How To: ILR

Peter Bouris with the ILR list.

Required Intro Courses Can Be Land Mines: Many of the 100 and 200 level courses you will have to take often leave you with a choice between two professors.  It usually works out that one of the choices is a regular professor, and the other is one who makes intro courses much more difficult than you think they need to be.  The class with the regular professor will fill up quicker than you can blink during course registration.  If you end up with the other professor, have no fear.  You can still do well, as long as you’re willing to put the work in that is…

Avoid Labor Economics Professor with Initials GHJ: I don’t want to mention him by name, but he is the one ‘land mine’ professor who you cannot do well with unless you think the way he does.  This is because he has expectations from out in left field, conducts unannounced notebook checks, denigrates individual students in front of the entire class, and is generally unwilling to help if you’re unsure of something he deems ‘intro material.’  If you have no choice but to take him, make sure you’ve taken intro micro and macro beforehand at Cornell.  If you have taken them elsewhere, such as in high school, you will likely be puzzled by what he considers ‘intro material.’

Professor Gold for Law School Prospects: Professor Gold teaches intro labor law and is notoriously difficult.  However, his teaching of legal reasoning is the best prep you will get for law school anywhere on campus.  If you are willing to go full throttle (ie, put your heart and soul into every assignment), he is worth it.  He also has a very dry humor that will keep you entertained throughout the semester.  The biggest warning for him I can give is to fully understand what it means to ‘flush-out’ legal arguments BEFORE you write the first research paper.  If you don’t do this, you will be playing catch-up the whole semester.  Additionally, start the research as soon as he assigns the papers (you will be so happy when you don’t have to pull two or three consecutive all-nighters to finish them).

Take Advantage of the ILR Credit Internship Program: The ILR Credit Intern Program is the best of its kind on campus.  You will work somewhere throughout a full semester, and earn 16 credits toward your degree (know which part of the degree the credits apply to beforehand).  Having five months of experience with one employer goes a long way when you’re looking for a job after graduation because it is much more indicative of your abilities than a regular summer internship.

Everything is from Labor Perspective: If you are a rock-ribbed conservative at ILR, you are not alone amongst other students.  However, much of the core courses are taught from a labor perspective, which generally flies in the face of everything a conservative believes.   Be sure to keep an open mind, and respectively challenge your professor when appropriate if he or she seems reasonable.  However, know that you will win very few of these ‘battles.’

Fully Understand the Credit Requirements for Graduation: Make sure they are 100% clear for yourself before the end of your first semester.  Go to the website, and read up on them.  Speak to one of the advisors in academic services if you are unsure of anything.  This will help you strategically plan your course selection going forward.

No Dual Majors: An ILR student cannot obtain a major in something else besides ILR.  However, you can certainly take courses in other colleges to gain knowledge and experience in other disciplines.*

*I stand corrected.  My original post claimed that ILR students could not obtain minors at other colleges.  This is incorrect.  An ILR student can indeed obtain a minor at another college.  See academic services for more info.

ILR = I Love to Read: This is something known across campus.  ILR students have much more reading for any given course than do students in other colleges.  Much of this is because ILR has become a bit of a lawyer factory over the years, and large amounts of reading is the best way to prep students for law school.  If you don’t like to read, I recommend you explore an internal transfer to A&S or something as soon as possible.  Also, for what it’s worth, many of the readings are a must if you are destined to do well.