Columbia C/O 2019 Applicants - 2015 - 2016 Forum

[cannonballer]

For applicants interested in PI, me and all of the PI 3Ls I know have PI jobs lined up for post-grad. CLS is a criminally under-rated school for PI, imo

I've heard this before, and after researching CLS for my interview my hype is officially through the roof.

[lunixer]

.

[WinterComing]

I applied for that fellowship program that NYU has. I think it's called An Bryce? They say that most people who land that fellowship get supreme court clerkships.

The AnBryce Scholarship is great, but the vast majority of students who receive it do not clerk for the Supreme Court.

[clovis]

I applied for that fellowship program that NYU has. I think it's called An Bryce? They say that most people who land that fellowship get supreme court clerkships.

The AnBryce Scholarship is great, but the vast majority of students who receive it do not clerk for the Supreme Court.

The only group of which it can be said that most members get Supreme Court clerkships is "future Supreme Court clerks."

[WinterComing]

I applied for that fellowship program that NYU has. I think it's called An Bryce? They say that most people who land that fellowship get supreme court clerkships.

The AnBryce Scholarship is great, but the vast majority of students who receive it do not clerk for the Supreme Court.

The only group of which it can be said that most members get Supreme Court clerkships is "future Supreme Court clerks."

Well said.

[Nebby]

For applicants interested in PI, me and all of the PI 3Ls I know have PI jobs lined up for post-grad. CLS is a criminally under-rated school for PI, imo

this is so interesting to me. got into NYU, and everyone tells me if you wanna be in NYC, go to CLS for Biglaw or NYU for PI. Did you opt out of OCI entirely? My main concern is different student-body-culture's surrounding PI at CLS vs. NYU, if that makes sense

+1. I'm interested in PI, so would love to hear more about the general culture. Glad to hear the placement is great! Is it right to think it's fairly self-selecting?

+2. I've always been told to steer away from Columbia if you're interested in PI.

+3 tell us more please

+4 The strength of NYU PI has been a huge positive factor in my consideration of it v. Columbia. Would be great to hear what you've experienced!

+5

I applied for that fellowship program that NYU has. I think it's called An Bryce? They say that most people who land that fellowship get supreme court clerkships.

So this is a short and dirty summary of my PI experiences at CLS, and why I think you should consider it (all things being equal, such as scholarship money, etc.)

CLS' Social Justice Initiatives ("SJI") is the career services office dedicated solely for students interested in PI/Government careers. At CLS, the private sector focused career services are offered through the Career Services Office ("CSO"). I know of some schools that also split their career services into two separate entities, but most schools don't. I think the separation is great, because you can get advice from people that actually practiced the type of law you're interested in. For Instance, SJI has at least one event a week where they bring in guest speakers to talk about a particular PI issue and the speakers are all attorneys practicing in those areas. It's great networking for those willing to take advantage.

Side note: PI hiring, unlike BigLaw or Government, is much more of a "not what you know, but who you know" kinda thing, and you should know that going into it. The connections you make by networking or by your work experiences while in law school can help land you an interview or even a personal recommendation that could help you get an offer. Don't forget that professors are also amazing recommenders for job reqs. Before I had the callback at the enviro nonprofit I'm heading to, I contacted my enviro professor to see if he knew anyone there and if he would be willing to contact them on my behalf. He was more than willing to do so.

Skim their Contact Us page and you'll see there are people you can contact across all spectrums of the PI/Gov sphere and with geographic diversity to boot. This does not include the list of hundreds of PI/Gov alumni that SJI have on file and who are willing to speak with students and answer any questions. Want to do constitutional litigation to support reproductive rights? CLS has the contacts and alumni who do exactly that. Want to practice environmental law for the DOJ? CLS has the contacts the alumni doing exactly that. All willing to speak with students.

The Student Public Interest Network ("SPIN") is the student organization for those interested in PI/Gov careers. I have made the majority of my friends via this student organization. It's a great organization that sponsors PI/Gov events, and it is also a social club that has three or four social events each semester as well. It's a nice community for PI students.

The PI culture at CLS is fantastic. CLS is, like most schools, tilted to the socially liberal spectrum, and therefore you will have plenty of friends who are going to BigLaw, but also have concrete interests in pursuing PI in the future. I know nothing about the culture at NYU, but a friend of mine who is going to BigLaw at NYU told me that there is a nominal rift between PI and BigLaw people of the "Oh you're selling out to make money" sort. That doesn't exist at CLS, or at least not that I've perceived. Does CLS place well at BigLaw? Yes. Do people come here because of that fact? Yes, duh. But being a PI student isn't ostracizing, because even the purest of pure BigLaw gunners are at the most apathetic to your PI proclivities, and the majority of your BigLaw peers will likely also have a nominal or substantial interest in the work you want to do, because they too may have PI interests for the future.

With regard to employment, all the PI students I know have done extremely well. One wanted civil rights work, and got it. Many wanted to be DAs, and they landed jobs with Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, and LA. Another wanted government, and landed a job at the Office of General Counsel of a federal agency in DC. Another, like me, wanted to do pro-enviro litigation and landed a fellowship. Two other friends of mine were awarded Skadden fellowships, and are heading to organizations that help survivors of domestic violence and help students of color obtain quality education services. The list goes on. I also have friends that want to pursue PI in the future, and for various reasons opted to go the BigLaw route for the training and money. Everyone must make that calculous--even PI people. I had two competing offers to do substantially the same work, so I went with the one that offered more money and better training.

CLS' Loan Repayment Assistance Program is legit. It is all explained here, so I won't waste your time other than to summarize it. Essentially, all of your federal stafford and GradPLUS loans that you take out to pay for CLS (up to the CLS calucalted total cost of attendence, which includes tuition, housing, food, etc.), will then be paid back by CLS over a ten-year program. What does that mean? It means you can still go and work your dream PI job starting at $45k/year, and not have to pay back the $100k debt you incurred to attend CLS, so long as you maintain in qualified employment for ten years. Qualifying employment is doing legal work at a nonprofit or the government.

Feel free to posit any questions you may have.

ETA: CLS has tons of opportunities for students to get legal experience and obtain credit for it, which is invaluable for PI hiring. Not just clinics and externships, but also opportunities such as a full semester in DC working for the federal government and also a seminar called "Advocacy: Theory and Change" which is aimed at the role of attorneys in social movements. It also has a fieldwork component that allows you to get credit for working at any impact nonprofit in NY (so long as they hire interns and hire you, etc.)

[mdnyc]

+180

Thanks! That was an awesome summary. I appreciate the perspective!

[GoogleWasMyIdea]

.

[schocolate]

So this is a short and dirty summary of my PI experiences at CLS, and why I think you should consider it (all things being equal, such as scholarship money, etc.)

Thanks for this!

To what extent did you/other PI people know what you wanted to get into when you started law school? Did you need to start building connections in your desired field as soon as possible or was there time to try different things and see what interested you?

[pterodactyls]

+180

Thanks! That was an awesome summary. I appreciate the perspective!

+1

[mattf27]

Just got an interview request for next week! Very excited.

Completed mid December, interview requested over a month later, 1/20.

[mabes]

The PI culture at CLS is fantastic. CLS is, like most schools, tilted to the socially liberal spectrum, and therefore you will have plenty of friends who are going to BigLaw, but also have concrete interests in pursuing PI in the future. I know nothing about the culture at NYU, but a friend of mine who is going to BigLaw at NYU told me that there is a nominal rift between PI and BigLaw people of the "Oh you're selling out to make money" sort. That doesn't exist at CLS, or at least not that I've perceived. Does CLS place well at BigLaw? Yes. Do people come here because of that fact? Yes, duh. But being a PI student isn't ostracizing, because even the purest of pure BigLaw gunners are at the most apathetic to your PI proclivities, and the majority of your BigLaw peers will likely also have a nominal or substantial interest in the work you want to do, because they too may have PI interests for the future.

With regard to employment, all the PI students I know have done extremely well. One wanted civil rights work, and got it. Many wanted to be DAs, and they landed jobs with Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, and LA. Another wanted government, and landed a job at the Office of General Counsel of a federal agency in DC. Another, like me, wanted to do pro-enviro litigation and landed a fellowship. Two other friends of mine were awarded Skadden fellowships, and are heading to organizations that help survivors of domestic violence and help students of color obtain quality education services. The list goes on. I also have friends that want to pursue PI in the future, and for various reasons opted to go the BigLaw route for the training and money. Everyone must make that calculous--even PI people. I had two competing offers to do substantially the same work, so I went with the one that offered more money and better training.

CLS' Loan Repayment Assistance Program is legit. It is all explained here, so I won't waste your time other than to summarize it. Essentially, all of your federal stafford and GradPLUS loans that you take out to pay for CLS (up to the CLS calucalted total cost of attendence, which includes tuition, housing, food, etc.), will then be paid back by CLS over a ten-year program. What does that mean? It means you can still go and work your dream PI job starting at $45k/year, and not have to pay back the $100k debt you incurred to attend CLS, so long as you maintain in qualified employment for ten years. Qualifying employment is doing legal work at a nonprofit or the government.

Feel free to posit any questions you may have.

ETA: CLS has tons of opportunities for students to get legal experience and obtain credit for it, which is invaluable for PI hiring. Not just clinics and externships, but also opportunities such as a full semester in DC working for the federal government and also a seminar called "Advocacy: Theory and Change" which is aimed at the role of attorneys in social movements. It also has a fieldwork component that allows you to get credit for working at any impact nonprofit in NY (so long as they hire interns and hire you, etc.)

This is helpful, Thank you. Do you know anything about the CLS "LRAP fellowships" that cover salaries up to 100k? Like how many students get them, is it based on grades/rank, etc?

[nicknar]

So this is a short and dirty summary of my PI experiences at CLS, and why I think you should consider it (all things being equal, such as scholarship money, etc.)...

This post just made my hype for Columbia skyrocket. Thanks so much for this.

[gamerish]

Had my interview and it was an excellent experience all around. It was all very relaxed. We talked about all the usual stuff, had a few jokes back and forth and talked about some current events. Definitely the best interview I've ever had.

[sanibella]

Had my interview and it was an excellent experience all around. It was all very relaxed. We talked about all the usual stuff, had a few jokes back and forth and talked about some current events. Definitely the best interview I've ever had.

So happy to hear it! Rooting for ya.

[Bearlyalive]

On the topic of CLS and PI, while I'm obviously a 0L, I had a fantastic impression of the Social Justice Initiative from my visit. I got the opportunity to sit down with one of the directors (Brian Jeurgens), and we had a great conversation about what the SJI does for students and alums.

Obviously this information is not nearly as useful as the (awesome) summary posted above, but I still thought that it was very impressive that they had time to sit down for an extensive talk with a prospective student. I think that speaks leagues to the office's accessibility and attitude. Furthermore, since Columbia does tend to self-select for BigLaw (those employment statistics don't lie), I got the impression that the offices resources are rather under-utilized. That probably means that we would get better individual attention and have less peer competition than at a school like NYU, where the PI population is much larger (not that NYU has a cut-throat competitive environment; my impression was quite the opposite, but I don't think many schools have the connections and resources to give the same treatment to every student).

My two cents, at any rate.

[hwplainview]

Had my interview and it was an excellent experience all around. It was all very relaxed. We talked about all the usual stuff, had a few jokes back and forth and talked about some current events. Definitely the best interview I've ever had.

So happy to hear it! Rooting for ya.

I had mine today...it was much more inquisition than conversation, despite what I had heard, and I was a little thrown off because of that. Pretty sure I bombed it. I thought I had pretty strong stats (LSAT >75%, GPA 25-49%), but now I'm nervous. Has anyone gotten in after a poor interview? Does anyone know how much CLS actually weighs interviews?

[jennydotj]

Had my interview and it was an excellent experience all around. It was all very relaxed. We talked about all the usual stuff, had a few jokes back and forth and talked about some current events. Definitely the best interview I've ever had.

So happy to hear it! Rooting for ya.

I had mine today...it was much more inquisition than conversation, despite what I had heard, and I was a little thrown off because of that. Pretty sure I bombed it. I thought I had pretty strong stats (LSAT >75%, GPA 25-49%), but now I'm nervous. Has anyone gotten in after a poor interview? Does anyone know how much CLS actually weighs interviews?

I was surprised by my interview as well...did not feel good after it :/

[edditb]

Had my interview and it was an excellent experience all around. It was all very relaxed. We talked about all the usual stuff, had a few jokes back and forth and talked about some current events. Definitely the best interview I've ever had.

So happy to hear it! Rooting for ya.

I had mine today...it was much more inquisition than conversation, despite what I had heard, and I was a little thrown off because of that. Pretty sure I bombed it. I thought I had pretty strong stats (LSAT >75%, GPA 25-49%), but now I'm nervous. Has anyone gotten in after a poor interview? Does anyone know how much CLS actually weighs interviews?

Same boat. Very inquisitive, little conversation and it didn't go great overall. No idea about the answer to your question, but you're not alone!

[Dcc617]

Have any RD people gotten their letters in the mail yet? I need to know when I should give up hope...

[texasellewoods]

Have any RD people gotten their letters in the mail yet? I need to know when I should give up hope...

I haven't heard anything! I've been thinking about this aloooot and I think Friday is a safe time to expect them. Assuming they were mailed Tuesday (when emails came out) and they sprung for fast delivery!
This being said I literally know nothing about mail so feel free to despair now!

[Dcc617]

Have any RD people gotten their letters in the mail yet? I need to know when I should give up hope...

I haven't heard anything! I've been thinking about this aloooot and I think Friday is a safe time to expect them. Assuming they were mailed Tuesday (when emails came out) and they sprung for fast delivery!
This being said I literally know nothing about mail so feel free to despair now!

[voldypoo]

Had my interview and it was an excellent experience all around. It was all very relaxed. We talked about all the usual stuff, had a few jokes back and forth and talked about some current events. Definitely the best interview I've ever had.

So happy to hear it! Rooting for ya.

I had mine today...it was much more inquisition than conversation, despite what I had heard, and I was a little thrown off because of that. Pretty sure I bombed it. I thought I had pretty strong stats (LSAT >75%, GPA 25-49%), but now I'm nervous. Has anyone gotten in after a poor interview? Does anyone know how much CLS actually weighs interviews?

Same boat. Very inquisitive, little conversation and it didn't go great overall. No idea about the answer to your question, but you're not alone!

Me too ): Haven't heard anything from CLS yet either.

[mynameiskevin]

Is anyone admitted able to activate their LawNet accounts? Or is that supposed to happen later when the official packages arrive?

[CiscoDisco]

SO's interviewer said some decisions are coming out end of the month. So probably next week. SO went complete first few days of Jan.