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Cooley's Difficulty Compared to Other Schools
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 11:44 am
by tj1320
I will be transferring from Cooley to a T1 school this August and I am curious about how Cooley compares to other schools in terms of difficulty. I know it is laughable for many reasons, but it is ABA accredited. If someone can get an A at Cooley, how much more difficult, if any, is it to get an A at a T1 school?
Thanks and no, this is not a flame. I am fully aware of how bad Cooley's reputation is. A quick search on TLS reveals that info. Unfortunately, the ocean of bashing hides any serious discussion very well when searching for it.
Re: Cooley's Difficulty Compared to Other Schools
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 11:52 am
by Verity
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Re: Cooley's Difficulty Compared to Other Schools
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 11:54 am
by kwais
you must admit that Verity, however crude, has a point here
Re: Cooley's Difficulty Compared to Other Schools
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 11:56 am
by ResolutePear
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Re: Cooley's Difficulty Compared to Other Schools
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 12:01 pm
by piccolittle
I'm going to be a supportive voice here. I'm sure you'll be fine. The fact that you performed well enough at Cooley to transfer to your new school says good things about your work ethic and smarts. You will probably not achieve the same ranking, but probably won't be bottom of the class.
Not quite what you were looking for, but that's all I got.
hth
Re: Cooley's Difficulty Compared to Other Schools
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 12:02 pm
by duckmoney
piccolittle wrote:I'm going to be a supportive voice here. I'm sure you'll be fine. The fact that you performed well enough at Cooley to transfer to your new school says good things about your work ethic and smarts. You will probably not achieve the same ranking, but probably won't be bottom of the class.
hth
Even if you are bottom of your new class, congratulations, you're out of Cooley!
Re: Cooley's Difficulty Compared to Other Schools
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 12:38 pm
by androstan
duckmoney wrote:piccolittle wrote:I'm going to be a supportive voice here. I'm sure you'll be fine. The fact that you performed well enough at Cooley to transfer to your new school says good things about your work ethic and smarts. You will probably not achieve the same ranking, but probably won't be bottom of the class.
hth
Even if you are bottom of your new class, congratulations, you're out of Cooley!
Re: Cooley's Difficulty Compared to Other Schools
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 12:47 pm
by Verity
bubble for days
Re: Cooley's Difficulty Compared to Other Schools
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 12:54 pm
by CaptainCrunch
OP, congrats on the transfer. That's a huge jump, you should be proud.
I think the only person who can answer your question would be someone that has been in your shoes. Not many people on TLS have taken classes at Cooley and then classes at a T1.
It's hard to imagine that a T1 isn't more rigorous than a T4. But here's the deal: you still had a curve at Cooley and you still beat out most of your classmates... I would say if you had the horsepower to do well at a school as big as Cooley, you can do it again. It may be harder, but don't freak yourself out. Step up your game when the time comes, and remember that you've done it before.
Re: Cooley's Difficulty Compared to Other Schools
Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 9:53 am
by TTH
CaptainCrunch wrote:OP, congrats on the transfer. That's a huge jump, you should be proud.
I think the only person who can answer your question would be someone that has been in your shoes. Not many people on TLS have taken classes at Cooley and then classes at a T1.
It's hard to imagine that a T1 isn't more rigorous than a T4. But here's the deal: you still had a curve at Cooley and you still beat out most of your classmates... I would say if you had the horsepower to do well at a school as big as Cooley, you can do it again. It may be harder, but don't freak yourself out. Step up your game when the time comes, and remember that you've done it before.
Plus, odds are your curve at Cooley was much harder than the curve will be at your new school. So sure, you'll be going up against brighter competition, but now there's more room at the top.
Re: Cooley's Difficulty Compared to Other Schools
Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 10:41 am
by CanadianWolf
OP: The law school to which you are transferring is a Tier Two law school, not a Tier One. Tier One is usually limited to those law schools ranked among the top 50 by USNews.
The law school to which you are transferring is known to be a friendly, fairly non-competitive environment. You should do well.
Re: Cooley's Difficulty Compared to Other Schools
Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 12:18 pm
by tj1320
Thanks for the encouragement. You're right that it is a T2 school; I was misinformed by another website a while back. I must say that I feel like I do have the work ethic to do well at my new school. I have heard that transferring up from Cooley is nearly impossible but that transferring laterally to another T4 is common. I'm just thrilled that I got out of there. I am thankful to Cooley for giving me a chance with my mid 140s LSAT but I had to transfer closer to home. Law school has definitely been an interesting experience so far. I have never had to study so hard in my life. LOL undergrad was a joke compared to this.
One thing I observed about Cooley is that my class was HUGE at the beginning of the first semester. For example, my Con Law I class had probably 100 students in September of last year. By finals in December, there were probably 70. My Con Law II class had 21 during the second semester after grades came out from the first semester. The maintenance guy at my apartment complex told me he sees many Cooley students moving out after the first semester or before. It is easy to get in but difficult to stay, apparently.
Re: Cooley's Difficulty Compared to Other Schools
Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 12:54 pm
by CaptainCrunch
Where are you transferring?
Re: Cooley's Difficulty Compared to Other Schools
Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 12:57 pm
by JamMasterJ
tj1320 wrote:Thanks for the encouragement. You're right that it is a T2 school; I was misinformed by another website a while back. I must say that I feel like I do have the work ethic to do well at my new school. I have heard that transferring up from Cooley is nearly impossible but that transferring laterally to another T4 is common. I'm just thrilled that I got out of there. I am thankful to Cooley for giving me a chance with my mid 140s LSAT but I had to transfer closer to home. Law school has definitely been an interesting experience so far. I have never had to study so hard in my life. LOL undergrad was a joke compared to this.
One thing I observed about Cooley is that my class was HUGE at the beginning of the first semester. For example, my Con Law I class had probably 100 students in September of last year. By finals in December, there were probably 70. My Con Law II class had 21 during the second semester after grades came out from the first semester. The maintenance guy at my apartment complex told me he sees many Cooley students moving out after the first semester or before. It is easy to get in but difficult to stay, apparently.
This effect is substantially reduced the farther you go up the rankings
Re: Cooley's Difficulty Compared to Other Schools
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:13 am
by tj1320
CaptainCrunch wrote:Where are you transferring?
University of New Mexico. My dad has a practice in NM and I am going to work with him after law school and eventually take over the practice once he decides to retire. Since I'm going to work in NM, it made sense to go there instead of Cooley.
Re: Cooley's Difficulty Compared to Other Schools
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:24 am
by tj1320
JamMasterJ wrote:tj1320 wrote:Thanks for the encouragement. You're right that it is a T2 school; I was misinformed by another website a while back. I must say that I feel like I do have the work ethic to do well at my new school. I have heard that transferring up from Cooley is nearly impossible but that transferring laterally to another T4 is common. I'm just thrilled that I got out of there. I am thankful to Cooley for giving me a chance with my mid 140s LSAT but I had to transfer closer to home. Law school has definitely been an interesting experience so far. I have never had to study so hard in my life. LOL undergrad was a joke compared to this.
One thing I observed about Cooley is that my class was HUGE at the beginning of the first semester. For example, my Con Law I class had probably 100 students in September of last year. By finals in December, there were probably 70. My Con Law II class had 21 during the second semester after grades came out from the first semester. The maintenance guy at my apartment complex told me he sees many Cooley students moving out after the first semester or before. It is easy to get in but difficult to stay, apparently.
This effect is substantially reduced the farther you go up the rankings
Oh definitely. I know it is sometimes wrong to judge a book by its cover, so to speak, but there were some thug-like students who disappeared quickly after grades came out. I haven't seen people like that at UNM so far.
Re: Cooley's Difficulty Compared to Other Schools
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:38 am
by JamMasterJ
tj1320 wrote:JamMasterJ wrote:tj1320 wrote:Thanks for the encouragement. You're right that it is a T2 school; I was misinformed by another website a while back. I must say that I feel like I do have the work ethic to do well at my new school. I have heard that transferring up from Cooley is nearly impossible but that transferring laterally to another T4 is common. I'm just thrilled that I got out of there. I am thankful to Cooley for giving me a chance with my mid 140s LSAT but I had to transfer closer to home. Law school has definitely been an interesting experience so far. I have never had to study so hard in my life. LOL undergrad was a joke compared to this.
One thing I observed about Cooley is that my class was HUGE at the beginning of the first semester. For example, my Con Law I class had probably 100 students in September of last year. By finals in December, there were probably 70. My Con Law II class had 21 during the second semester after grades came out from the first semester. The maintenance guy at my apartment complex told me he sees many Cooley students moving out after the first semester or before. It is easy to get in but difficult to stay, apparently.
This effect is substantially reduced the farther you go up the rankings
Oh definitely. I know it is sometimes wrong to judge a book by its cover, so to speak, but there were some thug-like students who disappeared quickly after grades came out. I haven't seen people like that at UNM so far.
Higher ranked schools have a far greater percentage of students that actually belong in law school and that actually care about what they're doing. The easier it is to gain admittance, the easier it is to drop out.