Everyone knows the old adage: The three most important factors in buying real estate are location, location, location!
Cornell Law School students cite location, location, location as one of the primary reasons for picking Cornell Law School. And our location is spectacular, collegial, and invigorating.
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- Natural Beauty. The Cornell campus is one of the most scenic universities in the world. The Law School, which is adjacent to a deep gorge with many waterfalls, overlooks a sparkling lake with open vistas and clean fresh air.
- Collegial Community. Our college town, Ithaca, provides the ideal atmosphere for fostering a collegial relationship between students, students and faculty, and students and other members of the Cornell community.
- Cornell University. We are part of a major research university with outstanding opportunities for cross-pollination and inter-disciplinary study. Cornell University is the largest and has the most diverse academic offerings of all the Ivy League universities.
- These are a few of our multi-disciplinary efforts:
- Clarke Center for Law and East Asian Studies
- Journal of Empirical Legal Studies (Industrial Labor Relations)
- Entrepreneurship Legal Services (Johnson School of Graduate Management)
- Institute for African Development and Berger International Legal Studies Program
But it’s not all about location either. Cornell Law School’s small size means that our star faculty teach. Despite being some of the most prolific scholars in the Ivy League, our faculty are committed to teaching and remaining accessible to students. We invite you to browse through Faculty Scholarship, while keeping in mind the following:
- Cornell Law School has the third lowest faculty to student ratio 10.4 to 1 of any the 184 ABA accredited law schools in the United States (ABA – LSAC Official Guide to Law Schools).
- Students do not need to make appointments weeks in advance to talk to a law professor; they knock on their door.
- In a last spring’s comprehensive student survey with 358 of our 550 J.D. students (65%), and 29 of our 49 LL.M./J.S.D. students (60%) responding, students rated the teaching effectiveness and availability of faculty.
- 95% of the J.D. students considered the faculty "very effective" or "effective" in teaching, and well over half chose "very effective."
- 96% of graduate students held the same view, with 96% evaluating teaching as "effective" or "very effective." The LL.M. student evaluations were equally high.
Moreover, as a Cornell Law student, you will have the luxury of being taught by many law professors who have authored the casebooks you are using in a large number of your courses. For example, your First Year law schedule may include the following faculty members:
If you had all of these professors, 16 of your 32 total first year credits would be taught by the author of the respective leading casebook!
The most important advantage of attending Cornell Law School is the collegial Cornell community. Beginning with the admissions process, we place a high value on students looking to join a close knit law school community. Law school is a rigorous academic journey, and we believe that being in a close knit environment helps make the law school journey better.
- Classmates are viewed as colleagues not as competitors. Our students are highly motivated and academically talented, but students share their class notes and even course outlines with their colleagues.
- The Cornell Law Library is open 24/7 exclusively to law students, making it accessible whenever needed for studying, writing papers, or working on journal articles. The library spans seven floors and includes both group study areas and individual carrels, all with wireless access, to support the academic success of our law students..
- Visitors frequently comment on our collegial and trusting environment as they tour the building and notice books, notes, backpacks and even laptops unattended in the library study carrels.
- A collegial environment fosters an alumni feeling of connection to the school and to one another. Our students form a close knit alumni environment where classmates stay in touch and help each other.
