Legal News

The Dream of Every Recent College Grad: To Go to Cornell Law

By Ashby Jones

Some things just can’t be explained. Stonehenge. Davos. What really happened to Oceanic Flight 815. The hype over indie-rock darlings Animal Collective.

And there’s this: that applications to Cornell Law have jumped 52% over the number of applications filed last year.

Of course, experts can explain why applications to law school are up generally. Unemployment is through the roof. The American economy is riven with uncertainty. What better place to bide your time for a few years than an Ivy League law school?

But why 52%? At Cornell? We have no idea. Nor does the school’s dean, Richard Geiger, who told the University’s paper he was as mystified as anyone. "The increase is probably the result of a number of things working together," Geiger told the Cornell Daily Sun. "What I can't explain is why it's 50 percent and not 20 percent."

Twenty percent isn’t just a number Geiger plucked from the Ithaca air. Nationally, the number of people who took the LSAT climbed 20 percent in 2009. Other schools have reported large gain in applicants, but nothing approaching Cornell’s.

The numbers may bode ill for any applicants who’ve yet to hear on the state of their applications. Since the University accepts law students on a rolling basis, many have already received their acceptance letters.

"The increase in applications will make us scrutinize things a little more carefully since we don't fully understand what this is all about," Geiger said. "We'll be a little more cautious in making decisions."

Of course, as the Cornell Daily Sun points out, the prospects for employment after law school remain dismal. Said Christine Lee, the editor-in-chief of the Cornell Law Review: "It's an interesting time to apply [to law school] since the legal market has changed. I wonder what will happen to all these people trying to go to law school."

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on January 27, 2010 (boomark / email).