Most of you take the LSAT very seriously. Any success I’ve had in the legal field I can credit to those professors, but that’s where anything positive I can say ends. These are statistics! As a new law school admissions cycle approaches, it is worth a reminder why the advice to avoid certain schools is more apt than ever. Another friend went to a low ranked law school but had family connections to help land his first job. I. Are a life-long sufferer of Downs-Syndrome? It was no secret then that few Cooley grads ever got hired at large law firms. Do you know how to form a complete sentence? What am saying? Please understand that its really, really, hard to get a film made. Ditch diggers are always in demand and ypu will be at the front of the class! She had to learn what she needed on her own after graduation. In support of Cooley you offer up as evidence that Professor Rooney graduated second in his class at Princeton behind the number one student William Rehnquist and ahead of Ralph Nader.. Going to a low ranked law school does not prevent you from having a successful career. If it was not for their low admission criteria, people like me would not have been able to pursue a career in law or related areas and have some affect on the world around us. Of course, there will be people who excel no matter where they go to law school. I found that for practical matters, the graduates of lower tier schools perform better. The key is what you can do with that law degree. I was a business person who had won a prestigious Coop position with Procter & Gamble and an SBA award from UConn in small business consulting. We all knew of Cooley’s reputation when we enrolled (from the likes of this article to accusations by the ABA (who has never liked the idea of Cooley’s mission) which the school does not hide from us. This seems to be the beginning of the end for Cooley Law School. For instance, they admitted large classes and had high attrition rates. Also, it is a fallacy to assume that someone is a great attorney just because the went to a T6 law firm or worked in BIGLAW. I was always an aggressive hard working person, so even with a degree from a marginal law school, I probably would have found a niche and become very successful. In spite of our best efforts to convince people to take their LSAT prep seriously, our message doesn’t reach everyone. The boards that the grades were posted were called the “weeping wall.” Especially after a student was flunked out after putting a year or more of hard work into their education. Retiring from law enforcement after thirty years thinking of law school. Good info. The best of which was Michigan, a top 10 school. Now that they appear to be unwilling to lower enrollment any further, they’ve resorted to slashing admissions standards, doing whatever it takes to fill those 450 seats. I understand it is not a reputable school, but is it so bad that I should incur $60,000 in debt? I didn’t do well on my LSAT, but I wanted to go to law school. I don’t want to offend anyone. ——–. When I went to law school at a regional school that is now a T2 the data regarding job prospects existed but nowhere near to the degree that it exists now. Help support TaxProf Blog by making purchases through Amazon links on this site at no cost to you. Another Cooley alumni here, although I had graduated back in the early-mid 1990s [No, I did not know Michael Cohen.]. I had decent grades and LSAT scores, but was also very involved with starting and growing a business while in college, so my time was limited to devote to grades and LAST studying. US News lists the following salary data for Cooley: Median private sector starting salary: $45,000, Median public service starting salary: $47,916. J. A tight curve on a law school exam can mean very little different between an A and a C. I’m glad you did well, but the LSAT is used as the best determining factor of how students will do at their respective law schools. Early on it became apparent that the school did not weed out its applicants in their acceptance practice, but did so during their educational practice. Saying it doesn’t matter where you go to law school is perhaps the most telling statement of how little you know about this subject. I think it’s sad if someone goes to any law school, even Harvard, and thinks they are going to come out with an amazing job in this economy. While law school teaches you to think like a lawyer, very few actually prepare you to practice law. In contrast,  17 law schools have debt-to-income ratios greater than 3.0. https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2021/01/muller-law-schools-with-the-best-and-worst-debt-to-income-ratios-among-recent-graduates.html, Legal Ed News, Legal Ed Rankings, Legal Education | Permalink. It does not hinder the legal proffesion. Initially I intended to continue to work full-time and attend law school evenings and weekends. By any reputable method of ranking ABA law schools, they would appear near the very bottom. 2) I’m glad your personal experience was different, but the legal market in 2017 is VERY different from the legal market in 1999. I actually thought about checking the box that I was a minority. Also, Cooley offers an accelerated JD. “It is the latest in a long tradition saved for some of the worst foes humanity has faced in the magazine’s history,” the editors of Time wrote. But, my first semester at Cooley, I was so impressed by the school , I could never leave it. If you got into a top 25 law school, the job opportunities and summer opportunities will be totally different from going to Cooley. The Careerist's Worst, Most Atrocious Lawyers of the Year This is not the list you want to be on. Not taking anything away from those graduate’s school, but at that time we had about 78 out of 90 credits as requirements – I did not necessary want to take them all, but that was the program. Nothing could be further from the truth. They really just test your puzzle solving ability. Have the leverage. He has a $3M book and is one of the leading shareholders in a one of the largest 10 firms in our market. It depends on where you have been accepted. The worst year in world history, by the way, was not even close, the panel said. Go to the best Law School you can, unless you already have connections for a great position upon graduation. I run my own very successful firm. I was looking for a law school that would prepare me to pass the bar exam and offer opportunities for me to be “practice ready.” Cooley simply fit. Some of the worst law students are making far more doing PI cases than the Summa Cum Laudes they went to school with. The “BEST” school I could find a professor graduating from was Syracuse. When this new crop of students graduate in 2018, its going to be a bloodbath. “It don’t matter where you go to school.”. Now that Cooley has hit a new low in admissions standards for the Class of 2018, they are almost begging the ABA to pull their accreditation. It Good job prospects extend beyond the top 14. I am in my 50’s. Dec 17, 2020 at 8:00 PM Shares 2. I finished both high school and undergrad a year early and like the option of graduating law school early. Unless you plan on working for a 500+ person firm, school doesn’t ultimately matter. Going to law school does not mean being successful. If a business wants to sell it’s products exponentially, they would do better focusing on their feature and benefits, what strengthens them, and not what flaws another has. They have some of the best professors out there (sons opinion). Experience (successful) trumps “where you went to school” as time moves on. Allowing a student with lower credentials into a school does not make it a bad school. Job prospects are good, and I will be employed when I’m ready to begin practicing. Third, while Nader did graduate from Princeton it was in 1955. Ask politely to speak to someone…make them say no to your face. In fact, she failed the bar exam, but received a passing score after an appeal. It is honestly shocking that the ABA has allowed Cooley to keep its accreditation with bar passage rates as low as they already are. Tomorrow I am giving a talk to 5th and 6th graders on what it is like to be a lawyer and will tell them that ANYONE can be a lawyer. If things are already this bleak for the class of 2015, we’re going to see some truly awful outcomes for the Cooley Law School class of 2018 (which is “statistically the worst entering class of law students in the history of American legal education at an ABA-Accredited law school.”). My point is… why bash another school because they are trying to give some students a chance? Cooley seemed to be a decent option, as I thought with my business background, and strong work ethic, I would be able to make something great out of the degree. LST posts job prospects, and they are nothing short of terrifying. I feel like only 50% of my class actually graduated. We all take the same multiple-choice (MBE) questions on the bar exam. Cooley’s (already low) bar passage & employment rates are going to drop considerably lower once the 2018 numbers come out, making it even more difficult to attract even the most minimally qualified students. Schools in the lower-tiers give you less than a coin flips chance at a job as a lawyer. I’m an oddball and don’t specifically want to work for a law firm and instead want to work for a Government Agency using my J.D. Tell that to the 74% of Cooley Law grads who can’t find a job. I went down the list of Colley professors (on their website) and stopped in the “L’s”. Likewise, I have one acquaintance who attended a top 5 law school who got only 1 job offer when you looked for a job in Salt Lake City. Only 41% of Cooley grads passed the Michigan Bar, compared to a 74% pass rate for grads from other law schools. The best research? I have done VERY well and earn far more than those of my same experience who graduate from schools like Temple, Villanova, Dickenson, Pitt, Georgetown, Columbia etc. 2020 is the year that I am totally in love with my husband of 22 years, the year that my dogs are always happy to see me (that’s every year), my daughter … Cooley had that in spades. Wel Evan, you really said nothing new that hasn’t already been said about Cooley. Don’t know what this means. Even at top five law schools where there are potentially many other desirable options, some 95% of graduates go on to do full-time legal work that requires bar passage. You have to want to be pushed. It is important to always consider where you want to work and what type of work you want to do when selecting your school. Of course, this will make it harder to get a job your first 5 years. Moreover, most of my evening classmates already had professional jobs. During my tenure at Cooley it had a reputation and was a tough law school – just because you got in did not mean you were going to graduate – I do not necessary agree the reason was based on economic decisions made by the school’s administration – I remember the Professors wanting student to know what they were doing once they were out in practice. They DO admit students a lot of law schools would not, but I don’t see why a prospective law student would want LESS opportunities. Articles like this go a long way toward making it impossible for a Cooley grad to get a job because you portray the legal education at Cooley as frivolous and worthy of disdain. WMU Cooley was my first and only choice for law school. Cooley’s LSAT numbers are well below the average for test takers overall, which is about a 152 (on a 120-180 scale). (December 30, 2020 / Jewish Journal). 3) In 1999, tuition at Cooley was around $7,000 a year. Carl, Cynthia is right. I went to Cooley. besides being a traditional, courtroom lawyer. I work with a young lady that graduated from MSU’s College of Law and she said she was not prepared for the bar exam after graduation. Looking back, I wish I would have known then what I know now. One of his professors went to….PRINCETON! I have a friend who went to a law school ranked well below those in our area. The regret I have is quickly forgotten, now that I have financial freedom and probably make more than if I had become a successful attorney. It is worth remembering that a median gives you very little information. But for the 20% it gave them a chance to enter the profession and excell. Think about that — if you received an 85 on an exam, but 2/3rds of the students received 86 or better, you still may have received a “C” or an “F.” As a student, I will admit, I can honestly compare it as a journey through hell, especially the first year and a half. Take it from someone who knows of HUNDREDS of stories (verified by friends, family, associates, etc) of people who went to lower ranked schools, did great, and cannot find employment. — The percentage of students coming to Cooley with LSAT scores of 143 or lower more than doubled over six years, accounting for more than half of the class. I got a 144 on lsat…graduated cum lauded in two years…passed the bar first time…passed Nevada bar first time…and hit the ground running at my first job…Cooley was the only school that would take me because I am horrible at standardized tests…but I excelled…. Every year I encounter scores of the uninitiated. Putting down people for where they chose to attend school is another. Paying $200,000 + interest/opportunity cost for a 25% chance at a job is bad. Better yet there is no need to insult anyone. We ranked the neighborhoods from worst to best in the chart below.