Cornell 1L taking questions Forum

[Yea All Right]

Is Bay Area biglaw from cornell without ties possible?

Yes it's possible, but without ties, you'll likely need good grades. Working there your 1L summer would help establish ties. IP or URM status would boost your candidacy as well.

Jewish kid, no IP. Economics undergrad. I planned on going for good grades, obviously. More or less KJD so my current resume could be stronger, though.

Yup, you'll have to get good grades. I'd also advise you to avoid focusing solely on the Bay, just in case; flexibility is key when bidding on firms and in turn getting offers, especially when your top choice is a region you don't have ties to.

[cornelly777]

Copying this from a Reddit thread intended for a more general audience, so I apologize if I don't address the questions specifically to you. Thanks!

1: Has anyone lived in co-op housing? Would you recommend it? Do you recommend any specific one?

2: Is the budget allowed on the website sufficient to cover all expenses necessary throughout the year, or will I need to take additional private loans? (I am coming straight from college and have very little savings. I received a scholarship, but am having to debt finance the remainder)

3: Is a meal plan a good idea for students? I felt the efficiency of not having to cook might be useful.

4: Is a car necessary for law students? It would save me a lot of money to not have to worry about car payments. Is it a huge inconvenience not to have one?

5: I believe I have read that cost of a rec center/gym is not included in tuition. Does anyone have a suggestion for the cheapest place to get a decent workout? (Basically only need free weights and cardio equipment)

6: Do you have any suggestions for common and easy ways to conserve money as a law student?

[runinthefront]

Copying this from a Reddit thread intended for a more general audience, so I apologize if I don't address the questions specifically to you. Thanks!

1: Has anyone lived in co-op housing? Would you recommend it? Do you recommend any specific one?

2: Is the budget allowed on the website sufficient to cover all expenses necessary throughout the year, or will I need to take additional private loans? (I am coming straight from college and have very little savings. I received a scholarship, but am having to debt finance the remainder)

3: Is a meal plan a good idea for students? I felt the efficiency of not having to cook might be useful.

4: Is a car necessary for law students? It would save me a lot of money to not have to worry about car payments. Is it a huge inconvenience not to have one?

5: I believe I have read that cost of a rec center/gym is not included in tuition. Does anyone have a suggestion for the cheapest place to get a decent workout? (Basically only need free weights and cardio equipment)

6: Do you have any suggestions for common and easy ways to conserve money as a law student?

1. Idk
2 Yes. You shouldn't need to take out private loans.
3. Sure; it's up to you. I didn't have one during my 1L year. I did, however, get one during my 2L/3L year, and it's been pretty dope (although pricey). The dining halls are really good here.
4. No.
5. The rec center/gym fee is something like $150 bucks/year I think. Just add it on to your tuition.
6. Buy books used (though, as a 1L, don't try to save money by using older editions); cook your meals instead of eating out/getting a dining hall pass (google "Ithaca CarShare" for a great way to get around Ithaca and get groceries without having a car down here); don't blow your money on booze all the time; find cheaper housing/live downtown instead of in collegetown and bus in. Saving money is easier as a 2L/3L, I think. When it comes to buying shit like supplements (if you feel like you need 'em), just buy 'em. Too many stressful things going on as a 1L. But as a 2L/3L, you'll find myriad ways to save $.

[Lincoln]

1: Has anyone lived in co-op housing? Would you recommend it? Do you recommend any specific one?

If you are willing to put up with sharing a room, Telluride House is the best deal in town. IIRC, free room and board (and the food is excellent!) and it's not even a 5-min walk from the law school.

[capnobvious123]

Two things:

1. Anyone know if Cornell's upcoming deadline is binding? I don't get why it's so hard to find info on these things.
2. Anyone know if Cornell's "best offer" is always their best offer? Cornell ever willing to make a third offer, after initially reconsidering?

[Lavitz]

Two things:

1. Anyone know if Cornell's upcoming deadline is binding?
2. Anyone know if Cornell's "best offer" is always their best offer?

1.No.
2. No.

[capnobvious123]

Two things:

1. Anyone know if Cornell's upcoming deadline is binding?
2. Anyone know if Cornell's "best offer" is always their best offer?

1.No.
2. No.

Thanks!

[Po$eidon]

Favorite part of Cornell social life?

Favorite part of Cornell Law academics?

Least favorite part of Cornell social life?

Least favorite part of Cornell Law academics?

[Lavitz]

Favorite part of Cornell social life?

Favorite part of Cornell Law academics?

Least favorite part of Cornell social life?

Least favorite part of Cornell Law academics?

1. CLSA and other student orgs host some great events. Also, we drank so much we kept getting banned from venues. My class is the reason there is no longer a boat cruise event.

2. Can I say Moot Court? I'm going to say Moot Court.

3. Bars kept closing / burning down. Looking at you, Chapter House.

4. Idk, I guess the writing comp could be shorter.

[Po$eidon]

Favorite part of Cornell social life?

Favorite part of Cornell Law academics?

Least favorite part of Cornell social life?

Least favorite part of Cornell Law academics?

1. CLSA and other student orgs host some great events. Also, we drank so much we kept getting banned from venues. My class is the reason there is no longer a boat cruise event.

2. Can I say Moot Court? I'm going to say Moot Court.

3. Bars kept closing / burning down. Looking at you, Chapter House.

4. Idk, I guess the writing comp could be shorter.

Awesome! (but not awesome that the boat cruise was cancelled tisk tisk)

[cantexplaingottago]

1. CLSA and other student orgs host some great events. Also, we drank so much we kept getting banned from venues. My class is the reason there is no longer a boat cruise event.

It was YOU!

[Lavitz]

1. CLSA and other student orgs host some great events. Also, we drank so much we kept getting banned from venues. My class is the reason there is no longer a boat cruise event.

It was YOU!

Well, not me personally. I was on the top deck dancing with the LLMs, blissfully unaware of the shitshow going on below deck.

[cantexplaingottago]

1. CLSA and other student orgs host some great events. Also, we drank so much we kept getting banned from venues. My class is the reason there is no longer a boat cruise event.

It was YOU!

Well, not me personally. I was on the top deck dancing with the LLMs, blissfully unaware of the shitshow going on below deck.

If you have stories, I'd love to hear them.

The administration appears to be cracking down on drinking at events, limiting both the frequency and quantity. I don't know why they think that will help. All it does is cause an uptick in the flask industry around here.

[Lacepiece23]

1. CLSA and other student orgs host some great events. Also, we drank so much we kept getting banned from venues. My class is the reason there is no longer a boat cruise event.

It was YOU!

Well, not me personally. I was on the top deck dancing with the LLMs, blissfully unaware of the shitshow going on below deck.

If you have stories, I'd love to hear them.

The administration appears to be cracking down on drinking at events, limiting both the frequency and quantity. I don't know why they think that will help. All it does is cause an uptick in the flask industry around here.

Didn't the new Deal install beer and wine Thursdays? That would have never happened under our last Dean.

[Lavitz]

If you have stories, I'd love to hear them.

The administration appears to be cracking down on drinking at events, limiting both the frequency and quantity. I don't know why they think that will help. All it does is cause an uptick in the flask industry around here.

Didn't the new Deal install beer and wine Thursdays? That would have never happened under our last Dean.

Yeah, Dean P is cool with alcohol. However, certain people he has hired are not. So I keep hearing about things going back and forth in a struggle between the pro- and anti-alcohol factions. Like, they refused to let us have an open bar for our journal banquets last year, but now both they and Barrister's were open bar this year. I know they started requiring nametags for the mixers, but then I thought I heard they got rid of them. If they're swinging back to anti-alcohol, then I guess I can't keep track of the current situation anymore.

As for stories, I don't think many of them would be appropriate to post here. But feel free to PM if you ever want to hear about the CLS of days past.

[Po$eidon]

You don't necessarily have to be top 25%. A few people, including several TLSers, have gotten good clerkships below top 1/3rd. Of course, grades help, but they're not the entire story.

Since OP PM'd me, I'll just post some general info here for future reference.

The percentage of the class in federal clerkships right after graduation is usually between 5-10%, which is in line with the rest of the T-14 besides HYS, Chicago, and UVA, which usually have over 10%. However, since clerkship hiring has accelerated, a lot of students end up clerking after 1-2 years of working, and so the employment numbers no longer account for them. Hence a rather dismal year last year.

In addition, clerkship resources have definitely improved since I was a 1L. Back then, the public service office was in charge of clerkships, and mostly all they did was maintain symplicity and host one panel to explain to 1Ls how OSCAR works. When Dean P took over, clerkships went way up on the administration's priority list, so we have a separate clerkship office which hosts many more events, sends out weekly e-mails highlighting opportunities and providing advice, etc. So I think the opportunities here are similar to any other lower T-14 now. I can go into more detail in PM though.

Current SDNY clerk here. District Court clerkships are, as Lavitz says, exceedingly rare right out of school. Almost every judge in the SDNY and EDNY now hires clerks for one or more years out. That makes the clerkship statistics almost useless.

Cornell is reasonably competitive when it comes to clerkships, and the school has gotten better at getting students into them. But I still wouldn't rely on the clerkship office. Clerkships typically require a lot of legwork. You should keep a spreadsheet of all the judges in courts in which you would consider clerking and fill it in with any information you get from OSCAR or calling the judges' chambers.

I would LOVE to land the SDNY clerkship at some point after law school. How did you pull it off?

[Lincoln]

I would LOVE to land the SDNY clerkship at some point after law school. How did you pull it off?

My grades put me in contention. My recommendations (from two practitioners my judge knew) got me the clerkship.

[Lawschool305]

Is anyone in here in the Cornell university housing sublets and roommates Facebook group? I sent in a request but no one has accepted me and I would like to be added. If so please PM me!

[mjb447]

I would LOVE to land the SDNY clerkship at some point after law school. How did you pull it off?

My grades put me in contention. My recommendations (from two practitioners my judge knew) got me the clerkship.

Will second what Lincoln said a few months ago - clerkship resources seem to be far better than they once were, but I get the impression that landing a clerkship is still very much on the student at every step (for most students, anyway). I also agree that alums seem to do much better than people right out of law school, especially for the more competitive districts.

[Po$eidon]

I would LOVE to land the SDNY clerkship at some point after law school. How did you pull it off?

My grades put me in contention. My recommendations (from two practitioners my judge knew) got me the clerkship.

Will second what Lincoln said a few months ago - clerkship resources seem to be far better than they once were, but I get the impression that landing a clerkship is still very much on the student at every step (for most students, anyway). I also agree that alums seem to do much better than people right out of law school, especially for the more competitive districts.

Awesome. How does one go about doing the legwork for clerkships? Networking as a result of what?

[Lavitz]

Awesome. How does one go about doing the legwork for clerkships? Networking as a result of what?

Legwork involves a lot of things. As Lincoln mentioned earlier, one thing would be to make a spreadsheet with all the judges you want to apply to. Not all judges use OSCAR, so you'd need to figure out who accepts paper and e-mail apps instead. SDNY in particular has a page with law clerk hiring info, but it's not always current, so I've had to call chambers a few times. Then you'd have to actually send paper apps, which will involve more work then just firing off electronic apps on OSCAR. The clerkship office should send out instructions on how to actually do it.

In addition to letters of recommendation, it would be very helpful for someone to make calls/e-mails for you, so you'd need to build a relationship with professors and then ask them if they can call/e-mail specific judges for you. It helps if the professor knows the judge. As Lincoln pointed out, if you apply as an alum, you can have supervisors recommend you to any judges they know.

Talking to former clerks is also extremely helpful. You can network with them where-ever you find them. There will be at least a few panels with alumni clerks, and if you do a biglaw SA, plenty of people at your summer firm will have clerked. You can also look up former clerks from Cornell on Symplicity or ask Dean Peck. My current judge never hired a Cornellian before, so I reached out to someone who worked at the same place I spent my 1L summer, and he helped give me tips for the interview. I'm also pretty sure I got my second clerkship mainly because I talked to one of the judge's former clerks before I even applied and mentioned it in my cover letter.

The moot court banquets also offer an opportunity to socialize with judges directly. And some students also get clerkships by taking Federal Appellate Practice in 3L and impressing / socializing with the judges who volunteer to judge the final arguments in NYC.

To give you a sense of the scale, I got maybe 2 clerkship interviews through completely random OSCAR apps, 2 through random paper apps, 2 through socializing with judges at the moot court banquets, 1 through an alum I met at a law school event, and 2 through opportunities the clerkship office flagged for me.

[Po$eidon]

Awesome. How does one go about doing the legwork for clerkships? Networking as a result of what?

Legwork involves a lot of things. As Lincoln mentioned earlier, one thing would be to make a spreadsheet with all the judges you want to apply to. Not all judges use OSCAR, so you'd need to figure out who accepts paper and e-mail apps instead. SDNY in particular has a page with law clerk hiring info, but it's not always current, so I've had to call chambers a few times. Then you'd have to actually send paper apps, which will involve more work then just firing off electronic apps on OSCAR. The clerkship office should send out instructions on how to actually do it.

In addition to letters of recommendation, it would be very helpful for someone to make calls/e-mails for you, so you'd need to build a relationship with professors and then ask them if they can call/e-mail specific judges for you. It helps if the professor knows the judge. As Lincoln pointed out, if you apply as an alum, you can have supervisors recommend you to any judges they know.

Talking to former clerks is also extremely helpful. You can network with them where-ever you find them. There will be at least a few panels with alumni clerks, and if you do a biglaw SA, plenty of people at your summer firm will have clerked. You can also look up former clerks from Cornell on Symplicity or ask Dean Peck. My current judge never hired a Cornellian before, so I reached out to someone who worked at the same place I spent my 1L summer, and he helped give me tips for the interview. I'm also pretty sure I got my second clerkship mainly because I talked to one of the judge's former clerks before I even applied and mentioned it in my cover letter.

The moot court banquets also offer an opportunity to socialize with judges directly. And some students also get clerkships by taking Federal Appellate Practice in 3L and impressing / socializing with the judges who volunteer to judge the final arguments in NYC.

To give you a sense of the scale, I got maybe 2 clerkship interviews through completely random OSCAR apps, 2 through random paper apps, 2 through socializing with judges at the moot court banquets, 1 through an alum I met at a law school event, and 2 through opportunities the clerkship office flagged for me.

Tagging for future. Very helpful. Thanks

[cornell2020]

How far from the law school is it reasonable/comfortable to live during 1L? I assume I'll be commuting by foot or by bus. Should I really make an effort to live in Collegetown? Or is living in downtown alright? How bad is it to walk from downtown to the Law School, especially during winter?

[CR7]

How far from the law school is it reasonable/comfortable to live during 1L? I assume I'll be commuting by foot or by bus. Should I really make an effort to live in Collegetown? Or is living in downtown alright? How bad is it to walk from downtown to the Law School, especially during winter?

You should google map the distance between the apartments you're looking at and the law school so you can get an idea of what your walk would be like during snow

[Lincoln]

I lived in Fall Creek/downtown all three years and didn't regret it for a second. Buses are frequent and almost free (like $150/yr if I remember right) and it was nice to get outside and get some fresh air for 15 minutes after studying all day. Not to mention my rent was about half of what my classmates paid.