Cornell ILR (labor) school. What do you know?

[Anonymous]

Anyone have experience with this school?
Do you know any grads? What do they they now do for work?
How do 17 year olds know they want to study labor? (Seems so incredibly random).
Any other thoughts?
Thank you so much.

My rising senior has an interest in this, based on a niche government internship that he received.
But even so he's really not certain that he's genuinely passionate about or interested in labor (above all other subjects/majors).

[Anonymous]

I work in labor as an attorney. It's a great program but I personally think it is kind of limiting if he doesn't know for sure that is what he wants to do.

[Anonymous]

Good for law school. Lots of lawyers are alumni.

A ton of info on this on Reddit.

[Anonymous]

Lots of HR people (including CHROs) did this program. It is niche though..

[Anonymous]

My kid just graduated from Cornell and her roomie was ILR. Working for a bank now.

[Anonymous]

I believe it is a lower cost program at Cornell. Same degree lower cost

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe it is a lower cost program at Cornell. Same degree lower cost

just to be clear (not because of you, but because this seems to be a thing on DCUM); the lower cost programs at Cornell are not especially low cost and they're not lower cost unless you're a NYS student. COA for ILR and all contract colleges for NYS students is about 70k. COA for the other Cornell programs is about 92k. And COA for ILR and other contract colleges for kids outside NYS is also 92k.

[Anonymous]

If you aren’t a NY resident, it’s the same price and it’s just another college inside the Ivy university. $90+K

Assume not many NY residents on here.

[Anonymous]

My recent Cornell grads roommate was ILR as were several of my law school classmates a generation ago. Now as then about 40-50% of the class goes on to law school.

[Anonymous]

My dad’s roommate went to ILR. He became a county legislator when he was 23 and a US congressman when he was 27.

[Anonymous]

Very prestigious

[Anonymous]

My daughter just graduated from Cornell. Her friend was in ILR and will be working in investments. ILR graduates do land in finance and consulting jobs.

[Anonymous]

My first boss was a Cornell ILR undergrad with a PhD of unknown provenance. He was pre-Boomer. Office Director/Economist/GS-15 at U.S. Dept. of Labor.

The other one I knew was the child of teachers' union stewards. He got a master's degree from ILR and worked for labor unions.

Given my career in my 20s, ILR would have been an excellent fit for me. I would have been a multiple legacy. But I never would have known that degree would be relevant up front. So I didn't apply. I got a B.A. Economics from a different school.

If you look at where many of the students get placed, a lot of them go into specialized management consulting vs. the better-known general strategy consultants. I also notice there are some who have gone into pro sports labor union type jobs. But there are an eclectic mix of jobs usually with a tie to workplace management.

My impression is the major is somewhat like a cross between regular econ, organizational studies, and policy. It makes sense that it would produce a lot of future lawyers.

My child was waitlisted this year. His relevant interest was related to education policy and teacher unionization. He will study political science/public policy elsewhere. The cost delta was too significant and he actually preferred to go to our selective state flagship and a more general policy focus. So he didn't bother with a LOCI. I do read that many of those who remain on the ILR waitlist to the bitter end receive a transfer option.

[Anonymous]

I went to Cornell and know many ILR grads. It’s a popular school for in-state (NY) applicants because the tuition is about $20K less per year than for OOS students or the private colleges at Cornell. Just FYI these people are in their late 40’s now:

6 of my ILR friends went to law school. 5 practice law still, one moved into Human Resources.

1 was a benefits consultant and is now a SAHM.

1 got an MBA and works in investment banking.

[Anonymous]

My two NY state resident cousins went there. One works for a union; the other in HR and tech.