Cornell Law School Admissions and Career Advice: Insights from Former Dean Stewart Schwab

^{Last Updated: September 2026}

Former Cornell Law School Dean Stewart Schwab has spent much of his academic career thinking about what makes legal education valuable, how prospective students should evaluate law schools, and what students can do to prepare themselves for successful legal careers.

In this interview with Top-Law-Schools.com, Schwab discusses Cornell Law School's educational philosophy, admissions priorities, interdisciplinary opportunities, faculty relationships, student life, rankings, and career preparation. Although the original interview was conducted during Schwab's tenure as dean, many of his observations remain relevant for students considering Cornell or comparing law schools today.

Prospective students researching the institution can also explore the Cornell Law School profile, which includes additional information about admissions, academics, employment, and student life.

Cornell Law School's Approach to Legal Education

TLS: What do you believe a strong legal education should accomplish?

Stewart Schwab: A law school should prepare students to become capable lawyers, but legal education should accomplish more than teaching rules and doctrine.

Students need to develop analytical skills, professional judgment, intellectual curiosity, and an understanding of how legal problems fit within broader social, economic, and institutional contexts.

An important part of accomplishing that goal is maintaining a strong faculty. Professors who are both accomplished scholars and committed teachers can create an environment where students are challenged intellectually while also receiving meaningful guidance.

For applicants, this is one reason choosing a law school should involve more than looking at prestige or rankings. Faculty quality, accessibility, academic programs, and the intellectual culture of a school can have a major effect on a student's experience.

The Value of Interdisciplinary Study

TLS: How important is interdisciplinary education at Cornell?

Stewart Schwab: One of Cornell Law School's advantages is that it is part of a major research university.

Law increasingly intersects with business, economics, technology, labor relations, government, international affairs, and many other disciplines. Students who can understand those broader systems may be better prepared to address complex legal problems.

Cornell's relationship with the broader university allows law students to explore subjects outside the traditional law school curriculum and connect legal analysis with other areas of study.

This type of interdisciplinary exposure can be particularly valuable for students interested in fields such as employment law, business law, public policy, international law, and regulatory practice.

International and Comparative Legal Education

TLS: What role does international legal education play at Cornell?

Stewart Schwab: Lawyers increasingly work in an environment where clients, businesses, transactions, governments, and disputes cross national borders.

Even attorneys who never formally practice international law may encounter international business relationships, foreign regulations, multinational companies, or clients with interests in more than one jurisdiction.

For that reason, exposure to international and comparative law can help students develop a broader understanding of the legal profession.

Prospective students interested in international practice should look carefully at the depth of a school's curriculum, faculty expertise, exchange opportunities, and international programs rather than relying solely on whether a school describes itself as having a strong international focus.

What Cornell Law Looks for in Applicants

TLS: What qualities are important when evaluating law school applicants?

Stewart Schwab: Academic performance is important, but it is only one part of an applicant's overall record.

Law schools benefit from students who bring different experiences, interests, perspectives, and accomplishments into the classroom. Leadership, employment, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, public service, and community involvement can all provide useful information about an applicant.

The strongest applications often communicate not only whether a student is capable of succeeding academically but also what that student may contribute to the law school community.

Applicants should therefore avoid thinking of the admissions process as purely numerical. Grades and test scores matter, but the complete application should also explain the experiences that have shaped the applicant's interests and goals.

Students preparing applications can explore additional guidance throughout the Top-Law-Schools admissions forums.

How Prospective Students Should Choose a Law School

TLS: What should applicants consider when deciding which law school to attend?

Stewart Schwab: Students should choose a law school based on their own goals rather than relying entirely on a school's reputation or numerical ranking.

Applicants should investigate the programs available at each school, faculty expertise, academic culture, career opportunities, and the overall environment in which they will spend three important years.

Some of the most important factors to examine include:

Academic programs and course offerings
Faculty accessibility
Clinics and experiential learning
Career outcomes
Geographic placement
Student culture
Tuition and financial aid
Alumni networks
Professional opportunities
Campus environment

Students should think carefully about what they want from their legal education and then identify schools that best support those priorities.

The Choosing a Law School forum is another useful place to see how applicants weigh rankings, tuition, employment outcomes, geography, scholarships, and student life when comparing schools.

Why Rankings Should Not Make the Decision for You

TLS: How much importance should applicants place on law school rankings?

Stewart Schwab: Rankings can provide information, but applicants should be cautious about allowing them to determine their entire decision.

Many important characteristics of a law school are difficult to express numerically. The quality of teaching, accessibility of faculty members, institutional culture, relationships among students, strength of particular academic programs, and suitability for an individual student's career goals may not be captured by a single ranking.

Students should investigate schools independently.

Look closely at the curriculum. Review the faculty. Examine employment information. Consider geographic placement. Speak with current students and graduates. Visit the school when possible. Think about cost and debt.

A ranking should be one source of information rather than a substitute for careful research.

Faculty Access and the Law School Experience

TLS: How important are relationships between students and faculty?

Stewart Schwab: Faculty interaction can be one of the most valuable parts of law school.

Students learn a great deal in formal classes, but education also happens through conversations with professors, research projects, mentoring, office-hour discussions, and participation in the broader intellectual life of the school.

A relatively close academic community can create more opportunities for students to interact directly with professors.

For prospective students, faculty accessibility is worth investigating before choosing a school. Applicants may want to ask current students whether professors are available outside class, whether faculty members mentor students, and whether students can participate in research or academic projects.

Cornell Law School's Student Community

TLS: What distinguishes the student experience at Cornell?

Stewart Schwab: A strong law school community should encourage students to challenge themselves academically without creating unnecessary hostility or competition.

Law school is demanding. Students spend considerable time reading, preparing for class, writing, researching, and studying for examinations.

A collegial environment can make that experience more productive. Students who learn from one another, participate in organizations, interact with professors, and develop friendships can gain more from law school than those who focus exclusively on grades.

The relationships students establish during law school can also become important professional connections later in their careers.

Cornell Law School and Career Preparation

TLS: How should students think about careers while they are in law school?

Stewart Schwab: Legal education provides students with skills that can lead to many different professional paths.

Graduates may work at law firms, in government, for nonprofit organizations, in corporations, in academia, or in many other settings.

Students should use law school to explore these possibilities rather than assuming there is only one successful career path.

That means gaining practical experience, talking with practicing attorneys, building relationships with professors and alumni, exploring different courses, and learning how different areas of law operate.

LawCrossing's Law Students & Early Career resources provide additional guidance on OCI, internships, clerkships, summer programs, practical experience, and the transition from law school into practice.

Why Career Planning Should Begin During Law School

Students often think of career planning as something that happens near graduation. In reality, many decisions made during law school can affect the opportunities available later.

Course selection, clinics, internships, journals, summer employment, clerkships, networking, and relationships with professors can all help students develop skills and demonstrate professional interests.

Students should ask themselves:

Which areas of law interest me most?
What type of work environment appeals to me?
Which geographic markets am I considering?
What experience will employers in those areas value?
Which professors or alumni can help me understand those career paths?
What practical experience can I gain before graduating?

LawCrossing's legal career resources can help students evaluate career development and skill building, including interviewing, professional positioning, workplace performance, and long-term career development.

The Importance of Geographic Career Goals

TLS: Should geography matter when choosing a law school?

Stewart Schwab: Students should consider where graduates work and how well a school's alumni and recruiting networks reach the markets in which they hope to practice.

A student who knows that they want to work in a particular city or region should investigate whether employers in that market regularly recruit from the school.

Students should also examine alumni networks and the geographic distribution of recent graduates.

Career goals can change during law school, so students do not necessarily need to choose a school based on one city. But geographic placement is an important factor that should be evaluated alongside cost, academic quality, and career opportunities.

Law School Should Be More Than Grades

TLS: What advice would you give incoming law students?

Stewart Schwab: Students should work hard, but they should also allow themselves to enjoy law school.

The experience offers opportunities to study difficult and interesting questions, interact with talented classmates, learn from professors, and build relationships that may last for decades.

Some of the most important parts of legal education occur outside formal lectures.

Students can learn through clinics, internships, student organizations, research, conversations with professors, and relationships with classmates.

Grades are important, but they should not become the only measure of whether a student is making good use of law school.

Building Professional Relationships in Law School

Students frequently underestimate the long-term value of relationships developed during law school.

Classmates may later become partners at law firms, government lawyers, judges, corporate counsel, professors, business leaders, or clients.

Professors can become mentors and references. Alumni can provide information about practice areas, firms, employers, and career opportunities.

Students who begin developing genuine professional relationships during law school may therefore have advantages that extend far beyond their first job search.

LawCrossing's broader legal industry publications, associations, and career resources guide also discusses how students can use professional organizations, networking, internships, and industry resources to begin building their careers.

What Prospective Students Can Learn from Stewart Schwab

Several of Stewart Schwab's central observations remain useful for anyone deciding where to attend law school.

Do not choose a school from rankings alone. Rankings can provide useful information, but they cannot completely measure teaching, culture, professional fit, or the quality of a student's individual experience.
Understand your career goals. Students should think about geography, practice interests, financial considerations, and possible career paths before committing to a school.
Examine the academic environment. Faculty, clinics, courses, interdisciplinary programs, and experiential learning opportunities can substantially affect the value of a legal education.
Research career outcomes. Applicants should understand where graduates work and whether the school's recruiting and alumni networks support the markets and employers they are considering.
Evaluate student culture. Law school is demanding, and the environment in which students study can influence both their academic performance and overall experience.
Build relationships. Connections with classmates, faculty, alumni, and employers may continue to provide value throughout a legal career.

A Note About This Interview

This interview was originally conducted during Stewart Schwab's tenure as Dean of Cornell Law School.

Specific references to faculty, programs, statistics, economic conditions, administrative initiatives, or institutional arrangements in the original interview reflected Cornell Law School during that period. Admissions standards, tuition, faculty, academic programs, rankings, employment outcomes, and other information can change.

Prospective students should therefore consult the current Cornell Law School profile on Top-Law-Schools and official Cornell Law School materials when evaluating present-day admissions and academic information.

The enduring value of Schwab's advice is broader: selecting a law school requires more than identifying the institution with the highest ranking or most recognizable name. Students should carefully evaluate the education, opportunities, costs, culture, and professional outcomes that will shape both their law school experience and their future careers.

Related Top-Law-Schools Resources

Related LawCrossing Resources

Relevant Top-Law-Schools Forum Discussions

For perspectives from applicants, students, and graduates, readers may also explore:

Choosing a Law School Forum — discussions covering rankings, school profiles, tuition, scholarships, employment outcomes, and student life.
Cornell vs. Georgetown Law Discussion — applicant discussion comparing Cornell with another highly regarded law school based on employment, geography, cost, and career objectives.
Cornell Law Write-On Discussion — student discussion relating to Cornell's law review write-on process and transfer students.
Law School Selection Advice Discussion — applicant discussion illustrating how students weigh schools, costs, geographic preferences, and career objectives.

Forum Note: TLS forum discussions represent individual users' experiences and opinions. Applicants should compare those perspectives with current official admissions, financial aid, and employment disclosures from each law school.