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Messages - alienwalrus

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Thomas M. Cooley / Re: Why do people give Cooley such a hard time?
« on: August 02, 2009, 12:33:30 AM »
Quote from: ondeadlin on August 01, 2009, 06:31:30 PM
Quote from: alienwalrus on July 28, 2009, 03:40:04 AM
Cooley has a very good reputation within the state.

I used to be the one who would call and invite firms for on-campus interviews (OCI) and resume collections (RC). The only human resources person who ever said anything about Cooley's reputation to me while I actively tried to recruit their firm was from California. All she told me was that she would take resumes, but from only the top two or three ranks. Every other firm I talked to, which was in the hundreds, would at the least look at the office's recruitment packages.


If this is accurate, why do only four Michigan firms attend OCI (numbers from NALP?)

I can't say why NALP only listed four Michigan firms, but if you did a recent search my guess would be that the OCI season hasn't hit full swing yet (and won't for a month or two) so there probably aren't very many OCIs submitted to NALP at this time. That doesn't mean there aren't more OCIs scheduled, I'd be very surprised if there weren't, I'm simply saying that NALP might not have been updated yet.

I know from first hand experience that we had alot more than four OCIs from Michigan firms in previous years.

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Thomas M. Cooley / Re: Which plan did you pick?
« on: July 28, 2009, 04:02:53 AM »
3 year, it gives me another summer to work and pad my resume. My only other consideration was 2 year.

A former professor at Cooley once told me that the best option is to take 3 classes instead of 5 a semester. He said that the lesser amount of classes helped him boost his ranking in his second and third year.

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Thomas M. Cooley / Re: Cooley law school
« on: July 28, 2009, 03:56:58 AM »
I don't know how much of this is true, but Cooley propaganda is geared towards a "legal education for everybody" type of mentality. In order to do this they offer a wide variety of campuses and larger class sizes.

Is it really a "charge the herd before leading them to slaughter" scam to get more money? Maybe. However, I believe that the law should be available to everyone, not just the elite. What can I say, I'm an ideologue. Cooley does provide a chance for those who had low test scores to at least prove themselves in an actual educational environment. Granted, alot of people fail, but they were at least offered the opportunity, even if they didn't capitalize on it.

So, I might be a bit naive, or maybe biased by my involvement with the school, but I prefer to think that Cooley is truly opening the doors of opportunity to those who were passed over by other schools, and in doing so Cooley is helping those who need it. -alienwalrus

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Thomas M. Cooley / Re: Why do people give Cooley such a hard time?
« on: July 28, 2009, 03:40:04 AM »
I worked at Cooley in the Career office, am going to enter the upcoming class as a 1L, and have many friends and contacts who are Cooley grads. I hope this qualifies my response for you.

The number one reason I have come across as to why Cooley has such a bad reputation is the Cooley rankings. They are pretty absurd when looked at objectively.

As for the bad rep and the problems it may cause in job searching, the best advice I can give is that the further away from Michigan that you apply, the harder it will be to get an interview. Cooley has a very good reputation within the state.

I used to be the one who would call and invite firms for on-campus interviews (OCI) and resume collections (RC). The only human resources person who ever said anything about Cooley's reputation to me while I actively tried to recruit their firm was from California. All she told me was that she would take resumes, but from only the top two or three ranks. Every other firm I talked to, which was in the hundreds, would at the least look at the office's recruitment packages.

It was hard to get OCIs from states other than Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana, but it wasn't impossible. Many of the OCIs that we did get from states further away were piggybacked from OCIs that they had setup at U of M and MSU. While this tactic may seem suspect to some others, it is a necessary act for any career office since the OCI season is so short and firms have a limited amount of time to send HR reps.

If you're worried about finding work, I can tell you the kind of students that found work. They were the ones who actively sought work, kept updating and reworking their resumes, applied in a timely fashion, and had a positive attitude.

If you want an edge go for law review and moot court. Almost all job postings in the classifieds had "law review/moot court preferred" added to the reqs. Take a summer associates every year you can and be active there in making connections. Do the same for your externship.

Above all else, be positive. -alienwalrus

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