Thomas M. Cooley Law School Thomas M. Cooley Law School
- ShinibhattIndia
- Thomas M. Cooley Law School, USA
- Juris Doctor (Law degree)
- No qualification
- 2012
I am an Indian citizen, and have been attending Thomas M. Cooley Law School for almost an year now. I attend school at the Lansing campus. The school has 4 different campuses. It's a wonderful school, and I couldn't have been at a better place. Although, my initial impression of the school (before I visited the campus) was not very good. Since, they don't have a minimum requirement for LSAT scores, I thought perhaps it wasn't a very good school. I was proven completely wrong when I visited the school. The campus is very nice. The faculty is very helpful, and even the administrative faculty was very supportive and helpful in replying to my calls and e-mails. This is one of the best litigation schools in USA, and they have national and international teams competing for Mock Trial and Moot Court Competitions, which is a great achievement. Even though, Lansing is the capital city of Michigan, there isn't much to do here. But in fact, that is exactly what you need when you're in Law School. You do not want to be in an environment where there is too much destractions. It has enough entertainment to relax for a bit. This school is also quite different in its teaching style and exams than other law schools (which benefits the students). I am very glad I came here.
For me it was easy and tough at the same time. Easy because I had a decent LSAT score, and a decent GPA in my undergraduate course. Difficult because I have a Bachelor degree from India (which is a 3 yr course), where as in USA the undergraduate course is of 4 years. Some schools are willing to accept our 3 yr course degrees. Others want you to take a tranfer in a university, and finish the remaining time (which generally exceeds 1 year). However, I suggest keeping in touch with the faculty advisor. Send e-mails, call them often - show that you are indeed interested and enthusiastic about joining the school. The visa process wasn't painful at all. Travel experience wasn't too bad. Since I had visited Michigan earlier, I knew what I was getting into. And having some family here was also helpful. Its good if you get a drivers license here as soon as possible.
They have a lot of scholarships available. And it doesn't really depend on how good your LSAT score is. It depends on what GPA you got in your undergraduate degree. But once you are enrolled in the school, if you maintain a certain GPA, you can apply for scholarships.
They have options of taking 2-5 courses each term. Since its very overwhelming initially, I have taken 3 courses and plan on doing so in the future as well. Each class is held one day every week for 3 hours. So taking 3 courses, I had classes on 3 days of the week, for 3 hours; hence, 9 credits in total. The professors are very helpful, and very approachable. You can make appointments with them and meet with them one on one and discuss your problem areas. Some professors have teaching assistants. And the school has tutorials for every class held by some upper termer who has already taken the class (and you dont pay for these tutorials) For international students, specially for students from India, since I have lived there my entire life, everything was spoon fed. They used to teach us the material in class. In law school, its completely different. You are given the assignments for each week, to read and prepare yourself to answer questions before you attend the lecture. This was obviously new and difficult at first. But with hard work and a relaxed mind, you can over come that fear of teaching yourself. And again, the professors are always willing to explain it to you over and over again.
The students in law school are very friendly. You always come across different types of people. There are a lot of societies to join. They dont have an Indian society yet. But they have an International law society.
I have not yet graduated so I dont know about the job prospects. But I am sure, I will be fine. Cooley has a very good reputation, not just in Michigan, but in other parts of the country as well.
Located in Michigan.
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