Visiting

[she&him]

Did any of y'all set up visits before applying? Was it helpful? In particular, I am thinking it could be useful for the Why x? essays... Thoughts?

[Cupidity]

I wouldn't recommend visiting before applying unless you have (1) more money than you know what to do with, or (2) live right down the road from a law school. The application cycle is all but certain, you'll likely be rejected from half of the schools you are a solid match for numerically, not to mention yield protects and reach schools. Why X essays generally don't have too much impact anyway.

I would strongly encourage you to visit after you are accepted.

[she&him]

Well, I'm planning on a spring break trip up to the New York area with some friends and thought that I might as well also visit the schools in the area since I'll be there anyway. I wasn't sure if I needed to set up appointments or if visiting and meeting people in the admissions offices, etc would help at all.

[Cupidity]

Appointments are a must if you want to do anything productive. You may want to sit in on a class, and some schools offer daily tours. Simply showing up will not allow access to anything but the hallways, you probably won't even have access to the library.

Just as a warning, I've found Fordham's admissions staff to be impossible.

[she&him]

Thanks for the tip about Fordham. Any thoughts about Penn, CLS, or Cornell?

[Cupidity]

I had no reason to look at those schools I might this year though.

[she&him]

Ooh. Well good luck to you on the next cycle then! Off thread topic but I hope you don't mind me asking - did you retake the LSAT or something?

[Cupidity]

Ooh. Well good luck to you on the next cycle then! Off thread topic but I hope you don't mind me asking - did you retake the LSAT or something?

Transfer maybe.

[tea_drinker]

I only visited one school this cycle, and that school was my first rejection. Go figure.

[northwood]

if you can do so, go visit. the schools usually have an open house, but most of them are inthe fall. Its much easier if you were accepted, as now the school is trying hard to make sure you go to their school. It might be more difficult if you have yet to apply. A visit will help you write a why x essay, but if you really want to go there, and have other reasons for going ( location, legacy, have done previous research)- and you write about those, your why x may be stronger than if its something along the lines of " I visited on such and such date and really liked your campus."

[northwood]

i think its a good idea to visit before you sign. there was one school i visited and really was interested in, but after the visit, i did not want to apply( didnt like it at all).