The PILC fair clued me into a current I hadn’t really felt before.
Most of us law students live in a relatively isolated world that comprises the space between our apartment, and our classroom. It’s rare for one of us here in New York to have occasion to run into someone from another school. Take NYU for example, we have Cardozo which is like 8 blocks away, and yet I never meet anyone from there. The only real contact the average NYU student has is with a school like Columbia, and they tend to have problems with mice.
So when the PILC fair came to NYU, I got a good taste of the pretentiousness. Here are some examples of things I overheard:
- “A guy from Yale is here? Why? Do they even need to bother interviewing.”
- “I was worried about my interview, but I realized I was up against people from St. John’s.”
- “Our only competition is Columbia, and they hate Public Interest.”
This is why I imagine people at other schools don’t like us. These type of attitudes definitely exist, even though normally you’d get a dirty look from people if you said them. The PILC fair seemed to bring out the worst in people.
Word of advice to those of you who go to ‘good’ law schools: drop the feeling of superiority, because when you’re interviewing at a firm you’ll make an off-handed comment that a person will take to heart. A second list follows:
- I’m from New Jersey, but I couldn’t go to Seton Hall, I had to go somewhere good and outside of Jersey. [Turns out your interviewer was the Editor of Seton Hall Law Review]
- Yeah, my grades are kind of low, but I’m at Chicago, so you know, that’s like an A at Georgetown. [Something about law students in New York and taking cracks at Georgetown for no real reason. I blame them for not getting me a job in DC.]
- You go to Brooklyn Law school? Is that actually a law school? [The person honestly didn't know when they said it.]
- [Referencing the Thomas M. Cooley School of Law. I don't know who goes there, but they graduate enough people that you have to offend someone.]
On second thought, it’s probably best never to mention anything particular about law schools in an interview, or around law firm partners while you’re drinking EVER.
