I did the cls vs. nyu admitted students week and, I have to admit, I absolutely hated Columbia. Hated. I sat in on three classes (some public interest, some corporate) and all I could see were rows of computers of people shopping for shoes and Ikea furniture. A professor would ask a question, and NOONE would answer. My student tour guide actually told us that "sooner or later, we'd figure out how to cheat the system and get away with skipping class and not reading assignments". Finally, whenever I'd ask someone why they picked CLS, I didn't hear about what intrigued them about the school, but rather where they DIDN'T get in (i.e. Harvard and Yale).

Then I went to NYU -- the students were excited, the faculty was honest and frank about the advantages of CLS (that was the other thing - at Columbia all the faculty I talked to just wouldn't stop selling the place, which just seemed disingenuous and a bit insecure) over NYU, the place just seemed to be buzzing with an actual interest in the law. I came away feeling that people went to Columbia just because of the name, but didn't really have much other reason to go there.