking for will be on the rental market. If you're at all in a position to buy, you'll probably find the monthly mortgage to be significantly cheaper than the comparable rent/more in line with what you're looking for. That being said, you might have luck with rental listings in Fall Creek or Lansing, as those are more residential/less collegey neighborhoods.

[damage-inc]

anyone have any experience with purchasing monthly parking passes at Seneca Garage, Cayuga Garage, Green Garage??
thoughts?

Is parking generally available on the streets of collegetown or would that be too risky? just go with a monthly garage pass?

http://ithaca.craigslist.org/prk/ Street parking is doable, but not great with all the snow. Ithaca loves to ticket, and there are alternate side restrictions in winter/24 hour restrictions always. Do you have a place to live yet? A lot of apartments come with some sort of parking arrangement. I found my parking spot on Craigslist because the municipal garages also require you to move your car every 24 hours, just like with street parking.

Thanks for the quick response! I like the idea and the rates seem much better.

I'm looking at places in collegetown but don't want to pay their insane parking charges

[PinkCow]

Yoyo so I'm currently on page 22 of 70, so forgive me if this has been asked, but how/what are the less "collegey" options for housing? I really don't want to deal with apartments for 2 reasons:

1. I hate other people's noise.
2. I make a lot of my own noise (think loud electric guitar)

I've been searching for a few weeks and the housing options seem awfully limited. I keep seeing the same 6 or so giant houses converted to apartments for rent and that's it.

Basically, I'm looking for a small house or townhouse or side/side duplex under 20 minute drive away for under $1300/mo. The farther away from neighbors the better.

Wow, I totally sound like Clint Eastwood in Grand Torino.

Ithaca really is an apartment renting/house buying town - unfortunately very few houses of the sort you're looking for will be on the rental market. If you're at all in a position to buy, you'll probably find the monthly mortgage to be significantly cheaper than the comparable rent/more in line with what you're looking for. That being said, you might have luck with rental listings in Fall Creek or Lansing, as those are more residential/less collegey neighborhoods.

Thanks for the info! Buying is on the table, though I'm not sure I'll be up to add that stresser these next few months leading up to summer/school.

[Other25BeforeYou]

Yoyo so I'm currently on page 22 of 70, so forgive me if this has been asked, but how/what are the less "collegey" options for housing? I really don't want to deal with apartments for 2 reasons:

1. I hate other people's noise.
2. I make a lot of my own noise (think loud electric guitar)

I've been searching for a few weeks and the housing options seem awfully limited. I keep seeing the same 6 or so giant houses converted to apartments for rent and that's it.

Basically, I'm looking for a small house or townhouse or side/side duplex under 20 minute drive away for under $1300/mo. The farther away from neighbors the better.

Wow, I totally sound like Clint Eastwood in Grand Torino.

Ithaca really is an apartment renting/house buying town - unfortunately very few houses of the sort you're looking for will be on the rental market. If you're at all in a position to buy, you'll probably find the monthly mortgage to be significantly cheaper than the comparable rent/more in line with what you're looking for. That being said, you might have luck with rental listings in Fall Creek or Lansing, as those are more residential/less collegey neighborhoods.

Thanks for the info! Buying is on the table, though I'm not sure I'll be up to add that stresser these next few months leading up to summer/school.

Keep in mind that a lot of the towns 10-20 minutes outside of Ithaca don't run on college-rental schedules. Stuff that will be posted now is likely available now or in the next few months, so most likely small houses in neighboring towns that are available come August will be posted in June/July/August.

Oh, and also once you get a 10+ minute drive outside of Ithaca, rental rates drop a lot. A 2-3 bedroom house in neighboring towns will frequently run $600-$1000.

[Ostrizr316]

Yoyo so I'm currently on page 22 of 70, so forgive me if this has been asked, but how/what are the less "collegey" options for housing? I really don't want to deal with apartments for 2 reasons:

1. I hate other people's noise.
2. I make a lot of my own noise (think loud electric guitar)

I've been searching for a few weeks and the housing options seem awfully limited. I keep seeing the same 6 or so giant houses converted to apartments for rent and that's it.

Basically, I'm looking for a small house or townhouse or side/side duplex under 20 minute drive away for under $1300/mo. The farther away from neighbors the better.

Wow, I totally sound like Clint Eastwood in Grand Torino.

Ithaca really is an apartment renting/house buying town - unfortunately very few houses of the sort you're looking for will be on the rental market. If you're at all in a position to buy, you'll probably find the monthly mortgage to be significantly cheaper than the comparable rent/more in line with what you're looking for. That being said, you might have luck with rental listings in Fall Creek or Lansing, as those are more residential/less collegey neighborhoods.

Thanks for the info! Buying is on the table, though I'm not sure I'll be up to add that stresser these next few months leading up to summer/school.

Keep in mind that a lot of the towns 10-20 minutes outside of Ithaca don't run on college-rental schedules. Stuff that will be posted now is likely available now or in the next few months, so most likely small houses in neighboring towns that are available come August will be posted in June/July/August.

Oh, and also once you get a 10+ minute drive outside of Ithaca, rental rates drop a lot. A 2-3 bedroom house in neighboring towns will frequently run $600-$1000.

One thing to keep in mind with your housing situation is how you plan on getting to the law school every single day. If you plan on living in downtown Ithaca or outside the city limits (which your situation seems to lend itself to) and driving yourself to class, remember that you're going to have to drive a lot of days through the snow and park in a lot that is pretty far from the campus. One thing to definitely keep in mind is how close you are to a TCAT bus stop that can drop you off either in front of the arts building or in front of the law school.

As for your idea of getting a side/side duplex, there are places like that which are within a 15 minute walk of the law school and in College Town. Make sure that you are not just checking craigslist, but that you're using the Cornell OCHO (off campus housing office) service (you should be able to find it with a Google search). Finally, if possible, visit and just walk around. Plenty of houses will have for rent signs on them and the landlords don't bother to advertise. Hope all this is helpful.

[PinkCow]

One thing to keep in mind with your housing situation is how you plan on getting to the law school every single day. If you plan on living in downtown Ithaca or outside the city limits (which your situation seems to lend itself to) and driving yourself to class, remember that you're going to have to drive a lot of days through the snow and park in a lot that is pretty far from the campus. One thing to definitely keep in mind is how close you are to a TCAT bus stop that can drop you off either in front of the arts building or in front of the law school.

As for your idea of getting a side/side duplex, there are places like that which are within a 15 minute walk of the law school and in College Town. Make sure that you are not just checking craigslist, but that you're using the Cornell OCHO (off campus housing office) service (you should be able to find it with a Google search). Finally, if possible, visit and just walk around. Plenty of houses will have for rent signs on them and the landlords don't bother to advertise. Hope all this is helpful.

Awesome! Thanks so much for all of the helpful info. My wife and I are definitely going to visit, as this is, by far, my top choice. Regarding distance, I currently drive to school and then park on the street about 3/4 mile away from classes. Also, the climate/snow issue is pretty much the exact same as Cornell, if not a little more snow. If I did drive in, I know parking is sketch, but would there be parking that close available?

[danidancer]

The municipal lot on Dryden is significantly closer than any lot on campus (that you can use during the day - the law school lot is free after 5pm and on weekends). I'm not sure what the monthly rate is, but if paying by the hour it's $1/hour with a $15/day max. I've parked there a few times. A pass to park on campus is, I believe, over $600 for the year. As mentioned, student parking on campus is pretty far from the law school - maybe a 15 minute walk?

[PinkCow]

The municipal lot on Dryden is significantly closer than any lot on campus (that you can use during the day - the law school lot is free after 5pm and on weekends). I'm not sure what the monthly rate is, but if paying by the hour it's $1/hour with a $15/day max. I've parked there a few times. A pass to park on campus is, I believe, over $600 for the year. As mentioned, student parking on campus is pretty far from the law school - maybe a 15 minute walk?

Cool cool. So, doubt this will be answerable by anyone here, but has anybody had any experience with --LinkRemoved--? Keep seeing adverts for them and seems like a good compromise (close to bus route, in price range, etc.). However, can't find any reviews or 3rd party info. Plus, they allow pets so my wife and I can bring our super-awesome pug.

[PinkCow]

AND...another question. What's the gym situation? Someone earlier mentioned paying for a gym membership? As law students, do we get free access to Cornell gym? I'm quite used to that luxury...

[Other25BeforeYou]

AND...another question. What's the gym situation? Someone earlier mentioned paying for a gym membership? As law students, do we get free access to Cornell gym? I'm quite used to that luxury...

You have to pay for gym access but it's somewhere around $100 for the entire school year (which is really not bad at all).

Also, regarding the above, if you live outside of Ithaca you will probably save ~$300 on rent per month, and the parking garage on Dryden costs ~$100/month for a monthly pass, and it's roughly 3 blocks from the law school, so that's really not a bad deal at all. The other thing to consider is that some law students carpool and split the costs of the parking spot in the garage.

Some students also drive to a grocery store just outside Ithaca, park their car, and take the bus in from there, which seems to work well.

[Trequartista]

How awesome are Cornell's 2010 placement numbers . 2nd best placement, ahead of Columbia and NYU, MVPDN, WOW.