In my very limited experience, I think some of the talk about how difficult Cooley is may be hyperbole. I worked hard last term, but compared to the horror stories I've heard from other students (12 hour days 6 days a week, etc) I really didn't feel overwhelmed. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that I was lucky enough to speak to a lot of my friends that had been through law school as well as people on here, and had a fairly good idea of what the profs were looking for, which minimized my focus on unimportant details. Towards the end of the term, as you can see from my worry on here, I actually didn't really know what to do with myself; in retrospect, I think this is just because I was well prepared. Regarding jobs, however, I'm still on the fence. When I talk to even local associates, they're still pretty tough on Cooley; I was told flatly by a couple girls from a large local firm this weekend that Cooley students were given cursory interviews to keep up a rapport, but the students never really stand a chance. I'm sure some of this is just haughtiness, but I can't imagine how awful it would be to graduate at the top of your class and still not have good prospects (of course that's not necessarily the case either, I know students graduating this year that already have jobs at large NY firms...but then there's a question of how much of that is connection based, etc). So who knows at this point. I'm just trying to get through my second term with minimal falloff right now.
In my very limited experience, I think some of the talk about how difficult Cooley is may be hyperbole. I worked hard last term, but compared to the horror stories I've heard from other students (12 hour days 6 days a week, etc) I really didn't feel overwhelmed. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that I was lucky enough to speak to a lot of my friends that had been through law school as well as people on here, and had a fairly good idea of what the profs were looking for, which minimized my focus on unimportant details. Towards the end of the term, as you can see from my worry on here, I actually didn't really know what to do with myself; in retrospect, I think this is just because I was well prepared. I didn't say it was impossible or difficult - I said they expect you to work. You have to know the stuff and come in and be ready for the exam. Nothing there is overly complicated and the professors (majority) are willing to help / meet etc . The people who whine about cooley being hard are those who want to pretend they are still in undergrad and think they can study for a few days and pass. Cooley isnt the place to do that.Regarding jobs, however, I'm still on the fence. When I talk to even local associates, they're still pretty tough on Cooley; I was told flatly by a couple girls from a large local firm this weekend that Cooley students were given cursory interviews to keep up a rapport, but the students never really stand a chance. I'm sure some of this is just haughtiness, but I can't imagine how awful it would be to graduate at the top of your class and still not have good prospects (of course that's not necessarily the case either, I know students graduating this year that already have jobs at large NY firms...but then there's a question of how much of that is connection based, etc). So who knows at this point. I'm just trying to get through my second term with minimal falloff right now.
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